Calcada Do Cais

Good meal, but fairly typical for a nice restuarant in Ponta Delgada; however it was very busy so it is likely one of the better places. As usual, the regional steak sauce was fantastic.

I came here for lunch on my first day in Ponta Delgada. Calcada do Cais was somewhat difficult to find since it was located on side streets, but I was eventually able to find it. The interior is modern and fairly small (6 – 7 small tables inside).
I’m not sure if it was a language barrier or it’s just something that’s not done here, but I asked for tap water and was given a Calcada do Cais branded glass bottle of water. It may have just been tap water in a glass bottle, which was not free. Ordered 3 dishes: the grilled shrimp, the catch of the day, and a steak and fries. The fried shrimp were pretty large and very tasty. The catch of the day was good, though there was a lot of salt added unnecessarily. It turned out very salty. It comes with a sweet potato. The steak was huge! Unfortunately the waiter didn’t ask how I liked it cooked, so it came out medium rare, and was rare closer to the bone. It comes with fries and a green sauce for the steak, but I didn’t think there was much flavor added by the sauce. Overall, the steak wasn’t a favorite. The price came out to about 36 €.

Had a wonderful lunch here on a Saturday afternoon.
Very good price for the catch of the day.
Limited vegetarian options but there was one very good starter and one delicious mushroom risotto main.
Best of all was the dessert — pineapple sponge cake! And our waiter was very friendly and professional.
Great selection of Azorean and Portuguese wines too (including a couple of Curral Atlantis choices)!

Good for lunch and dinner! Same menu, free items but all we tried was good and reasonably priced!
We went once for lunch and once for dinner. The places is tucked away in a side street and has also tables outside. The staff is friendly and helpful with their advice.
Travelling with a vegetarian in the Azores is not ready but here they had a vegetarian risotto and customisable pasta, which is more than most of the places.
I got once the sirloin «regional» which comes with a sauce with wine and garlic which is really good and fries (not the frozen stuff, real potatoes, although bit dry fit my taste). The second time I took the fish of the day which was delicious and came with sweet potatoes, carrots and zucchini.
The chocolate mousse was also good!
Defyingly a good spot in town!

We ate at Restaurante Nacional (just down the road) the previous night and I wasn’t sure if that restaurant just wasn’t that great or if that was normal for the area. I’m glad to find out that Ponta Delgada has some decent options!
We went to Calcada Do Cais for lunch and I was impressed with the quality of food.
The bread was decent and we opted for the tuna pâté. Locally sourced and done with hook and line. Not an overpowering flavor but still distinctly tuna — if that makes sense.
Starting off — everything here is cooked with ample amounts of butter. No complaints as I like butter.
The fried shrimp with garlic came with 6 medium size whole shrimp that had been sauteed in a nice bath of butter and garlic. It’s almost impossible to mess a dish up with that much butter and garlic. It was very good. Would get again.
The fish of the day was «pork fish» (local name) which had small filets of fish that were breaded like pork chops and then fried. Good flavor, not overcooked, and the breading was still light.
The cod was one large cut that was super flavorful and tender.
All the lunch dishes were served with cooked carrots and sweet potatoes. Really good, still moist, and again soaked in butter.
I had a blast here. Would definitely go again.