Taberna do Capitão — Restaurant in Funchal

Category: Creative. We loved everything about this restaurant: the upstairs location, the rustic wood and stone interior, the service, the wine, and of course the food, which is attributable to a chef whose world-class imagination, talent, and execution far exceed most of the food we have found in Madeira. We were a group of six foodies, so we tried a bunch of dishes, all of which I can wholeheartedly recommend. The paella-like Coal Oven Roasted Octopus Rice special was unusual and delicious. There was nothing fake about the Fake Prawn Bisque “Cappuccino”. The word “fake” refers not to the prawns 🦐, which are very real, but to what the chef calls the accompanying “cappucino”, which isn’t really cappucino. This seafood bisque that is like cappucino was delicious. Suggestion: drop the word “fake”. The quotation marks convey the idea that the “cappucino” is within a chef’s license to be creative. We also really enjoyed the beautifully lacquered Slow-cooked Capitão Beef Short Rib (another special), the Ceviche of Fish From Our Coast (the bonito/katsuobushi flakes were a nice touch), Taberna Brined Sardine with Greek Feta Crispy Roll (sardine with feta: brilliant), and Snapper Catch of the Day with lemon confit and tomato risotto. I often judge my favorite dish (or my favorite part of a dish) by what I save for the very last bite. In this case the last bite was of the Duo of Pressed Hot Beef Oxtail and Pork Cheek. I really look forward to dining here again. YouTube’s...

I chose Taberna do Capitão for New Year’s Eve 2024 dinner based on glowing reviews and recommendations from friends a year ago. Unfortunately, the experience did not live up to expectations.

The evening started off promisingly with a good amuse-bouche and starter. However, things quickly went downhill.

The fish course was served on cold plates, and all four portions were raw in the middle. When we sent them back, the waitstaff returned with the same plates and awkwardly tried to guess whose was whose. We ended up swapping plates ourselves to eat the barely corrected fish.

Hoping for improvement with the main course, we were again let down. The beef was undercooked, the potato au gratin was cold, and, once again, everything was served on cold plates. Despite voicing our concerns, the issues persisted.

The dessert was enjoyable, though it was clearly pre-prepared. Mine had toppled over before being served, which was disappointing given the occasion.

While some waiters were attentive, others seemed indifferent. Most frustratingly, the manager never came to address our complaints or apologise, leaving us feeling ignored.

For an evening as special as New Year’s Eve, we expected far better. Sadly, I cannot recommend this restaurant based on...

The place had a cosy feeling, had modern atmosphere. Some staff a bit stiff but others very friendly, but all were very attentive and polite. Couple of guys working on the evening had a good sense of humour you sometimes can miss then being in Funchal as most places have rather reserved serving style. All good with English, thus, made it easier for us to communicate (sorry, we are still not very good at Portuguese).

The place was fully booked on the evening thus it was nicely buzzing. Live music was being played which added to the atmosphere. The building itself has an interesting story which you can ask staff about.

A bit tricky with just one restroom for all to share, thus, you had a queue at time, but maybe an old building makes it difficult to add any more.

Food was tasty and nice, we drank wine that was recommended and it was good too. We didn’t go for any menu puddings but tried sorbets. Some better than others, lemon one was really good, some others a bit blank. For main meal we all chose different dishes. Again, some better than others, but all good, interesting and nice. We were served a little taster of chefs invention to start with. It was ok. Nothing spectacular but it is just for a show and to keep us busy whilst waiting...