Coastal Blue Oceanside Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Lower Township

Preface - most of our our dinner party grew up in the restaurant business, owned restaurants/bars as well as worked in kitchens and service positions for decades. We happily over tip and recognize all places can have an off night, but this was unfortunately one of the most overpriced dining experiences we've had vs. cost. I'd return with a much smaller party and would have some cocktails and apps - as well as the burger/taco. Party of 10 was a couple drinks among 6-7 people ran us close to $800 w/tip ...which was not automatically included in the bill. I read some incredible reviews was excited to try it for a special dinner gathering. I also had high expectations to see how the managers ran the business. Unfortunately this must have been a very off night for kitchen, servers, and the management.

Details:

My wife and I took a large party of adults to dinner here as it was one of the only places I could confirm a reservation for a large group during a holiday weekend. It was an 8pm reservation...the kind hostess who took my call during the morning was great and got back to me promptly to confirm a time.

The restaurant is beautiful within a beachy, boutique, hotel spot with a good bar. The bar is a good size but there's no place to stand without being right on top of a diner's table if you're unable to grab a seat, so we grabbed drinks and headed to the lobby to wait until our table was ready. Grabbed 8 drinks for $80+ ....a couple of beers and some martinis. Expensive.

Some of the common dinner options are incredibly pricey....the steak option, which is a strip, $55, AND it was minimally prepared. There was no visible sear and very little flavor. It had a drizzling of some herbed butter or something, but it also didn't deliver any additional flavor. Looks like it was cooked in a sous vide and lightly finished on a flat top. Would stay away from that option.

The burgers and fish tacos were great.

The sushi...it was tasty, but they should have someone inspect the sushi before it leaves for a table...the roll exploded apart as soon as I tried to pick up one piece...none of the pieces were cut completely through and the rice roll wasn't compacted...literally just fell apart like confetti and I had to use a spoon to get it back in one mouthful. This was the sushi that arrived after entrees.

The food service was a disaster - and I'll add that we sat at 8pm and the place was beginning to clear out. Our first apps appeared at 5 mins to 9pm. It only got worse....Some appetizers were delivered same time as entrées, and the sushi apps arrived after entrées were on the table, one of the sushi rolls was completely wrong, one of the entrees was forgotten (a burger), and one of the drinks kept appearing incorrectly...ordered a Rye old fashioned, and server told us there was no rye - which we could see sitting on the bar shelf and pointed it out to the server. A rocks glass appeared with....Rye...on the rocks....no old fashioned.

Our server was a nice young guy who appeared to have it together, but we soon realized he might have been overwhelmed. We liked him a lot as he was engaged and showed effort.

Surprisingly, we did not see a manager one time throughout the 2+ hours of service errors. I expected at least some one to pop over to simply acknowledge the kitchen and service was having an off night, even offer us a desert or drink or coffee....nothing. Perhaps this wasn't an off night for them? Not sure, but extremely disappointing experience for the cost and we'll keep searching for alternatives for special event dinner spots...

Our recent experience at Coastal Blue was anything but impressive.

The restaurant itself it was pleasant enough. Small but inviting decorated on the more casual side. What you would expect from any seaside restaurant.

The menu was limited. Without considering sandwiches there are only eight entrees available. Although we expected that going in as we had looked at the menu prior to our visit. Our server was pleasant and attentive although there was one concern that would be noted.

I had been looking forward to ordering the crab stuffed Bass with crab imperial. After ordering our appetizers we then placed our entree order. It was only then that we were told that they were out of the Bass with crab imperial. A tidbit of information that should have been shared when presented with our menus. As such I had to make an alternate choice. I decided to order the crab cakes. That was a big mistake.

As I saw on the menu that the bass was stuffed with crab imperial made with lump crab meat I assumed the crab cakes would be similar. That was far from the truth. The crab cakes were made with the much inferior claw meat. Adding insult to injury, as you can see by the photograph, the two crab cakes were more appetizer size than anything. Additionally the asparagus was limited to three stalks. The only impressive portion size was the potatoes. Looking at other reviews and photographs I saw, there were generous amount of asparagus. Not in this case. I can't imagine the chef being proud of sending out that order to a customer.

My dining partner ordered the chicken bruschetta with risotto and tomato salad. The chicken was unremarkable, being a dish that you would expect at any basic restaurant. The risotto was rather basic along with the tomato salad.

We also ordered two appetizers. The calamari was good, fresh, with a respectable portion. The pretzels on the other hand is another story. We received three pretzel sticks with three different types of mustards. As they were described as jumbo Bavarian pretzel sticks. I had hoped to have experienced a good German beer cheese with them Not a chance. Even the three muscles describe we're not those that we received.

What I also noticed was that the pretzel sticks we're quite literally those you buy in a box at Aldi. At $14 for three pretzel sticks, it's an appetizer that I would never consider ordering again. You can purchase 25 at Aldi for the same price.

Our visit was not over a weekend but during the week. The restaurant was far from busy. I can't imagine why they were out of various dishes other than due to improper inventory control.

This restaurant is representing itself as a high-end culinary experience when in fact it's just another basic restaurant in a tourist area. I'm sure they rely on an overturn of tourists to visit their restaurant because I can't imagine any locals like ourselves having any desire to return.

Our total bill was $99 before gratuity. This included only two soft drinks with no liquor. At any other restaurant I would expect to pay less than half.

Save yourself the trip and disappointment and enjoy dinner at any other restaurant because you'll leave this restaurant...

I recently had the unfortunate experience of trying the "fake chicken nuggets" dish for kids at this place, To say that it was a disappointment would be an understatement. Not only did it fail to meet basic expectations, but it also fell short in comparison to the quality of meals typically served in school cafeterias.

The "fake chicken nuggets" lacked any semblance of flavor or texture, resembling more of a bland and rubbery substitute than a satisfying meal option for children. The lack of taste was compounded by the fact that the nuggets seemed to have been hastily prepared, leaving them with a dry and unappealing consistency.

Moving on to the shrimp scampi, I was met with another letdown. The dish was not only tasteless but also overwhelmed by an excess of pasta water, resulting in a watery and unappetizing sauce. The shrimp themselves lacked freshness and failed to impart any of the delicate flavors typically associated with this classic dish.

Accompanying the main courses were overcooked green beans and mash potatoes that can only be described as subpar. The green beans were limp and devoid of any vibrancy, while the mashed potatoes were lumpy, bland, and frankly, unpalatable. Short ribs was edible at best

In summary, this meal was a complete disappointment from start to finish. The lack of attention to detail, flavor, and overall quality left much to be desired. I would strongly advise against ordering these dishes and hope that this hotel restaurant takes the necessary steps to improve the quality of their offerings in the future. Over priced and lacking quality, family of very disappointed….

Needless to say, we won’t be eating here for the rest of...