Dona Nina Restaurante — Restaurant in Funchal

I recently had the pleasure of dining at Dona Nina, a charming Portuguese restaurant that truly captures the essence of traditional Portuguese cuisine. From the moment I walked in, I was welcomed with warm and friendly service that set the tone for a wonderful meal.For my main course, I ordered the espetada, a traditional Portuguese skewer of perfectly grilled meat. The meat was tender, well-seasoned, and cooked to perfection. The flavors were rich and authentic, taking me straight to the heart of Madeira.I also tried the squid, which was equally impressive. It was fresh and expertly prepared, with a delicate flavor that was enhanced by a simple yet flavorful seasoning. The squid was tender, not chewy, which is a testament to the skill of the kitchen.To finish off the meal, I indulged in the apple pie. While not a traditional Portuguese dessert, it was a delightful way to end the evening. The pie had a flaky crust and a warm, spiced apple filling that was both comforting and delicious.Overall, the service at Dona Nina was exceptional. The staff was attentive, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about providing an authentic dining experience. The atmosphere was cozy and inviting, making it the perfect place to enjoy a leisurely meal.If you're looking for a taste of Portugal with great service to match, Dona Nina is a must-visit. I highly recommend it and look forward to...

Unfortunately this was not as expected. We found excellent reviews on The Fork and Google so we decided to pay a visit to Dona Nina. We had an warm welcome with a glas of madeira on the house but then everything went wrong. They missed the secret toast on the house on our table. The bolo do caco was not fresh. The starters were a very small portion of calamares (6 pieces for 8.50 EUR) and prawns in garlic (amount ok for 10.90 EUR) but just a few pieces of garlic in oil are making no garlic oil with taste - therefore the garlic oil tastes like nothing. One minute after we finished our starters the main courses came to our table. They definitely stand prepared for some time in the kitchen because everything was more cold than hot. My wife has catch of the day = Dorade with vegetables and mashed potatoes and the mashed potatoes were instant and not fresh prepared. The skin of the fish was not crispy so it was steamed maybe. The quality of my octopus dona Nina style was ok but nothing special. So we were disappointed on the quality of the food. We get some drinks on the houses as a kind of saying sorry... Service was excellent but for the food we can't recommend this...

Best restaurant in Funchal!

We went to Dona Nina for dinner 3 times during our stay in Funchal. My goodness, their food is sensational! Every dish we had was amazing! Tonight we chose the soup of the day, whis was fish soup, and the mussels with cheese sauce. For mains we had the grilled salmon and the tagliatelle with prawns. In my opinion the best tagliatelle I’ve had for a long time. We ended the night with a chocolate mousse and apple pie with ice cream. Both were really tasty and the apple pie was warm and soft!

We were lucky that this restaurant was just down the street from our hotel, so we could basically crawl back if we would’ve needed to. I would definitely recommend that you try this place out if you’re in Funchal! Be smart though and make a...