Quintinha de São João in Funchal, Madeira is a traditional, old-fashioned, Portuguese style family hotel with only 42 rooms. All but four rooms (including two junior suites) feature a balcony with a table and two chairs overlooking the garden; third floor rooms offer sea view. My Deluxe Twin Room 104 was large, as all rooms, with two writing tables as well as a sitting area with a couch and a coffee table, in addition to the above-mentioned balcony to sit outside and sip a great cocktail mixed at the bar downstairs. Most employees have stayed with the hotel for ten to twenty years, some since the opening in 1998.
A short history of Quintinha de São João
A Quinta is a traditional Portuguese Manor House in the style of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Quinta dos Morgados de São João was the property of Diogo Berenguer de França Neto, Viscount of São João. He was a great property owner, controlling a stretch from Calheta up to what is today’s Funchal city center. His lavish lifestyle with somptuous parties and bad management of wealth led to the family’s near ruin. His creditors liquidated the complete estate, including the Quinta. The property was later divided into various lots, among which was Quintinha de São João aka the “Small Manor House belonging to St. John”.
The last before the current owner was a Dr. Hans Alfred Faber, a man from Austria who lived here until 1979 and counted numerous famous visitors among his guests, including D. Duarte and D. Francisca, the Dukes of Bragança, the Princes of Savoy, Commander Jacques Cousteau as well as Portugal’s most famous Fado singer ever, Amália Rodrigues. The daughter of the painter Max Romer lived some years in the house which is today known as the restaurant A Morgadinha.
The present owner, José Barreto, bought Quintinha de São João in 1982 and completely rebuilt the Manor House, which re-opened as a hotel in 1998. Among the great assets of Quintinha de São João are the two pools; one indoor on the second floor with sea view, one outdoor. Massage and treatment rooms as well as a gym complete the spa offer.
At the bar at Quintinha de São João, you can enjoy live music three times a week by two different pianists: one for more classical music, the other one more for popular songs. Check their selection of cocktails and teas. You can also enjoy them on the garden terrace.
The quinta is located centrally. Twice a day, the hotel offers shuttle buses down the Funchal city center, which you can reach on foot within ten to fifteen minutes.
Chef Rúben D. Cunha, the head chef at A Morgadinha restaurant.
A Morgadinha restaurant
Currently probably the greatest asset of Quintinha de São João is Chef Rúben D. Cunha. The hotel’s A Morgadinha restaurant takes you (partly) on a journey to Goa, where the hotel owners originally come from. Chef Rúben D. Cunha (*1985) told me that, apart from largely curry-based Goan cuisine, he is offering Mediterranean dishes as well as elements of fusion cuisine from around the world, including China and Japan. He told me that he was inspired by Marco Pierre White and his books. He has read them all and tried many of his recipes.
Rúben D. Cunha started his career at the next door Hotel Four Views under the direction of the well-known Chef Octávio Freitas. Since 2017, he is the chef at Quintinha de São João, where he has raised the standard. Rúben D. Cunha prepares everyhing himself: brods, sauces, etc.
On my day of arrival in early October 2020, I enjoyed a vegetarian dinner at A Morgadinha. It started with a Portuguese amuse bouche, a chamusa filled with vegetables, spiced up with homemade ketchup with cayenne pepper, and garnished with avocado cream. Very nice.
My first course consisted of a spicy caril de legumes, a simple but great curry from Goa with pimenta da terra (small, spicy Madeiran red pepper), accompanied by rice as a side dish. My main course was a risotto with French garlic, red onions, truffle oil, champignons de Paris mushrooms and green asparagus (with a bite!). The waiter recommended a Terras de Avô (Verdelho grape), a white wine from Madeira with passion fruit notes and strong minerality, which turned out to be an excellent choice to accompany my risotto. For dessert, I opted for a recommendable passion fruit panna cotta.
On my last evening at Quintinha de São João, the chef at A Morgadinha sent me an amuse bouche consisting of an egg yolk (hard) cooked at low temperture. My first and favorite dish that evening were crispy rice noodles in a curry sauce with pimenta da terra,, safran, ginger and cayenne pepper, the plate garnished with radish and cucumber. On the side, two very different chutneys were served: a spicy aubergine and a sweet mango chutney. A great salute from Goa!
My second, main dish that evening was a wakame risotto with tempura vegetables such broccoli, queen beans and onion. It was paried with an Esporão Reserva 2018 (13.5%) from the Alentejo region made of four grapes: Arinto, Antão Vaz, Malvasia, Sémillon. It was a light wine fine with some lemon and orange notes to accompy my wakame risotto, which was a bit bland because, normally, it is served with fish. In other words, if you’re a vegetarian, go for the mushroom and asparagus risotto I had tasted the other day.
My last dinner ended with a sweet bebinka, a Goan multi-layered cake, which I tasted together with a delicious, home made lemon sorbet. A Morgadinha restaurant is a great asset for this cosy quinta.
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Photo of my bebinka, a Goan multi-layered cake.
The indoor pool on the second floor. To the other side, you can look down on Funchal’s Old Town and the Atlantic Ocean.
The outdoor pool. In the grey building in the back you can find the massage and treatment rooms. The gym is situated in the cellar of the main building. Photos copyright of Quintinha de Sao Joao.
View of a Junior Suite. The layout of my Deluxe Twin Room 104 was identical, just a bit less space between the beds and the couch on one side and the writing tables on the other side. The interior design is old fashioned to keep the Quinta feeling.
All photos of Quintinha Sao Joao are the copyright of the hotel. Quintinha de São João hotel review added on October 9, 2020 at 12:30 Madeira time. Last update at 17:54.
