Restaurante Floresta — Restaurant in Ponta Delgada

This little eatery was recommended to us by our walking tour guide for traditional Azorean food and we are glad to have listened. This is very much a local place, but if you dare to go in as a tourist and try out your Portuguese, you will be rewarded when it comes to the food (meat and fish only - not suitable for vegetarians). It is a a tiled box room with no windows and a TV in the corner, with diners from local workmen on their lunchbreak, to families sharing a meal. They only have 5 or 6 items on the menu each day, which for the locals they just asked them their preference and for us the hand wrote them on a piece of paper, so don't expect a nicely translated menu. We dove in, choosing two dishes, only vaguely sure what we were ordering. We ended up with a delicious pork steak and chips with an egg on top (which we would come to learn is classic to serve with all types of steaks) and Pasteis de Bacalhau (salt cod fish cakes) with rice and salad. Both were delicious and served with a lovely fresh bread basket, some of the best meals we ate on our whole trip. And at the absolute bargain price of 6.50 euros per meal... we felt like we had...

Great restaurant packed with locals. Food is simple and tasty. We had the beef and the ribs which were both very soft and perfectly cooked. We were the only tourists there. There can be 10 minutes or so wait at the peak lunch hour (between 12:30 and 13:10 or so). Some people had a plate of white beans cooked in sauce that looked delicious too. The menu is written on a sheet of paper and we chose a bit randomly and to be honest I am convinced everything is excellent. Also the price is local price : 7.50 euros for a generous portion of meat served with rice ans potatoes. 1 euro a glass of wine, 0.65 a coffee, 1 euro for a bottle of water... Amazing value, Highly...

03/01/2023 - Primeiro almoço fora de 2023. Não foi a primeira opção, mas lá fomos experimentar este restaurante que se situa "escondido" numa rua não principal. Logo à entrada tínhamos o menu, pelo que logo se verificou as opções disponíveis (que eram baratas 👍). Um grande senão foi o fato de dos todos os pratos apresentados só tinham um: as costeletas de porco 🐷. No entanto aceitamos ficar e pedir esse prato. O ambiente no restaurante é bastante tabernoso, assemelhado-se a uma espécie de cave (ver fotos). O serviço em si está de acordo com o tipo de estabelecimento descrito anteriormente, pelo que não há formalismos durante o serviço, o que para mim até é agradável (um toque de "terra a terra" 😅). A costeleta estava boa e a dose era bem generosa 👌. Falta é sempre alguma verdura que é sempre algo agradável de se ter num prato desta envergadura. Assim sendo deu ⭐⭐⭐⭐ pelo preço e qualidade da comida. Caso contrário teria que dar ⭐⭐⭐ pelo o fato de só ter um prato disponível, algo que certamente conseguirão resolver. Terei que ver na próxima ida o...