Náutico Bistró de Mar — Restaurant in Municipio de Puerto Madryn

At the recommendation of our taxi driver, our group of five found ourselves dining at Náutico Bistró de Mar late yesterday after flying in that night. We were all in the mood for seafood, and we ordered several dishes.

The Paella Valencia looked beautiful, but the flavors were merely okay, and the off-putting grittiness of the food made it seem like we were eating sand. (Perhaps the shellfish wasn't properly rinsed?)

We also ordered the Pulpo a la Gallega. Again, the presentation was nice and the octopus legs were huge, but the dish was bland, lacked refinement, and appeared to be seasoned with little more than a plethora of paprika. I don't recall ever having to put salt on a seafood dish, let alone octopus, and while it helped, it wasn't enough to save what was one of the most expensive dishes on the menu. The two peeled and baked potatoes did nothing to enhance the dish and weren't enjoyable. Perhaps we would have been better off with the cold octopus dish Pulpos a la Vinagreta.

We also ordered a couple other dishes, one with grilled shrimp and another with shellfish and leeks, and neither were impressive. Having been to many different areas of Argentina over the last week and experiencing a lot of amazing food, this was easily our only disappointing meal. Given the many recommendations and positive reviews, perhaps we just caught the restaurant on an off night. Hopefully we'll have better luck satisfying our seafood craving at another local establishment...

We were drawn in by the positive reviews and arrived with high expectations, but unfortunately, our experience fell flat. We ordered the arroz con mariscos and the pejerrey with lemon cream. The rice dish was watery and lacked flavor, while the pejerrey was overwhelmed by a thick, sticky lemon sauce that masked any taste of fresh fish. When we asked about the pejerrey before ordering, the server mentioned it would be served with vegetables. None were included or visible on the plate.

Service started off decently but quickly went downhill. After our food arrived, we were essentially ignored. Staff seemed more focused on taking selfies and chatting amongst themselves than attending to diners. Once we finished eating, we waited over 10 minutes for someone to bring the check, but no one came. When we finally approached the register ourselves, the staff looked surprised.

Maybe it was the wrong night, maybe we ordered the wrong plates. We’d...

This place was absolutely, 100% terrible - the worst seafood I have ever eaten in my life! In a port city, there is no excuse for not knowing how to cook fresh seafood. I ordered arroz con mariscos and the shrimp was overcooked to the point of being unrecognizable and the amount of "grit" in my food was next level. My husband ordered a burger (he's allergic to shellfish) and took one bite and didn't touch it again. The burger was highly processed "sponge" meat that you would find only in the cheapest cafeteria. Our service was fine, but the waiter was not friendly in the slightest, which I can forgive because this place was packed...but I would in no way recommend anyone go to this...