My wife and I spent two days and one night in Marco Island this past weekend for my birthday. We had family visiting from Boston and we thought it would be a good idea to have our own staycation in Marco Island, which is far enough to have a break, but close enough in case we needed to come home for something.
I had always read about Marco Prime, but had yet to visit and the reviews were amazing and the food always looked so delicious in the pictures. This was confirmed when we checked in our vacation rental home and asked about a good place for dinner and immediately they suggested Marco Prime.
I had also been following on social media Chef Roberto Rocha, and the pictures of the dishes he had been posting had me very excited to try Marco Prime.
The wife and I got ready and made out way to Marco Prime for our 7pm reservation. Reservations are highly recommended as it gets busy pretty fast, even during off season.
Upon arriving, we were greeted properly and shown to our table. We were offered drinks right away and while the wife chose to go with a glass of wine, I stuck with sparkling water. Our waitress (and waiter in training) was very polite and attentive and made for a fantastic service you would expect from a restaurant like Marco Prime.
We were served bread (3 different kinds) and we ordered a Wagyu Meatball as an appetizer. Before we knew, our appetizer was served and in addition, we received a prawn and octopus appetizer, which was absolutely delicious. The Wagyu Meatball was delicious, with very soft meat as you would expect from Wagyu on a delicious tomato sauce and with a few toasted bread. The prawns was so good and succulent on a delicious sauce, while the octopus was perfectly cooked, which makes for less chewy and more of a full meat texture, served with baby potatoes and other spices. I must confess that the presentation was also amazing, with flowers and beautifully done!
For our main course, the wife went with the Braised Beef Short Ribs, which is serviced with smoked mashed potatoes and asparagus. I went with the Wagyu Top Sirloin ‘Diana, which was encrusted with peppercorn and came with a Boursin Cheese Potato Cake, Mushrooms, Broccolini on a Mustard & Shallot Brandy Cream Sauce and just absolutely delicious! It was the perfect combination between soft and delicious meet with the potato cake and the broccolini with a delicious sauce on top. I could have not chosen a better dish!
To top everything off, the Chef sent a dessert to the table for my birthday. Employees came over with a large brownie with three scoops of ice cream and a lit candle and sang Happy Birthday to me before we enjoyed this absolute delicious dessert. I did not even leave the Happy Birthday and Marco Prime to waste and ate them (they were made of chocolate!)
One of the best things that can happen to me is when the Chef comes to your table to check on everything and carries a brief conversation with you. To me, this brings such a personal touch to my experience and makes me feel so special that he is taking time out of his busy job in the kitchen to ensure that I received the best service. This was exactly what happened, Chef Roberto Rocha came to our table, checked on how things went during our dinner and was even generous enough to take a picture with me. It added to my already fantastic experience!
Overall, our experience at Marco Prime was absolutely amazing. Fantastic service, great ambiance, magnificent service and the food was amazingly delicious!
I highly recommend a visit if you are in Marco Island or I even suggest a trip from Naples to eat at Marco Prime, it is that good!
Felipe Recommended! (I will be back for more soon!)
