We found ourselves back at Restaurante Monumental in Matola on Friday, where we walked in without a reservation for a table for 3 for lunch. Quickly acknowledged we were taken through to one of the dining areas inside and luckily, there was a table available. Despite it just turning 13.30, the place was busy already.
So we have been here before, loved it each time and have had people visit based on our recommendations, who also loved the place. Just the fact that it gets so busy, with the Spanish probably accounting for 90% at least of the customers, shows how popular this establishment is.
We actually use the menu del dia at Restaurante Monumental as our benchmark now, when we visit other bars and restaurants for a traditional Spanish menu del dia lunch.
What We Had
Drinks
I had a bottle of Estrella Galicia, soph had a Coke Zero ( the standard size can ) and my sister asked for a Rose wine. The wine was brought out in a bottle with a cooler, opened in front of her.
Both Soph and I had a second drink, repeating as we had ordered earlier.
Food
First of all we had a plate of crisps and also one of salted peanuts brought out to share, while our drinks arrived shortly after.
Next came the salad to share. This was once again a really nice salad, plenty of different ingredients and was lovely and fresh. There are not many places where the salad is good enough to have as a main course, but here they really do set the standards for salads.
The warm, toasted bread was served with the tomato, alioli and pate, again this was very good.
Starters.
Instead of my usual options ( which are either the paella or the Entremeses ) I went for the beef soup/stew. A friend had this recently and another friend says they always have this here, as it is nice. Well, it arrived in a large bowl, it was packed with meat. The beef was crazily tender and was falling apart on the spoon as I broke it up. Both the girls had the paella and loved it. This was again a very substantial portion for a starter.
Mains.
Despite there being several options we all went for the same dish, the beef in peppercorn sauce. This was a very tender piece of beef, that came with the tasty sauce, some vegetables and instead of chips was served with a small piece of tortilla, which even on its own was really tasty. It may look a small portion, but seriously, after the first two courses and knowing that dessert was still to come, it was perfectly sized!
Desserts.
Yet again, those words tarta de queso just screams out to me, ‘ choose me, choose me,’ and as ever, that is what I did. Soph fell into the trap and also my sister followed on, so the three of us all had the same dessert.
These were good sized portions, but what we like here is that this comes with a small ice cream wafer, ice cream, cream and a raspberry jam sauce on the plate.
To Finish.
We were offered coffees, so I went for a bombon, my sister said she’d never had one of these, so she had one too.
Then to complete our lunch we were offered chupito and we all went for the Baileys option.
What We Liked
Excellent meal, great service throughout from start to finish. Nice food, rustic atmosphere ( all Spanish dining ) and excellent value for money.
What Could Be Improved
Absolutely nothing. That’s as good as this place is, in our opinion.
What It Cost
Lunch for the 3 of us at Restaurante Monumental came in at 51.00€, their menu del dia is 17.00€ each.
Would We Return To Restaurante Monumental
We are booked in for next month, October. Each other time, previously we have turned up without any reservation and been fortunate enough to times things right.
How To Find Restaurante Monumental In Matola
We have given the detailed route options here, in our previous post.
Using Satnav, their address is; Av. d’Algoda, 29, Matola, Valencian Community.
They have a phone number listed on their FB page; 966 63 19 43
You can use Google Maps to add in the address of where you are coming from, to get a route.
