A Gosto — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

So first off this is a hip little place with two really good servers. Definitely a cool date spot or place for a small family dinner. I want this place to succeed but they need to make a few little adjustments and I think this place would be the talk of the town and have a huge following.

The food is good. Unfortunately I must have gotten a bad piece of beef filet as it was the toughest tenderloin filet I've ever had. Lots of sinew and endless chewing. Even their steak knife had a hard time cutting through it. The flavor was really good which saved the dish but after looking around at other tables the people with the 3 ribeye steaks appeared to be really pleased and it looked really good.

As a starter I had the tuna tartar and it was good but nothing to write home about. It doesn't look very appealing as at first I thought the fish was old since it had a gray tint to it but I realized it was just the sauce it was in. If they add the sauce at the last minute, maybe the fish would look more appealing and add something bright and green like fresh cut chives or avocado slices. The green would make the dish pop and add avocado would add a nice creaminess and uniqueness to the dish.

I feel the chef is trying to be too fancy instead of focusing on the actual flavor profile. For example, stop already with the deconstructed desserts and just make a really good cheesecake and apple crumble. Focus on the flavors and stop with the gimmick plating styles. The deconstructed citrus cheesecake was pretty tasty but could be so much better as a really well executed normal cheesecake.

I wish you luck and I look forward to coming back for the black tempura fish. That was my runner up choice. Thanks for the local dessert wine to make up for the tough steak. I...

The place is small and it was full but luckily there was a free table. The menù offers, meat, fish and 4/5 veg options so can accommodate everyone. We had a beer and a glass of wine. Lamb with mint sponge and smashed violet potatoes it tasted amazing! I had mushrooms ravioli with carbonara sauce, don't expect a classic ravioli plate, it was something unexpected and tasty. We also had a brownie cheesecake as dessert! We spent 47.5€ total, super super reasonable price for such delicious food, you could see in the plats the knowledge, study and passion put in menu and the recipes. The staff super nice and the place small so better to make a reservation! the food doesn't come straight away but totally worth it. Couldn't recommend...

I would like to highly recommend this simply scrumptious place! Unfortunately we discovered this restaurant on the very end of our stay in Madeira but still we had a chance to try their food. The duck was perfect, very tasty and crispy with the gravy, the octopus risotto well made, the slow cooked black pork just melts, and my absolute favourite the seabass with mushroom ravioli and truffle. I never would imagine the sweet taste how well goes together with fish dish. The atmosphere is very good and friendly, we would like to say thank you for the very attentive, professional service and good recommendations from our waiter! Our next time in Madeira we will...