Restaurant in Genoa, Italy
Genoa's best-credentialled seafood table. Book weekends.
Il Marin is Genoa's clearest answer for Michelin-starred seafood, holding a 2024 one star and an OAD Top Restaurants in Europe ranking. Chef Marco Visciola applies modern technique to Ligurian maritime territory — think tableside cocktail spaghetti with caviar and nebulised gin. At €€€, with Saturday and Sunday lunch offering the Porto Antico view in daylight, it is a hard reservation worth planning three to four weeks ahead.
At the €€€ price point, Il Marin asks you to spend meaningfully for a Michelin-starred seafood meal on the Ligurian waterfront. That investment is justified, but with a specific condition: you need to be the kind of diner who values technical ambition applied to local maritime territory, not just a scenic harbour dinner. For that diner, Il Marin is the clearest answer in Genoa. For everyone else, the calculation is more nuanced.
Il Marin holds a Michelin one star (2024) and ranks #541 in Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Europe (2024), with an OAD recommendation as a leading new restaurant in 2023. Those credentials place it in the upper tier of Italian seafood destinations, alongside venues like Uliassi in Senigallia and La Pineta in Marina di Bibbona — restaurants that treat the Italian coastline as a serious culinary framework. Google reviewers back this up: 4.4 across 745 ratings is a reliable signal of consistent delivery, not a one-off spike.
The dining room sits within the same building as Eataly at Calata Cattaneo, 15, at Genoa's Old Port. Through glazed walls, the view over the Porto Antico opens up in a way that makes the minimal interior feel deliberate rather than sparse. The design logic is clear: strip back the room so the panorama and the plate compete for your attention. On a Saturday lunch, particularly in the warmer months, that combination of harbour light and considered cooking is hard to replicate anywhere else in the city. The service team, predominantly female, is noted for warmth without stiffness , a register that suits the room's understated tone.
Il Marin opens for lunch only on Saturday and Sunday (12:30 PM to 2:00 PM), which makes the weekend midday service its most accessible format and the one most deserving of advance planning. Evening service runs Wednesday through Friday and both weekend days from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Tuesday is closed. If your visit to Genoa falls mid-week, the dinner service is your only option; if you have flexibility, Saturday lunch gives you the harbour view in daylight, which is the better visual experience by some margin. Book this in mind: with a Michelin star and limited covers, this is a hard reservation. Plan three to four weeks ahead at minimum for weekend lunch, longer during summer when Ligurian tourism peaks.
The kitchen's orientation is what the Michelin database describes as 'territory' , specifically maritime territory , treated through modern technique. Two dishes from the verified record illustrate the approach clearly. The Martini cocktail spaghetti is prepared in the dining room by Chef Marco Visciola: the pasta is finished with algae butter, Martini sauce, caviar, and nebulised Taggiasco gin , a dish that functions as theatre and precision cooking simultaneously. The roasted monkfish, cooked in bay leaf with almond hummus, kale, and caper Mugnaia, demonstrates a different register: composed, grounded in Ligurian product, and technically detailed without being performative.
The menu structure offers three tasting formulae, with à la carte options also available within that framework. This is worth knowing before you book: if you want the flexibility of ordering individually rather than committing to a full tasting arc, Il Marin accommodates that, which is not universal at this award level. For food and wine explorers who want to move through the kitchen's range methodically, the tasting path is the better choice. For a weekday dinner where you want one or two courses and a glass of Ligurian white, the à la carte route works.
Genoa's restaurant scene at this price tier is smaller than its reputation as a food city might suggest. San Giorgio operates at the same €€€ tier with modern cuisine, and The Cook sits above at €€€€ with a more formal modern format. Il Marin's differentiation is its waterfront location, its seafood specialism, and the Michelin credential , credentials that neither peer fully replicates. For Ligurian territory cooking at a lower price point, 20Tre and Al Giardino Degli Indoratori are worth checking before you commit to the higher spend. Antico Forno Patrone covers the lighter daytime end of the city's food offer. For broader context on where Il Marin sits within Italian seafood at this level, Antica Osteria Cera in Lughetto and Quattro Passi in Marina del Cantone are the appropriate reference points nationally. At the peak of Italian fine dining, Osteria Francescana, Dal Pescatore, Reale, and Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler represent a different tier of commitment and spend.
Book Il Marin if: you want the best-credentialled seafood table in Genoa, you have a Saturday lunch free and want the harbour in daylight, or you are building a serious Italian food itinerary and Genoa is a logical stop. The Michelin star and OAD ranking are not decorative , they reflect a kitchen operating with purpose and consistency, confirmed by 745 Google reviews at 4.4.
