Restaurante Ponta da Ilha — Restaurant in Lajes do Pico

We called in advance to make a reservation and were told there is only available space inside - we said sure, no problem. When we arrived we discovered this is actually because the nice terrace with an ocean view as seen in the photos does not exist anymore. We were seated in a side room, with the light turned off and the table not set. After waiting 20 minutes we asked if we can finally get a menu as the staff clearly forgot about us and no one approached us. A few minutes after making the order, the waitress came back to tell us that both of our starters are not available - only one from the menu was left. This was odd as one of the starters was the octopus salad and the waitress said it was unavailable, but the octopus that we ordered as a main dish was still available. In the meantime we got our wine bottle (we also asked for water but never got it) and bread basket (this was the only good dish - good portion and quality). We were really looking forward to the whole octopus main dish as we had seen how impressive it looked for many other clients who left a google review of this place. When the main dishes arrived we were surprised to instead receive a plate with potatoes and some chopped up pieces of octopus so salty that it was impossible to eat. In the meantime, the waitress asked us if we want a cooler for our wine but at this point almost an hour had passed since she served it so it was all warmed up already. The restaurant might have a cosy atmosphere if you are able to get a table in the main room and maybe come early in the day when it’s not busy and all ingredients are still available, but the service and food is simply bad and inadequate to the price. Very frustrating considering this is the only restaurant in the area, so you are forced to...

Disappointed - massively. We had to wait 1.5 hours to receive our food. We had two kid’s menus, one dish with shrimps and one with octopus. The restaurant was fairly full upon our arrival, so it was clear we weren’t the first ones to be served. However, being able to tell us that one dish ordered was no longer available but not mentioning that we’d have a really long waiting time, especially when with children, is really not acceptable to me. The food was ok but - to me - certainly not worth the extremely long wait. I didn’t think the octopus (which turned out to be a stew) was that great. It seemed for the staff it was easier to ignore us than to proactively approach us, even when it was a lot less busy and we wanted to...

Habe heute hier mittags folgendes gegessen (wegen des Regens drinnen, siehe auch Fotos der Gerichte bis auf die Suppe): Suppe (Zwiebel), Tintenfisch-Salat, Fisch-Gericht (Gegrillter Lirio = Große Bernsteinmakrele). Zum Essen habe ich einen lokalen Rotwein getrunken. Das Ambiente im Lokal habe ich als sehr angenehm empfunden, einem Bistro ähnlich mit gefliestem Boden und Tischen und Stühlen aus Holz. Der Blick geht ins Grüne auf Sträucher und Bäume mit dem Meer im Hintergrund - sehr idyllisch! Wir wurden von 2 sehr freundlichen und aufmerksamen Personen bedient. Jetzt zu den Gerichten: Suppe War und tat gut, ist aber wie viele Suppen hier eher fad. Es ist eine gebundene Suppe mit kleinen Ei-Stückchen und ein paar Kräutern, von der Zwiebel war nur sehr wenig zu schmecken. Aber wie gesagt, in den meisten Lokalen bekommt man so eine Suppe (hier 2 Euro für einen Teller) Tintenfischsalat (6 Euro) In Stücke geschnittene Tintenfischarme (Pulpo), mariniert (wahrscheinlich mit Olivenöl und Essig/Zitrone) und mit Petersilie und Paprikastückchen verfeinert. Diese Vorspeise schmeckte fantastisch , geschuldet an der guten Würzung der Marinade und der harmonischen Komposition aus fruchtigen Paprikastückchen und natürlich dem wunderbar zarten und herzhaften Pulpo-Stückchen. Gegrillter Lirio = Große Bernsteinmakrele (23 €) Fantastischer Fisch, ausgezeichnet zubereitet und genau richtig gar. Saftiges, festes und äußerst geschmackvolles Fleisch, von der Konsistenz einem Thunfisch ähnlich, wenig Gräten! Kartoffeln und Salat der Beilage lecker, aber nichts besonderes. Die zusätzlich bestellten Pommes waren sehr gut (dünn und knusprig)

Insgesamt fällt mein Urteil sehr positiv aus und kann ich vor allem Fischliebhabern dieses Lokal voll und ganz empfehlen. Die Portionen sind übrigens relativ groß und...