Simar Seafood Cocina — Restaurant in Austin

My friends and I decided to have a girls night out so I suggested Simar since none of us had ever tried it and the reviews were good. In summary if you don’t want to read all of this: Music did not match the overall atmosphere Beautiful plate presentations but poorly executed in flavor (if it were not for presentation, my star rating would only be two stars) Servers are forgetful (well ours was) Server was pushy Orders were not correct Alcohol drinks seemed watered down Food came out at a descent time after ordering. They charge a alcohol tax (MB tax) in addition to sales tax Too over priced to not be well executed all around (drink, food, service)

We arrive about 1 1/2-2 hours before close. The atmosphere was not what I expected, the music was a live opera singer so you would think white linen tables right? No, the atmosphere was more of a Joes Crab shack vibe (nothing against Joes, I eat there). The staff seem very nice (in the beginning at least). We ordered drinks, I didn’t care for my Tamarin margarita it seemed a bit watered down and was overly tangy. The others said their drinks were okay. Our server seemed nice at first but we could tell his patience quickly declining. I spilled some of my margarita because the table was a little uneven when I tried to slide it onto the table after taking a sip. The server just stared at us as we scrambled to clean the mess, so much that my friend had to ask him to help us. He finally did but I could tell he was bothered that I spilled it in the first place. The complimentary appetizer was tasty (maybe the best part). When it came to ordering our food I heard great reviews of the Paella so that’s what I ordered. My other friend got a steak dish and the other a fish dish. When my friend who ordered steak was choosing her sides, the server kept speaking for her naming sides. At first, we thought he was just trying to guess her response but then it seemed more like he was trying to persuade her to get something other than what she wanted He did this several times, so much that she could barely get a word out and our smiles had now turned to frowns and we were a little offended by this. She eventually ordered Elotes and sweet potato fries as her side. However, when the food came out, she had sweet potato fries and asparagus, which is one of the items that the server was trying to get her to order in the first place! My seafood Paella, which was super expensive, looked beautiful but was very bland. This was unfortunate because I had high hopes with all the seafood that they pile inside. One good thing is that they do give you a lot of seafood. Everything that came out was aesthetically pleasing to the eye, however, severely lacking in flavor (includes the alcohol drinks). Another friend ordered a second drink, but he never brought it out to her, and when she asked about it, he lied and said the bartender is making it, but the bartender was clearly standing at the bar, staring off doing nothing. When we received our checks, the server purposely circled the 20% and 25% tip calculations leaving the 15% calculation out of the circle. One of my friends did not order a alcoholic beverage, but received a tax on her bill as if she ordered alcohol. We did not make a fuss of this. We just paid and we’re ready to leave. I really had high hopes for this place but unfortunately, I don’t know that I would ever go back here again or if I do, I will not come back late at night. I hope our experience is not the norm for this restaurant and we just happened to go on a bad day, I wish the best of luck to the rest of you and...

Simar is fantastic! I tried a ceviche tostada when they were at the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, and thought it tasted pretty good.

We were trying to eat at CPK at the Domain (company gave me a gift card that was expiring in a month), but the dine-in was closed. We were looking at other places to eat around that area that wasn't in the Domain, and found Simar. I remembered that place from the GAACC, so we decided to go.

When you enter the restaurant, you are greeted by a fishmonger's area where you can see the fresh fish laid out on ice behind glass. There weren't any fish there when we were there because we went so late, but I imagine it would be beautiful to walk in and see that when they had fish laid out.

The restaurant is styled well and very clean. We were also the only people in the restaurant on a Tuesday at 8:00pm, which was interesting because that experience doesn't happen often in Austin for us. We were able to admire the decor and talk to the server about the food.

We ordered the pulpo a la plancha (grilled octopus), tacos a la gober (shrimp), and the aguachiles rojo ceviche (with shrimp).

The pulpo was by far our favorite. It was seasoned very lightly, if at all, and had a great flavor from the grill. It was perfectly tender, almost rare but right on that edge so it had a great combo of tender and very slightly chewy.

The tacos a la gober were tasty, albeit a bit salty. It seems like the shrimp was seasoned with salt when cooked, and the sauce that is on top of the shrimp is pretty salty, so combined it was a bit too much for us normally, but we still ate them because they were overall delicious.

The aguachiles rojo ceviche was pretty good, but this was the saltiest dish we had. In our own cooking we've learned that adding acid to salt amps up the salt and vice versa, so it seems like they added a bit too much salt and then topped it off with lime juice, so it was tad too salty and acidic for us.

Despite the two dishes that were salted slightly beyond what we liked, the food had a great presentation, tasted great and the seafood tasted very fresh as well. The whole place and vibe reminded us of some of the seafood-forward restaurants we ate at in Cancun, giving us that coastal Mexican vibe.

Service was phenomenal even for being the only people in the restaurant. Our server was attentive, knowledgeable about the food when we had questions, and checked on us often.

We will be back, and plan on bringing our seafood-loving...

We visited for a friend's birthday party on Friday 2/4/2022 large group of 11. This restaurant has only been open 1 month , i believe. From the moment we walked in the ambience had the WOW factor. The immediately greeted us. Our reservation was at 630pm but some of us arrived early. We sat at the bar for some drinks and their amazing HH food. Large menu of cocktails. It was great! The bring out a complementary small espresso cup of soup or broth that is full of taste, also a small bowl of a cucumber refreshing dip with lime juice and crackers. It was so tasty. The décor is so beautiful and the service was excellent. As our group began to arrive they moved us to our table. Request the Captain table it is perfect for a large group. Nice location in restaurant. Beatrize our server was outstanding. She was on point with everything. The Executive Chief Pedro came out to introduce himself and let us know if there was anything he could do for us let him know. This was a really nice touch! all of the seafood was fresh and tasty and the shrimp were nice and large. The portions are generous. I recommend the PEPE Sushi shrimp sitting on top of thick cut cucumbers , very refreshing. Also the oyster shots are so tasty and the Camaron Roca. so good! Beatrize provided excellent service keeping our glasses full and our table always clean , dirty dishes never sat on our table. She made sure our food came out promptly and was perfect ! no mistakes for such a large group ! WOW! The food was amazing ! For the main course i ordered the FILET REY. FRESH flounder and the amount was so generous. It has so much flavor. I visit was perfect from start to finish everyone in our group was so pleased. The Manager (male ) around as well to check on us constantly. I did not get his name but he was also so kind. I will definitely be back and recommend to all my family and friends. If you love seafood this is a must eat place. I am now going to be a regular here since i live so close by and the food and service was pure perfection! Thank you Chief for the amazing choc flan! it was delicious! I will see you soon! To all the staff that worked the evening of 2/4/2022 Thank you for making this a perfect...