Restaurante Maurício has been feeding visitors and locals on Olinda's historic hill for long enough that it has become a reference point for the cuisine of the state. The menu is unambiguously Pernambucano: carne de sol (slow-cured sun-dried beef, served with manteiga de garrafa and macaxeira — a regional white cassava), baião de dois, escondidinho de carne de sol (a layered cassava and beef bake), and fresh fish preparations along the coast-facing side of the menu.
Portions are large, the room is shaded and relatively cool in the afternoons, and the service is straightforward. It is a lunch restaurant more than a dinner destination — arrive between noon and two, when everything is fresh and the kitchen is at full pace. The house cachaça cocktails are drinkable and reasonably priced. If you want one restaurant to anchor a day in Olinda, this is the logical choice.