2 Best Restaurants in Funchal, Madeira

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.