The Seafood Bar — Restaurant in Amsterdam

TOURISTS, BEWARE.

My family and I dined at the Damrak 213 location on Thursday September 11 for 5 pm (the original reservation was for 7:15, but the assistant manager let us change it to an earlier time which I was grateful for at the time). At first everything seemed ok. But it just went downhill from there.

We were sat in the far back of the restaurant. Firstly when we sat down, we had a male server asked what we would like to start with. I asked for some time and he left. He never came back. It took forever to wave someone down. It felt like they didnt want to take my order.

While I was waiting for someone to serve us, I saw the same assistant manager take a seat in front of us with their male companion. Multiple staff went up to them to provide them with drinks and food and were super attentive. (Perhaps she just finished her shift, and wanted to eat at her place of work which is fine- but atleast have staff serve the customers when they are waving for attention) The assistant manager and their companion had full were service way before I could even order drinks or food.

Secondly, I ordered a coke zero. A female server brought it with a separate glass of ice. I saw that there was two dead flies sitting on my ice. I told the server and she apologized and took it away. I shook it off, bugs happen. No problem.

Food was decent for what it was. And I enjoyed it at the time. Shrimp was slightly undercooked but overall ok for the platter we purchased. Nothing to write home about. Its nice that the location is central.

The issue I am primarily upset about is the service and attitude of the wait staff.

When I made my reservation a week ago, I was required to pay 10 euro per person (50 euro in total).

We finished around 6:30pm and a different female server asked us if we were done as she needed us to leave. She slapped down the bill and told us to pay 174,20 euro. I asked her if we could do it in cash. And she rolled her eyes. The bill was in dutch and she pointed to the the 174, 20. She waited in front of us and I told her we needed to count cash. So she left ~2 min and then came back again and it felt like being rushed. She repeated the total of 174, 20 and watched me count out 4,20 in coins.

I think at the time, it didn’t register for me to really look at the bill as I was unimpressed with the attitude.

I understand that she needed to clean the table for the next upcoming customer but she could have waited for atleast 5 minutes.

And the restaurant wasn’t even busy.

We paid the total in exact. My family members also needed to use the washroom. Once the server took the money she never came back.

Nobody rushed us then after the payment was received. So we stayed an extra 10’minutes for each member to use the washroom at the front entrance of the restaurant down to the basement.

After leaving the restaurant I looked at the bill and remembered that I paid for a deposit. We should have paid 124, 20 not 174, 20.

Therefore the server took an extra 50 euros from us.

I’m very disappointed that the staff member told me directly that I needed to pay 174, 20 euros and was rushing us and that when she picked it up she didnt say anything. We gave a 100 euro bill, 50 euro bill, 20 euro bill and coins.

I also understand it was my fault for not looking at the bill and confirming with what I actually owed.

I contacted the store to no avail. I emailed info@theseafoodbar.com and received a response from Frank hello@theseafoodbar.nl.

While I appreciate that a response was given, I’m not satisfied with the answer as they stated that change would have been provided to me (which is a total lie).

After providing payment and waiting for around an extra 10-15 minutes. There was plenty of opportunity for the server to tell us we overpaid or provide us with change that is due.

Disappointed and would not recommend.

Can’t help but to feel that with the attitude of the staff, its like they hated us because we’re tourists and don’t...

My friend and I visited a couple of times a few years ago, I brought my family this time. Seafood was not in good quality as before. Overrated and disappointing. Most Shellfish are not fresh and relatively tiny. (See the picture of oyster and razor clams) some were dirty.

One staff (a male server) answered our question arrogantly but ignorantly, states the cooked and chilled seafood we ordered were RAW which they washed and served directly from the sea.

We then used different wordings in English to make sure we understood each other. He reassured everything on the cold plate was uncooked. We have kids on the table who frankly usually enjoy seafood. That’s why we need to clarify what he said is factual before offering to the children.

Particularly I questioned him again as the lobster shows two different colours and those two different textures, indicating half cooked half undercooked. He “re-confirmed” everything on the lower plate is uncooked, raw and directly from the sea.

I told him that it was interesting that I never knew the clams and mussels could be eaten uncooked, and their shells could be magically opened when they are raw. He claims that it’s a French style they opened each of the mussels and clams with a knife. I definitely understand opening oysters with a knife but who on earth opens clams and mussels with a knife? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I expressed my frustration and he continued to emphaise his theory. Then, he confidently said if I don’t believe I can follow him to the seafood counter. When I was at the counter, I wanted to see how the chef explained it to me. The chef said they boiled or steamed the seafood, cut and chilled then be served cold. I then looked at the server to explain if he could understand why his words sounded so confusing (nonsense) to me. He was shocked and remained silent.

I returned to my seat and after a while, he came back to apologise and said it was a misunderstanding. He is not from the section. To be fair I didn’t want to make a scene on my holiday, I told him it was his attitude that he refused to accept there was something he didn't know, he could have asked other staff or the chef before bluffing me with incorrect information. I felt like I was being treated as an idiot. When he made up the French-style story, it’s even more ridiculous. He was just talking in his bubble without listening to me or trying to understand my question. So the apology he sums up as a mutual misunderstanding, I...

General - we found this place based on looking for seafood - sounds obvious but surprisingly not always simple as selection in most places is typically not good.

Service - the service started off great and never stopped being good. The greeter/maitre d was very upbeat and pleasant - offered a table to get a drink while waiting for our table (we were early). From there Paolo as our server was fantastic - great suggestions that made for a great meal.

Food - as we were seated, we walked by the fish cooler and were shown the fresh catch options. Even the non-fresh catch looked fresh. We started with a bottle of white and a salad recommended by Paolo that had mango in the dressing. Normally would think this as too sweet but combined with lemon, it ended up being the best salad on an extended trip! The avocados in it were as good as any. Phenomenal. While eating salad, we saw the mixed grill - looked great so that was my option. My wife order the cod - again, Paolo recommended it. She said it was flavorful and fresh - “best ever.” 👍 My grill was very good. Not everything had a pop in terms of flavor - had to season with salt on some…example on the good side were the mussels which had some heat along with a tomato base. Would have liked there to be more of that with other grill items (and I get it was a grill). We did a couple options on dessert including a vodka/prosecco/sorbet “drink” that could have been a liter and we would have wanted more. Definitely an all-around win on the food front.

Value - this was clearly a good-value place. With location downtown, and food-quality level, I was expecting higher prices. But overall, it was very reasonable given the amount of everything and quality. Kudos to the owners on this point - didn’t feel like someone was picking our pocket.

Atmosphere - overall it was good. Very open area with plenty of room (people were NOT jammed into a table right next to you). It was also not noisy which you typically expect with a restaurant that is full.

Would return again when in...