Cris's — Restaurant in Funchal

A Disappointing Farewell to an Old Favourite

I’ve been coming to Cris Restaurant for many years, and it has always been a highlight of our holidays—a place we saved for our final evening as a treat. Sadly, this time was a huge disappointment.

To start with, the name of the restaurant has changed, which was a surprise. I had hoped this was simply to avoid confusion with another establishment further into town, but it now seems more like a reflection of a deeper shift—one that hasn’t been for the better.

Despite making a reservation for a table on the terrace, we were placed at a table that hadn’t been laid no plates, cutlery, candles, or any of the usual touches. Other tables were beautifully set, making us feel like an afterthought. The waiter, who was noticeably miserable, eventually approached with two complimentary glasses of fizz, but no welcome or warmth. My mum requested a glass of Madeira wine instead, which never arrived, and my daughter (a 12 year old child) wasn’t offered a drink at all.

We sat awkwardly for around ten minutes, struggling to get the attention of the staff. Eventually, we ordered. My sister, recovering from a recent operation, requested something very simple—plain grilled chicken and boiled potatoes. The kitchen kindly agreed, but what arrived was a salty chicken breast with two overcooked, dry croquette potatoes—nothing like what was requested.

My duck was bland and completely lacked flavour. The steak was passable, but again, it was the sauce that made it remotely enjoyable. My mum’s seabass was the smallest portion we’d seen all trip—more like a child’s meal than an adult main. To top it off, the decorative sauces on the plates turned out to be coloured mayonnaise.

We’ve eaten out in many restaurants this holiday, all of which were excellent. This was the only bad experience—and by far the most expensive. The bill came to nearly €100 more than any other evening, though to be fair, they did remove my sister’s meal after we explained it was inedible.

The restaurant was nearly empty, which tells you everything you need to know. It’s clear things have changed—new ownership or management perhaps—and unfortunately, it’s not for the better. We won’t...

I wish we avoided this place, but the reviews were false…

There are many other great restaurants in this region to visit.

We've never had such a bad service. The waiters very rude and mean. There were ants on the table, the food was either too salty or too much paper.

We sat outside at the table for 4, and it was little space behind the two people to pass through. The entire dinner waiters were serving the other table and passing behind our heads, always touching our hair and heads, which was really uncomfortable. It was only 3 other tables in the restaurant

When we asked if they could please not pass through us, the waitress angrily replied that’s she’s working, and that it’s very disrespectful of us to ask her that, which was kind of surprising. She also said that our friend should sit closer to the table, and let them pass through.

When I tried to explain that it’s uncomfortable to sit closer, she turned around and started serving another table.

Even though they could easily pass through the inside of the restaurant, which they did a couple of times with no problem, they still decided not to.

It was a very sad and disappointing experience, especially on my birthday.

We had to leave early and not finish our bottle of wine, when we just wanted to have a nice dinner and didn’t want any trouble or...

First of all, I have to commend this place on its service- which was excellent. We were greeted with complimentary sparkling wine. And the view of the ocean from our seats was amazing.

Now, the food, was not good. I see what the vision was for aesthetics, but the taste and quality just were not there.

It’s surprising how many 5- star reviews this restaurant got (which I feel like is how we were misled).

I had the duck ravioli, which was an interesting concept, but i think poorly executed (taste wise, looks wise). I was very intrigued (and quite put off by) the unnatural blue color of the sauce (it also didn’t really add to the flavor).

We also had the lamb racks (disappointing because the texture felt like it was freezer burnt).

Also had the fried scabbard (which, alone, would have been perfectly fine, as the fish was delicious). But the pairing with the risotto didn’t make sense to me, as the fish was made soggy sitting on top the risotto.

Several lessons were learned tonight, and one of them is: to be more discriminating about the photos on these reviews. With hindsight, we saw that we could have avoided this entire experience, with respect to food quality.

Overall, in terms of food, I think there’s a concept here, it just needs to be better executed with better quality...