Madeira - Paradise

Advantages: Fantastic in every way
Disadvantages: None as far as I'm concerned

...- there is a small local restaurant called Restaurante do Mar (simply the Restaurant by the sea) which offers simple but tasty local food at very cheap prices. And wherever you go here, you can get orange juice which is ACTUALLY FRESH- not this "fresh" juice peddled by supermarkets, which has actually been generated in a factory somewhere and then driven hundreds of miles in a lorry. And proper fresh orange juice is fantastic. The whole eating and drinking experience of Madeira just served to remind us what filth we are forever being served up in the UK. My only word of warning would be that when you venture into the Old Town area in the east of Funchal, there are a cluster of tourist-oriented restaurants where you WILL be approached by waietsr desperate to grab some new customers. You don't even need to pause your walking by for them...

bagoproverbial 05.10.2007 (29.09.2007) · Read review
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)

Riu Palace Hotel, Madeira

Advantages: A fantastic holiday experience
Disadvantages: Location, in particular for those with mobility problems although the hotel is disability friendly.

...more Cordon Bleu style, very rich, fancy delicious meals but small portions which I love however if you are in to large portions stick to the buffet. There is so much to choose from and something for all tastes. All diets are catered for if requested in advance. Every evening they try a different theme, i.e. Mediterranean, Madeira, Caribbean, Spanish and the restaurant is decorated accordingly as well as the food being out of this world. If a guest has a birthday, the waiters will be sure to celebrate the occasion at dinner with a cake, candles and a song. Much to the embarrassment of the guest in particular my daughter who celebrated her 20th birthday on Valentines Day whilst we were there. She was also given flowers, kisses and cocktails as well as the cake, candles and song. The hotel also went to town on Valentines Day the restaurant...

Helenofellon 01.04.2008 (02.04.2008) · Read review
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Review of Riu Palace Madeira, Madeira

  Harvester Restaurants

Advantages: Always one close by, quick turn out, children are welcome and catered for.
Disadvantages: Toilets can be quite disturbing, not all dishes taste as good they are described.

...Harvester Restaurants Restaurant Reviewed: Stag and Hounds Winchester Road Basingstoke Hampshire (next to Comet and Home Base) The Harvester chain of Restaurants have over 2000 outlets across the United Kingdom and owned and operated by Mitchells and Butlers, who claim to be the UK's leading operator of managed pubs, bars and restaurants. Harvester claim to offer healthy eating, drinking and entertainment in one reasonably priced outlet. **** Parking and Getting a Table ***** As with most of the Harvester's I have visited, there is usually ample free parking at the rear of the establishment. However on Saturday evenings and Sunday lunch times these places are heaving with customers, so avoid the crowds, go early and if possible ring and reserve a table. The Stag and Hounds is no exception but fortunately...

mrsmopples 27.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of Harvester Restaurants

Buzzard_cad visits the garden of Madeira

Advantages: Beautiful picturesque island, not too hot in summer
Disadvantages: Hilly, poor restaurants, no sandy beaches

...everywhere, they are coloured bright yellow and most of them are Mercedes C or S Class cars so there is a lot of room and comfort in them. Fares are quite reasonable with a fare from Funchal to our hotel (near the lido) costing around 5 Euros (about £3.50). By Bus- A cheaper form of transport are the buses, these are also yellow, but are less comfortable to get around. The buses are shorter than UK buses and have a high passenger compartment area so getting into them requires steep steps, which could be hard for those with children or walking difficulties. We used the bus once and found it hot, airless and an uncomfortable ride, but I would still recommend them if you want to get around cheaply. A fare from Funchal to the Botanical gardens cost 1 Euro 30 (90p) per adult each way. ~Restaurants~ I found the restaurants in Madeira to be...

buzzard_cad 17.06.2006 · Read review
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)

MADEIRA WEST IS BEST

Advantages: Good value tour.
Disadvantages: The weather can block the views.

...We the Quatro Fontanas (or four Fountains) were on a trip to Madeira, we decided that an organised Tour would be better than hiring a car, as the Driver would not be able to have a Drink. I fell upon STRAWBERRYWORLD.COM on the net. The offer seemed very good they had three tours on offer, BEST OF THE WEST, BEST OF THE EAST or a Central tour of Nuns Valley. After consulting my better half (Jane) the Gardner amongst us, she said WEST IS BEST. Cost for Full Day Tour was 29 Euros per person (About £20) this included pickup at our Hotel, about 20 kilometers from Funchal, where the official Bus Started. So Pick up at 08:00 on the dot, good job Breakfast started at 07:30. Taken to the Hotel District in Funchal where the Tours Office was where we paid for our tickets. We had booked online, but did not have to pay...

poshtroika 21.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Strawberry World Tours, Madeira

Frankly, Madeira, I Don't Give A Damn

Advantages: amazing scenery, not very family or children oriented
Disadvantages: no beaches, not very family or children oriented!

