FERRUGEM no Garajau Bistro — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

The restaurant menu looks interesting, and the staff is very friendly. However, we waited a long time for someone to come and take our order, and we saw some people come, wait, and leave. Then we found out that they had run out of buns for the burgers, and they wouldn’t make them without the buns (but they offered to bring all the ingredients separately without the buns). This was still only around 8 PM. They said their buns were special and they couldn't just buy some from the bakery next door. When they finally brought the burger with the last bun they had, I saw it was just a regular cheap bun, not special or homemade at all. We ordered bolos de frango, and they turned out to be very dry. Later we found out this was a kids’ dish (this was not indicated anywhere). The poncha was terrible! The prices for all this were heavily overpriced. Eating prego at a nearby bar is much tastier and cheaper. We did not expect this from a restaurant with such a high rating. The French...

There is a long list of things on Madeira you can fall in love with. The food and the people at Ferrugem is certainly on that list.

We have tried several kinds of fish, burgers, meats, appetizers, main courses, and desserts. And not one of them has been anything less than great. Pair that with the outstanding service you’ll get there any time of the day, and you have one of the culinary gems of Madeira.

We have tried many, many restaurants here. Many of them were more expensive, more exclusive, more fancy. But none of them was better.

Save some money and make new friends at Ferrugem. You can thank me later.

To Barbara and Roberto and everyone else there: Thank you for making us feel like we were eating at home (with much better food) for so many nights during our stay on this island. We’ll be back and you’re one of the...

We’re visiting Madeira for nine days, and this was hands down one of the best dinners of our trip. My wife absolutely loved it!! the octopus risotto and polvo were outstanding, perfectly cooked and full of flavor, along with several other dishes that left us full!

What made the evening even more special was our waitress, Bárbara. She went above and beyond 🤌🏼, she was friendly, attentive, and thoughtful enough to move us to a lovely outdoor table when she noticed we preferred that atmosphere.

Between the incredible food and the kind, accommodating service, this place is a must-visit if you’re in Madeira and it near a great location. We’ll be remembering this dinner for a...