Oceana — Restaurant in New York

(2017 update): When the server asks for an extra tip, you know it’s a restaurant to avoid - especially when you’re paying $300.00 with mediocre service.

Atmosphere: 5/5 Oceana is a beautifully appointed restaurant, it oozes the business class of midtown, and the upscale French-American style that would be expected at the price point. Though, especially in the early evening 6-7pm, it can be loud (an expectation everywhere in this town, so I won't hold it against them)

Service: 4/5 Polite, professional, and (somewhat efficient) nothing else. At this price point you can't expect an always attentive staff, so I applaud Oceana for their attentiveness. The point off for service is this: the food isn't good enough to take 1.5hrs kitchen to table.

Food: 2/5 This is where Oceana fails. The only good part of the meal was the Amuse Bouché. It was a brown and white rice cracker with an exceptional creamy crab and dill topping. Things went downhill from there. My appetizer was the Grilled Octopus. I admit, octopus is hard to do, but for such a 'respected' seafood establishment, they should have it down.

Appetizer, Grilled Octopus with Jalapeños, parsley and black pepper. 1/5:

When I eat cooked octopus I have two expectations: maintain the flavor, and keep it crunchy. They failed at both of these simple tasks. The jalapeños were overcooked and seeded, so you could barely enjoy half the pepper, and they presented no spice and little flavor. The octopus was the same story, it was grossly overcooked and under flavored, I don't know why it was listed as having pepper, I never tasted any. Beneath the octopus was an assortment of wet and soggy parsley, in what I can only describe as dirty dishwater. A disappointing entrance to be sure.

Main: Sea Bass topped with caviar, on a bed of puréed and cubed squash, in a parsley and almond aioli. 2/5:

I can't call myself a caviar connoisseur by any means, but I know this: you don't put something really salty, on a delicate white fish. The caviar simply dominated the flavor, it ruined what was a decent and buttery sauce, that had good flavor and substance. The little reprieve from this salty nightmare, were exquisitely well done four tiny cubes of squash, and a lovely squash purée, sadly this side was not enough to bring this fish back from flavor hell.

Dessert? We evacuated the premises at the nearest possible opportunity.

Conclusion: 2/5: Food purgatory.

I desperately wanted to like the food, it's a great atmosphere in a great location. Unfortunately, it's simply bad food, for it's price tag. My recommendation would be to stay away, unless you plan on going to a restaurant for the...

Good food but very lacking on service for a "fine dining" establishment. Had a celebratory dinner here with my parents and our expectations were high. As a pescatarian I was super excited to try several things on the menu so we went with the tasting menu. All guests in a table must select the tasting menu and it is noted that there is an additional upcharge for the filet and crab cakes. No other upcharges are noted and our server did not let us know that there is a nearly 50% upcharge for the Dover sole (which we thought was an excellent value for the tasting menu) or the cheese plate. Our server disappeared midway through our meal and never returned. Nobody told us about this change and we were left wondering who to ask about the bill. Also, my parents were visiting from out of town and staying at a nearby Hilton property that offered a discount to local restaurants including Oceana. When we asked about the undisclosed upcharges, the (new) waiter went to talk to a group of waiters and managers about us, and we were met with an ugly stare-down by the staff members. I have never been stared down like that in a restaurant, especially a fine dining one. When the manager came over he informed us that he would not be removing the upcharges but would honor the discount "even though [they] don't accept it for the tasting menu" (also not disclosed). Very poor service experience with the outlier being the sommelier who recommended an excellent Chardonnay for our meal. The food was pretty good - not outstanding (lobster scampi and caesar salad were highlights) - and atmosphere was excellent. Decent beer list at the bar, and friendly chatty bartender took care of us while we waited for our party to arrive. Excellent wine list but no bottles were under $100 so get ready to spend! It was a lovely evening despite the service flubs; we may return for a redemption visit one day but plan to try others of the many wonderful restaurants in the area before...

My husband and I dined at Oceana for a pre theatre dinner. We had reservations and requested a booth, if possible. We arrived a few minutes early and were seated promptly. Our server immediately asked for our drink order without giving us an opportunity to review the wine menu. He returned to again ask for our drink order when my husband explained that he would choose a bottle once we decided what we were going to eat. My husband had to actually then ask the server to take our order. As my husband ordered our first course plates, the server interrupted and said they also had a stuffed squash blossom. We ordered that to share, I had the crab cake, and my husband ordered the halibut ceviche along with a mid priced bottle of champagne. They have an extensive and impressive champagne offering. The stuffed blossoms were amazing. My crab cake was large but was overpowered by horseradish. My husband’s ceviche was very good. For our main course, I had the seared scallops with risotto cakes and dandelion greens while my husband had the lobster scampi. Both dishes desperately needed seasoned with salt. The smoked trout roe on my scallops was way too smoky. The scallops were seared to perfection, though. We agreed the meal would be a six or six and a half if we were rating it. On a white, and as we had the time, we ordered dessert. The clouds parted and the angels sang when I tasted the orange creamsicle dessert. It was absolutely heavenly! My husband enjoyed the chocolate torte. That took our experience to a seven. The manager/sommelier(?) was very personable and attentive. Our server, however, was not. We were a little disappointed to hear the next table over be regaled with the specials that included more than the squash blossom appetizer we were offered. Everyone has a bad night now and then. I hope this instance for our server was an anomaly. I would go back for the dessert alone… but discreetly bring a...