The Ritz Madeira — Restaurant in Funchal

As the most anticipated dinner of our trip, with months in the planning, my expectations were devastatingly downgraded to a sad reality. This place should not exist gastronomically. We were offered their two wine choices, none of which met the Duoro wine standard. Yet I tried. Things improved as I imbibed copiously of course. But the the first bite was disappointing. The sacred dinner roll was as stale as cardboard. The salmon was pale and translucid as evidently pulled from a bag, and its accompanying salad as bland as the ceiling. The saving grace was the citric lemon, and the tartness of the house rose. The soup was as delightful as a two day old gazpacho. Let’s just say Mr Campbell would have turned in his grace thrice. Yet, nothing prepared me for the main course - a powerful testament to not return. The “alleged” bass was so thin and dry and yet it managed to edge the microwaved beef. Explicitly, this is a locale whose staff tended better to the table with two dogs than us, and a cook who doesn’t want you to come back. And I say cook, because there is no chef. If there was a chef they would have caught the bone in the “pig in the blanket” that nearly shattered my new molar. And yes my kids were rude with their iPads. Sorry. But I still have a palate. And this is not the...

I bought their ice cream as it was a warm day but man.. their service was so bad and the ice cream was so disappointing! The young boy was not happy that I wanted to try a second flavour and when I asked if it was okay to try a third and last one to make my decision, he just said no and became impatient. The point of letting customers try different flavours is to help them to choose the ice cream that they wanna buy, isn't it? Why risk losing potential customers over a small spoon sample? Such a mediocre way to do business.. Plus, you really don't quite have that ice cream quality to say "no" to a customer asking for samples...this is nothing like Italian gelato as their ice cream lack both creaminess and taste. I went for a flavour that I didn't get to try (as I didn't like the two that he let me try) and was still disappointed.

Don't be fooled by their name or their marketing. This is nothing like the Ritz in London. They try to be fancy, but a real luxury place pays equal, if not more, attention to the quality of food and service than the decorations. Unfortunately this place is not good at...

After trying different restaurants and food hot spots we stopped at the RITZ and kicked ourselves not finding it earlier. They were amazing, and the food was perfection. Pasta and cod fish and chips was delicious. I not excited for cod but was mind blown when I got two nice crispy pieces of fish and great fires(chips). Family loved it. Edwardo was the man of the day. All were great but you always have one that you gravitate towards and EDWARDO was the man. Made sure we were happy with what we were ordering even if it ment talking to the chef multiple times. Not once did we think he was annoyed. Keep up the great work guys and the spot is in one beautiful spot with gorgeous tall trees and busy streets around you. It’s what I liked, to see everyone have places to go while I enjoy my meal. The only one thing is the small side street that had a handful of cars drive across the sidewalk and was a bit weird but it was very little traffic so I still loved the place for sure a stop for next year’s vacation Be safe...