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The streets of downtown Funchal are lined with restaurants, where tables and chairs are laid out for al fresco dining during warm weather. Some spots have front and back entrances—avoid taking a table on the traffic-facing front street and instead head for the pedestrianized alleys, where the smell of grilled fish fills the air. Don't hesitate to join the locals in the small restaurants and snack bars spread all over the narrow backstreets (such as Rua da Carreira, Rua das Murças, Rua do Bispo, Rua Queimada de Cima, Rua Queimada de Baixo), where you will often find freshly prepared daily specials at extremely reasonable prices.
This excellent coffee shop has a few branches across Funchal, including one in the Mercado dos Lavradores. After browsing the market's fruit, vegetable, fish, and flower stalls, take a seat at one of the cafe's small wooden tables and enjoy a bica (espresso) and a pastel de nata (custard tart). Step inside and you'll see row upon row of neatly presented cakes and tarts laid out in the chilled counters like gems in a jewelry box.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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