Da Liborio - CASTELLAMMARE DEL GOLFO

I 've lived in Italy for 13 years and my family has a holiday home near this restaurant. It is simply the best seafood restaurant I 've ever eaten at, and after going there 10+ times it has never disappointed. I always choose the menù degustazione (tasting menu) which has countless small dishes of raw and cooked fish, with a final pasta dish (that changes every time). It is a lot of food, and I recommend you go on an empty stomach. It is easy to arrive at the final dish (pasta) and not have much space, but the pasta dishes at the end are always fantastic. The cook (Liborio) is a master chef and we are lucky to have him. The owner is cordial, pleasant, and very responsive without ever being invasive. For a seafood restaurant of this quality the prices are more than reasonable (a similar meal where I live near Venice would cost 2 or 3 times as much) Food is absolutely fresh, and you can it in every bite. It 's in a residential neighborhood off of the beaten path (you won 't stumble onto it if you 're a tourist). So, you won 't get a view of the sea or anything pastoral or idyllic, but the sheer quality of the food is more than enough. Basically, every time I eat in another seafood restaurant the best I can do now is "It was good, but not as good as Liborio)

If you are serious about eating the freshest fish that this beautiful island can offer, you need to find this restaurant. They are closed on Mondays possibly Sunday evenings during these difficult months, but book to avoid disappointment. The chef selects his ingredients daily, be guided by what he in the kitchen suggests you will eat like a king.

We booked our table at 21.30, arrived punctually and after being placed at the table were prompted to order a mix of starters because of long waiting times for other dishes and the aboundance of the serving. We got the starters after 1h and by 23.20 never managed to order anything else. The staff always replied that somebody will come in a minute. We left without eating. Paying for a mix of fast food quality starters of scarse quantity 40 eur per serving! When decided to pay we got at the cash desk and explained the disservice to the staff. In reply we recieved only a well, yeah and were invited to leave a comment on Trip Advisor. No apologies. We were not the only that night to openly complain. At least 2 other tables requested to speak with the cook or the staff. A horrible experience on every level.

We were really looking forward to eating in the place having read all the positive reviews. Our first impression was WHITE everywhere with no ambience and to be honest it just kept going downhill from there. We ordered a gin and tonic plus a vodka and orange, sorry no gin and no orange juice, seriously? So we decided to go straight to white wine but of course they didn't have any of the one we ordered. We then both ordered tuna carpaccio, so no carpaccio but we do have tuna tartare. Okay then we will have that. The dish comes out but totally lacked any seasoning and was simply small tuna chunks in a round with a couple of balsamic vinegar swirls. To be honest any decent home cook could produce something much more tasty including my partner. A large group of people arrived just before we had our main dish served and because of the starkness of the restaurant the echo from their group conversation was most unpleasant. For our main we shared a whole fish of the day along with a side of grilled vegetables. This fish served look like it had been hacked apart by someone without knives skills and didn't look the slight bit appetising and whilst it was perfectly cooked it again lacked any seasoning. As for the grilled vegetables again no seasoning and the aubergine was so soaked with oil it could only be described as terrible. By this time we couldn't wait to escape this place but had to settle a bill of over 90 euros. Maybe it was a bad day in the kitchen but I certainly wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy

Wonderful find, we tried to go to I Sapori but it turned out to be a market (an amazing one) so we went to Ristorante da Liborio. I think we hit a jackpot, amazing restaurant that specializes in seafood and they seem to do it all very well. I had the insalata mista followed by the linguini with sardines which was amazing. My wife had the linguini with clams which was also pretty incredible. One of our friends had the fresh catch of the day and another had the tuna, both were seasoned perfectly and so fresh. Paired with great wine, good bread and a lovely setting, this place is wonderful.