Ristorante Porta Marina da Salvo — Restaurant in Syracuse

Perhaps it was an off night, but our experience was not good. Given the price and accolades, both the food and ambience were a let down. Food: We had the 7 course chefs tasting menu which started with an amuse bouche. Both the amuse bouche and the first course included a seafood and frozen fruit sorbet combination, which felt repetitive. Fig sorbet with tuna tartare, then oysters with both a watermelon and lemon sorbet. The tuna and fig dish was ok, but the oyster was not pleasant with either fruit. The second antipasta, shrimp with burrata creme, was one of the best bites of the evening. Spaghetti chitarra with prawn and then fettuccine with saffron,mussels, and mushrooms were served next. Both were good, but disliking mushrooms, the fettuccine dish was bad luck. The mains were a whitefish with tomato and then squid with ginger. The fish was ok but underseasoned, and the squid and ginger combination was not to our liking so much so we told the waiter and sent it back. A very crunchy macaron was served before dessert which was a cookie with ricotta and orange. Dessert was easily the best course. Ambience: it's a beautiful building but even on a Saturday evening it was a bit empty. The office-like desk set up by the door is a bit unusual and the evening we were there the owners dog was present and barked throughout the evening. Service: with a language barrier, service is naturally less smooth, but even acknowledging this, there was minimal consideration given to what we tried to communicate as a less than enjoyable dining experience. A real disappointment for what we had hoped would be...

About 30mins for our order to be taken. Another additional hour more for the food to come. I don’t recommend the raw catch of the day starter, good presentation with the drops/sprays of liquid and still no flavours & warm raw food.

I asked how much longer for the food as we have been waiting for ages & tables that came after us all got their bread thing AND starters before us. The waitress was annoyed and then brought out bread sticks. Charged us 7 euros for idk if it was the breadsticks or the weird bland chewy fruity fishy balls they were offering everyone probably cos the service is soooo sloooow. The other waiter would occasionally slam down our plates. Didn’t offer us the basic condiments for oysters except some gin spray. What?!

TLDR: Gimmicky, poor customer service, sloooooooooow service & disappointing food.

Reply: Here’s the parking ticket. We came around 8.20pm and left around 10pm to get back to the car. Thanks for saying the review is uneducated and insinuating we don’t typically dine at this sort of “establishment”. 😅 No disrespect to the chefs they were doing their best, can’t say the same for the customer service. Check your cameras to see the real time we entered and what time the waitress came with the notepad to take the order & how you prioritised the tables that came after. I wonder if there was a reason for that, if you know -...

Just finishing dinner here and I’m surprised it’s on the Michelin guide. We had an 8:30pm booking and by 9:30pm we had only received water, despite ordering our food and wine. At 9:30pm we were told that our wine was hot and was being chilled before it got to us. A wine that the waiter recommended no less. 9:40pm and we receive our wine and entree of oysters. The wine is good and the oysters are decent. Intermission before the main course which will arrive surely anytime now. The decor is quite lovely. A very quint space near the harbour and the whole white table cloth schtick while elevator music buzzes in the background. 10:00pm the mains arrive! Absolutely amazing food. The lobster fettuccine was the saving grace this evening. And the clam pasta was also worth the wait. All in all the food is great, the service needs work but if you’re looking for good food and you don’t have places to be it’s...