The Ritz - Funchal

A nice café with wonderful seating outside. The coffee is very good and the sweets are quite big and of average quality.

The food was good but there was only one option and the menu was not well labelled. OK in an emergency. Updated from previous review on 2022-11-07

Lovely afternoon tea. All the cakes and sandwiches were made to order as we booked the day before. A great variety of vegan sandwiches and cakes, but we had to book the day before to give the chef time to make them. They also had soya and oat milks.

Great people watching from this outdoor cafe. There's a park and taxi stand across the street that adds to the view. The downside of the location is that this was the only place where I was approached in Funchal by a panhandler. We just had gelato and madeira. The portions were good sized for the price. The 15 year old Madeira was well priced. As others have mentioned, service is meh. The upside is you could sit under the mass of umbrellas for several hours before they'd even notice to kick you out.

For what it was, The Ritz was disappointing and overpriced. There are lots of authentic restaurants all over Funchal, offering up amazing dishes. In comparison to these, The Ritz pales in comparison. I had the chowder and it was nice enough, with just one lonesome prawn, but lots of cod and salmon through it. The homemade soda bread was a nice touch. The service was chaotic and on the slow side, and staff weren 't the friendliest. The cakes looked magnificent and The Ritz may well be a nice spot for cake and tea. But for lunch, the quality just didn 't merit the prices. All of the charm comes from the dramatic exterior; the eye-catching 'Ritz ' sign spelled out in fluorescent bulbs, the beautifully tiled wall. It looks beautiful, there 's no doubt about it. But, sadly, that is where the impressiveness of The Ritz ends.