Amadeo’s Bistro, Puerto Vallarta

We stayed in the Marina area for 1/2 of our 3-week vacation. Toward the end of the trip, we decided to try Amadeo’s Bistro for Restaurant Week, due to all the positive reviews. We were there almost two hours (the service was painfully slow between…courses). We were the only people in the restaurant in those two hours. They sat us on the back patio, which was the best element of our visit, due to the wildlife and the freezing A/C inside. There is a bar out there and some interesting art, but bar appeared abandoned, with no customers. For two hours, as it got dark, we were entertained by what appeared to be a colony of Little Blue Herons (flying-in and out — counted 6 nearby, at a point) and several fairly large iguanas in the large tree next to the patio. The view looks out over a huge pond in the golf course, with Comfort Inn in the distance. Very nice setting. Super peaceful that night. We split a RW menu of 399 pesos (Jocoque for appetizer, Salmon for entree and Guava Tart for dessert). We ordered an extra appetizer to split also. We came mostly for the Apple Strudel on the menu, but they were out. Also had drinks. My one margarita (regular size) was the most expensive margarita in our whole trip. Average-size. 119 pesos. Nothing special about it. I added up what the items we ordered on the 399 peso RW meal would cost on the regular menu. 650 pesos. Salmon being 340 pesos, desserts all 135 pesos and appetizers all 140 pesos. Seemed overly expensive, but we waited to see if the food was worth that price. Turned out it wasn’t. They did plate our split dish on two separate plates, which is always appreciated. We are big salmon lovers and eat a lot of it at home, plus we’d had a fantastic salmon dish on RW last year — very large and moist. This one at Amadeo’s was small and quite dry. I took one bite and gave the rest to my husband. One appetizer (cheese with artichokes) was light on the artichokes and heavy on the cheese, which was like glue when it was served to us, after waiting so long. Our waiter was friendly, but we both kept wondering why everything was taking so long, being the only people there. The appetizers and dessert were unique (enjoyed the guava tart…more like a slice of pie, than a tart) but I can’t imagine ever coming back, with it being inordinately over-priced (“fine dining” prices in a little local bistro) on the regular menu though. The food was disappointing and service was the slowest in our memories. Loved the wildlife though. It’s one of reasons we stay in the Marina area periodically. If we return, it would be to have a drink on the patio and see how the wildlife is doing. We were mesmerized.More