Alambique is an upscale restaurant located within the Saccharum Resort by Savoy Signature in Arco da Calheta, Madeira, Portugal. It offers a culinary journey with a focus on new dishes and sustainability, set against a backdrop of stunning views. The restaurant aims to provide a fine dining experience, often featuring modern interpretations of local and international cuisine.
Customer perception is mixed but leans towards positive for the overall experience, especially regarding the ambiance and views. Many praise the excellent food and wine, describing it as a 'spectacular' and 'fine dining experience' worth the price. However, a recurring negative theme is slow service and long wait times for dishes. Some recent reviews suggest an improvement in service and food quality, while others highlight inconsistencies, with specific dishes being criticized for being too salty, tasteless, rubbery, or undercooked.
Additional Details
Alambique is part of the Savoy Signature hotel group's Saccharum Resort, known for its focus on a culinary journey with new dishes and sustainability care. The restaurant offers an immersive experience that aims to redefine gastronomy in Calheta.
No specific peak times or ideal days are mentioned, but given its location within a resort and fine dining nature, evenings are likely popular for dinner, especially to enjoy the views.
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We had very high expectations but unfortunately they weren’t met. The service was super slow. We waited one hour just for the starter to be served. I had the cauliflower starter with hummus which was nothing special. Then I had the turbot as a main, it was cooked well but the sauce was so salty it killed everything. For a fine dining concept it wasn’t what I expected. Also we were waiting so long for the meals, it was unacceptable and the staff didn’t even care which was even more disturbing. We decided not to order any dessert because we were already very upset with this whole experience.
We had one of the best meals we have ever had here. Very surprised by some of the reviews as the food was excellent. Yes it is on the more pricier side compared to local restaurants it’s a much more fine dinning experience and I would happily recommend to anyone. We did not do the signature menu and just chose our own dishes. We had starters, mains and 2 bottles of wine and came to around £190 for 3 of us. But everyone was in agreement the food and wine was worth it. Would 100% go again
The best dishes of the night were: tuna tataki and the duck main was sensational.
The experience was not very good(so bad) . I’m giving one star for the view. Other than that, we waited 40 minutes for our starters. The bread appetizer was honestly ridiculous — just one small slice of bread with sweet butter. Then the tartare was extremely, extremely spicy and completely tasteless. The pork was unbelievably rubbery, and the mashed potatoes that came with it looked more like carrot porridge. Overall, it left a very unpleasant impression.
Had dinner with my boyfriend yesterday and it was spectacular! The service was great and attentive and the food was truly delicious.
If you’re worried about the negative reviews, ignore them they are from a long time ago! This place has STUNNING views and great food!
The service was fantastic!! The food though was awful. 16 euros for a cup of soup with one piece of lobster so over cooked it was like rubber. Pumpkin purée tasted just like it sounds with no spices added. Duck was dry. Risotto was under cooked, not al dente. I mean the rice grain crunched. Lamb was chewy. The presentation was wonderful and the service was impecable. But I wouldn’t eat here. The food would still be terrible even if it was just pub level food prices.
