Ristorante " Il Barcaiolo "

A must visit restaurant if visiting Taormina and you enjoy seafood! It is tucked away and a hard place to find but what a place this is... A beautiful spot with a really soft quiet ambience, great views, professional service and really amazing flavour packed dishes. The desserts were also very good, with a great wine list too. Very thankfull to be told by a local to visit this place and now I can highly recommend it too.

Excellent food. Another big surprise particularly as we were quite worried/ concerned when we got there. Two things you must know, there a lot of steps down from street level (don't even think about taking strollers/bags), and two, don't be the first ones there, the mosquitoes will eat you alive, even with tons of repellent. In the end, we enjoyed it very much. One of the few places with raw gamberi rossi. And third, reservations are a must. Update: July 2023. Food was still good, with perhaps the spada skewers being the exception - they were dry. And less mosquitoes this time. The downer was the issue of the 3rd antipasti that they brought us, but we didn't order. Obviously there was something lost in translation. This was one of the first time we've been pressured to accept that it was our mistake. So that's why I've downgraded the rating.

So tonight we decided to go to a local Trattoria in Taormina by the Ionian Sea. Based on the food alone I’d have given it 5 stars but not knowing there were close to 100 steps that had to be navigated to getting to the restaurant was a negative. We started with an appetizer of anchovy with jalapeño peppers along with a fresh seafood salad. Both were excellent and there was no issue with being over “oiled.” For the entrees we had large prawns and a grilled whole sea bass with a vegetable goulash. The wine list was very diverse with a lot of local Sicilian wines both red and white. In addition there were many other regions of Italy that were represented. All in all a very nice dining experience and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending or going back. Just factor in the steps.

We had a disappointing experience at this restaurant. Firstly, the prices were quite high for what was offered. Secondly, when we requested a table with a view, we were told it was already reserved, yet it seemed that many tables remained unoccupied during our visit. The service left much to be desired; some members of the staff weren’t particularly friendly but some others were. Some of the dishes we ordered were also far from enjoyable. For instance, the shrimp (scampi) we ordered were disappointingly small. We chose this restaurant based on good reviews, but our experience did not live up to our expectations. We left feeling confused and underwhelmed by the overall dining experience.

Nestled in a quiet corner of Mezzaro beach, overlooking the bay across to Villa St Andrea. Excellent seafood, friendly service, inexpensive. Fresh fish daily, best tables are under cover on a small terrace overlooking the beach, but its necessary to book. Intimate setting at night. Easy walk from the beach or road, 7 or 8 mins from the bottom of the Taromina-Mezzaro cable car. The mixed grilled fish is more than enough for two, most portions are large. The mixed raw fish was just great, oysters were fantastic. Try the tuna and white fish carpaccio starter, thoroughly reccommend daily specials. Wine starts at €23 and plenty to choose from.