The restaurant itself is not the biggest or most bougie place you can dine in, it is authentic, rustic, yet elegant and comfortable. It only has two tables and João will serve a maximum of six people per evening, making it the perfect place for a private dinner that lets you feel like royalty.

One of the reasons Loki is so special and the reason that the number of guests is kept low, is that João is the only person working there. He organises the bookings, sets the tables, cooks and serves the food and drinks and does the clean up after every meal.

Loki is commonly known as the god of trickery in the Norse mythology and I am sure he would very much approve of his name being used for this restaurant because the way João manages to do all of this while still being as calm as a millpond is truly mind boggling to me.

He also doesn´t work with a set menu, the meal consists of 11 courses and is different every time, meaning you won’t know what you get until you are sitting at his table and he presents and explains the dish to you, so you should let him know beforehand if there are any allergies.

João follows the 100km rule. All produce has to come from within 100 kilometres of the location of his restaurant and by now he works exclusively with Algarvian products. This means he can guarantee you are only served the freshest ingredients that are all organic and local. He even goes so far as to buy all of his plates from someone that makes them locally. But that is not all, he also goes scuba diving and foraging to get all of natures goods straight from the source.

Even the small things that you usually wouldn’t think twice about are made completely from scratch. He churns his own butter, he makes his own vinegar and soy sauces and even prepares his own flour for the bread he bakes.

If you ever have the pleasure to visit Loki you can be sure of three things; everything if fresh, everything is made from scratch and everything is prepared with passion and love.