The Old Pharmacy — Restaurant in Ponta do Sol

We came here on our last night in Madeira, very happy with our whole trip having amazing service experience and coming relaxed after seeing a wonderful sunset, entering with a big smile ready to order a bottle of wine and taste some cheese. Well I don’t need to give much detail, but we felt judged and one could cut the tension and horrible vibes of our young waitress. They didn’t care into giving any explanations in relation to their big sortiment of wines, I felt pushed to take a 30€ bottle without any introduction. When I said I wanted to see more she basically showed me another bottle and didn’t care at all about what we wanted. That really didn’t give me any trust and instead ordered two glasses of Madeiran wine, again the waitress didn’t care at all to explain us the wine we were getting, but she made sure to point out that we will get “very little portions”. Again with a very hostile attitude and not caring at all to explain to us what kind of wine it was. We also ordered some sortiment of tapas, we asked about what kind of tapas we will get and she didn’t care to explain, only saying “meat, fish and vegetables “. Well we asked if it would be possible not to have meat and again her attitude was pretty terrible. When the tapas came they were ok, 2 of them with cheese (tasted almost the same, only one with pesto another one with half cherry tomato), and we guess the other two were with fish but as said, we don’t even know what kind. I believe the place is Ok to eat since it was recommended to us by locals, but we strongly believe the staff can make some changes. The other waiters seemed also really serious and the establishment was without music giving a very cold atmosphere. Won’t be back and giving its popularity, I hope they make some changes to have a better experience for...

The Old Pharmacy in Ponta do Sol offers a dining experience that feels more like a lunchroom than a full-fledged restaurant. During my visit, I had the chicken salad, which was alright but lacked dressing. I had to prepare the dressing myself, which felt a bit lazy, though it's not uncommon (similar to the neighboring Caprice). The chicken was dry, although the mushrooms were well-cooked, if a bit unusual in a green salad.

The tapas selection was mostly simple and uninspiring. It included pieces of bread with tuna salad, mozzarella, and the same dry chicken from the salad. While the pinchos were okay and the tuna quiche was quite nice, the rest of the offerings lacked excitement and flavor. We’ve had a good laugh about the canned sausage on toast.

On a positive note, the staff was friendly and accommodating. However, when comparing this establishment to the neighboring Sun and Steak, which is under the same ownership, the difference is striking. Sun and Steak provides a much more refined dining experience.

In summary, The Old Pharmacy feels more suited for lunch, though it tries to cater to dinner patrons as well. With some improvements in the quality and creativity of its dishes, it could better meet the expectations...

We have visited The Old Pharmacy on several occasions lately. They have been doing Fado nights which we like to visit. Yesterday we had the company of a friend with an E621 intolerance, that is monosodiumglutamate. Very nasty, as it is used in many condiments. A visit with the chef beforehand, set up by a very helpful Marisa, resulted in a thourough explanation of the ingredients used and we enjoyed a fantastic evening with lovely and out-of-the-ordinary food, which our friend could enjoy without any problems or worries. The Fado music was without a doubt the best Madeira has to offer and we were pleasantly surprised to hear that the musicians have been contracted for the rest of 2018. Every second Sunday night is Fado night and it is advisable to book a table. The prices were friendly, especially if you consider there was live music, and we ended paying slightly under €20 each without tip, which we added to this as it was more than deserved. We will certainly be going back there and we can recommend the Old Pharmacy...