Portofino Restaurant — Restaurant in Higüey

This is a very bad attempt at Italian food. I appreciate we are nowhere near Italy, and never expected it to be as good as the real thing, but real Italian food is so simple it is easy to replicate. There is a distinct lack of seasoning on many dishes across the resort and it was evident here. The bread appetisers were OK, the bread sticks were stale as the bread is left out on the boards under the lights. The pesto that came with the bread lacked flavour, particularly garlic. The starters of veil and buratta were OK, nothing great. The main meal of the devil's pizza (diavola) and Spaghetti all’aglio were OK to bad. The pizza was OK, there was too much cheese, and no spicy kick as there should be diavola, the all'aglio was awful. It's such a simple dish to make and it was a sloppy tasteless mess. The Tiramisú was not particularly good and I ordered the cream puffs but got gelato. I didn't complain because at this point we wanted to leave. The cocktails were good though. The service was good and attentive, but it was too quick. Food is not made to order, apart from the pizza, it is served to quick for this to be the case. We had 4 courses in less than one hour, not a relaxing experience. Overall it lacks the very simple flavours of Italian cuisine, is there a garlic...

Located in Gran Bahía Ambar Luxury - Lovely restaurant atmosphere and attentive, kind staff. Upon sitting you’re welcomed with a basket of bread with a lovely pesto sauce. For this reason we didn’t select a starter from the menu. We went with the Penne all Arrabiata (pictured), Linguinni Frutti di Mare, Prawn Risotto and Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli. The Penne sauce is spicy, which I loved, but know that the plate does not come with a protein, it’s just pasta and you need to request either chicken or shrimp as an addition. I didn’t realize this until plate came to table and had to send back to kitchen, staff was very nice and understood my confusion. The Linguini and Risotto were delicious, highly recommended just know that since both are seafood-filled it could weigh on the saltier side. The ravioli was good, bowl came with three huge pieces. Since the Penne wasn’t a favorite, my girlfriend said she should’ve went with an order of pizza instead. The desserts we chose were the Tiramisu and Cream Puffs (pictured) - definitely go with the Tiramisu, very tasty. We also suggest trying a starter cocktail, all of the options are great!! Overall, a nice experience but they should rethink their pasta options in menu because the dishes do not closely reflect...

Alot of disappointment... upon arrival for a 7.30pm appointment JoY still was written all over my face . Seating was done quickly water poured wine list presented. Then I was approached by a concierge asking if I wanted to purchase a Tomahawk steak... lobster.... etc .... I was at an all inclusive luxury resort.... not impressive. Appetizer presentation was fabulous... lovely bowl with vegetable medley and noodles ( not much) was placed on the table and my waiter poured the broth . Wala.... minestrone soup...for my entree was ravioli uncooked Spinach with cheese Dough filled mush. Yuk Yuk Yuk Inedible.... Stouffers beat them out the frozen food section hands down. Cocktails were tasty... didn't even want to try desert because my taste buds...