Mercado do Peixe

My girlfriend and I ordered the sardines and grilled calamari friggin amazing! The sauce was amazing, and required dipping of the bread (açores style) to soak it all up haha :)

we were literally the only people in this restaurant… besides the cook and the server. but in their defense, it was low season, so it wasn’t unusual for that to be the case in any restaurant.
as with most any dinner in Azores, a basket of bread (not free) is brought to the table, with a dipping sauce of some sorts.
i had a grilled parrot fish, which was one of the catches of the day. it was grilled whole, bone in. very tasty, kind of like cod, but not as «chewy». just a flaky white fish. and not too bony. the steamed vegetables on the side were a beautiful addition. the wife had a shark steak, and yes, it tastes alot like swordfish.
the servings are so gigantic, we didn’t order any apps or desserts. beer and wine was about 2 euros, and each of our dinners cost 15 euros (about 20 bucks). service was super friendly! and décor is charming… the place is huge. i heard in the busy season, they do massive business.

As said before, they offer really fresh-​caught fish to good prices.
We were happy to see, that also locals were among the guests which is often a good sign for me.
The fishs were very tasty, the vegetables were at an intermediate level but hey, were were there for the fish.
Aside the dessert offer from the convenience-​food products like icecream in an artificial coconut, they also offer house-​made desserts which we tried and which were really good.
The service was very friendly and in the entire restaurant was a good atmosphere; the service was not chaotic but the restaurant wasn’t full so maybe it’s different in Summer.
So to the price level: we had a small selection of starters (bread, butter & olives (!fantastic fresh with garlic)), two main courses, two desserts, two glasses of wine and two espresso for 45 €, that’s a good deal…

If you are looking for freshly-​caught fish, this is the place to go. You can, and you really should, have a look at the exhibited catches of the day — and choose yourself the very fish you would like to eat. Portions are generous, the food is very good. Staff were very friendly but all in all, the service was chaotic: Waiting time was unusually long (even for the Azores), and our starters were forgotten. When a dish came from the kitchen, the waiters were not sure for who it was and they almost always had to check. Electricity got disconnected five times. Nevertheless, we would still recommend the place; but you should be patient, good-​natured and have a sense of humour — then it can even be a funny night out.