St. John's Fish Exchange Kitchen & Wet Bar — Restaurant in St. John's

I came here with a large group (18 people) to celebrate my birthday, and while the food was good, the service was some of the worst I’ve ever experienced. We’re all servers ourselves, so we know how busy and stressful it can be, but the way we were treated was unacceptable.

-From the start, there was no greeting, just a blunt “what can I get for you guys.” -When one of my friends tried to order, the server (Franny) actually put her hand up and said “you can wait” in a rude tone. -Two friends kindly reminded her they still needed to pay, and her response was “you guys can have patience.” -She charged one of my friends $92 for a $56 bill and when questioned, told him it was the 18% tip. We calculated it, she had actually added a 64% tip. Instead of correcting it or looking into it, she made him feel stupid before actually admitting it was wrong. -She would grab our attention by yelling things like “hey girl in the red” across the table, which was both aggressive and unprofessional. -When I asked (nicely) why my appetizer I had asked to split wasn’t divided on the bill, she snapped: “Are you serious right now? Can he not just buy you a drink or something? You guys are being ridiculous!” That is not how you speak to guests. -One of my friends was given the wrong taco and she didn’t care, still charged her for it.

On top of all this, we had a reservation yet still had to wait over 30 minutes to be seated. This exact same thing happened last year on my birthday when I waited over an hour with a reso.

The worst part is that because we were a large group, an automatic 18% gratuity was added. It really felt like the server knew she was guaranteed that tip and didn’t care about how she treated us. Ironically, if she had just been kind and professional, we probably would have tipped more than 18%. Instead, I left feeling disrespected on my birthday.

To make matters worse, I’ve called twice since June 19th asking to speak with the owner and was told I would get a call back. It’s now August 2nd, and I still haven’t heard anything.

I don’t usually leave bad reviews, but this experience was beyond disappointing and I would never recommend this place for a group or...

Me and a few friends chose the Fish Exchange for our reunion; I have been living away. I was blown away by this restaurant. Overall, the staff, the food, the atmosphere, and the drinks were superb. I was surprised to be honest because I have heard mix reviews from my friends, but I did not find anything wrong really.

Service: the staff here are excel at their job. We were seated quickly. The waitresses were polite and fast, and I felt this is saying a lot because we were not an easy table. We took forever to order our food because we were to busy catching up, and there was a shift change during this time. However, the waitresses gave us plenty of time and did not push us to order at all. One girl did spill a bit of my drink on me, but it was an accident, and she was super apologetic; thus, I ma not taking any points of for this.

Food: I had the Surf N Turf and my partner had a pasta special. Neither were on the main menu. The food was cooked perfectly. The flavors permeated the food, and there was not conflicting tastes. Nothing was over or under cooked. The presentation was nice too, but I did feel that my plate was a little small for my skewer.

The atmosphere: Excellent again! I give full marks for this. The music was not too loud. The lights were dim, but to a point that allowed for privacy without any issues vision wise. Table spacing was pretty good too. I felt that I could see a few tables that seemed a little close, but ours was well places.

Drinks: I had beer on tap. I was good, but you can't really say much about drinks based on it. My partner has a Dark and Stormy, which is actually a big drink in my house. It wasn't a traditional Dark and Stormy, but that is because of the presentation. They had it set up with liquor in a lime while on fire. It was aesthetical amazing, and it did not affect the flavor at all.

Price-point: This price was not too bad. I mean, it is more expensive, but you should know that coming in to it. The money was worth the food and the service.

All in all, I highly recommend this place! I...

Travelling the entire island this summer and this was the best food, atmosphere and service experience easily. We had Lindsay as our server. She brought out our drinks and cod tongues with scrunchions right away. She thoughtfully described the preparation and history of this dishe’s significance. She also told us this was the place to get them as they are done well here. Tried to get a picture of the cod tongues but they were gone in a snap 🫰🏻 Cocktail for the day was a Spiced Rum with pineapple and a house made ginger brew. It was delicious. Didn’t last long either.

My husband and I like to order things we can share so we had the Admirals Feast and the Lobster Mac and Cheese.

They packed the lobster in that Mac and cheese generously and let me say, they had me at the Mac and Cheese! The cavatappi was done perfect and ready to hold only all the boursin, parmesan, provolone, and padano cheese . Every bite was heaven!

The Admiral’s platter had scallops, halibut, salmon, cod, fish cake and shrimp. Each were prepared uniquely and cooked perfectly with a very thoughtful overall presentation. Hard to pick a favourite from this selection but I will say I had fresh, in-season halibut all over the island and this one was by far the best. It was not cooked. Loving care was bestowed upon it. It was respected.

I had the French country salad and my husband had the Caesar. I’m not sure about his Caesar but the French Country was as beautiful as France itself. Delicious.

It was our last meal here on Newfoundland and it was special for a number of reasons… but all our stories about what brought us to this place in our journey were answered with the same warmth and love by this restaurant, our amazing server Lindsay and we think SJFX is the best. Worth every penny and we both thank you all in providing this most...