Restaurante Il Basilico Funchal — Restaurant in Funchal

MARCH 2024 (Original Review) : OMG, for heaven's sake, please just go to this exquisitely beautiful and incredibly cozy restaurant, with their divine food, and their absolutely delightful five star service!!! Clearly, one of the top, if not THE top restaurants on Madeira Island... Be very smart and ask for Alexandra "The Great" and just let this incredibly charming, fun loving and brilliant young Lady order for you...!!! Thank me later, OK!!! Enjoy!!! LEE PS - Although I was there last night, I plan to go again tomorrow to try their gourmet pizza(s)...!!!

MAY 2024 (Update) : OMG, I made a very difficult decision to stop going to Il Basilico for TWO reasons. ONE, in spite of the seemingly bottomless warm and genuinely welcoming greetings and absolutely amazing services that I always consistently received each and every time I visited there, I actually became embarrassed for being there every other day. I quite honestly wanted to eat 3 meals a day there, each and every day, even though they did not provide breakfast! TWO, after telling my friends and family that I found THE VERY BEST RESTAURANT on Madeira Island, I was consistently told that "I hadn't tried enough of the other restaurants in the area and hadn't had other offerings!!!" Well, after several weeks away (...very sadly!!!) from visiting and eating the food from Il Basilico and after trying a significant sampling of other restaurants food in the area, I have come to the conclusion that my friends and family were profoundly wrong and that I have been right all along. To me, Il Basilico is THE VERY BEST RESTAURANT in the area and, not only have I have profoundly missed going there to eat their delightful and wonderfully amazing gourmet food but I also TRULY miss seeing Maria, Alexandra the Great, the very tall manager of the restaurant whose name I cannot remember (...I've always been terrible with names!) and all of the other Il Basilico Team that ALWAYS made me feel very welcomed and at home!!! Anyway, my only brother, Chris, is coming to visit me later this week so rest assured that you can count on us making several visits to Il Basilico because I only want THE very best for my younger brother!!! See...

We first tried to visit Il Basilico on a Saturday without a booking, but it was fully booked, so we came back on Tuesday with a reservation. When we arrived, we were seated inside. The menu had a good mix of cocktails and traditional Italian dishes.

To start, we had a gin cocktail with red berries and cucumber, beautifully presented. For starters, I had bruschetta funghi. I wasn’t expecting the mushrooms to be served cold, but the flavours were tasty.

For mains, I chose the fish stew, one of their specialties. It had a variety of perfectly cooked fish, with a crustacean on top (I think it was langoustine), which was a bit fiddly to get the meat out of. My mum ordered a meat dish with mash and courgette which she enjoyed.

To finish, we both had a timarisu dessert with pistachio nuts I really liked it.

The ambience felt quite high-end. The waiters were a bit inconsistent, some seemed a little odd and not very attentive, while others checked in on us and were more relaxed and approachable.

Overall, it was a nice experience, a bit fancier and more special than other places we visited. Definitely make a booking in advance to avoid...

First impressions were favourable and somewhat “talked up” by front desk at The Cliff Bay Hotel.

Booked for 8:30 pm and seated by 8:25pm, but then kept waiting for 20 minutes before order taken. Others who came in after us were served food before we had our order taken. Plenty of waiting staff around but only two taking orders.

First course when it arrived at 9:15 pm was “ok”. Eaten within 10 minutes.

Second course arrived at 9:50 pm but ravioli was very under cooked and hard pasta. Inedible. Diavola pizza did not live up to its spicy name.

At 22:10 we decided we would not wait another 30 minutes for dessert.

Yes it was Friday but others around us had ordered, been served and left before we were served with main course, of expected and pre-paid PortoBay three course “Meal Deal”.

Very disappointed and made it clear to waiter taking orders that we did not have more time to wait. Offered a glass of something as token of apology but, as with all things service-wise, it’s too late to recover after the event.

Sabores d’Italia opposite the Spar shop on Av. Monumental provided far better service, food quality and good...