Before we get into it, a couple of things. Firstly, introducing Sunday blog posts! As promised, I’ll now be writing two blog posts a week, so look out for new posts from me on Wednesdays and Sundays. Secondly, I’m in Portugal (I know, holidays?! Absolute madness), so expect a few posts related to that!

Now, Fortaleza da Luz is a lovely little restaurant situated directly on the seafront and boasts a beautiful garden terrace. There could be no better place to review for my first actual travel blog post. They also host their famous Jazz Lunch on Sundays from 12.30PM-2:30PM, so we popped in for delicious food, a fantastic 7 piece live band and a brilliant atmosphere!

Priced at €28.50, Fortaleza offers a three course menu with two options for each course. As I visited in a group of four, we ordered two of each option and had a little taste of each dish.

To start, I ordered the Cucumber and Olive Tartare Salad. Under the heat of the early afternoon sun, a light, cool and refreshing starter was just what I wanted and Fortaleza did not disappoint. I’m not sure exactly what sort of sauce was involved but the cucumbers and olives worked really well together, which was somewhat unexpected, as I’ve never considered the combination before. I’ve always been a huge olive fan though, so anything that tastes olive-y is right up my street, while the cucumbers added a nice refreshing flavour and coolness to the dish.

We also tried the Cream of Lentil Soup, which was not as appealing to me as the tartare but still pretty tasty. It was also a soup of the cold variety, which is something that seems strange to me, but on a very warm day it was perfect.

For my main I chose the Roast Duck Breast with an Almond and Courgette Confit. This was absolutely delicious, and the duck was perfectly cooked and not too fatty which is one of my main concerns when it comes to duck. The almonds added a subtle sweetness that was super tasty. When they first set down the plate in front of me, I thought I’d have liked some potatoes or something to go with it, but once I mopped up my plate with a piece of bread, I found I was perfectly satisfied with the meal. Both the starters and the mains were well portioned, neither too much nor too little.

I also tried a little of the Roast Cod in a White Shallot Butter Sauce with Vegetable Pilau Rice. This was again perfectly cooked, the cod was soft and crumbled delicately in the mouth. The sauce was delicious be allowed the taste of the fish to also shine through, so another very successful dish.

Our dessert options where either Upside Down Lemon Cheesecake or Ice Cream. We actually decided to only share one of each between us, just for a quick taste. Now, I’m not a fan of vanilla ice cream (there were other flavours available but I can’t recall them!), but this particular vanilla was definitely a good one as far as vanilla goes. The cheesecake was very nice, very creamy and I was pleasantly surprised to see it also came with some kind of jam around it.

As for drinks, we had a sangria which was very nice, but the bar also boasted a small range of typical holiday cocktails, which I aim to work my way through over the course of my holiday.

The main attraction of the lunch, however was the seven-piece jazz band, who played an array of songs and even got us up dancing for the last two! I’m not a huge jazz fan but in the right setting and with a talented band (two things Fortaleza possessed) I can really enjoy it! And enjoy it I did.

Overall, Fortaleza da Luz’s Jazz Lunch was definitely an attractive event not to be missed, but it’s worth noting that even without the jazz, Fortaleza is a beautiful restaurant worth checking out if you’re visiting Praia da Luz.