Engenho is a restaurant located within a hotel in Ilha-Da-Madeira, offering stunning views, especially from its outdoor seating area. It is known for its generous portion sizes, making it suitable for sharing among families and groups. The restaurant also provides convenient parking facilities. It is situated in Calheta, a calm and quiet area, ideal for guests exploring the island by car.
Customer perception is generally positive for the restaurant's main dishes and service. Many reviewers praise the 'divine' food, particularly the beef skewers and tuna steak, and highlight the attentive and friendly staff, with one waiter, Juan, receiving special mention for his excellent recommendations. However, vegetarian options receive strong negative feedback, described as lacking taste, spices, and quality, with dishes like rice with lentils and vegetable lasagne being particularly criticized. Some hotel guests also noted issues with overall hotel service and staffing during the beginning of the season.
Additional Details
The restaurant is part of a hotel establishment, providing accommodation alongside dining services. While the provided search results primarily focused on 'Engenho Novo da Madeira,' a rum distillery in the region, the Google reviews confirm the existence and operational status of the 'Engenho' restaurant as a distinct dining venue.
The area is described as calm and quiet, suggesting it might not experience extreme peak times. However, one review mentioned understaffing at the 'beginning of the season,' which might imply that certain periods could offer better service. Generally, it seems suitable for a relaxed dining experience.
5
We never stayed in the hotel but the restraunt was astounding. The staff, Juan and the waitress with the beautiful tattoos (didn't catch her name) were attentive and friendly and spoke a variety of languages.
The food was divine - huge portions. We intended to go for at least two courses but could only manage one. The kids thoroughly enjoyed fish fingers and nuggets but couldn't finish them. This is indeed a sharing restraunt - the garlic bread was heavenly - cant recommend it enough.
If you like beef - the skewers are phenomenal. If you like fish, then tuna is an excellent choice.
You can sit outside and enjoy the view, Or sit in the cool main restraunt.
Everything about the dining experience was great - and the fact there was decent parking too really helped.
Thoroughly recommend this as a place to go for families, big groups or small couoles.
We had a wonderful stay for 3 nights at this hotel. Everything was perfect from start to finish. The hotel offers an amazing view, the rooms were spotless and very well maintained, and the staff was incredibly welcoming and friendly throughout our stay.
A special thank you to Juan, the restaurant waiter, who clearly loves his job and made our experience even better. He gave us some excellent recommendations that really enhanced our trip.
We highly recommend this establishment and would gladly stay here again.
Avoid this when you are vegetarian!
Visited the restaurant today with my girlfriend on our last evening on madeira. We leaved without finishing the food. I can not imagine why they are so many good reviews. They serve (pre-cooked?) stuff like from a cheap hotel buffet without any taste . Spices , herbs, a good idea is completly missing! Maybe they serve good fish/meat. I don t know because we are vegetarians.
The dinner starts with a dirty glas. Atmosphere in the restaurant was just a big breakfast room of the hotel with dirty windows and noisy atmosphere.
Starters (polenta, bread,olives) was okay. But the main dish was a joke. Rice with lentils was very bad. It wasn‘t stewed like it s written on the menu. There are no herbs,spices or anything special/tasty inside. Just dry rice with (pre cooked ?) lentils from the can (?) for 15 Euros. Vegetable lasagne was also very very bad for 15 Euros. They used freezed vegetables and put just tons of cheese and cheap ready-made (?) sauce on the top. Also no spices, no heart. Nothing.
Anyway: Service guy offers us a beer after our review to say sorry.
So far we enjoy stay in the hotel. Good rooms with an amazing view. Rooms are clean and big.
Good location for active travels with car. Comfortable to get to most attractions on the island. Area is also calm and quiet, no people at all
Restaurant is also great.
Delicious food and good service. Waiters are nice!
Best tuna steak I’ve ever tried!
Nice board with cheese and ham
We stayed for four days in may and it was the begining of the season. Understaffed and poor breakfast and overall service. Never any staff in reception, no answer when calling on the phone, no intiative to explain or help the guests to navigate the area. It is located in Calheta and there is not much to do in the area. Works with a rental car or taking a taxi to Funchal (30 minute drive). Very high price for poor service, er would not recomend it.
