Restaurant in Funchal, Portugal
Kitchen-garden cooking at an honest price.
Horta holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 and delivers garden-sourced, vegetable-forward cooking at a mid-range €€ price point — making it the strongest value proposition in Funchal's quality dining tier. It is not fully vegetarian: fish and meat feature alongside the produce. Easy to book, calm atmosphere, and genuinely differentiated by its own kitchen garden sourcing.
The most common mistake first-timers make about Horta is assuming it's a fully plant-based restaurant where meat-eaters will feel shortchanged. Correct that assumption before you book. Horta, part of the PortoBay group in Funchal's São Martinho neighbourhood, anchors its menu around vegetables and produce from its own kitchen garden ("horta" translates directly as kitchen garden or vegetable patch in Portuguese), but fish and meat dishes appear alongside them. If someone in your party needs animal protein to feel satisfied, this works for them too.
That said, the vegetables are unambiguously the point here. The menu draws from Horta's own growing plots and from island producers, which means the produce is genuinely local to Madeira rather than imported from mainland Portugal or further afield. For Funchal specifically, that level of sourcing specificity is relatively rare at this price tier.
Because Horta sits within the PortoBay group's hospitality infrastructure, the room carries a certain polished calm that distinguishes it from independent neighbourhood spots. Expect a quieter, more composed energy than you'd find at a casual Funchal bistro. This is a venue where conversation carries easily, background noise stays low, and the pace is unhurried. For a first-timer who wants to take time over a meal without being rushed through courses, that controlled atmosphere works strongly in your favour. It also makes it better suited to dinners for two or small groups than to large, celebratory tables that need a noisier backdrop to feel alive.
If you are coming from a hotel elsewhere in Funchal, São Martinho is a short drive or taxi ride west of the centre. The address on Rua de Leichlingen puts it within the broader hotel district rather than the old town restaurant cluster, so plan transport in advance rather than assuming you can walk back from dinner easily.
Horta has held a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025. The Michelin Plate is not a star, and it matters to be clear about that, but it is a formal acknowledgement from Michelin's inspectors that the cooking is good and worth attention. At a €€ price range, that recognition makes Horta one of the stronger value propositions in Funchal's restaurant scene: you are getting inspector-endorsed cooking without the €€€€ pricing of Funchal's starred venues. For context on what Michelin star cooking costs elsewhere in Portugal, consider that Belcanto in Lisbon, Vila Joya in Albufeira, or Ocean in Porches operate at significantly higher price points. Horta's Michelin Plate at €€ is the reason to book it over a comparable-looking restaurant with no external validation.
Google reviewers rate Horta at 4.5 across 197 reviews, which is a strong and consistent signal at that volume. Ratings at that level with nearly 200 data points tend to be stable rather than inflated by a small enthusiastic cohort.
The database confirms two dishes worth flagging for first-timers. The home-grown roast pepper and carrot hummus is specifically cited as a standout among the vegetable-based dishes, making it the clearest starting point if you want to understand what Horta is doing with its own-garden produce. On the fish side, the scabbard fillet with mussel nage is noted as a strong option. Scabbard (espada) is a Madeiran fish that appears across the island's menus, but the mussel nage preparation here positions it as a more considered dish than the basic preparations you'll find at tourist-oriented spots in the old town. The Crema Catalana variation, served with fruit from Horta's own kitchen garden, is also flagged as a current menu highlight worth finishing on.
For a first-timer trying to get a full read on what Horta does well, ordering across all three categories (vegetable dish, fish course, garden-fruit dessert) gives you the clearest picture of the kitchen's range.
Horta's format is not designed around food that travels well off-premise. The kitchen garden sourcing, the careful vegetable preparations, and the composed plating that comes with Michelin Plate-level cooking all depend on being served and eaten in the room. A roast pepper and carrot hummus or a scabbard fillet with mussel nage are not dishes that hold in a delivery container without losing what makes them worth eating. There is no indication in the available data that Horta operates a takeout or delivery service, and based on its positioning within the PortoBay hotel group and its culinary approach, this is a dine-in venue. If you are looking for Funchal options that work as takeout, Horta should not be your starting point. Book a table and eat there.
