Covadonga Seafood Restaurant

Excellent oysters and delicious bass. I came her for lunch two different times and the quality is always the same.

We ordered a paella and a sirloin. I believe some of the seafood in the paella was rotten and the steak was chuck steak. The service was good though. I hope i don’t get sick. I will never return to this place.

Not great. Shrimp was overcooked. Seafood paella was just ok. Won’t come back. There are tons of better places to choose from in Miami.

One of the reviewers that were not «recommended» hit the nail on the head about the Clam Chowder (Sopa de Almeja):
«Sopa de almeja where you can’t see any almeja and tastes like flour mixture
the seafood restaurant look good from outside, still needs improvements on the food (special soupa de almejas)»
So this is my first Covadonga experience:
Upon ordering: The waitress explained/​warned that the aforementioned clam chowder was creamy, which we were aware that ALL clam chowders usually are. However, she failed to share the consistency, which was VERY thick, and definitely not in a good way. This clam chowder was like thick goop. It seemed the chef over used flour to thicken the soup, making something between an oatmeal & porridge texture. Horrible!
We then received the conch fritters which were served on a tea cup saucer?! Weird! A handful of small roughly quarter sized fritters. None uniform in shape, some round, some tube shaped. Strange! I’ve had conch fritters in Bahamas and Key West both amazing places to have conch fritters… these didn’t even come close. What an insult to serve them on a tea cup saucer.
Our entrees finally came out and as the waitress cleared the table she asks my dining partner if he’s done with the soup, since the bowl was pretty much full. He said yes, she didn’t even seem concerned enough to ask if he enjoyed it. Which is what a good waitress were to notice when a dish is barely eaten. Surprising! (SideNote: She didn’t even seem to know what a metal seafood cracker was, even when asked in spanish, had to do a hand motion before it finally took her a minute to realize what I was asking for… CLUELESS! You work in a SEAFOOOD restaurant)
We ordered the seafood entrée soup and the supposedly popular Seafood Paella. (Both ala carte) Both very salty, which now I’ve come to realize was done to mask the lack of freshness of the Seafood used for both dishes. Some of the seafood had a strong iodine taste. Luckily I barely ate even half, so hopefully the strange noises as I digest my food will not end in digestive distress. (Sad face)
This restaurant must have been great its in heyday but definitely needs a menu revamp… at the very least, have the decency to use fresh ingredients. Gordon Ramsey needs to come here and definitely clean house. The bread basket with Cuban bread was stale. The only thing that this restaurant has going for it is the shipwrecked décor. Feels like you’ve visited a restaurant from an episode of Spongebob.
Unless, the chef and freshness/​quality of the food improves, I will NOT be a future patron at this restaurant. P. S. Restaurant was empty except for one other couple Early Sunday evening. That should have been a big clue!

Nice ambiance, good appetizers, friendly staff, moderate prices, only negative they don’t have a full bar.

Good Ceviche. I recommend the normal over the mixto.

Somehow I miss read the reviews or I wouldn’t have bothered. I had the seafood stew. Hate to complain that seafood soup was fishy but it lacked imagination was prices and didn’t scream fresh .oh well every meal can’t be great, I will miss that $ 25

I had a wonderful experience coming here. It’s a small but cozy place. The food was excellent. I would definitely recommend it! Good prices, and great service!

This place caught my attention from across the street. So, I swirled through incoming traffic risking my life for the ceviche that I knew was waiting for me on the other side.
I ended up not buying ceviche cause I’m PO’.
But I did try a Vuelve a La Vida? I think that’s what it’s called. It’s like ceviche, but it had calamari, oysters and mussels. Maybe shrimp? Point is… I was turned off because they squirted KETCHUP into it. Now I LOVE KETCHUP. But I like my ceviche to have a more sophisticated tomato base. NOT SOME DAMN KETCHUP. I still enjoyed it though. Would I go back to the depths of BFE for it?
No.

I love this place! I’ve been eating here as a little kid, for 15 years. Every dish is fantastic and the service is quick and great. The inside is like a ship and very romantic. Great place to have wine and appetizers! Yum is the word!

I’m from New York.
But when i visit miami my first place i go is: Covadonga !
The best place to eat seafood.

I tried the Sopon Marinero. This fish bouillabaisse was a tasty combination of chunks of white fish and shrimp. This is one of the better options on Calle Ocho, which to me never lives to up the glorious name of «Little Havana» — as a Habanero. I’d be pretty offended to see this one-​way highway of unattractive strip malls and run-​down furniture stores named after the enigmatic Cuban capital… but tourist-​trap neighbourhood naming aside, this little restaurant is still worth the trip.

I agree with Kent. Their lunch menu rocks. The French Onion soup is to die for and their shrimp in garlic sauce is awesome. I went on a weekend and was disappointed to find out that the very same order I had placed during the week at lunch time was the same one I got on the weekend; only difference is I literally paid twice as much. I didn’t think that was cool. It was the same portion the same sides, nothing more nothing less. In reference to the service, I agree with Joseluis in that it could be a little quicker. What my girlfriends and I do is while we are eating we ask for the check and pay it during our meal to cut down on time. Over all I recommend this place for lunch.

i came here for lunch this afternoon. … service took for ever, the food was sorta bland. the prices are ok but really, i much rather go to bahamas fish market a couple of blocks west… the décor is nice, ill give them that. sorta intimate like kent says … but thats it. i dont think ill go back unless someone tries to convince me otherwise.

The Covadonga is much more on the inside than it appears from the street. As you work your way along calle 8 past strip mall after strip mall you begin to think that every place is a glorified latino ‘cafeteria’ with very little ambience and little to separate it from all the other places serving ropa vieja, lechon, masas de puerco, picadillo y pollo asado. But Covadonga is very different. This is a very respectable Spanish (meaning Spain influenced) restaurant that specializes in excellent seafood. Calamares en su tinta is as close to Valencia as I’ve had in the US.
The prices are very fair and as I said the atmosphere is surprisingly intimate. So hit this place sometime in the late afternoon, start ordering away from the great list of appetizers and get hazy on some high quality, well priced vino blanco. It’s what life is for you know!