Maria do Mar — Restaurant in Nazaré

Everywhere I go in Portugal the food just seems to get better and better. We ordered the caldeirada (fish stew) without the prawns and clams as my wife has allergies to shell fish. It was delicious. The fish soft and moist. Onion, tomato and potato all tasty.

We also ordered the sardines but they were out. I think this was a blessing as they suggested Robalo (sea bass?) and my oh my! It was sublime. Cooked to absolute perfection with a slight about of charcoal to the skin. Best fish I've ever had.

The empregadas (waitresses) were all attentive and polite and the owner/manager(?) Mariana (Maria's daughter) came out and took payment and had a chat and was so nice. A really lovely family run restaurant. I've also been learning Portuguese and the staff were happy to let me try and order and converse in Portuguese even if it's terrible, unkike some other places where they will just automatically...

After looking for some tipical fish restaurants in the area, we found out Maria do Mar as one of the few historical places to eat in while in Nazaré. We did not find the "Family-Portrait" situation described on the internet but welcoming was fairly good and waiters were kind and friendly. Sadly, the fresh food experience ( we ordered grilled squids and characteristic Caldereira special + vino virde) was ruined at the bill, since 11€ extra were added for bread, butter and tuna/sardines paste served by default at the tables ( it is not offered and if you consume it you will pay for it insanely!). The guy in charge at the cashery explained "you pay for what you eat" but it would have been appreciated if appetizers just shown up on tables were specified ...

I recently had an unfortunate dining experience where the shrimp and squid were not cleaned at all. The squid was served with its pen still inside, making it nearly impossible to eat. When I brought this to the attention of the lady, I was told that this is the way it’s done in Portugal, which I find hard to believe. Additionally, the Arroz de Marisco was poorly prepared, with the seafood not properly cleaned again. All food was prepared hours in advance as it was cold and not cleaned at all. The smell inside the restaurant was poor as well. This was, unfortunately, the first time I’ve encountered such low-quality food and the fact that we paid 70 euros for 3 dishes made me want to inform future visitors with...