14 Best Restaurants in Funchal, Madeira

The best seats in this intimate restaurant are at the counter in front of the open kitchen, where you can watch the talented young chefs work their magic with local seafood. Though there are a couple of meat items on the menu, fish is the star, with complex yet delicious flavors and beautiful presentations. Both the small plates as well as the more substantial fish and rice dishes are perfect for sharing.

A café by day and bar by night, Barreirinha is popular with the locals no matter what time of day you visit. This is partly thanks to its menu of easy-to-eat items like burgers, sandwiches, burritos, and salads, and partly due to its location on a hillside with small outside tables on the terrace overlooking the ocean. Huge white parasols shade you from the Madeiran sun while local musicians keep the atmosphere lively.

Amidst astounding floor-to-ceiling views of Funchal, Executive Chef Octávio Freitas creates beautifully presented, locally sourced dishes at this Michelin-starred eatery on the top floor of The Views Baía hotel. Choose from 6- or 9-course tasting menus, or a 12-course surprise menu served only to eight diners a night at the chef’s table, all featuring local ingredients like black scabbard fish roe, limpets, and cured tuna combined with innovative items such as mushroom gel or smoked seawood broth. Leave room for the creative takes on traditional desserts like Azorean pineapple and Madeira molasses cake.

Seated on the 16th floor of the Savoy Palace, in a cozy room with painted ceilings, you’ll feel like you’re dining under the stars—and the food will truly transport you to another world. Chef Carlos Gonçalves serves up innovative five- to seven-course tasting menus (à la carte is also available) using local ingredients but with a twist—think traditional cozido panelo (vegetables and sausage) transformed into tasty tacos and creamy rice with nori seaweed and lemon puree.

Located within the Cliff Bay Hotel, this upscale restaurant serves ambitious, high-end tasting menus, with prices to match. Views are lovely from both the contemporary dining room and the terrace, dishes are presented as works of art, and the extensive wine list showcases bottles from around the world. The excellent sommelier is happy to pair each course with top Portuguese wine, if you choose.

You'll find this striking restaurant on the rooftop of The Vine Hotel, where at night the city sparkles below. The name comes from the Portuguese word for "grape," so it's no surprise that wine takes center stage here, with an excellent selection of local vintages that the waiters can confidently talk you through.

Set inside a former salt warehouse, this fashionable restaurant with bare brick walls and a few outdoor tables serves immaculately presented contemporary renderings of Madeiran and Portuguese dishes like black scabbard fish with lime risotto and vegetables from the garden. À la carte lunch and dinner menus are a good deal.

This restaurant—wedged into a restored house in the hotel zone around the corner from the Cliff Bay Resort—has lavish tile work, hand-painted murals, and a bar that resembles one of Santana's thatch-roof dwellings. The menu is heavy on fresh seafood (trussed lobsters float in a tank by the door) and regional dishes (including espada served many ways, such as with tropical fruit or shrimp), as well as tornedo (meat on a skewer), the house specialty. If you're tired of Madeiran food, there are also pizzas.

In the tiled dining room of this well-established restaurant, exuberant floral arrangements, white-lace curtains, and green tablecloths rustle gently in the breeze of ceiling fans, while outdoor tables are set beneath a leafy trellis. The food is prepared with great care, and menus change every few months; starters feature seafood dishes like swordfish carpaccio and mains include pastas, grilled fish, and Chateaubriand.

At this formal restaurant in the lovely Quinta da Casa Branca, you can sit beneath ornate chandeliers in the elegant restaurant or dine outside on the beautiful terrace. The menu is not extensive, but dishes such as herb-crusted lamb with chestnuts and eucalyptus are prepared with care using fresh local ingredients; opt for three- or four-course menus with wine pairings, or order à la carte.

Just across from the tourist office in the heart of Funchal, this restaurant-café has been open for business off and on since 1814; sit in the airy interior, capture one of the tables that flank the sidewalk, or—even better—bag a seat on the balcony. You can pop in for coffee, light local specialties, or British-style afternoon tea, or settle in for a feast of (somewhat pricey) Portuguese dishes.

This is one of Funchal's coolest café-bars; it's a great spot to hole up for a coffee, a cocktail, or even a full meal. Nestled behind the Museu de Arte Sacra, there's outdoor seating facing the delightful main square.

Traditional Portuguese cooking seems right at home amid the farmhouse decor at this casual spot on a narrow lane near The Vine Hotel. The dining room fills up with business executives enjoying a relaxing lunch and a mix of celebrating visitors and locals at dinner.

The inexpensive lunch specials at this streamlined dining room, just behind the municipal gardens, are popular with Funchal's businesspeople. Big portions of simple Madeiran cooking, such as espada, tuna, and grilled pork chops, are served with milho frito (corn fritters filled with garlicky collard greens). For something lighter, try the sopa de tomate e cebola com ovo (tomato and onion soup, garnished with a poached egg).