Restaurante Taberna Ruel — Restaurant in Funchal

Came with friends. Ordered the traditional Grilled Limpets and Regional Beef on Skewer. Limpets was absolutely incredible and very flavourful. One of my friends had the Octopus Carpaccio and it was delicious.

The beef however I asked for medium rare and whilst some of the cubes were cooked perfectly and was amazing, most of the cubes were either very rare or near enough blue which wasn’t very pleasant to eat personally as it was a little chewy, so I couldn’t finish.

I actually never do reviews but I really wanted feedback on the night but didn’t feel comfortable doing so at the time but I still really want to share my experience with one of the waitress. Both the manager and possibly the owner was very friendly and kind but there was one British waitress who was a bit shocking.

She started setting up our table and she spoke with a British accent so I asked her (as a fellow Brit) if she was from UK and which region she’s from - completely ignored me (she definitely heard me..) and was really disinterested in engaging with us. I understand if waiters are in a rush but I asked her at the start of her table set up and there was a lot of time for her to engage with us but instead, all of us felt this long awkward silence until she finished the set up when she didn’t answer. Then when we finished, I asked to pack my food (this fried cube dough which was very delicious) and she said there’s a charge for a box so I asked if there was just a paper bag we could have as a box wasn’t necessary. She didnt answer, walked away to get the bag but not before both me and my friend caught her rolling her eyes at us! Then when she came to take the payment for our bill, we were still trying to calculate our shares, she was very visibly annoyed at us and walked away and seemed very jmpatient. Again, I understand waiters/Waitresses (I was once myself) have little time to tend to everyone but there were absolutely no warmth and her mannerism was just constantly rude and impatient. We didn’t feel comfortable every time she served us and the dinner felt a bit tense. We overheard her speak to the table behind and she was also very condescending and rude. We actually planned on having dessert but we just wanted to get out as soon as possible. We all have bad days but it doesn’t justify how you treat people.

Overall the food was pretty good but I’m not so sure I would dine again as I’ve had better in other restaurants in terms of food quality and most...

Negatives: Prices. For example, for the same price of 18€ for the Peixe Espada w/ banana, usually you can get that same dish but with potato and some salad. However, here you have to pay around 4€ for a side dish which should have been included from the beginning. The Skewer (Espetada Regional) also had only a few pieces of meat, which weren't extraordinary enough for the price they're asking for IMO. Bolo do caco. It's in a paper bag on a plate (why?) and it seems like they just bought it from a neighbour's shop or something. It's also really small for its price. Menu. The menu book was all sorts of messed up. Some pages were missing, and others were mixed between languages. Servers. Out of 4 servers, only one spoke portuguese, and only 2 of them listened to our requests. The others weren't really doing anything, and just redirected. Place. It's quite a hidden spot in Zona Velha which requires going through alleyways to even find it.

Positives: Food. The food was ok, actually. We ordered Peixe Espada with banana, Chicken with Garlic Butter sauce, and Skewer (Espetada Regional) with white rice and fried corn. Note: The garlic butter is really good alongside any of these dishes. Ambient. It's slightly conditioned, which is important for the well-being of the customers and the servers, especially in the summer in Madeira. Note: it could still be much improved. There is aquarium noise in the background at all times, but you get used to it quickly. Candy. Some menthol candies were offered with the check, maybe to incentivise (bribery) giving a tip to the servers.

Nitpicks: Tables. As 4 people, we first sat at a tables that were together joined by a narrow table in the middle, which seemed good for us, because we wanted to share the food. We were then told to move to a new table which wasn't "for couples". Nevertheless, later they added a new narrow table on the side smh Water. We told the server we wanted a litre of water, but fresh. He said they were recent and would be warmer, and we agreed that was ok. Nevertheless, our request was ignored and they brought a 75 cL bottle instead of 1L. Not much...

Our whole dinner lasted for nearly 4 hours... we were suppose to start at 7pm (reservation made a couple of days in advance), table wasn't ready, aparently only 5minutes away, 10 minutes later still nothing, but just 5 more minutes waiting please they say.., having asked what's the problem, i was told it might take another 25 minutes or maybe longer, because at the table allocated for us guests are still eating, so finally got a different table, didn't really understood why they haven't offer that at first. We sat inside in the back, near an open gate, but then one guest start smoking his pipe, my table said no smoking, but near his said it's a smoking zone, what a mess... At 8.40pm we finally received wine, that was the longest i ever had to wait, reminders have been ignored, seriously some bread and wine would keep us a long way through, but when you get nothing, it's a problem. Staff is nice, but doesn't care much, they do their job and if it's busy it's not their fault, but nowhere does it say the waiting time will be that long. Child dishes were super small, we had to order 2 additional portions of bread (took 30 minutes) to get them full. Our food tasted good and it was fresh, but so what when evening was ruined by waiting and frustration, prices were higher than in other similar locations and not worth that food. I wish i could but i cannot...