Restaurant in Almancil, Portugal
Beach-to-table seafood, Michelin-recognised, book ahead.
A Michelin Plate seafood restaurant inside a nature reserve at Praia do Ancão, 2 Passos is the strongest choice in Almancil for serious grilled fish in a coastal setting. At €€€, it outperforms most beach-adjacent alternatives in the Algarve. Book the terrace for a weekend lunch, order the house specialties in advance, and plan for a long afternoon rather than a quick stop.
Picture this: you're stepping off the beach at Praia do Ancão, salt still in the air, and you need somewhere that earns the detour rather than just trading on the view. 2 Passos earns it. Holding a Michelin Plate for 2025 and a Google rating of 4.6 across nearly 800 reviews, this seafood restaurant inside a protected nature reserve in Almancil delivers the kind of direct, well-executed grilled fish and seafood that justifies a €€€ price point — provided you come with the right expectations. This is not a tasting-menu destination. It is a serious lunch venue where fresh catch is the whole point, and it does that job well enough to be recognised by Michelin's inspectors.
The setting at Praia do Ancão shapes the experience from the moment you arrive. Positioned within a nature reserve on the Algarve coast, the terraces here are designed for exactly the kind of long, unhurried meal that a beach day demands. The aroma that greets you is the honest smell of chargrilled seafood and open-flame fish — wood smoke and ocean, the combination that tells you the kitchen is working with real heat rather than shortcuts. For a food and travel enthusiast, that scent is a reliable signal: the grill is the engine of this kitchen, and almost everything worth ordering passes through it.
The menu centres on fresh fish and seafood prepared in three ways , grilled, fried, or chargrilled , and the daily specials rotate based on what came in that morning. This is the correct way to order here: pay attention to what the server tells you is fresh today rather than anchoring to a fixed menu item. The house specialties, including the grilled squid and the "à Passos" tiger prawn served with sweet rice, require advance ordering. If those dishes are on your shortlist, call ahead or flag it clearly when you book, because arriving and asking on the day risks disappointment. That advance-order requirement is a detail that separates the guests who leave satisfied from those who feel they missed the point of the place.
Michelin Plate, awarded in 2025, signals cooking that inspectors considered worth noting , not a star-level experience, but food prepared with care and consistency. In the Algarve context, where tourist-trap seafood restaurants are common and the drop-off in quality can be steep, a Michelin Plate at a beach-adjacent venue is a meaningful credential. It places 2 Passos in a different tier from the generic beach restaurants further up the coast.
At €€€ pricing, you are paying for location and quality in roughly equal measure. The nature reserve setting means there is no high-street competition immediately around you , you are not comparing the meal against a cheaper option two doors down. The trade-off is that you commit to the journey to get here, which makes the advance ordering rule even more worth following. Book, confirm your house specialties, and arrive ready to spend two or three hours rather than one.
2 Passos is built for the beach-to-table rhythm, which makes it particularly well-suited to a late-morning or early-afternoon visit after time at Praia do Ancão. The venue does not operate as a traditional brunch destination in the urban sense , there is no eggs Benedict or pastry counter , but the daytime format here is its own version of a weekend meal worth planning around. A sunny terrace, fresh seafood arriving from the morning's catch, and the unhurried pace of a nature reserve setting combine to make a Saturday or Sunday lunch the optimal visit. Weekend visits during peak Algarve season (June through September) will bring more foot traffic, so booking ahead for weekend lunch is advisable even if weekday walk-ins may be easier to secure.
The seafood format also means this is a better choice for a relaxed group lunch than a quick solo stop. Sharing a grilled fish, working through the daily specials, and adding the tiger prawn dish as a centrepiece suits a table of two to four comfortably. For larger groups, confirm capacity when booking since the terrace, while generous for a nature reserve location, does fill during peak season.
Booking at 2 Passos is direct by Algarve standards , this is not a venue where you need to set a calendar reminder three months ahead. That said, summer weekends at a Michelin Plate venue with this rating and a coastal setting will fill up, particularly for terrace tables. Book one to two weeks ahead for a peak-season weekend lunch to secure your preferred spot. For weekday visits outside July and August, shorter notice should be manageable. The address is Praia do Ancão 3404, 8125-905, Portugal , arriving by car is the practical choice given the nature reserve location; the venue is not on a pedestrian high street. No phone number or website is listed in current records, so booking through a reservation platform or contacting the venue directly through available local channels is the recommended route.
For context on where 2 Passos sits relative to Portugal's wider seafood scene: the country's most decorated coastal restaurants include Casa de Chá da Boa Nova in Leça da Palmeira and Ocean in Porches, both operating at a different price tier and formality level. For Michelin-starred Algarve dining, Vila Joya in Albufeira is the benchmark. 2 Passos is not competing in that bracket , it is the serious casual option that a knowledgeable traveller picks when they want excellent grilled seafood in an exceptional setting without the structure of a tasting menu. Comparable beach-adjacent seafood experiences across Southern Europe include Gambero Rosso in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica and Alici Restaurant on the Amalfi Coast , both occupy a similar niche of quality seafood in a coastal setting, though at different price points and with different menus. Among Portugal's Michelin-recognised restaurants more broadly, Belcanto in Lisbon, Antiqvvm in Porto, Il Gallo d'Oro in Funchal, and The Yeatman in Vila Nova de Gaia represent the upper end; 2 Passos occupies a more accessible position on that spectrum while still carrying the Michelin Plate credential that sets it apart from casual beach dining.
