Funchal Food Tour

"We started at nine when the market was still cool and loud with vendors calling out prices, and finished somewhere near the harbour with garlic butter on both hands. Our guide Rui explained why the bolo do caco is cooked on a basalt stone rather than a pan, which I would never have learned alone. Easily the most useful three hours of our week in Madeira."

"The funchal food tour took us through Zona Velha in the late afternoon when the painted doors on Rua de Santa Maria catch the light. Watching the barman work the mexelote stirrer for a full minute before pouring made me appreciate the drink far more than the versions I had ordered blind. Bring an appetite because the espetada near the end is not a small taste."

"Mercado dos Lavradores was the highlight for me, with the banana-passionfruit and custard apples stacked in pyramids and a vendor slicing samples straight onto paper. Our small group of eight kept together easily on the narrow stairs. I also liked that the guide was honest about which market stalls overcharge tourists."

"Solid Funchal culinary walk with generous portions and a guide who clearly knows the old town families. My only note is that the cobbled uphill stretch in midday heat was harder than expected, so wear proper shoes and carry water. The Madeira wine stop at the end more than made up for it."

"I had never eaten limpets before and would not have ordered them from a menu, so having someone put a plate of lapas with lemon in front of me was exactly why I booked. The Atlantic wind came up while we ate near the waterfront and the whole thing felt very much of that place. Our guide also explained the difference between Sercial and Malmsey without making it feel like a lecture."

"Everywhere we stopped had locals already inside, which is not always true of food tours. The funchal food tour tickets were straightforward to use and nobody asked us for anything at the door. Between the tasca counters and the wine lodge cellar we tried nine things and I only recognised three of them beforehand."

"We did this in January with light rain on and off, and the covered market plus the cellar meant we were rarely properly wet. Our guide adjusted the order of stops without any fuss. The bolo de mel at the end tasted like Christmas cake that had been left in a good way for a year."

"My husband and I had wandered Funchal for two days ordering badly, and this fixed that in one morning. The Funchal old town food tour stops were all within about fifteen minutes of each other, so it never felt like a march. We went back to two of the places later in the week using the guide's ordering advice."

"Among the funchal food tour tours available we picked this one for the market start and it delivered, though I would have liked one more savoury stop before the sweets. The scabbard fish with banana sounded strange and turned out to be my favourite thing in Madeira. Guide answered questions about the levada farms feeding the market without hesitating."

"Late afternoon light in the Zona Velha made the whole walk photogenic, and the espetada served hanging on a bay-leaf skewer smelled better than it had any right to. Our guide moved us along at a pace that left time for questions at each counter. A well-run funchal food tour tour that I have already recommended to two friends."