Portaliano - Funchal

We booked this restaurant for 7:30pm on a Saturday night … we were seated at the back of the restaurant near the kitchen which wasn’t very nice. We ordered staters and main course only to be told 10 minutes later that my first choice of mains ‘ravioli’ had sold out! I was then left to choose another for 10 minutes and selected ‘tortellini’ to be told this was also sold out. I ended up with Vegetable Lasagne which to be honest looked no different to the chicken cannelloni my husband had. How can an Italian restaurant run out of pasta dishes on a Saturday night? The girl serving us didn’t know what to do and we were then passed to another server who we could clearly hear her asking other diners ‘ how was your meal, did you enjoy? But we got nothing ! This tasted like bought in food that was reheated to serve, how can an Italian restaurant not make extra ‘ravioli’ to meet demand? Don’t waste your hard earned money here there are far nicer Italian restaurants to eat from !

Friendliness of the staff is noted from the very start. The menu is varied but not over complicated and the quality of the food and wine is exceptional.

This was our second trip to Portaliano, after being so impressed the first time. We tried different dishes and used a shared starter and dessert to offset the generous portions. This time we started with the Focaccia, followed with Carbonara and a Pepperoni Pizza and finished with the fruit Tiramisu. Washed down with a glass of the house white (which was medium dry and nicely chilled) and finished with an espresso. Service was relaxed and it took a little longer to get to our starters than on our last visit but from that point on everything was on point. If only this was closer to home I may cook a lot less.

Portaliano is a beautiful restaurant for a meal, a good selection of options on the menu, and amazing staff! The staff was known about gluten-free options, and the food was fantastic, recommend the duck and orange risotto especially!

Great little restaurant. We booked it on the basis of reviews and were not disappointed. Very friendly staff, good food and beautiful atmosphere. Worth a visit.