The King of Fish — Restaurant in New York

Girls….I must tell you about my experience at The King of Fish. This restaurant is seriously the best thing I never knew I needed. You know, like the Ne-Yo song from, “The Princess and the Frog”?….Ok, so anyway, I’ll tell you why. This spot is located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. You look at it from the outside and would never guess what type of experience you’re gonna have. You go inside to see the front of the restaurant, which is giving rocker bar/restaurant vibes. It’s filled with T.V.s, cool props at the bar, tables and lots of cool posters and even some positive affirmations. There’s lots of rock music playing. I learned that it’s because the owner, Roger, is a drummer and moved to the states to pursue his love of playing in a band! He’s also a lawyer, and, obviously a restaurant owner. So yeah, he pretty much can do anything lol. Once you walk to the back of the restaurant, you encounter the GORGEOUS outdoor patio. You go from Sunset Park, to Pirates of the Caribbean! It really sticks to the beach theme with the patio. I also learned that Roger often went to a restaurant that was located on the beach in Venezuela as a kid. He wanted to bring that experience, along with amazing seafood, to Brooklyn. Speaking of amazing seafood, let’s get into it!

Roger told me that he has the seafood delivered fresh, always! He says that it’s never frozen, and after trying the food, I absolutely know this to be true. Everything is made in-house, including the hot sauces, and even the juices they use for cocktails. I tried the Chilo cocktail, which was NUTS! It’s made with Mezcal and pineapple juice (house made), and it’s topped with a torched cinnamon stick….girl, yes, a torched cinnamon stick. And I must mention that they torch that cinny at the table….in front of you! The flavor of that torched cinnamon, paired with the pineapple juice is UNREAL! It tasted like I was on a beach, livin my best life! Ugh! Unreal. Just get out my face. As far as food, I tried the fish taco, which Roger takes great pride in. He didn’t add it to the menu until he was fully satisfied with it. This fish taco was one of the best I’ve had! It was flaky and crispy, and loaded with some of their house made sauce. I also tried the mariscos tostada, which is mixed (fresh) seafood on a (homemade) tostada. There was shrimp, octopus and some other fish on this tostada. The tostada itself is incredibly crispy! There was so much flavor taking place here. Lastly, which was my favorite things I’ve eaten in quite some time, was the (drum roll)………………………………………the baby shark empanada!! Yes, baby.shark. I was more than excited to try this! And when I did, I was kinda in love 🥹. The empanada itself was FRESH, and flaky. The baby shark meat was also incredibly fresh, tender and mild. I’m talking the good mild. The fresh seafood mild. This empanada was absolutely divine. It made me so happy, and to do that with food is special. You want people to taste that love, to feel good, to associate this moment with a positive memory, and so much more. I think it’s a beautiful thing to do with food. Roger is passionate about his food and his establishment. He hosts local musicians to play their music, as well as boxing viewings and so much more. He wants to provide good food and good vibes for the community. You get it all at The King of Fish. It is greatly appreciated. Trust me, go try this place. You will not regret it, AND you’ll be...

I get around New York. I eat at several restaurants and visit many cocktail bars each month. Recently I’ve been on a taco tour.

If you read my reviews, you’ll notice I try to rate fairly and as highly as possible as long as it’s honest.

I want everyone to know that this experience is DIFFERENT. If I could rate The King of Fish 10 stars, I would. I texted someone as I sipped my final cocktail of the evening and said, “I’m sipping this last cocktail as slowly as possible because it’s just me, the Venezuelan owner, and another patron originally from Chile. It’s somehow magical.”

This really was a magical night. These are the kind of nights that made me fall in love with New York and has kept me here for the last three years. This seafood place and bar is so laid back and fun. They have live entertainment. Tonight was jazz.

It feels like a community. The owner made all of my drinks personally, and he’s one of the nicest and most personable people I’ve ever met. He made me feel like we had known each other for years. The servers were attentive and were people so cool I would want them to be my friends.

I came here because another local business owner said he had the best fish tacos of his life here. And he was right. The fish is fresh, tender and flaky, and well seasoned. They were different than any fish taco I’ve ever had. They were served with three different sauces—hot, medium, and mild. I love spice, but I enjoyed all three flavors. They are big, meaty tacos. Not tiny. Three was the perfect number, though the fish was so light and tasty, I could have had more.

The cocktail program here is INSANE. I spend a lot of time in Manhattan, particularly the lower east side. And I’ve had some good drinks. But the drinks in Manhattan are 18 dollars at the very best. 22-23 dollars on average. And some places charge 30, 40, 50 or more for specialty cocktails.

These cocktails are some of the best, if not THE best, I’ve had in a long time. I’m tempted to say they are some of the best I’ve ever had in my life, but I’m riding so high on the ambiance and feelings of happiness, I may be a little biased.

First, please know they make all of their fruit ingredients fresh. No cheap substitutes. Second, their mezcal menu is out of this world. Third, these cocktails are super duper reasonably priced, most 13-16 dollars. And for what you’re getting—an absolute steal.

I had the chilo (mezcal, pineapple, lemon, tamarindo). I adored the naguara (mezcal, pisco, smoked pineapple—literally—and aguave). The naguara was like a magic show, as I watched it be smoked under a bell-housing.

I also had the zicatela (mezcal, grand marnier, pineapple, agave, worm salt). And finished with the El Uyuyuy (mezcal, guava fruit, hibiscus, st. Germain, lime).

Somehow even the tequila shot and lime wedge at the end was the best I’ve ever had.

Prices are great. People are amazing. Fish tacos spectacular. They have a menu teeming with fantastic fish dishes. Drinks so good I might go back tomorrow. If not tomorrow, definitely soon.

The owner told me he’d spent years crafting this menu, and I believe him.

The owner has also opened another restaurant nearby that I can’t wait to try.

This is...

Very negative experience. Charged $20 for two tacos that had two slices of avocado and some onions with cabbage (as seen in the picture attached). These were supposed to be Lobster tacos. Do you see any Lobster in those tacos?? Perhaps a microscopic piece that you have to really look for. Very disappointing. I even asked the employee if the Lobster tacos had sufficient Lobster meat in them and he said "absolutely, they are big". Seriously? This is what you call sufficient Lobster meat? I think nonexistent would be a better description. Besides this huge disappointment that left me hungry and feeling ripped off....I was also told that I cannot pay with a credit card, which is very odd for a restaurant, and even more odd because I ordered from this restaurant the day before and paid with a card without any issue. And i expressed that to the employee and he looked at me with confusion and said he has no idea how i paid with a card since they only take cash. Meanwhile they are using a POS system that clearly takes all payment types. Seems like they make up rules as they go. When i clearly expressed frustration amd confusion with these made up rules...he suddendly changed the tune and suddendly said they do accept cards. This was ridiculous and clearly selective service based on customer, as they feel like it. And if all that wasnt horrible enough, I look at the check and realize they charged more than 4% surcharge for using my card. I have been in the payments industry for 20 years and know very well that it is ILLEGAL to surcharge customers more than 4% for card payments. The law clearly caps the maximum charge to 4%. I expressed that to the employee and the manager (who claimed not to speak English)....and they got very annoyed and instead of apologizing and acknowledging they are conducting business in an ILLEGAL way, they charged me the higher rate regardless. This business is clearly running in a very shady and unethical manner. Not only did they deceive me and not provide adequate food but they are selective in who they allow to pay with cards, and when they do take cards they ILLEGALLY charge a surcharge higher than the law allows. Very frustrating and...