Sea Harvest Fish Market & Restaurants — Restaurant in Monterey

My wife and I had a celebratory dinner at Sea Harvest over going to Phil's in Moss Landing, due to Sea Harvest's reputation and proximity to our house. This was a mistake. I ordered fish and chips, and garlic bread for the table, my wife ordered coconut shrimp, and a prawn cocktail to share as our table was singularly not given the customary bread and butter, giving us tepid water, with which to make a wise menu choice.

While I had Diet Coke ($2.75/can), my wife ordered hard cider and was given Martinelli's Apple Cider (more/bottle, I believe). The coconut shrimp was "fantastic", the four slices of garlic bread were fairly average, and the base of the Manhattan clam chowder was pleasantly found to be a tasty Cioppino base. The fried artichokes tasted like what was once an artichoke during the summer of love with a lemon-dill aioli. The fish and chips were prosaic enough to be from a box with a yellow storm gear-clad bearded Fishman, and there were NO clams in the (Manhattan) clam chowder. And the prawn cocktail consisted of what seemed to be U10 shrimp, not prawns, up-charging the price of the appetizers relying on the customer's ignorance or credulity.

One apple juice, two diet cokes, two waters, prawn/shrimp cocktail, garlic bread, fried artichokes, a bowl of (Manhattan) Clam Chowder, Coconut shrimp as an entree, and fish and chips as an entree, plus 10% tip came to ~$90.00. And no bread, unlike the people dining next to us. So if you want over-priced spotty service with no amenities other than tap water, with no ice, please come to Sea Harvest and over-spend. Or get many Filet-O-Fish at McDonalds and walk away a happier, more frugal customer. You can even get free refills and french fries. Or a fried Strawberry Pie.

Needless to say, I hope Sea Harvest enjoys our money, because for a restaurant that smells like ammonia in the main dining room and fails to provide fair customer service, there are many more options if you would take the time to drive to receive appropriate service. Good luck and...

It is a seat yourself establishment, so it may take a minute to get menus. We showed up right before the dinner rush, which was good because by the time we left every inside table was taken. It has a very casual vibe especially with the market right there. We enjoyed that. Water bread and wine was quick, we enjoyed them. The coffe was forgotten about but reordered and received quickly after that, though it tasted burnt. I had the clam chowder which was nothing to write home about, definitely have had better out of a can. Husband's salad was good. Two tables did get there entrees before we did so I think timing must have been off. I ordered the sea bass with rice pilaf and it came with vegetables, I also had a side of scallops. They showed up before the entrees and we ate then before the food came, we very much liked them, no sause needed. My sea bass was obviously a great cut of fish, it needed butter or garlic or herbs, something, salt and pepper definitely. Same with the pilaf, they were extremely bland, the pilaf was honestly terrible. It was sad and disappointing. The swordfish my husband ordered was also bland, same with his veggies and fries. Though the fries were nice and crispy, they need to be slightly salted right after cooking. I understand that sometimes certain restaurants tend to season based on clientele, and there did seem to be a specific type of person that went there. But I think everything needed seasoning. I would have rather bought the seafood and cooked it myself. The market looked amazing. I did see a lot of people order the special Salmon ceasar salad, it looked good, the fish looked possibly blacked, definitely seasoned. The server was prompt and did a good job. The server assistant was unable to answer questions, don't think he spoke much english, which is fine. Just a heads up. We were just driving through but if we weren't we would not be back to dine there only to take seafood home...

Food was terrible. Service was terrible. My wife and I ate here on 8/29/23. First the crab cocktail, $18 had no taste at all. Not bad or good. Just like taking a bite of nothing? Never had any food like that before. I sent it back and the waiter said that there had been other complaints and that it was not fresh crab. I ordered the Seafood Combination (Choose 3 Items) $25.95 It came with 2 shrimp, 2 oysters and 4 calamari strips and fries. I had ordered crab cake and we obviously had some miscommunication. When I tried to get the waiter over three times it was obvious he saw me but he ignored me. When he finally came over he said loudly "more complaints?". Really? When I told him I ordered crab cake and not calamari he went to get his order pad and show me that I had indeed ordered calamari because he wrote that down. HOW STUPID AND RUDE ! It was just a mistake. Him showing me his pad proves nothing. I said crab cake and he heard calamari. He brought the crab cake but first he made made a special trip to the table to retrieve the uneaten calamari. For what? I wasn't going to eat it and no one else will want it. The crab cake was also awful. My wife and I took one bite and agreed it had no crab taste. It looked to be frozen. So the crab cake, two shrimp and two oysters and fries were $25.95. I have been in California a month and the food and service has been the best ever especially in Carmel. This is the worst meal and the worst service that we have had. The waiter said he has been there 20 years. He needs to...