You HAVE TO EAT Here 🇵🇹 MADEIRA Mountain Day Trip & MUST VISIT Restaurant

Good afternoon everybody, it's Joe Pirelha here and I am in Madeira, Portugal. In today's video I'm going to take you on a trip outside of Funchal and into the mountains. One of the things I love about Madeira is how easy the access to the mountains are, where you have the most breathtaking and spectacular views, and I really cannot wait to show you some of that today. After that I'm going to stop off and have lunch at a restaurant, which really is a must visit when you're in Madeira. It specializes in hearty comfort food, which is exactly what you need for the slightly cooler temperatures up in the mountains. It's going to be a great video, thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy. I would love if you could support me and this video by hitting the like button below. Okay guys, welcome to Pico do Areiro, 1810 meters and not quite what I expected. It is high up and normally if it's not a clear day you have to drive through the clouds, which is quite cool, but once you get on top of them, here at the peak is clear and you have the most spectacular view across the mountains. Yeah, I didn't check the webcams today and it's well set in. Not ideal, not the view I wanted to show you. Yeah, as you can see I'm crouching down the other side of the rock to try and avoid the wind and the rain, but yeah, definitely if you're going to do this, check the webcams before you come. I'll put the link down below in the description and actually it's a good website. There's webcams for all over the island and you can check the weather, because although it's a small island, it's big enough for the climate to change from place to place. So there's one tip. Yeah, as I say, definitely do come here. It is spectacular. It's a beautiful drive up on the way, but yeah, not as I expected. Apologies for that. But hey, that is travel sometimes, not everything works out how you would like and these videos are real. I'm not trying to make them anything more than what they are. I do have some footage, so I've been there many times before, but I think the footage is in portrait, so I will try and sort that out into landscape, but I do really want to show you what it looks like, because it is one of my favourite views on this island. I guess, cafe, bar, restaurant, place called Abrigo do Poiso. It's a nice place to stop. Many of the hikers and people who are biking in the mountains stop off here for a drink and one thing that is traditional to have here is a sweet black coffee and a hard-boiled egg. So I thought, why not stop here and have that instead of the view. Not quite the same. So the coffee is called Cafe de Cervada. It's traditional to order it at this restaurant. It's actually a barley coffee, which is not something I've had before, so let's see how it tastes. Yeah, it's nice. I mean, it tastes like coffee. It's slightly sweeter, but it's strong, it's black, you can't complain at that. Not sure where the tradition of having it with an egg came from, but hey, why not? At breakfast, you have coffee and eggs, so it makes a good snack on a cold day. So you get one hard-boiled egg and a sachet of salt. Yeah, it's an egg, so you're not going to get too much of a colouring description. Hard-boiled egg. And actually, you know what? It is nice to have with the coffee. Last bite of this soft, creamy, no, I'm just kidding. Last bite. And it costs just 1 euro and 30 cents, which is not bad for a coffee and an egg. If you're into your adventure sports, the mountains here are a great place to come. They do so many activities here, from canyoning, hiking on the Levadas, motocross, off-road biking, whatever you want, I'm sure you can find it here. And you can't say you've been to Madeira without hiking at least one of the Levadas. Stop off here, have Cafe de Cervada and a hard-boiled egg. But you can stop here to eat if you fancy eating too, the food is nice here, but I prefer a burrito pastor, which is only five minutes down the road. So that is where we'll be heading next to have lunch. Right, made it to the restaurant and the first thing to note is it's definitely colder up here. I haven't seen my breath in a long time. So yeah, make sure you dress appropriately. This restaurant is super popular, especially with the locals, and definitely on a Sunday reservation is required in advance, not just on the day. But it is, as I mentioned, a must-visit restaurant when you come to Madeira. Right, finally, after a bit of a wait, I've made it inside. It is so busy today, it's unbelievable, it's because it's Sunday and this is where everyone comes on a Sunday to have Sunday lunch. So yeah, I had to wait outside for a little bit, but you can order a drink or a snack, that's what you want. This place is called a burrito pastor, which means shepherd's shelter. Traditionally, people did raise sheep back in the mountains here, and actually these guys have some sheep opposite the restaurant, but couldn't see them today. They do sell fish here, but it really is a place you come for meat, hearty, warming food. Okay, and to order, first off, the bolo de caco, which you have to get with every meal here in Madeira. And I want to try the soups, so first the sopa de trigo, which is a barley soup, and then a cup of the chicken soup, or the kanja, and then for the mains, the roast suckling pig, which is amazing, and then the ribs, which I've never tried before. For the sides, there's a variety of sides that you can order, it just depends on what you fancy. And I love coming to the mountains, I love these places, they do feel very different from down near Funchal and along the coast. Down