DuCoq — Restaurant in Santa Margherita Ligure

We did stay in this wonderful town for couple of days. We found this restaurant online, had very good reviews. So we made some reservations a few weeks before our arrival.

In the end we came here for three nights. The place is very nice, nice setting and atmosphere. Right in the heart of Santa Margherita.

Fish and seafood is the main theme here. There are some other options though in case you're not into that.

But we did come for the seafood. Specifically for the "crudo di mare". Raw seafood. We love it. Had it several times before in other Italian towns. But: the one here we loved the most! Amazing raw fish, langoustines and shrimp. Also the shrimp carpaccio is highly recommended. If you've never tried crudo before, surely this is the best place to do so. Their oysters are also very very good.

We always had the crudo and the carpaccio for starters. For the mains we've had the hot Foie Gras - tasty and tender. A great meal. Also some of the daily pasta specials like shrimp pasta, fish ravioli with artichokes or the shrimp gnocchi. All very solid choices, but especially the shrimp gnocchi were amazing.

Also had the steamed mussels (choice of two sauces - we went for the creamy french-style), another great and fresh dish.

A great selection of wine. Sparkling, red or white. Also very good local wine. We very much enjoyed the Pigato from "Laura Aschero". Matched the fish and seafood perfectly. Fair priced as well.

Amazing food here. Also divine focaccia. They do their own here and it's a real treat! Equally amazing is the staff/owner. Really friendly, very helpful. There's no rush, you get lots of time to enjoy your meals. They will take good care of you here. And our Bulldog was also welcome in the restaurant.

We had a great time here. A perfect dining experience. Next year we will back in town. And we will definitely be back here to enjoy some more crudo di mare, pasta, mussels and oysters.

Edit - revisited after a year: Still amazingly good

Went back to Santa Margherita this year. And also came back to this restaurant, which we loved so much last time. And the good news: It's still a great place to dine!

We came for dinner three times. Our Bulldog was always welcome as well. Made reservations for all nights, easy by mail.

Every night we chose our very favourite starters: Crudo di Mare (raw seafood like shrimp, fish, squid etc.) and Shrimp Carpaccio. Both wonderfully fresh, nicely presented. It's seafood heaven. For the mains we've had the mussels (creme fraiche), the Foie Gras, a whole crab, escargots, Pasta with artichokes and shrimp and Trofie with shrimp and pesto.

All quality meals. Freshly made with great products. Pasta was made with nice seafood broth, really tasty and lots of flavours. The mussels were a real highlight as well. The Trofie here were cooked to perfection, a really great dish. There are many other items on the menu as well. Lots of different fish and seafood. Oysters as well. Get a platter if you can't decide.

We always had the Laura Aschero Pigato with. A wonderful white wine, goes well with fish, pasta and seafood. And don't miss out on the wonderful bread that is served with your meals. Best we've ever had.

Sara and her team made us really feel welcome and really at home here at DuCoq. A wonderful restaurant. If in town, be sure to check it out. We will definitely be...

It’s a nice atmosphere but service lacks. We had a table in the garden and had to wait more than 15 minutes before we could oder drinks, another 15 before they served it. Many musquito’s in de garden.

We ordered the Royal seafood platter and salmon roe caviar. We would expect to get the blinis with caviar first but they served it after the seafood platter. Also with the platter we only had a fork and knive, no shellfish cuttelry. We had lobster that was not properly grilled, the shell was still very much connected to the meat.

After the seafood platter we received the blinis with salmon roe, normally the eggs are separated and crispy, they splash when you bite.. this was more of a fish roe marmalade, very disgusting.

We have discussed our finding with the owner, she removed the salmon roe of the bill. We still had to pay 180 EUR, which is fine but not worth it considering our night before with fresh seafood...

Great atmosphere, great food and great service. Everything was as you would expect from a relatively premium restaurant. King crab was amazing, oysters were great and the restaurant was kind to split a smaller portion of various oysters if you don’t want to take 12. Food was cooked perfectly. Some items may be fairly small (e.g. shrimk carpaccio) if you want to get a full on meal, however, you would mostly go the place for tasting various items so it fits the purpose. There are, of course, portions that are proper size, like mussles, fish, etc. Foie gras was absolutely amazing. Wine comes at various prices, but you can get a decent bottle starting from 28eur.

Overall, an amazing place. Thanks to the lovely people working there and the chefs. Recommeded to reserve a table in the gardern for a very lovely atmosphere.

If you are not on a tight budget, definitely a...