Restaurant O Pescador — Restaurant in Machico

First of all, the place looked like it was going to be expensive, the way the tables were set up, like fine dining. We expected it was going to dip into our pockets so we were prepared. Yes the menu had some high cost items but not near what I was expecting. There's a restaurant downstairs and I think it's predominantly pizza which is where we started to go but was stopped by an elderly man and told they won't up again until 6:15 thats why we went upstairs. Anyway, another elderly man sat us at a table then proceeded to wait on us. We ordered the bola de coca and a couple beers. I had chopped steak with gravy and it came with fries, hubs had grilled chicken which was delicious!! I didn't eat much so we had it wrapped to go, by this time we encountered Isabella, a lovely lady that took over where our gentleman left off. She was so pleasant and endearing. She mentioned dessert but all the ones I wanted had ice cream and it would melt and I couldn't eat anything at that point so Isabella recommended o passion fruit dish, she said all of the desserts were homemade, which was kind of like a mousse so we ordered it and left. On our way out we saw a fresh fish fridge that was displayed at the front. The service was very good. The atmosphere beautiful, the tables overlooked the beach, and the food was well worth it! I tried the dessert the next day and I didn't like it but...

Not what we expected.

My husband and I both ordered the sopa de mariscos after being told that the seafood was fresh. While I have my doubts about just how fresh it actually was, that wasn’t the main issue.

What really upset me was that there was no mention that the soup contained garlic – and quite a lot of it. The soup had a strong garlic taste, and there were even garlic pieces at the bottom of the bowl. Honestly, how can you enjoy a soup that tastes overwhelmingly of garlic without being warned in advance?

What made it worse was that I had specifically ordered bolo do caco without garlic, so it should’ve been clear that I don’t like it. It’s frustrating that no one thought to mention the garlic in the soup.

For dessert, I ordered the maracujá mousse. It wasn’t terrible, but it certainly wasn’t good either. I was expecting a rich, creamy mousse, but what I got was the opposite – thin in texture and lacking the smooth consistency you’d hope for in a mousse.

Overall, we left disappointed. It wasn't the worst meal I’ve ever had, but definitely not one I’d return for. If you don’t like garlic, I’d be extra...

Ordered a portion of scabbard fish each and also wanted a half portion of limpets (lapas) to try. Asked if we wanted bolo do caco, agreed to it but stated clearly no garlic on it. Arrived with garlic butter melted into it. Starter came and was completely not what we ordered, got salted dried tuna like fish, barely edible. Questioned it and although they were willing to change we decided at that point not worth it as we had had enough of the salted fish. Bare in mind we asked for a half portion in first place but were charged for a full portion of something we hadnt ordered and couldnt eat. Then main meal arrived. Was edible but so much passionfruit sauce added we couldnt taste the fish or the banana. Wont be returning, very dissapointing and our worst meal on the island. Nice views over sea but staff hovering watching all the while too was kind of a...