there, it feels very tropical, and you do feel like you're in a tropical paradise, but when you come up into the mountains, it feels like a completely different place. It's cooler, the terrain is different, you have the mountains, the vegetation is different too, the trees, and you really get two holidays in one when you're in Madeira. One of the things you have to try here is the soup. There are a few traditional soups in Madeira, one is the chicken soup, which I have here, it's called a kanja, and you can order it as a soup on its own, and it is filling enough to have as a main dish, but actually, so you can try it, they serve it for €1.60 in a mug, and in the soup you have the strips of chicken, rice, onions, garlic, the chicken stock, and the rendered chicken fat, which really gives it a super powerful chicken flavour. OK, I'm looking forward to this soup so much, it was so cold outside, and that rain and that wind really does cut through you, so this is exactly what you need to warm yourself up. And it smells so chickeny. Mmm. The chicken soup can be a bit bland, but this one is delicious, it's nice to have the rice in there, it gives it a nice creamy texture. But it is really all about that broth packed with chicken goodness. The other soup I wanted to show you is called trigo, and it's a barley soup, again, very hearty, very warming. Instead of the rice, you have barley of course, but this one has fatty pork, carrots, potato, cabbage, celery, and beans. It doesn't come in a small mug, so I've ordered the big portion, but I really wanted to show you this one. Time to try the trigo, and this one is totally different. It's much thicker, some of the barley is broken down, so the sauce isn't clear, like with the chicken kanja. It's thick and unctuous. But the pork in it, the pork looks like it's been slow cooked, the fat on the top has just gone like jelly. Mmm. Oh man, that just melts in your mouth. I know some people don't like fatty, soft cuts of meat, but that is spectacular. And the soup itself is very savoury. You can taste the vegetables that are cooked in it, and of course you have the texture from the barley. But it is delicious. And the traditional soup in Madeira, one you should try, this place is famous for it. So if you're going to try it anywhere, make sure you try it here. And the bolo de caco goes perfectly with the soups. Mmm. Every time. Crunchy, garlicky, with that rich butter. It's one of the best forms of garlic bread that I've tried. And I've only seen it here in Madeira. And if you don't know what bolo de caco is, check out my video in Santo de Ceja, where I show you how it is made and tell you where it originated. This won't be for all of you, but in the Soup of the Trigo I found one of my favourite cuts of pork, the ear. Here we go, a nice piece of pork ear. Mmm. It's so soft and gelatinous. But through the middle of it you have a soft piece of cartilage, which gives a slight crunch in texture. I like it, but it's definitely something that you need to get used to. But I love that the soup uses cuts, which are less used and more underrated. And it really is a rustic, traditional Madeiran soup. You finish most of those soups and they are very, very filling. I have been here before just to stop off and just have the soup and a drink. It's also a really nice thing to do when you're in the mountains. But I know there's more food coming, so I'm going to save myself for the rest of it. The feast has turned up. I don't know where I'm going to put it all, but I look forward to trying. So we have suckling pig, roast suckling pig. I've had it before and it's got crispy skin and super juicy flesh. I cannot wait to try that one. And then the ribs, which I thought were going to be beef ribs. Maybe I didn't read the menu very well, but they've come as pork ribs. So it's going to be a pork day, pork soup, roast suckling pork and pork ribs. But hey, can't complain at that, I guess. And then you have a choice of sides here from salad to rice to beans. Milho frito, which is the deep fried cornmeal. And today I've gone with rice, the black beans and vegetables. And of course, I've still got some bottled cacao left. So there is plenty of food and let's get in and start tasting it. Right, let's serve some food up. It's difficult to know where to start, but I think let's get some sides on the table first. So I've just gone with plain rice. Which I don't often do here, it's a bit boring. But I thought it would go well with the pork. Black beans, it's not just black beans, they're cooked in a meaty broth. Often with some smoked bacon in there. So you get that really deep, meaty, smoky flavour coming through the beans. I guess it's the Brazilian influence. Or perhaps it's the Portuguese influence on Brazil. But either way, you'll find these black beans everywhere. They're called feijão, so look out for them on the menu. And give them a try, they are delicious. And now finally the meat. Look at that, it's just falling apart already. I want to get some of that juice, you just know it's going to be delicious. And of course, some of this suckling pig. Oh wow, it looks so good. Probably going to have to take two pieces of that. And look, it comes with a little pot of the cooking juices. Look at the colour of that. You just know it's going to be absolutely packed with flavour. I think I'll just keep that on the side. Oh man, it looks so good when it's put on one plate. Sunday roast is a tradition in England, and I have not had one for a long time. So I'm even more excited than I was before. I think I'm going to start with the pork rib. It just pulls apart. Look at the layers of meat and fat. And the outside is crisp