The Oceanaire Seafood Room — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

If I could give a negative star I would....

If you're considering fine dining at seafood restaurant in Orlando, do yourself a favor and reconsider going to Oceanaire Seafood Room. Our recent visit was not just disappointing, it was downright insulting. From the moment we walked in, the tone was set for what would become one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever endured.

Our party of 3 arrived at 8:10 PM to a restaurant that was clearly not busy because there were plenty of open tables, which in hindsight should have been our first warning. It took a full 15 minutes before anyone even acknowledged our presence to take a drink order after we were seated. Another 20 minutes passed before the single margarita we ordered arrived. At that point, we asked if we could finally place our food order, which felt like a favor rather than a basic expectation.

Throughout the next 75 minutes, we saw our server 1 time to drop off bread with a scowling expression and no words. She just dropped the bread and left. Our water was filled a single time, and then we were left to fend for ourselves. No check-ins, no updates, no apologies. Our server vanished after taking our order and only reappeared to drop off the bill for food that was mostly untouched. She probably expected to be rewarded for her terrible service.

We ordered two salmon dishes and one mahi-mahi. The food was borderline unsafe. What arrived was a culinary catastrophe: • One salmon was almost completely raw and definitely inedible as well as health hazard. • The second salmon was cooked medium and marginally edible, highly salted, borderline dry and it was served on a bed of ‘wilted’ greens that were so sour and overcooked they tasted like wilted vinegar-soaked weeds. Can greens go bad or did they cook them in dishwater? • The mahi-mahi was so overcooked it was dry, rubbery, and impossible to chew. I sent it back and ordered a wedge salad appetizer instead because it was after 10:00 and I still didn’t have any food. The salad arrived drenched in salad dressing with barely any lettuce visible. How can you screw up a salad??

The raw salmon was returned to the kitchen and shockingly came back as the exact same piece, it was probably microwaved, with a portion cut off where my guest had opened the fillet to reveal it was raw. This wasn’t just lazy it was insulting. A $50 seafood dish should never EVER be reheated and returned to the table. Where’s Gordon Ramsey when you need him???

Someone eventually came out to apologize and removed the $42 charge for the inedible mahi-mahi. That’s it. No offer to make things right, no gesture of goodwill. Just a a few empty apologies and a removal of a dish that should never have left the kitchen in the first place. At a high-end seafood restaurant, this is inexcusable.

We had to flag someone else down and ask for the bill ourselves. We were asked who our server was and when we mentioned that our server must be done for the evening because we haven't seen her and had disappeared for this entire terrible dining experience, the server's response was a blank stare and then said “Oh, she’s just on the other side of that door”. We were seated just outside the door on the patio.

The food we were served was mostly uneaten, the service was nonexistent, and the atmosphere was cold, hostile, and indifferent. You couldn’t pay me to eat here again.

The fact that this place has any positive reviews is baffling unless they’re paid or fabricated. There’s no other explanation. Between the hostile staff, the glacial pace of "service", and the inedible food, this restaurant fails on EVERY level. If you’re looking for a memorable seafood experience in Orlando, look elsewhere. This place is a disgrace to the...

We had an 8pm reservation for 6 of us last night (27th August) and this would be the 5th time myself and my wife would be visiting your restaurant but the first for my two children and my 74 year old mother and two children.

I had really built up the experience to everyone as we have always had such a good time but we were treated like second class citizens.

Our sever I won’t name on a public forum started well although he did seem a partonising at parts.

I’m not sure if it was because we were British or that a couple of our party wanted the set menu but we seemed to be spoken down to a little and treated differently to other guests but I tried to put these thoughts to one side as I’ve always loved Oceanaire.

We placed our order along with a bottle of wine too. Some time passed as we had six oysters straight away and the bottle itself had finished (we still had pretty full glasses each) The server asked if we wanted another, which we did but when he brought it out instead of a fresh glass he just uncorked and poured into an existing glass! I’ve never known anything like it and had to stop him from topping me up.

More time passed and about 9.10ish my Mother was very hungry as were the children and she enquired if she could get the chowder soon to which she was told that you were very busy and everything is made from scratch. It wasn’t busy and I know you don’t make small bowls of chowder from scratch either unless I’m very much mistaken.

The starters arrived quite soon after and as some were finishing the odd plate was removed which I thought was strange as I was still eating and then what is the worst thing I’ve seen in all my years of dining was my main course out whilst I’m still eating my starter ! After waiting so long to just have mains thrown out was shocking but this wasn’t by the server it was by others as he had hidden away at this stage.

Nobody else was treated like this in the restaurant and I’ve never had this experience before.

The manager was very apologetic but the server wasn’t seen again.

We left the restaurant hungry and embarrassed. I raised this with the general manager via email but again very apologetic and agreed we had been treated terribly but we won’t get that evening back again which was a night of our holiday ruined by their arrogance.

The restaurant just wants the conventioneers and isn’t keen on tourists do not waste...

I guess from the minute you walk up to the front door, which by the way looks like the side door to the Capitol Grille, nothing fancy like the surrounding restaurants it seems less formal. But that aside, I came here to eat not look at architecture, just a side note. Entry was fine, was seated at my appointment time which was 6pm, so not really busy yet. I think Oceanaire has one of the finest dinning rooms in Orlando, and believe me I have been to quite a few. It's classy, clean, open, and interior decor is quite comfortable. From there though I think it goes downhill. Waitress was very good, but seemed rushed, again not busy but I felt compelled to order quickly. They brought a loaf of bread, that is very hard crust and hard to actually eat, just plain butter not what I expected. Served were also cut raw vegetables,, disappointing, felt like I was in Denny's. If you want to serve something prior to the meal a diced salad or something eatable, with warm fresh rolls, almond butter.. etc.. Upscale means experiential, not normal. We ordered the SwordFish, which by the way is my favorite dish out. Mine came Firecracker flavor my wife's, butter glazed. Both pieces were slightly over cooked, mine, the Firecracker was terrible. You don't do that kind of topping to SwordFish lol. The plates were plain again, fish dropped onto a plate, I've had better presentations at much less expensive restaurants. The side's were tremendous though, creamed corn and beans were very tastey. Check out was normal. So all in all had this been an Outback or a LongHorn which by the way I have rarely had a bad meal, the level of service, taste and presentation would have been expected. Sorry for the long report, but I like to read reviews that have substance myself. Not sure I'd go back...