Boca De Cena

Had a great dinner at this restaurant with my girlfriend. It only seats about 10 tables, and there is apparently one chef and one waiter who service all the tables.
That might sound like a service nightmare, but they actually do a great job. Didn’t find that I had to wait much and never did we have an empty drink. Kudos for the hustle.
Now the food is fantastic. We were both served a simple salad that was nice and refreshing, followed by a crusty bread filled with a cheese unique to the island with pumpkin jam. Crunchy, savory, and sweet in one bite.
For our entrees, the crunchy octopus was delicious, as was the chef’s steak (a medium rare filet with fried onion rings, and roasted potatoes). A good portion size on both entrees.
The dessert was also wonderful, a cheese cake that uses chevre goat cheese that makes a very creamy cake, and a chocolate cake that was very moist and delicious. My only complaint was that I wanted more. :)
Overall, a wonderful experience from start to finish that may have us coming back before our trip is over.

The octopus was amazing! I had a taste of my friends meal. I should
Have ordered it! I ordered the cod with fresh veges. It was very good. I am not the biggest cod fan, but this meal had some great flavor! The chef was our waiter and helped us with our order. The cheese appetizer was delicious it was cheese with an users and it was scrumptious! Great place!

The best meal we had in all of Portugal. The place runs with one waiter and one chef. They take their time and they do it right.
The beef appetizer was amazing.
Octopus was said to be both crunchy and tender and it was just that. Possibly the best octopus I have ever tasted.
Steak entrée was also delicious.

… amazeballs. Get the crispy octopus and the pastry wrapped fish and shrimp. It was seriously incredible. Would go back in a heartbeat.

I came here twice because it was one of the better restaurants in the city center. It was very difficult to find, especially if you don’t know where to look or are walking along the wrong street. I walked right passed it because the sign was facing a different side. If you’re walking north towards Rua de Sao Joao, it’s on the right as you’re walking passed the parking lot.
Boca de Cena is a small restaurant that is very modern, with lots of mood lighting. I would even go so far as to label it a romantic place to bring dates. The restaurant has about 9 – 10 tables, depending on the table arrangement. It was never busy when I was there, likely because it was not high tourist season, so reservations were not necessary but I can see it getting busy during the summer months.
Although there are a number of options on the menu, one or two items may not be available due to lack of ingredients. For fish options, they only make what was caught that day. For instance, I was fortunate enough to order the only ahi tuna that they had that day. Over the two visits, I ordered the grilled shrimp, the ahi tuna, and the grilled octopus. The grilled shrimp were pretty large and tasty. I thought the ahi tuna was just okay. Like at other restaurants, it seems like they unnecessarily add too much salt to an already salty protein. The grilled octopus was my favorite of all the dishes. The octopus was nicely grilled so that it had a crunch, but was still soft and tender. The suckers on the tentacles fell off in my mouth, so that added some fun texture to the mix. I also ordered a chocolate cake, but you get 2 small slices so it wasn’t worth it. Dinner came out to about 40 €.
There is one wait staff now, so the chef no longer runs the front and the back as others have mentioned.

muito bom!
óptima comida, excelente atendimento e espaço muito cuidado.
preço um pouco elevado mas plenamente justificado.
recomendo vivamente.

Zentral gelegenes Restaurant (parkhaus um die Ecke).
Das Ambiente wirkt anfangs etwas Düster. Der Empfang ist aber herzlich und freundlich.
Die Empfehlungen zu den Speisen und dem Wein perfekt. Wir konnten den Rosé zu 1dl haben und nicht wie auf der Karte die ganze Flasche.
Die Speisen werden schnell gebracht und sind so gut wie sie ausschauen. Einfach mmmhh
Alles ist frisch.
Preislich ist dieses Restaurant sicher höher einzustufen aber für das Gebotene trotzdem preiswert.

My fiancé and I visited Ricardo at Boca De Cena on our recent trip to the Azores and it was truly not only the best meal of our entire trip, but one of the best meals we’ve ever had! As a one man show, Ricardo managed the floor perfectly and gave us amazing suggestions. We had the toast with cheese, daffodil wrapped in puff pastry, the filet, and the chocolate mousse. Every single bite was out of this world and every single dish was cooked to perfection. We had an amazing experience and wish we could fly there right now to enjoy it again! Highly recommend this gem of a restaurant.

A must if dining in Sao Miguel/​Ponta Delgada … A tiny unassuming locale with a killer ambiance. Definitely a little pricey (compared to other spots) but still reasonable — around € 14 – 18 an entrée, € 8 an appetizer. But the quality of the experience well than makes up for it. Ricardo is the one-​man show — front of house, server, and master chef. The tuna and octopus are out of this world. You can cut the octopus with a fork it’s so tender and the tuna just melts in your mouth. You’d be a fool not to eat there. We got in around 9:30PM without a wait but weekends definitely need a reservation.

This place was amazing. You need to eat here. They only seat about 8 tables per night so best to make a reservation, but the food is absolutely wonderful. I can go on, but there’s nothing else to be said.

You MUST come here! Such a delicious meal we are already making plans to come again tomorrow. The chef is very talented and runs both front and back of the house. Since he does both, plan for a leisurely meal but you will not be disappointed. Take his suggestions he was spot on about pairing the wine, starters with entrées, and dessert. We had the roast beef starter and the scallop starter. The scallop was good but the beef is outstanding! For the entrée the tuna was the «best in the world!» Served seared (the only way to have tuna in my opinion), on a bed of fresh veggies (hard to come by on the islands) and crispy potatoes with a heavenly honey sauce (not too sweet, just perfect!). My friends had the crispy octopus and it was also a winner. The octopus was so tender and fresh. A truly unique presentation because it is crispy but not fried. Dessert was the best we have had on the island. You must do the chocolate cake if he has it. It is moist and has a crispy layer in the middle that reminded me of ferrero rocher. We also had the chocolate coffee mousse & coconut cake… you really can’t go wrong. Lunch review tomorrow!