The Seafood Café by Niall Sabongi — Restaurant in Dublin

First time in Dublin and we were looking for something delicious. As we scoured the reviews, what stood out for us is the fresh seafood. We appreciate fresh shell food and thought we would give them a try.

A little different than most restaurants, they have a very personalized approach. There is indoor seating as well as sidewalk seating. We didn't have reservations but they managed to find a table for us.

To start, the menu seemed a bit sparse so I was somewhat apprehensive at first about staying. For a moment, we even considered leaving to find another place and I'm so glad we did not. We were close enough to the kitchen to see the food being served and that was enough to convince us to stay.

We started off with their bread. It's a freshly baked roll with a slight hint of garlic. It comes fresh out of the oven and they are fluffy and great for sopping up some of the sauces (especially if you are having muscles). To eat, we did a lot of sharing to included the steamed muscles which come in an enormous pot enough to share for a table of four. We had the half dozen oyster mixture and they were very fresh. Peel & eat shrimp and hand cut fries. The peel & eat shrimp is more like a shrimp cocktail. The shrimp were of the size you would get with a shrimp cocktail instead of traditional peel & eat. They weren't completely chilled and didn't seem to be cooked in any flavoring even though they do have Old Bay seasoning. It came with a chipotle mayo for dipping which was good... but would have preferred traditional cocktail sauce with horseradish. Still, they were very delicious. The hand cut fries are epic; they come with aioli for dipping but they were much better with with the chipotle mayo (ask for this to dip the fries). The fries are the perfect size; not too big or too skinny. Perfectly cooked; not mushy or overcooked. And they come in a cup that stays warms and keeps the fries warm for a long time. We ended up ordering a second order of the fries. We also had a second order of the bread to soak up the sauce after we were done with the muscles. And we ended up ordering skewered prawns. They come two to an order and they are grilled to perfection with a very light salty flavoring that is just amazing.

We were enjoying the meal so much, and although we were quite sated, we ordered desert. We had the Creme Caramel (it was Flan) and the Sticky Toffee Pudding. The Flan (or Creme Caramel) was good but the Sticky Toffee is a must have. Hot, the right size and enough you can eat by yourself or share with the table.

We had drinks and wine and everything was just fantastic! I've read some of the other reviews and all I can say is we are also Americans and found them to be very welcoming, very personable and the food amazing. If you are are coming to Dublin, you must put this on your list of places to dine. You will not be...

I will be as honest as I can be on this review, apparently the restaurant is dealing with many unsuspicious tourist so they charge what ever they please.. the food is good and tasty the wine glasses smaller than average.. service is friendly but not very consistent..!! When the bill arrived I noticed an extra service charge of almost 10% in the bill something that it is not compulsory in EU as service charge is included in the price list, service tip should be up to the customer.. so I told them to remove it, and they did,I would have given them a tip but not in this way and not up to them to decide the amount and put it arbitrarily in the bill.. I didn’t check to see if the tax was included in the prices because I got upset and hastily I left.. sale taxes should be included in the prices as they appear in the menu list and should not be included at the end as a percentage..!!something that I think it was also done in my bill but I am not sure as I left the receipt on the table..and left.. I don’t appreciate this place’s policy using this kind of tricks, we are not all tourist fools from overseas..!! The food is good I say again but this is not enough to make a customer happy, the customer must feel trust… and I don’t trust to go back there, so I have to look for another place for oysters unfortunately..!! If you still want to go there please check your bill for extra charges..!!

REVISED:

The management of the restaurant felt I was not fair with my review however I still feel that the service charge should be included in the prices like they also mention in their email below in most EU countries..!!however I haven’t seen service charge in any other restaurant I visited in Dublin.. service charge or TIP should be up to customer to decide and should not be “served”in the end of the bill with the expected by the restaurant amount this not fair and is misleading..!! About the VAT tax I already mention that I was not sure if it was added at end of the bill and was included in the prices so I will agree that it was not added at the end..!! I am not trying to hurt anybody’s business but I am right about the tip they shouldn’t include it in the bill, I almost paid the initial bill in good faith and it was the amount of the bill that made be realise that the tip was added.. at the bottom and this is misleading in my opinion….!!! The customer should decide what the amount of the tip should be..should not be dictated to him/her,besides that the service charge should be included in each...

I give three stars for the following reasons.

-initial reception from head waitress = disaster. Cold and totally unhappy to be working. -lack of prices on the giant chalk board -lack of organization with ordering. Linked to the head waitress (I assume)

-we had not read reviews, rarely give them unless it’s really good, really bad or it needs a comment.

So here are the comments:

The food was good, we both had a simple seafood sandwich and the fish was superb - the crab pretty good. No complaints. Well priced and a fair portion (unlike the apparent lobster “saga” we read online). We know the seafood business well and this was quality at a good price point - especially for the location.

The service from head waitress was beyond substandard. The young lady was clearly having a bad day, didn’t like us - or just should not work in hospitality. Sh%t happens and maybe the world was against her that day so we just smiled.

The major problem here really was the absolute total lack of hygiene. We sat at the bar as tables were for 4 people (as instructed on arrival from the not friendly lady, yet the next two who asked were promptly seated - again we just smiled). So sitting at the bar of an open kitchen you get to see allot. There is a dual hand sanitizer station that was not used once. The chef, used a tea towel to get fish from fridge, another waitress used it to wipe a plate. The crab claws were cracked with a large knife - and then when my wife’s sandwich had to be cut they re located the knife and used it to cut the sandwich (avec crab claw juice) Not an earth shattering move and probably something we all have done countless times at home - but unacceptable in a restaurant.

We are oyster lovers and we’re initially ready to order 2 dozen, but upon watching the shucking process combined with a nose being wiped on the same arm - we opted for cooked food. Shame - we love oysters.

I could go on with other observations, but I shall not - I was just a customer, not an investor. But I must say Niall - you need to get the staff in order. Good food. Substandard service...