Last updated: 04/16/2023
Meet PurEssence Café, a restaurant serving vegan dishes in Portimão, Algarve, one of the beautiful coastal regions in the south of Portugal.
PURESSENCE COFFEE
Located in Alvor, one of the parishes in the municipality of Portimão, in the Algarve, PurEssence Café is a restaurant and bulk grocery store that serves plates vegan, gluten-free, eco-friendly and prepared with organic ingredients. Every day there are different dishes served in the restaurant and therefore there is no set menu. However, there are colorful, appetizing, nutritious and flavorful options on a daily basis.
The restaurant is family-friendly and has an indoor lounge and some tables outside. The atmosphere is pleasant and the service is provided by the owner herself, who gives all the necessary attention to explain all the items on the menu. Among the options are soups, vegetable feijoada with brown rice, red lentil dahl, falafel, bean meatballs, multigrain spaghetti, adzuki bean burgers. There are also delicious desserts, such as raw cheesecakes, raw peanut and carob bonbons, cakes, avocado mousse with cocoa, among others.
OUR EXPERIENCE AT PURESSENCE CAFÉ
We were visiting Portimão when we decided to stop for lunch. PurEssence Café was the only restaurant option without any animal ingredients and we decided to go a little out of the way to eat there. We didn't know exactly how it worked, but we parked the car and sat at one of the outside tables. We were attended to promptly and presented with the menu for that day:
- Natural Juices: pear, orange, apple
- Watercress Soup
- African style sweet potato stew with brown rice
- Soy and shiitake lasagna
- Carrot and cocoa cake
- Raw peanut and carob bonbons
We both chose to start with the nutritious Watercress Soup, followed by textured soy and shiitake protein lasagna, which was accompanied by a super colorful salad with spinach, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, lettuce and radish. For dessert, we took the opportunity to share a carrot cake with cocoa frosting which was delicious. We left well fed and satisfied with our lunch, which, although simple, was very nutritious and colorful.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
PurEssence Café
- Address: Rua Rossio Grande Lote E/F, Loja C, 8500-034 Alvor, Portugal
- Schedules: Thursday and Friday from 11am to 4pm | Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm | closed from monday to wednesday
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