MareAlta Peixe & Mariscos - Machico

Stopped by here today for lunch . 10 minutes to be offered a menu . Slow but ok . 20 minutes from arriving to place an order . A further 20 minutes before the drinks arrived . 20 more minutes for the bread to arrive.... 2 hours after we first arrived still no food . My husband went inside to say we were leaving and offered to pay for the bread and 2 bottles of water which they duly charged him 8 euros for and we left . Astonishingly poor service . Their excuse was it was a busy Sunday . All staff had no clue what was going on and clearly loudly arguing in Portuguese. Im astounded they took money off us after such a terrible experience. Im not a complainer but ……… genuinely we were disappointed. The food did look delicious and we left hungry.

It’s rare that a place has all 3; quality food, good service and a nice atmosphere. But this place was perfect! Located on the seafront just a short walk from Dom Pedro hotel, I was welcomed by attentive staff and seated outside with a view...of the ocean and Machico by night. Although very busy, (seems a popular spot the staff did everything they could to attend to me even showing me the fish before cooking it and making suggestions etc. Nothing was too much trouble and I was checked on regularly whilst sitting by the waves soaking in the peaceful scenery. An ideal end to my holiday in Madeira! Obrigada to all the lovely ladies working hard to make this place special and to the chef for one of the most beautiful, fresh parrot fish I’ve ever tasted!

Small glass fronted restaurant situated overlooking the bay, used by tourists and locals alike, fresh fish daily, star attraction so far is the fish rice, underwhelmingly titled but so tasty, owners state that it's for two, but you could easily feed four, eaten alongside their...homemade chilli oil has been the highlight of the trip

Best tuna steak ever, very fresh and tasty salad. beautiful sea view included. we'll be back soon. large children's playground next to him

The signs were not great of the minute we arrived. we went to an almost empty restaurant and waited for space. and waited. the staff went right past as if we were invisible. After we set ourselves, we chose from a nice menu. And...then waited a little more, while the waiter slowly wondered, adapting elements on the bar that do not need adaptation instead of our order. After about 40 minutes we noticed another table that came after us and received her food. we've been waiting for more. it became obvious that the waiter had not actually given our order to the kitchen. we said our food would be with us soon. we waited twenty minutes and left without eating. it would have been more understandable if they had been busy with 50 or 60 tables, but there were only 5 or 6! full time wasted.