Eating in Funchal's Old Town: A Relaxed Food Guide for Couples

Rua de Santa Maria is the spine of Funchal's Old Town: a narrow cobbled street where every door is painted by a different artist and every second building serves food. Here is how to eat your way through it without falling for tourist traps.

What to order in Madeira

• Espetada: beef skewered on a laurel stick, grilled over open fire, served hanging above your table. Order bolo do caco (garlic flatbread) with it.
• Espada com banana: black scabbard fish with banana. Sounds odd, tastes like Madeira.
• Lapas: grilled limpets with garlic butter and lemon. The perfect shared starter.
• Milho frito: fried cornmeal cubes. Better than any fries.
• Bolo de mel: dark molasses cake, traditionally broken by hand, never cut.

How to choose a restaurant

Walk the full length of Rua de Santa Maria before committing. Look for places where you hear Portuguese at the tables. Menus without photos are usually a good sign. If someone is aggressively inviting you in, keep walking.

For a quieter evening, drift one street toward the sea. The restaurants facing the ocean near the cable car station offer the same dishes with more breathing room.

Book dinner at 19:00. You beat the crowds, get the best tables, and the kitchen is fresh. Finish with a glass of 10-year Madeira wine instead of dessert. Then walk it off along the seafront back to the apartment: fifteen slow minutes under the palms.