Sabores Sopranos Sao jorge — Restaurant in Calheta

This was my favorite meal when visiting Sao Jorge & Sao Miguel and I would highly recommend the restaurant. It has a very nice ambiance with an amazing view of Pico and some of the best food I had during my trip. It is also right off of EN1 so easy to get to compared to some restaurants that might be down in a fajã. We came right at the start of dinner time and there was no wait, but I can imagine they would get full later in the night. Note: They do start you off with bread, but there is a charge for it (2€).

Camarao ao Alhinho (garlic shrimp) - wasn't what I expected but it was amazing. It was shrimp cooked in a sublime garlic butter sauce with toasted garlic bread. The garlic was shaved in paper thin slices and the sauce was delicious. We continued eating the starter bread in just the garlic butter after we finished the rest. My only suggestion is it could have come with a few more pieces of toasted bread for the amount of shrimp. Note - shrimp does have head/shell on so takes a little bit of work to eat, but the shells add to the flavor.

Sopa de Peixe (fish soup) - quality soup that went well with the bread. I thought it could have maybe had a little bit more salt.

Bacalhau à Algarvia (Algarvian style cod) - this was exquisite. It was a large piece of lightly battered and fried cod served on a bed of sauteed spinach and perfectly cooked potatoes. It has a huge amount of sauteed onions on top that was delicious as well. There were bones in the fish just to be aware of.

Linguine Preta (Black linguine with shrimp) - black linguine in a very creamy tomato sauce with shrimp. The sauce was delicious and tasted like it was made from good quality tomatoes. I asked the waiter about the black linguine as I thought it might be squid ink and he said it wasn’t though.

I thought they had a really unique (and effective!) way of showing you the desserts. They bring out a tray with all of them on it. We tried 2 different mousse desserts. One with Bolacha Mulata (local chocolate biscuit) and another with the local Espécies (has cinnamon and other spices). Both were very good and at a good price. I liked the bolacha the most. Although I liked espécies, this dessert was a little heavily spiced for my liking.

Like most restaurants, it is customary to charge for takeout containers...

We discovered Sabores Sopranos through Google, and the reviews were spot on! This was the perfect first meal on the island.

We started with the fish soup, which was creamy, rich, and full of flavor. Next came the limpets, served with butter and garlic—simple yet absolutely delicious. For the main course, we had the Cataplana de Peixe, a seafood stew with fish, shrimp, and limpets, accompanied by rice. The sweetness of the onions balanced the dish beautifully. Though it’s listed as a portion for two, it could easily feed a family of four!

The couple running the restaurant were incredibly warm and welcoming, making the experience even more enjoyable. We also noticed they offer a weekday set lunch, which we would definitely try on a future visit.

Well worth the drive from Velas—highly...

Amazing food, among best in the island (if not the very best). However the service is extremely disorganized and shows poor management. We were made to wait more than one hour for a table, when there were several free tables for people that arrived more than 2 hours after us. After we were seated, waiting time for food was also more than one hour. We arrived at 13h, left after 17h, for a quick 2 dish meal.

The food was so good however, that we did come back again, when the restaurant was completely empty. Waiting times were still substantial, but not problematic of course.

Maybe some restaurants in são Jorge should increase payment to employees, in order to attract more workers and solve lack of...