Marisqueira Coral — Restaurant in Portimão

Disappointing Experience – Not Worth the Hype

Recommended by social media, we spent more than 30 minutes just finding a parking spot to come here, but unfortunately the experience was extremely disappointing.

It took a long time even to place our order. Waitress A seemed unfocused while taking it, but we still ordered four dishes and clearly requested for everything to be brought together. After waiting more than 45 minutes, only three dishes arrived. My main course never came.

When I asked waiter B, I was told my food was still cooking. After another 30 minutes, still nothing. I asked waiter C, and was finally told that my main course had not been entered correctly at all—the order had failed from the beginning. Instead of being honest upfront, I was left waiting over an hour with no explanation.

Ordering food is not rocket science. The minimum any restaurant owes its customers is honesty.

As for the food:

The octopus salad was poorly executed—honestly, anyone at home could prepare it better.

The pasta was watery, more like a soup than a proper dish which is a shame considering the quality of ingredients available in Portugal.

Overall, both the service and food were a disappointment. It’s not just about mistakes—it’s about the lack of respect and honesty towards paying customers.

If you are in Portimão, this is a restaurant...

This place has been, hands down, the best seafood restaurant that I've been to in the 3 weeks I've been in Portugal. We got the seafood platter with Tiger shrimp and langoustines and could not have been happier. Even the barnacles and razor clams were tasty and so obviously fresh. The spicy and garlicy shrimp left smiles on our faces every time we ate one, and the coral spread was light and fresh and reminded you of the sea. Oh, and the clams tasted just like my avó used to make, with white wine, garlic, and cilantro... Ouff, it was like being transported back to her house! Now for the pièce de résistance: we tried the octopus "lagareiro" style and let me just say that that was by FAR the best tasting octopus I have ever had the pleasure of eating, and that's saying something considering I grew up in a Portuguese household! I quite went honestly went back multiple times just for that one dish. I don't think it was technically a traditional lagareiro style dish (although I could be wrong...) but it was so incredible it didn't even matter. The deep-fried onions sprinkled on top made a world of difference and was an incredible touch. Wine was a bit pricey for Portugese standards but it was very tasty and paired perfectly with our meal; absolutely worth...

Yummo!!! The Oysters- fresh, absolutely delish & presented cutely. The Octupus Rice was a hella big PortioN & friggin positively surprisingly taste bud BlaStinG!!!! Like I usually put lemon, salt & pepper on stuffs if it's not to my liking but maaaaate!!! I didn't touch anything-nothing to spruce my dish up. I scoffed down two servings out of the pot it came in (took me 10 mins to shove it down my gob cos it was amazeballs) & I still could't finish it, so got it to take away. Also- FYI, had a tobasco & ground pepper placed on my table before hand as well cos the waiters were catering & went on the inckling of who likes spicey i guess- so gotta say they had initiative aside from being caring,super nice and hella talkative. My last meal in Portimao & I cannot be more thankfull for being at the RiGht restuarant & ordering the Best dish for me!!!! Just sooo satisfied. Pps- Price for my beer, oysterz & the main- €30!!! EPIC right??? Thank you...