Restaurante Dona Mariana — Restaurant in Ponta Delgada

Please don't go here if you like food.

This is the most horrible restaurant that I have experienced after being in the Azores for 2 weeks. We ordered 3 starters and two main dishes, all of which (except for the prawns, but hard to mess that up) were horrible. The big star was by far the portobello tagliatella, which was the worst pasta I ever had. We sent it back to the kitchen. Later we got an explanation by the chef why it has this "distinct taste". The reason he gave was "because it is vegetarian". Tagliatella with tasteless oil and rarely anything else should not even be called a pasta in my opinion and this explanation was just pathetic. I am not a vegetarian but on paper portobello tagliatella (€16) sounded pretty good. At least we did not have to pay for it but the pasta was so bad that this could hardly be called decency. The entire staff even admitted that they never tasted it.

The nero spaghetti (€20) was just as bad. Although a bit more taste to it (which does not say a lot), was hardly worth the price. Be prepared for 1 shrimp and 2 clams and an insane amount of spaghetti.

The host (guy with a big tatoo on his arm) acts like the most popular guy in his class and is mostly fishing for tips. You notice he selects the customers who fall for his charade and will mainly focus on these tables.

Do not get fooled by a cue in front of the restaurant or that it appears crowded inside. The place is very touristic and will always be full. Save yourself dissapointment and go somewhere else. We were not the only table with complaints towards the kitchen during our visit. The staff had to give many apologies to the customers around us.

To end on a positive note, the wine was pretty good. Just don't fall for the expensive recommendations of the popular host with the plastic smile.

This was by far the worst place that we could have picked to end our vacation. No one should...

We chose this restaurant based on good score on the reviews but we didn’t get what we expected. We went there on Saturday night, there was a table including 12 people before us, So we didn’t get our food on time. First we didn’t get the drink menu and we chose just based on the waiter offer between wine and beer, we ordered bread and olive oil with grilled garlic for starter and fish of the day and tuna steak for the main course. It took about 30 minutes to get our bread with olive oil after complaining about the long waiting time and it was not good at all, then after 40 minutes we got the prawns with garlic sauce with was not good at all because it was frozen and not fresh and when we told to the waiter (who was the manager) he told that you can’t find fresh prawns in Ponta Delgada! Finally we got our food after about an hour from the order time. I asked for medium to well done tuna steak but it was kind of burned but the fish of the day was good. The portion size was good. Another point that bothered me was that the waiter put my knife and fork on the table without any handkerchief! At the end when he asked about feedback we gave suggestions about customer service and the points that we expect when we go to a restaurant. It seems that the manager has changed for the last 2 years and there was miscommunication between the...

Do not ever come here. This place completely ruined my trip.

We both ordered the same dish, the “fish of the day,” grilled cod. Mine came out 50% raw. The inside was uncooked, almost jelly-like. That was the first mistake. When I pointed it out, the waiter took it back to the kitchen, only to return with the same fish, this time cooked, but already destroyed in texture and presentation. We ate it anyway, and to be fair, the flavor itself was good.

But the worst part was the payment process. NO ONE informed us beforehand that the restaurant is CASH ONLY, no cards, no digital payments. At that moment, neither of us had cash on hand. The only option was for me to walk 1 km back to the car and return with cash, which is totally absurd in this day and age. The manager simply insisted they would wait.

Finally, when I paid with a $100 note, the staff tried to give me change in thirty $1 bills. Thirty 1$ BILLS???! Only after complaints did they “oops I found some $20s and $10s.”

Uncooked fish. A forced walk for cash due to lack of transparency. And then an insulting attempt at change in stacks of $1 bills.

This is not just poor service, it feels like a scam. I do not deserve this treatment, and...