Consider alternatives if: your budget is closer to €€ and Ligurian character matters more than technical ambition, or if you are not committed to a seafood-forward menu. In those cases, the €€ options in Genoa offer a more relaxed entry point without the booking difficulty.
For a full picture of what Genoa has to offer beyond this table, see our full Genoa restaurants guide, Genoa hotels guide, Genoa bars guide, Genoa wineries guide, and Genoa experiences guide.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Il Marin | Italian Seafood, Seafood | €€€ | At the Old Port, within the same building’s floor that houses Eataly, the dining area thrives on simplicity to accentuate the panorama witnessed through glazed walls, while competent service, primarily female, tends to guests warmly. The cuisine pivots around 'territory', primarily maritime, yet is rejuvenated through modern techniques and ideas; for example, the Martini cocktail spaghetti, shaken in the dining room by Chef Marco Visciola, enriched with algae butter, Martini sauce, caviar, and nebulised Taggiasco gin, as well as the roasted monkfish cooked in bay leaf, almond hummus, kale, and caper Mugnaia. A varied selection exists, also à la carte, within the three tasting formulae presented.; At the Old Port, within the same building’s floor that houses Eataly, the dining area thrives on simplicity to accentuate the panorama witnessed through glazed walls, while competent service, primarily female, tends to guests warmly. The cuisine pivots around 'territory', primarily maritime, yet is rejuvenated through modern techniques and ideas; for example, the Martini cocktail spaghetti, shaken in the dining room by Chef Marco Visciola, enriched with algae butter, Martini sauce, caviar, and nebulised Taggiasco gin, as well as the roasted monkfish cooked in bay leaf, almond hummus, kale, and caper Mugnaia. A varied selection exists, also à la carte, within the three tasting formulae presented.; Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in Europe Ranked #541 (2024); Michelin 1 Star (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top New Restaurants in Europe Recommended (2023) | Hard | — |
| San Giorgio | Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Rosmarino | Ligurian | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| La Pineta | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown | — | |
| The Cook | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Le Cicale in Città | Seafood | €€€ | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Il Marin and alternatives.
Manageable but not optimised for it. The dining room at Calata Cattaneo 15 has glazed walls facing the Porto Antico, so a solo seat with that view is a reasonable trade. The tasting menu format works for a single diner, and the service — described as primarily female and warm — tends to put solo guests at ease. That said, the €€€ price point stings more when you're absorbing it alone, and the à la carte option within the tasting formulae gives you some flexibility on spend.
San Giorgio operates at the same €€€ tier and is the closest like-for-like comparison if you want Michelin-level ambition in Genoa. Rosmarino and Le Cicale in Città sit at lower price points and suit a more casual Ligurian meal without the tasting-menu commitment. La Pineta and The Cook serve different formats — La Pineta is worth considering if you're willing to travel outside the city for a serious seafood table. For the combination of harbour setting, Michelin credentials, and modern Ligurian technique in one room, Il Marin has no direct in-city rival.
Possible, but check ahead. The dining room is set up around the panorama rather than large-group configuration, and the tasting-menu format with tableside elements — like Chef Marco Visciola shaking the Martini cocktail spaghetti in the room — works better at smaller tables. Groups of 4–6 should book well in advance and confirm capacity directly; the restaurant's address is Calata Cattaneo 15, Genoa. Larger parties may find the format awkward and the pacing difficult to synchronise.
Yes, and the Saturday lunch slot is the strongest format for it. The harbour view through glazed walls in daylight, the Michelin 1 Star (2024) credential, and tableside service touches — including a spaghetti dish shaken by Chef Visciola at your table — give the meal a sense of occasion without theatrical excess. The €€€ price point is appropriate for a celebration booking. If dinner is preferred, Tuesday is the closure day to avoid; Wednesday through Sunday evenings run from 7:30 PM.
The database records two signature dishes worth anchoring your meal around: the Martini cocktail spaghetti with algae butter, Martini sauce, caviar, and nebulised Taggiasco gin — shaken tableside by Chef Marco Visciola — and the roasted monkfish with bay leaf, almond hummus, kale, and caper Mugnaia. Both reflect the kitchen's approach to Ligurian maritime ingredients treated with modern technique. Three tasting formulae are offered, and à la carte is available within them, so you're not locked into a set progression if flexibility matters.
At €€€, yes — if seafood is your focus and you want the most credentialled table in Genoa. The Michelin 1 Star (2024) and an Opinionated About Dining ranking of #541 in Europe (2024) give the kitchen verifiable standing relative to its peers. The setting at the Old Port adds context without inflating the bill unnecessarily. It is not worth the price if you are indifferent to seafood or prefer a traditional Ligurian trattoria format — Rosmarino or Le Cicale in Città will serve that need for less.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
