TukáTulá Beach Bar — Restaurant in Ribeira Grande

I wrote a ton of notes down but this is the compressed version.

First things first: I arrived here on zero notice at a busy time of day, not speaking portuguese and the staff managed to secure me a table for 1 so props to them for that.

Brilliant views of the ocean, location couldnt be better for a place like this.

I ordered a "porn stash" cocktail and wow! I have had a lot of cocktails in my life but this one was right up my alley. Fruity tangy tonic with a light and tart passion fruit foam on top, decorated with pink flower petals. I would prefer it to be served with a spoon though.

That drink was a 10/10, really yummy, not too much ice.

I also ordered the lapas which was served to me still sizzling on a grill pan. The sauce was delicate and garlic-y, with lemon dramadrically drizzled over by the waitress in front of me, which made me chuckle. I loved it, they gave me bread to mop up the sauce and i couldnt get enough. The lapas were a tiny bit overcooked but honestly i would still give this a 9/10.

Lastly one of the waiters recommended me one of their desserts which was a thick chocolate ganache, sprinkled with little pieces of crumchy nuts (hazelnuts i think), saltanas and some raspberry sorbet. The only complaint i have about the entire meal is that the sorbet was a tiny bit too frozen, but again i would give this desert easily a 8/10. Really really nice.

Overall i would rate my experience a 5 star. Between the picturesque view of the ocean, soft music, fantastic food and drink + pretty darn great service given the slight language barrier. Price wasnt too bad either, just 43 euros for everything including a bottle of water. Definitely attainable for a night out...

9 long years was the time I took to return to Azores, São Miguel. They felt like an eternity. Among the memories I had of the good restaurants then much has changed in São Miguel. Tuká Tulá was definitely the best new experience I had. Impecable and cordial service but the food....oh the food. The oysters were very fresh and simply prepared as they should be. But the ceviche alike dish that I can't remember the menu name was a sensorial experience, very well prepared with twists over regular ceviche that really please my wife's taste and mine. Then we tried the beef tartare and again the twists they gave to the expectable tartare were amazing, it was a delicate balance of flavours, herbs that I couldn't identify but the result exceptional. We were topped up but still found space to try a chocolate cake with sweetened egg yolk served in strings... The wine list will certainly have something for everybody's taste and pocket. We tried a Pico Arinto produced by Portuguese enologist Rui Maçanita in partnership with Azorean wine producers and enologist,.it wasn't cheap (for my little Portuguese pockets) but was worth every euro. We shall be back. The menus show on maps are outdated, current menu (April 2023) is way...

We did not make a reservation, but we could still wander near the restaurant and Santa Barbara beach with the buzzer. We really didn’t have to wait long, maybe 20min, and the rocks are great to climb around on.

The restaurant itself is relatively small. The food was amazing though, every single dish. We got the softshell crab sandwich to share. It’s one of the pricier appetizers for one slider-sized sandwich, but it’s softshell crab and tasted amazing! My husband got the beef tenderloin sandwich, which looked like literally a piece of beef in between bread, but the beef was juicy and soft. The bread was crispy on the outside and fresh with a great garlic butter spread. The fries were crispy. I got the grilled octopus, and there was so much octopus considering the rice was also filled with chopped bits of octopus. The flavors balanced so nicely. We (really my husband) ordered chocolate mousse for dessert. I don’t like mouse, but I liked this mousse. Not sure my husband liked that my tastes suddenly changed 😆 The strawberry pieces added a hint of berry flavor and a great crunch, and the mouse was not light like whipped cream and not thick like pudding, almost a truffle...