Booking difficulty at Horta is rated easy. Unlike Funchal's higher-end venues such as Il Gallo d'Oro or Desarma, which require advance planning especially in peak season, Horta's accessibility at the €€ tier and its moderate profile mean you are unlikely to face a multi-week wait. That said, Funchal's tourist season peaks between November and March (the mild winter escape crowd) and again in summer, so booking a few days ahead during those periods is sensible. Hours and specific booking methods are not confirmed in the available data, so contact the PortoBay group directly or check current availability through the hotel to confirm your reservation.
For a broader picture of where Horta fits among Funchal's dining options, see our full Funchal restaurants guide. If you are planning the rest of your trip around this, our Funchal hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the wider picture.
Among vegetable-focused fine dining internationally, the category is increasingly well-represented. Fu He Hui in Shanghai and Lamdre in Beijing operate at the upper end of vegetarian fine dining globally. Horta is not competing at that level, but within its own context (a mid-price, garden-sourced, Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant on Madeira), it is the strongest option in its category in Funchal.
Quick reference: Vegetable-forward with fish and meat options, €€ pricing, Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025, 4.5/5 on Google (197 reviews), PortoBay group, São Martinho, Funchal. Easy to book. Dine-in only.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horta | This restaurant is more than just the gastronomic showcase of the renowned PortoBay group. Here, the stars of the show are the vegetables and plants used to create its healthy and well-balanced dishes. Ingredients are sourced from its own kitchen-garden (“horta” in Portuguese) or from growers around the island. On the menus, standout vegetable-based dishes include the delicious home-grown roast pepper and carrot hummus. Fish and meat options also feature, such as the tasty scabbard fillet with a mussel nage, plus a new, head-turning version of Crema Catalana served with fruit grown in Horta’s kitchen-garden.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€ | — |
| Il Gallo d'Oro | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Desarma | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Oxalis | €€ | — | |
| Gazebo | €€€ | — | |
| Avista | €€€ | — |
How Horta stacks up against the competition.
Horta's tasting menu format suits the kitchen's strengths well: the kitchen-garden sourcing gives the progression of vegetable-forward dishes a coherence that à la carte doesn't always deliver. At €€ pricing, it sits at a moderate spend for Funchal, making it a lower-risk commitment than a Michelin-starred tasting menu at Il Gallo d'Oro. If you want to understand what Horta is doing, the tasting menu is the right format.
For a step up in formality and price, Il Gallo d'Oro holds two Michelin stars and is Funchal's reference point for fine dining. Desarma is a good alternative if you want a more independent, chef-driven room. Oxalis and Gazebo offer different registers: Oxalis leans contemporary, Gazebo toward setting and views. Horta sits apart from all of them by virtue of its kitchen-garden sourcing focus and vegetable-forward format, which none of the direct peers replicate at this price point.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in available venue data for Horta. What is documented is that the restaurant operates within the PortoBay group's hospitality infrastructure, which typically supports structured dining rather than casual bar-counter eating. check the venue's official channels before assuming bar seating is an option.
Don't assume it's a fully plant-based restaurant: fish and meat dishes are on the menu alongside the vegetable-forward options. The kitchen sources ingredients from its own kitchen garden ('horta' means kitchen garden in Portuguese) and from growers around Madeira, which shapes the menu seasonally. Booking is rated easy, so you don't need to plan weeks ahead the way you would for Il Gallo d'Oro. It holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, confirming a consistent standard without star-level pricing.
At €€, Horta is one of the more straightforward value decisions in Funchal dining. A Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025 confirms the kitchen meets a recognised standard, and the kitchen-garden sourcing model means ingredients carry a provenance story that most mid-range restaurants in the city don't offer. If you're comparing it to Funchal's starred venues, the spend is meaningfully lower with a credible quality baseline.
The database flags two dishes specifically: the home-grown roast pepper and carrot hummus is cited as a standout from the vegetable-forward menu, and the scabbard fillet with mussel nage is the fish option worth noting if you want something off the plant-based track. The Crema Catalana served with kitchen-garden fruit is described as a head-turning version of a Madeiran classic. These are confirmed highlights rather than speculation.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
