4.7
Portuguese, fish
Bar O Ideal
A small seafront bar-restaurant in Paul do Mar, on the strip where the fishing boats land. Plain rooms, plain plates, fish that did not travel far, and one of the highest visitor ratings on this coast.
Paul do Mar€
Where to Eat
Marina tables looking back at the sand, village grills up in the parishes, and fish straight off the boats in the west-coast villages.
What to eat in Calheta
Madeiran cooking is its own thing. These are the dishes to seek out.
Espetada
Chunks of beef rubbed with garlic and salt, skewered on a bay-laurel stick and grilled over wood. The skewer is often hung at the table.
Bolo do caco
A soft, flat wheat bread cooked on a hot stone and served hot with garlic butter. It arrives before you order it, and it is the reason you order less.
Peixe-espada preto com banana
Black scabbardfish, a deep-water fish landed on this coast, fried and served with banana. The combination sounds wrong and is not.
Lapas
Limpets grilled in their shells with garlic butter and lemon, prised off the rocks of exactly this shoreline.
Milho frito
Cubes of firm cornmeal, fried crisp on the outside and soft inside, the standard side with espetada.
Poncha
Sugar-cane rum, honey and citrus, stirred with a wooden mexelote. In Calheta the rum is distilled in the village.
Casual Dining
Village grills and seafront rooms, espetada over wood, grilled fish, bolo do caco, and no ceremony.
4.5
Fish and seafood
Sabor Amar, Fish Factory
The other name people give you in Paul do Mar. Fish-led, informal, and set on the same exposed seafront under the cliff, a good pairing with a morning at the lighthouse or an afternoon watching the surf.
Paul do Mar€€
4.1
Portuguese
Restaurante Sol e Mar
A straightforward seafront restaurant in Paul do Mar with the cliff wall behind it and the Atlantic in front. Unfussy Portuguese cooking; the setting does most of the work.
Paul do Mar€€
4.4
Indian and Japanese
Buddha & Sakura
An Indian–Japanese kitchen on the marina quay, which is a stranger proposition than it sounds and works better than it should. Sushi and curry from one menu, tables looking back over the water at the sand, and the best-placed sunset table in the village.
Marina da Calheta€€
4.1
Portuguese and pub food
Joe's Bar
A long-running bar-restaurant in the lanes of Jardim do Mar, with a garden and a plain pub room. It has fed the surf crowd here for years, and it is the practical answer to lunch when you have driven out to the village and found that almost nothing else is open.
Jardim do Mar€€
Madeiran grill
Restaurante Chico
A grill house up on the Prazeres shelf, cooking the things Madeira actually eats: espetada on a bay skewer, grilled fish, bolo do caco with garlic butter. It is a village restaurant rather than a view restaurant, and it is consistently the one locals name on this stretch of coast.
Prazeres€€
Madeiran
O Farolim
The restaurant to aim for if you drive out to the lighthouse at the island's western cape, Madeiran cooking including black pork, with a sea horizon that goes on for a very long way. Out here, planning lunch around opening hours is not optional.
Ponta do Pargo€€
Cafés & Gelato
Coffee, pastel de nata and the gelateria that people drive across the island for.
Eating in Calheta, FAQ
What food is Calheta known for?+
Madeiran cooking: espetada grilled on bay skewers, bolo do caco with garlic butter, black scabbardfish with banana, grilled limpets, and poncha made with rum distilled in the village.
Where is best for eating out?+
The marina quay for choice and the view; the villages up the hill for grilled meat; Paul do Mar for fish, where the boats land a few metres from the tables.
How expensive is eating out in Calheta?+
Moderate by Western-European standards, and noticeably cheaper away from the marina and the hotels. A village grill lunch costs a fraction of a seafront dinner.
Do I need to book a table?+
Usually not, but the marina restaurants fill on summer evenings and the west-coast villages have few tables and shorter hours. If you are driving out to Ponta do Pargo or Paul do Mar, check the venue is open before you go.
Is Calheta good for vegetarians?+
Reasonably. Bolo do caco, milho frito, soups, salads and grilled vegetables are everywhere, though the headline dishes are meat and fish. Larger kitchens on the seafront handle it more comfortably than village grills.
Dig deeper: our food guides
Where locals eat, the fish worth ordering, Madeiran dishes explained, and poncha done properly.
Food & Drink
Where to Eat in Calheta: Marina, Village Grills and the West
Where to eat in Calheta, Madeira. The marina quay, the village grills doing espetada, and the seafront rooms at Paul do Mar where the fish is landed next door.
4 min read
Where to Stay
Where to Stay in Calheta: Seafront, Terraces or the West
The three places to base yourself in Calheta, Madeira, the seafront beside the beach, the quintas in the terraces above town, or the cliff villages out west.
4 min read
Seasonal
The Best Time to Visit Calheta, Madeira
When to visit Calheta, why there is no closed season on Madeira's south-west coast, when the sea is warmest, and which months give you the best odds on the levadas.
2 min read
Day Trips
The Best Day Trips from Calheta
Where to go from Calheta, Madeira, Porto Moniz, Fanal, Seixal, Cabo Girão, Câmara de Lobos, Funchal and Pico do Arieiro, with honest drive times.
2 min read