and golden from where it must have been roasted afterwards. Hopefully over the wood. It's soft and juicy. A bit salty from the seasoning. But I think they've also rubbed rosemary on the top of it. It gives a really nice herby flavour. It's absolutely delicious. You can taste it's been finished over the wood grill. There's a slight smokiness to it. I think sometimes when you buy the meat from the supermarket, it doesn't really taste like meat. You're just putting texture into your mouth. There's no flavour there. But you can tell the quality of this meat, because it has such a unique and strong flavour. I guess that's what meat used to taste like before commercialisation. And it's so nice to eat something of such high quality. I guess that's why this place is so busy. I think of all the vegetables and the salads in Madeira, and the salads are good here, I think this is my favourite vegetable. It's called pimpanela. And it's just cooked simply, boiled, and then drizzled in olive oil, and put in the medley of vegetables. But it's soft, juicy, and it just sucks up the flavour of the things around it. It's a really nice vegetable, and I can't really compare it to anything else I've tried. I think I'm going to have to dip that pork rib into that juice. Look at that. Wow. Those juices are on another level. I could just drink that, it's so good. The liquor, the meat liquor, has a kick to it, but it's not from chilli, I think it's from black pepper. Super, super meaty, super intense, but then that kick of black pepper, which goes so nicely with that meaty pork rib. Of course it's ribs, so you have to use your hands, right? Mmm. The best meat is always next to the bone. It's so juicy. So flavourful. I'm not sure why they only serve them on weekends, but if you want to eat these, make sure you come on a Saturday or a Sunday. Look at the crackling on the suckling pig. Wait for thin pig skin. Mmm. The rib was good, but that is even better, exactly as I remembered. If you're going to choose the two, you have to go with the suckling pig, just for that skin. It's incredible. Mmm. The suckling pig is cooked on the bone. It's a bit fiddly, but it keeps the meat juicy and gives it a sweetness, which you wouldn't get if it wasn't cooked on the bone. So you can just pick it up, dip it in the meat liquor, and enjoy it. The more I have it, the more I like that black pepper kick. And I think the fact that it's suckling pig makes it feel like it's a bit more of a treat than just having roast pork. And to be honest, it is a treat, it does cost more than other places you can find. But the atmosphere, the quality, where it's situated, it's so worth it. It's so worth making the effort, coming up into the mountains and paying a bit more to eat here. I said it was a must place to eat in Madeira, and now I've had it again. I think I'm even more in favour of that view. Honestly, that suckling pig is so special. I don't know what they do to it to make it so tasty, but it must be the rub they put on that skin, and how they cook it low and slow for hours. But the flavour is amazing. I don't know about you, but I think the garlic bread is going to go amazingly well in the meat liquor. Garlic bread, let me introduce you to the meat liquor. That's a winning combination. It's almost as good as the meat itself. Another thing that you find everywhere here is sweet potato. They even make bread with it, using sweet potato flour. But when you come to these restaurants which serve meat, they often have a sweet potato roasting in the fire. Here they give you a slice of the roasted sweet potato to go with the dishes, so obviously you have to try it. And I think dipping it in the meat juices again is going to be a good move. Crispy skin, soft and fluffy on the inside. The sweetness that comes from the sweet potato. They're not like the bright orange ones you find at home or in the UK. They're lighter in texture and lighter in colour. And they are really, really delicious. So don't be tempted to leave it on the side of the plate, eat it. I think I've had my fill from that. I don't think I can eat any more. The portions are massive here and well worth the price you pay. But the desserts here are amazing too, so I'm saving a little bit of space to show you those. The two desserts you want to look out for here are both mousses, but very different and it depends on what you fancy. So the first one is the one that I ordered because I can't avoid it. When chocolate is on the menu, I order chocolate. So I've got the chocolate mousse coming. And the other one is passion fruit mousse. Again, passion fruit is big on this island and you find it everywhere. So maybe order both. I don't have room for it, so I've just ordered the chocolate one. But yeah, depending on what you fancy, those are the two standouts that I would recommend from the dessert menu. Okay, the chocolate mousse has arrived. And well, it doesn't look the prettiest. Normally it looks a bit more pretty than this, but that's fine. I am so full, but I always have room for dessert. Let's try it. You have the chocolate mousse, some whipped cream and some sprigs of mint. So let's try it. Yeah, as ever, it's so good. It's so rich for a chocolate mousse. But it's super light, super fluffy. And very, very easy to eat. It's definitely big enough to share, but if you're greedy like me, it's just a portion for one. It is very rich though. Well, that lasted all of about 30 seconds. It is dangerously easy to eat. And it's a great way to end an amazing meal here at Abrigo do Pastor. I hope you enjoyed the video. Like and subscribe if you did. And thank you so much for taking the time to watch. I will see you next time.