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I have mixed feelings about Michelin-star restaurants. Yes, they can be striking and obviously the food will be memorable, but sometimes they lack soul and continuity. One has the sense that they might be trying too hard to keep that glittering ...

What a wonderful island! Funchal in Madeira offers a great climate, history, creditable wines and superb food. There is a wealth of eating opportunities to cater for every taste, pocket and time of day. There are cosy bakeries, shelves groaning ...

A guided tour of Blandy’s 17th century Wine Lodge and its associated Wine Museum, in the centre of Funchal, will reveal some of the art and science that generations of producers have developed, to make a range of delicious, rich and long-lasting ...

Funchal in Madeira is one of my favourite cities and Quinta da Casa Branca has one of my favourite restaurants. That is surely a recipe for delicious contentment and a very happy reviewer. I have not actually stayed at Quinta da Casa Branca but ...

The 15th century saw the dawn of the Age of Discovery, a time when European powers began exploring the world to find new lands and new opportunities. Portugal was in the vanguard of this drive, sailing southwards in their case down the west ...

For a small island in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, Madeira has a big reputation for the sweeter things in life: its history includes sugar, wine, and ‘honey’ – well, a Madeiran interpretation thereof. We’ll discuss the first and the last of ...

This beautiful and unique island has been a much-loved destination for European tourists, yet primarily for the slightly older generation. But this traveller wonders why, when Madeira has so much to offer for everybody. It has not only an ...

It is perhaps one of the highlights of any vacation: a trip to an exotic and thoroughly Instagrammable market is hard to beat for local colour and atmosphere. Madeira has a gem of a covered market in the middle of Funchal and it’s well worth a ...

Madeira is said to have been discovered by the Portuguese in 1419, though there are stories from intrepid sailors of much earlier times, that tell of two verdant islands far off the African shore. Settlers arrived just a few years later; they ...

Mostly Food & Travel Journal WINNER UK-Wide ‘Finish at Home Delivery’ Wedgwood Restaurant Edinburgh Restaurant dinner at home It will not be an ordinary Christmas this year, but we can still make it special even if it’s only for ...

This is another in the series from My Kitchen Table, offering good-value volumes of easy-to-make recipes, and in the case of 100 Cakes and Bakes those recipes have been penned by none other than the queen of cakes, Mary Berry, who has inspired a ...

I am spoilt. It’s true, I have marvellous invitations to eat, sample, savour the most delightful foods across the globe. Spicy dishes from Asia, decadent plates from Europe, comfort food in the USA.  Yes, the best of everything has been ...

The Yeatman Hotel doesn’t sound, to the ill-informed, a particularly Portuguese name for a hotel. One would more readily expect a name like “Henry the Navigator Inn” or “The Porto Paradise”. Do some homework and you’ll find that The Yeatman ...

London is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s been a magnet for tourists for generations. Plenty of celebrated museums, and all free, galleries to admire, and then there is always retail therapy, and that has ...

[This restaurant is now closed] Madsen, a restaurant in the shadow of an Underground station. (Yes, dear overseas reader, some London Underground stations do cast shadows, at least when the sun is strong enough to cast one.) OK, so not exactly ...

I was expecting a pamphlet. What is there to say about beans? Well, lots and it’s much more interesting than I had supposed. The author, Ken Albala, already has a good track record for writing food-related books. His others include Eating Right ...