Restaurante Boneca Bar

The name comes from local fishermen, who saw a face in an odd rock formation by the sea and called it a boneca, a doll. The big rock is hollow. Walk through the short passage inside and it ends in two openings like eyes, looking straight out to sea. It gets much more crowded in summer.

The headland is limestone laid down in the Devonian period, roughly 419 to 359 million years ago. Its orange and red colour is iron in the rock that has rusted in air and water, the same thing that happens to an old bike left outside. Rain mixed with carbon dioxide from the air becomes a weak acid that slowly dissolves limestone, which is how the deep channels on top were cut. Waves did the rest, carving caves and grottoes along the waterline, especially in winter storms.

There is a local legend to go with it. A Moorish princess, Alfanzina, fell in love with a charcoal maker (a carvoeiro, which gives the village its name). Her father killed him, and her tears, falling here day after day, carved the rock. Yellow-legged gulls nest on the cliffs.

The Coelho family has run the restaurant since 1969. The founder, remembered as Grandpa Coelho, began in a small wooden hut with no electricity or running water and grilled fish over charcoal so the smell would pull people in. The hut has become an octagonal wooden building in the rocks, and the fourth generation runs it now.

The kitchen still grills fish and seafood over charcoal. The website mentions the fish Carvoeiro’s boats used to land (mackerel, sardines, squid, sole and sea bream) and dishes from both sea and land, but it does not publish a menu or a children’s menu. A child who will not eat fish may manage on bread and whatever meat is on that day, so ask the staff when you sit down. Grilled fish usually arrives whole, so be ready to take the bones out for small children.

The restaurant is open from 11:30 to 23:00, with the kitchen serving from 12:00 to 21:30. It is closed on Sundays and for the whole winter, from November to March.

Lunch runs from 12:00 to 16:00 and you cannot book it; just turn up. For dinner, bookings open 30 days ahead through the website. If you have no booking, the restaurant takes walk-ins from 20:15 when tables are free.

Algar Seco gets crowded in the summer months, so an early lunch is the calmer choice with children.

Most people walk from Carvoeiro. The Passadiços do Carvoeiro boardwalk starts at the small whitewashed fort above the beach, built in 1670, badly damaged in the 1755 earthquake and rebuilt in 1825. From there a raised wooden path runs for more than 600 m along the clifftop to Algar Seco. The boardwalk itself is flat and suits pushchairs, but the last part is not: about 70 steps lead down from the cliff top, and the rock underfoot is uneven everywhere. Leave the buggy at the top and bring a carrier for a baby. Hold small hands near the edges.

From the beach square in Carvoeiro it is about 750 m, or a 12-minute walk. There is a small car park at the end of Estrada do Algar Seco, but it is often full in summer. A taxi from the village centre was quoted at about €5 to €6.

The clifftop path carries on past Algar Seco to Praia de Vale Covo (450 m) and Praia do Vale de Centeanes (1 km). Further along the coast, Praia da Marinha has sea arches and rock pools. Inland on the N125, Sand City has more than 120 giant sand sculptures, and Slide & Splash is the nearest water park.

Can you take a buggy?

Only as far as the top of the cliff. About 70 steps lead down to the restaurant, and the rock is uneven, so use a baby carrier.

Do you need to book?

Not for lunch, which is walk-in only from 12:00 to 16:00. Dinner can be booked up to 30 days ahead.

Is there a kids’ menu?

The website does not list one. The food is mainly charcoal-grilled fish and seafood, so ask staff what they can do for a child.

When is it open?

From April to the end of October, every day except Sunday, 11:30 to 23:00.

Are the Algar Seco rocks safe for young children?

With close supervision, yes. The rock is uneven, the headland drops to the sea and the cave passage gets busy, so keep toddlers in a carrier or by the hand.