O Rio Marisqueira — Restaurant in Lisbon

My experience here genuinely ruined my day. Traveling on a budget and agreed to splurge on one restaurant in each city I'm in. This place had great reviews so I was prepared for the ~€30 bill. 1L water is €4, and I got €24 seafood rice. It looked tasty and I was excited.

Every single part of this meal was overcooked. The rice, lobster, crab, shrimp... everything. None of it tasted remotely good. I've had frozen shrimp from Walmart that was more enjoyable. The shelled crab and lobster pieces almost made me cry. I was given 2 very small pieces that had maybe a nibble of overcooked meat, after fighting with the shell for a few minutes. It felt like I had been given someone's scraps.

The server did not respect me or my time. He stopped by my table after bringing the food 4 times total. The first 2 times trying to take my food from me while I was still actively eating asking "are you done yet?" With his hand on my bowl while I'm chewing on a rubbery piece of shrimp. Third time when I was actually done (I couldn't finish most of the mushy rice and had to buy another meal after this) he took my bowl and asked if I wanted dessert. I told him no 3 times before he finally got the message.

This part may not be his fault as I am not super familiar with the restaurant culture here but after I declined dessert saying I'm full and ready to go, I waited 10 minutes thinking he would bring the check but didn't see him at all. The first time I was able to make eye contact with him he came over and asked if I wanted the check, and brought it promptly.

The atmosphere was anything but tranquil. The man at the table next to me was drinking beer and yelling into his phone the whole time I was there, and servers seemed unfazed. There was a very nice Austrian couple sitting on the other side of me who had my same server, and they were quiet up until the server made a very sexist comment to them. They both started shouting at him (rightfully so) about this and he just laughed with a halfhearted apology.

I had some other things planned for my day after this but was feeling so down and beat from this experience, I just got some street food and laid in bed the rest of the night. It seems like this place has some good reviews so I'm sure there's some inconsistency with the bad food/service but I wouldn't recommend taking your chances, especially if a €30 dinner is a once in a while splurge like...

Eng

I'm a shelfish/seafood nut and wanted to eat here for some time. Right away the staff was super attentive and I could hear them talking in at least 3 different languages to other costumers which I thought is worth mentioning. I asked for perceves and oysters as these are usually pretty good ways to test how fresh the products are in any 'marisqueira'. They were all super fresh and some of the best I can remember eating, I also felt they're priced fairly. Next I had to go for the seafood rice which I felt, had a reputation judging by some other reviews and isn't expensive by seafood standards. Maybe I set my expectations too high but I found it underwhelming. I felt it was flavourful but not as much as I hoped, the crab claws felt like they were cooked more than a day or two ago with hard meat and a touch of sourness, the lobster meat was a bit more forgiving, the muscles needed some additional cleaning as they still had the byssus in them (a fibrous material inside the shell resembling tough seaweed) and I would apreciate more cockles added, the shrimp they included had some nice size and texture though.

Overall a good experience, maybe the rice was just bad luck for me but if the rest of the menu holds up like the super fresh entrées I'm sure it's a worthwhile place to...

My family and I just had dinner here and I can’t say enough about how fabulous the meal and the service was!!! We had grilled prawns and soups as appetizers. The prawns were so yummy and fresh with a slight hint of natural sweetness in a garlic sauce that was worthy of being sopped up with their fresh bread when the prawns were gone. The vegetable soup was a nice puree with good flavor. My wife and I shared a mixed seafood dish that was like a stew, with potatoes, peppers, and onions that was lightly seasoned, and the fresh seafood in the dish was so packed with fresh flavor that it didn’t need heavy seasoning. We also had octopus that had to be some of the biggest pieces of octopus I’ve ever seen and it was cooked to perfection, and after one bite it melted it your mouth. We finished with cheesecake that was fresh and yummy and had a great bottle of white wine with the meal. To top it all off, the meal was served by a staff that was beyond friendly and accommodating!!! I highly recommend this restaurant if you are looking for some fresh and delicious seafood served with...