Cachalote — Restaurant in Porto Moniz

⭐⭐⭐⭐

We visited Cachalote after it was recommended by a local guide, and it was a wonderful way to experience traditional Madeiran food in a beautiful, airy setting. The restaurant sits right by the sea, and you can enjoy a fresh breeze while looking out across the waves, which creates a truly relaxing atmosphere. It’s the kind of place where you immediately feel that you’re getting an authentic local experience, rather than a tourist-focused meal.

We decided to try the traditional espetada, which came out beautifully presented with slices of fresh orange on the side, and the portion size was generous. The food was fresh and nicely seasoned, and you could tell that they used good local ingredients. I have to be honest and say I personally found the meat a bit chewy for my taste, but this seems to be part of the traditional style, and it didn’t take away from the overall experience. It was still a good dish, and the flavours were lovely alongside the fresh orange and the crisp salad.

The service at Cachalote was warm and attentive without being overbearing. Staff were friendly and seemed genuinely happy to chat, and it felt like they were proud of their local food and the place itself. Everything came out at a relaxed but timely pace, which allowed us to soak in the views and enjoy the afternoon without feeling rushed.

The atmosphere here is really what makes it stand out. Sitting with the sea view, listening to the waves, and watching the sky change colours while you eat is something you don’t always get, even in other places along the coast. It made our visit feel special, and I can see why it’s a place people recommend when you want to taste Madeira in a setting that feels calm and local.

Overall, Cachalote is a place I’d recommend if you want a traditional Madeiran dining experience with great views and fresh local food. Even though the meat wasn’t quite to my personal taste, it was still a very enjoyable meal, and the service and setting more than made up for it. It’s a lovely spot to unwind and experience Madeira properly, especially if you’re looking to spend a slow afternoon enjoying the local atmosphere with fresh,...

I would start by telling about the atmosphere. The view is quite nice. All the windows are panoramic and allow visitors to look at the ocean, some islands and offer a wonderful glimpse of the Madeira island. The only thing related to this part they have to fix is windows cleaning, since there were streaks, probably because of the water salinity. The actual problem is that the view is the only thing that deserves praise in this restaurant. The food is good, nothing especial, the steak was a bit too salty, nevertheless still edible, but you would be surprised with the size of the servings as well as my family was (they’re large). However, if you ask your waiter to take-away the leftovers from the lunch you’ve paid for, the first of all you’ll get kinda surprised and not really hidden judging gaze. But the biggest surprise of all you are about to have when the waiter brings you the take-out boxes and tells YOU to pack your take-away right in the middle of the restaurant. After being completely stunned by this and somehow packing your food, you wanna pay the bill, of course. Left alone the fact that you are supposed to do it at the bar counter and not at your table, in the bill you’ll discover that +10% of the total cost you’re paying for the SERVICE. As the waitress said it’s an “optional innovation” at their restaurant but this optional works like “you pay the tips unless you say you don’t want” and not “you pay the tips when you tell that you want to” because they were about to include it to our payment before we said that we don’t wanna give any tips. I won’t come back and don’t recommend this restaurant for anyone. If you think that I’ve spent too much time on writing this comment, it was nothing compared to the 40-minutes waiting for my starter at...

Big portions, tasty food, good wait staff. Cachalote was recommended by our private tour guide Ricardo from Madeira Tours by Diogo. Ricardo was spot on about this restaurant (and everything else he introduced us to on his super affordable private day tours). Food wise we had the Black Scabbard with Banana (comes with a bowl of seafood rice and a nice garden salad). Bananas with fish is not a pairing I had considered but it was very tasty. My wife had the Grilled Prawns appetizer plus a side Salad. Both were very good and the salad was a full size plate. We started with Bolo do Caco which is a locally sourced circular flatbread shaped like a cake, made from flour, sweet potato, yeast, water and salt cooked on a flat basalt stone slab. We regretted ordering the bread, not because it wasn’t good (it was great) but because the portions were so big we over ate:). The only thing that could have slightly improved our lunch was a little A/C, it was a little stuffy and the expansive windows with spectacular ocean views were closed so we didn’t get to experience the cool ocean breeze that I read in previous guest reviews. Bottomline: Cachalote is...