Internacional Sao Jose - Funchal

On our recent holiday visit to Funchal, Madeira, we were charmingly invited into this fabulous Portuguese Restaurant, close to our chosen hotel accommodation. We were not disappointed with the dinners taken here, as we dined here on three nights, out of four, before sadly returning to our island of Jersey after a wonderful relaxing and joyous winter sun holiday. On the first night, we enjoyed the chef's recommendations and gorged on a beautifully cooked Black Scabbard fish and a tasty rare T- Bone steak main course. On the following evening, we had an exquisite four meat espetada of fillet steak, lamb, chicken and pork with milho and salad. The other recommendation which also did not disappoint was the chef's hot Fish platter which consisted of 12 types of fish and shellfish and had 42 pieces of perfectly cooked and tasty of all the above ocean sourced fish for complete culinary satisfaction... This dish was accompanied by fried potato chips, fried milho and salad. On our last night dining experience, the chef prepared our request of Picado for the two of us, which consisted of expertly cooked steak cubes is a succulent beef, garlic and herb gravy surrounded by copious amounts of fried milho on a large oval platter, just made for sharing, accompanied by a green salad washed down with large ice-cold glasses of local favourite draught Coral lager beer followed each night with local desserts and Madeiran Wine... Superb, on each and every night we were there... We shall definitely return to eat there when we return to Funchal, majestic Madeira...

We visited this lovely friendly restaurant in the evening. The staff were very friendly and attentive and we had a lovely rapport with them. The food was excellent and we could not find fault. We followed the special menu at €10 each and were incredibly surprised at how good the choices and 3 courses were. I had sirloin steak with pepper sauce as a main course and my wife had the chicken breast with mushroom sauce. The ice creams for dessert were delightful. Excellent wine and a complimentary glass of Madeira wine with the bill. A gem of a find.

Lovely 3 course lunch for 4 of us. My starter of melon and Madiera wine was delicious and the salmon that followed was equally delicious. All 4 of us enjoyed our meal and empty plates all round! Thank you also for friendly service

With so many choices of restaurants, it is a question of luck in Funchal whether you pick a good one. This was better than expected and we liked the pricing formula which gave more choice than many with set menus. You pay for the main course and then the starter and dessert are included, so there is an à la carte menu from which certain choices can be selected for the offer. We both chose what we wanted at under €12 each. The waitress was efficient and friendly and we felt we had excellent value. We felt a little guilty at not ordering more drinks, but we had already enjoyed plenty earlier in the day. Very good service and price. We'll be back and happy to recommend.

Very tasty food, friendly staff, managers are speaking in 4 languages. We really enjoyed time there during our holidays. Good prices and perfect atmosphere.