Ristorante Il Porticciolo — Restaurant in Lu Palau/Palau

Probably the worst restaurant experience my group (3 people) has ever had. Our hotel recommended it, but I think the restaurant truly does not want tourists. We are a polite, quiet group and travel often.

Service was atrocious- they sat locals ahead of us, then took 45 minutes to even take our order (not even a drink while we waited.) They brought only two glasses with our bottled water for 3 people so one of us had to drink out of the 1 liter bottle. We could not get the attention of any waitor.

Then to top it off, the food was almost inedible. Scaloppine was thick, tough, and chewy - were they pranking us? Pasta with sausage had tons of gristle. And the fish "fillet" was almost all bones and had an odd flavor. Thank goodness one of us ordered an extra personal pizza or we all would have gone hungry. Pizza was soggy but tasted good.

Other people there seemed to be enjoying their meals - who knows, maybe we just had terrible luck - but we couldn't in good conscience recommend...

Finally a place in Palau with authentic food, not a tourist trap. My partner is Sardinian and he loved this place. Trattoria type decor & food style… big plates of food, simple but generous and tasty. We had a little wait when we arrived but we had not booked, and it was around 9pm so the crazy rush was easing off. Also it was September, not peak time like July/august. Staff was efficient & did their job well. Only 2 ladies covering the whole floor but service was fast.

We shared the meat & cheese platter to start. For mains, I had sword fish, huge portion. Cooked perfectly. Sides are extra. Partner had frutti de mare. Such a generous portion and tasty. Not the best in Sardinia but definitely the best that we found in Palau. Would happily return here again.

No special Coeliac options, but I had no trouble picking from the fish or...

I ordered antipasti of meat and cheese first, which was tasty, but it was a main size plate! Too much food for a starter.

For the main I ordered grilled prawns, which I normally love. The good point was that they were large, but that's it. They came as they were, shells and all and two pieces of lemon. I don't expect to peel my own prawns when I go to a restaurant, especially when they are very hot. I also had to remove the part of the prawn that can make you sick! Why does this dish cost €18 when all they do is grill then for a few minutes??? No skill involved there. I added a side salad, which was bland lettuce and for slices of tomato. Even with balsamic vinegar it didn't help the flavour. There were also a lot of flies in the restaurant, this was indoors. I definitely will not...