Restaurante Praça do Engenho — Restaurant in Machico

Very negative experience regarding this restaurant, I ate for a week in madeira during my stay, most of the time I tried new food from the menu, some meals were not to my liking, however I still ate it and didn't complain since I like trying out new things. I came to this restaurant after a very long day, and I wanted to play it safe since I was hungry so i ordered tuna steak. It came overcooked and very dry. Completely uneatable, vegetable that came with it were under cooked. I ate half of it and then I decided to order steak in mushrooms, the waiter never asked if it's any good, but I didn't really wanna complain about the tuna, since the restaurant was cheap so I expected that the quality of the fish may not be very best. However when meat arrived I was very disappointed, I had one bite and couldn't chew through it, I prefer my steaks rare, however I expect to be able to chew it. It was very old meat so I called the bartender and said that the meat is not good, that It can't be chewed. He just apologized, blamed it on the kitchen and looked at me like he can't do anything about it. So I called for a bill. When bill arrived he took 5 euros off the total. I explained to him that both of the meals were very bad, however I don't mind paying for the fish, however the steak was very bad and I don't think it's eatable, therefore u shouldn't charge it. He said sorry however that he has to charge for it. I'm usually a great tipper, I find madeira very cheap, those few extra euros wouldn't make impact on hundreds spent during my stay, however that's not how u...

I don’t recommend this restaurant — especially for those trying Madeiran cuisine for the first time.

We’ve visited Madeira multiple times and have dined at many local restaurants, so we know what lapas (limpets) are supposed to taste like. Unfortunately, the ones served here were extremely disappointing — bland, poorly prepared, and lacking any real flavor. It’s a shame that someone might try them here first and walk away with a completely wrong impression of this traditional dish.

We actually visited this restaurant last year and were also unimpressed with the seafood back then. This year, while strolling along the promenade, we noticed they were serving lapas again and decided to give them another chance. We ordered lapas and espada (scabbardfish) with banana — and once again, the food was completely underwhelming and tasteless.

There was also an issue with pricing: when we received the bill, we saw that the prices were higher than what was listed in the menu. It felt like they were counting on tourists not remembering the original prices. Thankfully, we did — and once we asked, the waitress quickly began correcting the bill.

Another red flag: there was no menu for drinks, especially coffee. I ordered a coffee and was served a double espresso — and charged double the price you'd pay at other nearby restaurants, even those of higher quality and better service.

👎 The oceanfront location is beautiful — but sadly, the food and service are a real letdown. This was our second (and...

It's a very nice location, the food is ok. I would eat there again for the food and the view. But our sandwhiches were made with bolo de c. Which is more expensive- without asking and then the Tuna sandwhich was listen as 8 instead of 4 Euro on the Bill. I told the waitress and she said the menu showed old prices and this was the new price 🤣sure. So she told me to go speak to the Boss, who said somebody put Tuna salad instead of Tuna sanwhich on the Bill. So which one is it? The Boss was friendly though but the whole thing thing didnt feel right. Plus Fries are 5 Euro and not listen on the menu. I think that is overpriced in relation to the sandwhiches and other food. Brisa 2,50. Most other locations were closed on the beachfront. We still enjoyed the view. Just not the sad lonely little Fish in the pond inside. Don't really understand that. Price reduction and more crisp on the French fries and straight communication amongst the team (we had 4 different people serving our table. Why not divide tables by waiters?) OK so there is room for improvement. But the boss was friendly and corrected the bill. Some pros and cons we...