À Terra Furnas — Restaurant in Povoação

We were staying at the hotel and decided to have dinner at the restaurant. Be prepared to wait — it took about 45 minutes to an hour for our food to arrive. We showed up five minutes early for our reservation, and the hostess, with quite an attitude, made it seem like we were lucky to even get a table, as if this was the hottest spot on the planet. Despite her claiming the place was fully booked and extremely busy, there were 5-6 empty tables the entire time we were there. Our reservation was at 9 PM, which seemed to be one of the last available slots.

It seems like if you don’t have a reservation, they’ll turn you away, even if there are open tables. The prices are also on the high side, and frankly, not justified by the service or the food. We ordered the stingray stew, which was not only the wrong dish but also incredibly salty — mostly potatoes with just three tiny pieces of stingray. Definitely wouldn’t recommend ordering that. The Furnas stew was ok.

On a positive note, the server staff were friendly and seemed to be working hard, though clearly stretched thin, as there were only four of them handling the entire dining room. Overall, I’d suggest driving...

We tried to eat here without making a reservation - despite not seeming busy, and only being a party of two, the restaurant was "booked up" - though they were able to accommodate us in the bar and we were allowed to order from a limited version of the menu.

The staff were nice enough and the decor was certainly appealing - but the dining experience left a lot to be desired.

We ordered two pizzas, as well as a cocktail and a mock-tail. The cocktail and mocktail were fine, if a bit pricey - but the pizzas were genuinely some of the saddest pizzas I have ever experienced.

My margarita was basically a plain cheese pizza - there was not a hint of basil to be detected, fresh or otherwise. Frankly it reminded me of the "dollar slices" you can get in New York, albeit with a slightly more robust crust.

My wife got the vegetarian pizza, which came with eggplant and arugula; and was similarly very sad. There were approximately 8 leaves of arugula (more a pinch, than a handful) and the eggplant seemed to be entirely without seasoning of any type (not even olive oil).

Hopefully the options on the full menu leave a better impression - but I would recommend avoiding...

We had our 25th wedding anniversary dinner at A Terra and have to say it was a wonderful dining experience, and will be in our memories for many years to come.

We opted for the 5 course, wine paired, chef curated experience. It is pricey (240 Euros per person), but worth it for the experience of sampling “unlimited” local wines, locally curated meals, and the overall experience.

The chef was very accommodating and created a vegetarian 5 course meal as well as a regular one. I was skeptical with the octopus stew, however, it ended being the highlight of the night! Each meal and wine pairing was well matched and explained. Checkout the picture of the menus which show the detail and uniqueness of the options presented.

The staff were very courteous, professional and accommodating of our needs. We highly recommend the staff for the attention to detail, timeliness of service, and professionalism. They were great to let us enjoy the night, not rush us, yet always be available. Perfect experience 👌

We highly...