Garden tea house for lunch and cake · €
The estate's tea house in the Palheiro Gardens, reached directly from the hotel grounds. It is open daily from 10am to 5pm for teas, coffee, soups, sandwiches, salads and homemade cakes, pastries and ice cream, and each day has its own dish of the day at €14.50: bacalhau com natas on Tuesday, duck rice on Wednesday, breaded black scabbard fillets with tomato rice on Saturday, and the island's wheat soup with pork and sweet potato on Sunday. The fresh juices are €5.50. The easy lunch on a garden day.
Walk inPalheiro Gardens, Rua da Estalagem 23, Funchal
Golf clubhouse terrace over Funchal Bay · €€
The restaurant at the Palheiro Golf clubhouse, at the end of the estate's nature trail, with views over Funchal Bay. The menu is modern Portuguese with Mediterranean and Madeiran dishes, and it serves every day from noon to 8pm, last orders 7.45pm. The best slot is an afternoon: afternoon tea runs from 3pm to 6pm at €25 a head, with scones, clotted cream, finger sandwiches, pastries and a glass of sparkling wine. It is a 4-minute drive, or about 18 minutes on foot by road. Book on TheFork or by phone.
Reserve aheadPalheiro Golf clubhouse, Rua do Balancal 29, Funchal
Seafront terrace for poncha at sunset · €
A bar and café on the Largo do Socorro, near the Church of Santa Maria Maior and above the Barreirinha lido, with a big terrace over the sea and the port of Funchal. Go at the end of the afternoon for a poncha, the island's drink of sugar-cane rum, honey and lemon, or a cold beer as the sun drops, and stay for the concerts it hosts. It opens in the morning and runs to midnight or later at weekends, the terrace fills at sunset, and the tables are first come, first served.
Walk inLargo do Socorro 1, Funchal
Seafood in the old town, MICHELIN-listed · €€€
Júlio Pereira's seafood restaurant a few metres from the sea in the old quarter, listed by the MICHELIN Guide, with a counter over the kitchen and a terrace. Share the starters, cod tacos, the squid hot dog in brioche and the smoked scabbard fish with banana and passion fruit, then the braised tuna with razor clam rice at €29 or the market fish with seafood pasta and pil pil. The creamy carabineiro and seafood rice for two is €73. It is open daily from 12.30pm to 11pm; book for dinner.
Reserve aheadRua dos Murças 6, Funchal
Family-run Madeiran cooking, Bib Gourmand · €€
A family restaurant near the big hotels west of the centre, run by chef João Dinis since 1996 and a Bib Gourmand in the MICHELIN Guide since 2018, with a modest dining room and a roof terrace. This is the place for the island's classics: grilled limpets with garlic butter at €19.50, bolo do caco, black scabbard fillet with banana and passion fruit at €19.75, tuna steak Madeira style, and espetada on a bay-leaf skewer. It is open Monday to Saturday, lunch and dinner, and closed on Sunday. Book through its website.
Reserve aheadBeco do Ataíde 1, Rua Penha de França, Funchal
Mountain tavern for espetada and game · €€
A rustic mountain restaurant on the road above Camacha, once a shelter for hunters and shepherds, with wooden walls, a fire and the kind of cooking that suits a cool evening at altitude. Order the espetada, beef grilled on a skewer, the mixed grill, duck rice, roast pork knuckle or wild boar with beans, and on Sunday the cozido à Portuguesa. It is open every day from late morning until late, and it is a good stop on the way back from Pico do Arieiro or Ribeiro Frio. Book at weekends.
Reserve aheadEstrada das Carreiras 209, Camacha
Breakfast is included in the hotel's standard rates and is a buffet in the Casa Velha dining room, with pastries, cold cuts, fruit, juices and eggs cooked to order, served daily from 7.30am to 10.30am. There is nowhere else for breakfast within reach on foot, so the hotel's own is the one to have. For a later coffee and cake, the Casa de Chá in the Palheiro Gardens opens at 10am, three minutes' walk through the grounds.