For more dining options in the area, see our full Almancil restaurants guide. You can also explore hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences in Almancil through Pearl.
For a peak-season weekend lunch (June to September), book one to two weeks ahead. Weekday visits outside high season are more forgiving, but given the Michelin Plate status and a 4.6 Google rating across nearly 800 reviews, same-day availability on weekends should not be assumed. The nature reserve location means there is no overflow option nearby if you arrive without a reservation.
Order from the daily specials first , they reflect what was freshest that morning. For house specialties, the grilled squid and the "à Passos" tiger prawn with sweet rice are the dishes the venue is known for, but both require advance ordering. Tell the restaurant when you book, or confirm when you arrive, that you want these dishes. Missing that step is the most common reason guests leave feeling they did not get the full experience. Beyond those, fresh fish grilled or chargrilled is the format this kitchen does leading.
Smart casual is the right call. At €€€ pricing with a Michelin Plate, this is not a flip-flops-and-towel situation, but it is also a beach-adjacent nature reserve restaurant rather than a formal dining room. Think the kind of outfit you would wear to a good lunch after a beach morning , clean, presentable, comfortable. No dress code is formally stated, but the venue's positioning and Michelin recognition suggest a step above purely casual beach attire.
There is no confirmed tasting menu format at 2 Passos based on available data. The menu is à la carte with daily specials, and the house specialties are ordered in advance rather than served as a set progression. If a structured tasting experience is what you are after in the Algarve, Vila Joya in Albufeira or Gusto by Heinz Beck are the appropriate venues. 2 Passos is about excellent fresh seafood in an exceptional setting, not a multi-course narrative format.
At €€€, yes , with the right expectations. You are paying for Michelin Plate-level cooking, a nature reserve setting with terrace views, and fresh fish sourced daily. If you compare it against a formal Michelin-starred experience, it will fall short on ambition. If you compare it against other beach seafood restaurants in the Algarve at similar or higher prices, it delivers noticeably better consistency and quality. The 4.6 Google rating across nearly 800 reviews supports that verdict. Come for a long lunch, order the house specialties in advance, and the price feels justified.
For a higher-end experience with a formal setting and Mediterranean-focused cooking, Gusto by Heinz Beck (€€€€) is the obvious step up , more structured, more expensive, less casual. For a lower-price option, Pequeno Mundo (€€) offers international cooking at a more accessible price point, though without the seafood focus or the coastal setting. austa and Sao Gabriel are also worth considering depending on your format preference. If the beach setting and fresh seafood are the core appeal, 2 Passos has no direct equivalent in Almancil at this quality level.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Passos | €€€ | — |
| Gusto by Heinz Beck | €€€€ | — |
| Pequeno Mundo | €€ | — |
| austa | — | |
| Sao Gabriel | — |
How 2 Passos stacks up against the competition.
Book at least a week ahead in peak summer months, more if your visit falls on a weekend. 2 Passos holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and sits directly on Praia do Ancão within a nature reserve, which means demand spikes heavily July through August. If you plan to order any of the house specialties — flagged in the venue record as requiring advance notice — confirm those at the time of booking, not on arrival.
The grilled squid and the 'à Passos' tiger prawn with the house rice are the two dishes explicitly called out by the venue and worth ordering. Both require advance notice, so flag them when you book. Beyond those, the daily specials are the most reliable guide to what's freshest — ask the staff what came in that morning rather than defaulting to the printed menu.
2 Passos is positioned as a beach-adjacent seafood restaurant at Praia do Ancão, so the setting is relaxed and outdoor-facing. Casual beach or resort wear is appropriate — you do not need to dress up. The Michelin Plate recognition here reflects food quality, not formality.
No tasting menu is documented for 2 Passos in available records. The format is à la carte with daily specials and select house specialties ordered in advance. If a structured multi-course format is what you're after, consider Sao Gabriel or Gusto by Heinz Beck in the broader Almancil area, both of which operate more formal tasting formats.
At €€€ pricing, 2 Passos is on the higher end for a beach restaurant, but the Michelin Plate (2025) and the nature reserve setting at Praia do Ancão give it a clear justification for that tier. If you're comparing value strictly on food, the fresh fish and seafood focus keeps things grounded rather than elaborate. If you want more cooking ambition for similar or higher spend, Gusto by Heinz Beck is the step up in this region.
For a step up in formality and tasting-menu format, Gusto by Heinz Beck and Sao Gabriel are the natural comparisons in the Almancil area. Pequeno Mundo offers a more intimate, European-leaning dining room. If you want to stay in the casual coastal register but with a different setting, austa is worth considering. 2 Passos is the clearest choice specifically for a beach-to-lunch format in a nature reserve.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
