What to eat in Madeira: the dishes to try
A guide to Madeiran food: espetada on bay-leaf skewers, bolo do caco, limpets, black scabbard fish with banana, milho frito, honey cake, tropical fruit and what to drink with it.
Most restaurants serve generous portions. Sharing is normal.
Madeiran food is simple, generous and full of flavour: garlic, bay leaves, fresh fish, grilled meat and tropical fruit. Here is what to look for on the menu.
The classics
- Espetada: chunks of beef rubbed with garlic, salt and bay leaf, grilled on a skewer and served hanging from a hook on the table. Traditionally the skewer was a stick of bay laurel. Order it with bolo do caco and milho frito.
- Bolo do caco: a round flatbread made with sweet potato, cooked on a hot stone slab and served warm with garlic butter. You will find it everywhere, also as a sandwich.
- Lapas: limpets grilled in their shells with garlic butter and lemon, sizzling in a metal pan.
- Espada com banana: fillet of black scabbard fish, a deep-sea fish caught off Madeira, fried and served with banana, sometimes with a passion fruit sauce. It sounds strange and works very well.
- Milho frito: cubes of maize porridge flavoured with herbs and fried until crisp.
- Atum: tuna steaks, often with a garlic and oregano marinade and milho frito.
- Prego: a thin steak in a bread roll, often a bolo do caco. The classic snack-bar lunch.
- Picado: a big plate of chopped beef in a garlicky sauce with chips, eaten with cocktail sticks and shared with friends.
- Sopa de tomate e cebola: tomato and onion soup with a poached egg.
- Carne de vinha d’alhos: pork marinated in wine and garlic, especially at Christmas.
Sweet things
- Bolo de mel: a dark, spiced cake made with sugarcane honey. It keeps for months and is traditionally broken by hand, not cut.
- Queijadas: small cheese tarts.
- Malasadas: fried doughnuts, eaten on Carnival Tuesday.
- Fruit: custard apples, many kinds of passion fruit, bananas, mangoes, papayas and tamarillos, at the market and on desserts.
Drinks
- Poncha: sugar cane rum with honey and lemon, or with fruit juice. See poncha.
- Madeira wine: the famous fortified wine. See Madeira wine.
- Coral: the local beer.
- Brisa: a local soft drink, the passion fruit flavour is the one to try.
- Nikita: a sweet mix of ice cream with beer or white wine and pineapple, a summer festival favourite.
How eating out works
- Bread, butter, olives or cheese brought to the table before you order (couvert) are not free. If you don’t want them, say so politely.
- Lunch is usually from 12:00 to 15:00 and dinner from 19:00. Many local restaurants close in the afternoon.
- The prato do dia, dish of the day, is the best-value lunch.
- Tipping is appreciated but not expected; rounding up or leaving 5 to 10% for good service is normal.
Where to eat
Funchal’s old town has the most choice. For espetada, head to the hills: many traditional restaurants are in villages like Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, Santo da Serra and Camacha. For fish, go to Câmara de Lobos, Caniçal and the north coast. See eating well on a budget.