...I have always got Madeira, Majorca and Menorca confused, so when I got the opportunity to go on holiday to Madeira in January I had no idea where it was, let alone what it was like. BACKGROUND Madeira is an island (I just about guessed that), lying 380 miles west of Morocco and 260 miles north of the Canaries. The island is quite small and measures roughly 35 by 12 miles. Madeira is part of Portugal so Portugese is the predominant language. LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE Madeira is volcanic in origin and a range of mountains up to 6,000 feet high run east to west across the island. Virtually the whole island is hilly which makes agriculture difficult and car journeys extremely ear-popping! Because Madeira has a very stable climate, with temperatures rarely moving from the 16-24C band all year round, the island is lush...

jonathancowley 08.03.2001 (17.10.2001) · Read review
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)

Poison Sweet Madeira - A Must Own Album

Advantages: Lots of styles, really contemporary on some, more traditional on others.
Disadvantages: If you enjoy only house music then I wouldn't really say you'll like this.

.... Poison Sweet Madeira is an album of suprises. Each track differs in style but collectively they fit together perfectly. If you enjoy klezmer, jazz, classical or just something a little different then this ablum is perfect for you. If you don't strictly fit into any of these categories I'd recommend it to you as each of the people I've played it to have found something that appeals to them. It's such a mixed album that it trancends a rigid definition, which makes it harder to talk about in a review but brilliant to listen to on CD! Sophie is an amazingly accomplished musician. She's played the violin, which is an instrument that she really commands, since she was two years old and played by ear until she was 7. She learnt the traditional classical pieces, until she discovered Russian, Eastern European and Gypsy styles whilst...

Ottavia 22.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Poison Sweet Madeira - Sophie Solomon

Ze Restaurant!

Advantages: Good show, interesting
Disadvantages: Slightly worse than last year`s

...The Restaurant is a TV programme shown on BBC 2 on Thursday nights! The show is a reality TV show and is similar to something like the Apprentice but a food version. This show is obviously based on the concept and success of many other TV shows like the Apprentice, food shows like Masterchef and all the other shows like Dragon`s Den, X Factor e.t.c The idea of the show is for world famous chef Raymond Blanc to find a couple to help him run a restaurant and the couples are gradually knocked out week by week until they have the winning couple. It is in its third season and seems to have got a bit worse. I still enjoy it but felt it used to be more exciting and interesting. There used to be two shows with one of them being a challenge but they seem to have got rid of this which is a shame! Raymond has help from his two assistants e...

mariofan123 23.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of BBC2 - The Restaurant

The Seafood Restaurant

Advantages: Great fish, sides
Disadvantages: None

...Rick Stein - The Seafood Restaurant On a recent trip to Padstow, Cornwall we decided to go to Rick Steins famous fish restaurant, The Seafood Restaurant. Rick Stein is an English chef, restauranter and television presenter. He now specialises in fish cookery. He opened his first restaurant in Padstow in 1974 and now runs quite a few businesses in the town including a cake shop, cookery school and a fish and chip shop. The Seafood Restaurant is his upper class restaurant in the town and is known for it's fabulous fish. It really is in the best location for fish. Padstow is a historic fishing port and so receives fresh fish every day. The restaurant is right at one end of town by the harbour and so is perfectly place to recieve all the best catches of the day. It's quite hard to get a reservation in the restaurant. I think I booked...

Spottydog11 02.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Seafood Restaurant, Padstow

Of all the places in all the world

Advantages: Great pizza and variety
Disadvantages: None at all

...We walked around the corner in fact we drifted along on the smells and came across a pizza restaurant, "Casablanca" in the old town in Funchal. On entering we were engulfed in the warm armours of Italy, wonderful. We were shown to a table big enough for the 4 of us and given the menus. It took a time to get through this. As Madeira is an island, the main stay diet is fish, just my luck that I don't eat it. I have never seen such a varied menu for pizza. They have everything from veggie through the food chain on top of a pizza. Mussels, sardines, chilli, pineapple, peach you think of it name it it's on there. The choice is endless. They also had a wide choice of pasta dished on the menu, if you are not a pizza lover. Robert had the mussels, Steve the hot chilli, Jane had a calzone and I had the salami. We ordered 3...

bostonianbeer 22.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Casablanca Restaurant, Madeira, Portugal