IL PORTICCIOLO ristorante pizzeria — Restaurant in Riomaggiore

Maybe my favourite restaurant ever, went for dinner on my first day in Cinque Terre based on great reviews and good pictures. Had swordfish and mussels for starters, girlfriend had seafood Spaghetti with squid ink, and I had pasta with monkish, everything tasted amazing, never had swordfish before but immediately wanted more after finishing. The house wine (both had white) was lovely. For dessert we had the tiramisu between us, for €7 we got three different ones, and a coffee, all three tasted amazing and made us want to come back again. We came back the next day for lunch before we left. Knew immediately what we wanted to order, lobster with potatoes, and seafood stew, both tasted great, a bit expensive but definitely worth, the portions were very generous, especially the stew. For dessert we got the Sciacchetrà, sweet wine with some pastries and chocolate, rediculously good, the wine tasted so so good and I now need to find in my own country. Service was good and quick both days, had to wait half hour for dinner but we didn't have a booking...

I ordered a plate of pasta with anchovies for 18 euros. Guess how many anchovies were on the plate when they brought it to me? TWO! Two tiny anchovies.The rest was just pasta with a bit of sauce. They should be clear on the menu: it’s a plate of pasta with ONLY TWO anchovies. Actually, they could even give it a special name, like “The Two Lovers” or “The Two Losers.” Anything would work — as long as people know that… there will only be two anchovies!

I feel really sorry about it, especially because, as a tour guide, it ends up being my job to explain to my clients why there were so few anchovies on their plate. I won’t go back — and I won’t bring my clients there again.

P.S. Hi Davide. If you use anchovies just as decoration, then you should be honest with your customers and say so clearly on the menu. Instead of calling it “pasta with anchovies,” you should specify that it’s pasta decorated with just two anchovies! Because honestly, people laugh when they see how few anchovies are...

Arrived in Manarola for 3 days and this was our first meal/dinner. 2 marguerite pizzas, squid ink pasta, fried seafood and 2 glasses of $5 euro white.

Service was very pleasant with our terrible Italian. Our server spoke English and was very helpful.

Pizzas were good. Not out of this world or too different from home, but we have great pizza at home so I'm not sure the expectations are valid.

Black squid ink pasta was good, very tasty. Prawns were overdone I believe but could have just been the type.

Fried seafood was great. Very lightly breaded. Breading did not overpower the flavor.

The little fish were awesome! Calamari was better! There were things I didn't know that were great as well.

Wine was ok/overpriced.

Also mussels. Worth it, but not outstanding.

Would eat there again, unfortunately have too many...