Barbara's Fishtrap — Restaurant in Half Moon Bay

Got a chance to check out Barbara's Fish Trap on the suggestion of my sister and seeing it rated highly on Yelp. Unfortunately.. I can't say that I feel strongly as everyone else.

Maybe because it was Valentine's Day. No dine-in available anywhere unless you go to the casinos so we decided to check it out. As to be expected, there was a line. Google had noted that typical wait was 15mins but being a special day, we figured it'll be a bit longer.. a lot longer to be exact. The wait was a little over an hour.. and that's to order. Then there was another line to pick up your order and that was another 15mins. But hey.. it's Valentine's Day. A bit overcast and cold but had the view of the beach, watched the people, and had the company of my love so we give it a pass.

We get our order and the staff was kind enough to get us a table. Considering how many people were out that day, we were lucky enough to get one. Our order came in a large bag and one by one we pulled them all out. We had the Shrimp and Scallops, Fish and Calamari, the Dungeness Crab Sandwich with Clam Chowder, and the Corn Fritters. Yes, that was a lot but considering the wait.. I figured we might as well try as many as we like because we don't know when we'll get a chance to come back. Now for the break down..

The Calamari and Fish.. The calamari was good, nice breading and very fresh tasting. The fish however was a bit disappointing. The batter fell off the fish when I tried to grab it but using the fork helped a little. The flavor was fine, not much seasoning on either the fish nor the batter.

The Shrimp and Scallops.. The shrimp was the star of the whole meal. There are 3 shrimp and 3 scallops to an order. The shrimp was large, butterflied and battered. They tasted fresh and had a nice bite to them. The scallops were also large, good flavor, and well battered.

The Dungeness Crab Sandwich.. This was a huge letdown. In the pictures, there was a lot of crab in an order. You get a choice of Clam Chowder (which we picked), Cole Slaw or Fries. Let's start with the chowder. Perhaps we lean towards a creamy chowder, with potatoes and celery, perhaps a hint of bacon flavor even. None of that in this one. Heavy flavor of onions and a few bits of clams. The sandwich on the other hand, we felt, lacked flavor. In my humble opinion, the bread overpowered the taste of the crab. Once you spread the crab and top it with the lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles.. you barely taste anything of crab and it disappears under all that bread and veggies.

Corn Fritters.. Like cream corn nuggets. Good otherwise.

I would compare the experience to going on Space Mountain in Disneyland. Long wait, so-so ride. Overall, why a 4/5 rating while being so critical? Simple.. the staff I believe were excellent. It was Valentine's Day and overwhelmed by customers, they were still able to deliver a friendly service. The food was both a hit and a miss but I can't put all the weight of my review on the misses. Maybe the food is better on a regular day when there aren't about a hundred people an hour ordering and putting a strain on the cooks and servers. We'll have to...

So I don't know why this place is so up and down. We're not always able to make it over to the coast, but we made an effort today. We had one really horrible experience when they put the new POS system in where the food was dripping in grease and it was too much food and way too much money and very confusing and then we had a really excellent experience a year later. Went over today expecting a crowd before the 4th of July holiday tomorrow and weren't surprised but found the following:

They have outdoor seating on the deck but they won't allow dogs out there even though the health department will. We were told our only choice was takeaway food and we'd have to eat at the picnic tables which is fine except for the fact that we are both handicapped. My husband took our dog to a picnic table. I ordered our lunch and then they told me if I wanted condiments I had to go to the other side of the restaurant. So because I was on my own my husband can't walk that far. It took 10 trips to get water for both of us and to get utensils and salt and pepper and ketchup etc.

Order arrived and we were sharing a four-piece fish and chips and there were no chips and I said hey doesn't the fish and chips come with chips? He said you said you wanted slaw. I said no, you asked me if I wanted slaw you didn't say it was slaw or chips and he goes, "Oh well.....You should have known that."

So I get it. I get inflation. I get prices going up. I get adjusting menus to try to make it easier for people to afford and manage. But if you're going to have a major policy change like it used to come with both slaw and chips etc then you should train your staff to alert people. Hey it's either...

The food was very average and my experience was not good. Many of the patrons in line were frustrated, but stuck it out thinking the food must be amazing because there’s a line out the door. Everyone in line was a first-timer, which should’ve clued me in on the food quality. I have a feeling they want people to be lined up outside to attract more business.

The takeout ordering process is not obvious and the staff get frustrated when you ask where you are supposed to order. They tell everyone to stand in one line and then someone decides to make a second line for takeout and orders before people that were already waiting. For your reference, takeout orders are on the left and dine-in is on the right.

They charge an additional 5% fee for the privilege of having paper products to contain your carry out order. Combined with the additional 4% charge for paying with a credit card, you really get the feeling you’re being nickeled and dimed to death.

In short, the food is not worth the frustration.

Update, in response to the reply from the business: I visited last week (before the "holiday weekend in the middle of the week"). I certainly didn't complain about the to-go being closed; it wasn't closed. I'm not sure how a holiday weekend would've impacted any of my concerns, anyway. In reference to the takeout tax, take outs don't require any wait staff or table busing service, and dine-in doesn't require the paper goods. It should even out, like at any other restaurant. I understand that you need to do what you need to do in order to run the business, but in my opinion the take out tax feels wrong. It's only my opinion as a patron; I don't run...