Two good restaurants in Funchal, Madeira – Lareira Portuguesa & La Bamba

by Sara Norris

I had two really good restaurant experiences on Madeira (both a 5 minute walk away from Pestana Village), so both deserve a mention here.

LAREIRA PORTUGUESA
Estrada Monumental, Travessa Doutor Valente, nº 7 – Google Maps

Lareira Portuguesa

A good seafood restaurant. I lost my octopus virginity here and yes, I would eat it again! I had the one cooked in oil but next time I would try with vinaigrette / vinegar, as the octopus itself doesn’t have a strong taste, so you need more flavors around it – oil is not enough. The menu is insanely long and so many things you would love to try out. Good value for money and service was also great.

To be honest I was a little disappointed that the octopus wasn’t more scary than that (haha), I expected the tentacle texture to be awkward but no problem at all, a bit weird perhaps but not disturbing in any way. I however enjoy snails more if we think about the mouthfeel, they are softer and you don’t need to chew as much.

Lareira Portuguesa Lareira PortuguesaLareira Portuguesa Octopus


LA BAMBA
Rua da Casa Branca 70 – Google Maps

LaBamba

Although they do have seafood as well on the menu (I tried their seafood salad which was really good), this is perfect if you’re tired of fish and want Italian, because their pastas and pizzas are great. Two pizza slices (the pizzas are large – I find it impossible to eat the whole thing in one evening) even flew back to Helsinki and I ate them back here (forgot that I had them during the flight). Good food you don’t want to throw away ;-) I rarely eat pizza (during the past 6 months I’ve had pizza maybe twice), but there it’s worth the extra calories! A table next to us had steak on a stone and oh boy did I want that too, looked delicious. Again very friendly staff and perfect if you’re out eating with children, they do really good portions for kids that seem to be good enough even for the really picky ones (that would be my 6,5 year old little sister…) who almost emptied her plate. Success!

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