Tin Fish — Restaurant in Newburgh

Let’s start with the most important part- the food: As someone who has been and owner/operator in the restaurant world, I can applaud Tin Fish for its effort and eagerness to step out of Newburgh’s culinary comfort zone. They did a great job of building a sophisticated, yet what I believe to be a manageable menu. Appetizers may be the only area I feel they went too heavy on, but overall, a good selection. Pair that with a great environment, the only thing holding them back is their ordering process and portions (which I’ll get to).

QUALITY/TASTE: 4/5 I don’t give many 5 ratings, but a 4 is very good. I also take into consideration, geographic location. If you set this place next to a marina in south Florida, it’s probably a solid 3. But for being in Newburgh, they’re definitely a top runner. Their “famous” cod sandwich is very good. Great portion, and definitely setup to win. It’s on a sort of wheat hoagy bun and fish is nicely breaded and perfectly fried. Fries are outstanding! This is actually the part that I can’t get enough of. They do a superb job with these and make you feel like you’re actually somewhere on the east coast enjoying some coastal food. Lastly, drinks. I haven’t had alcoholic drinks from their seemingly beautiful bar. But oddly, their coke products seem to be smoother and set to the absolute perfect CO2 combination which blends well with fried food. Great job here.

PORTION SIZE: 2/5 This, I believe is their sore spot (as of 3/19). First, I must say, Americans, specifically midwestern Americans definitely lean on the larger portion size than say a coastal city likely would. However, you’re in the Hoosier state and completely lacking on the portioning of sides. Their fish sandwich was perfect. However, as someone who doesn’t enjoy coleslaw, I was presented the opportunity to “double fry”. I took the opportunity thinking I could toss a fry or two if I didn’t finish them. However, I was presented with less than a single serving! Thinking this was a fluke, I returned and was given even LESS the second time!!! Friends in the area have mirrored this feeling. Their only saving grace here is the fish. Which yes, is the main element of the dish, but should be paired with an equally sizable, complementary side.

ENVIRONMENT/SERVICE: 4/5 My last piece is around environment and service. Building, decor, cleanliness are all on point! This place transports you to an east coast beach, hidden in beautiful Newburgh. What keeps them from earning the all-so-difficult 5/5? THE ORDERING! This place is ran by a younger crowd that brings a bit of a mixed level of urgency. They’re hindered by an atrocious ordering process. True to the restaurants inspiration, you order similar to a coastal order&sit vs a more traditional waiter.. I actually love the concept, as a bad waiter can’t really ruin your dinner. HOWEVER, only running one register with a decently sized menu causes first time guests to linger and really holds the ordering process (in which you stand in line and don’t have a drink yet). I think this is a pretty simple fix- have more than one cashier!

Overall: 3/5 Too much standing/waiting in line. And the side portions are simply non existent. However, a solid entree and great decor really save the place and make this a must try in Newburgh. Increase the size of those sides and make the checkout a bit quicker and you have a 4-5 of your hands!

Great job and thank you for blessing Newburgh with a...

Nice building I'll give them that, but I don't get all these good reviews on the food. Maybe it was a bad night for the kitchen but good lord that was some horribly prepared food. Got the mixed fish and chips. One piece was overcooked. One piece was undercooked with the batter sliding off in a slimy mess. None of the fish was seasoned properly. Clam chowder was watery and tasted like a bowl of Campbell's. It was also bland. Crab cakes were overcooked little hockey pucks made with extremely fishy watery canned crab. Crab stuffed mushrooms were stuffed with some cheap ole crab dip. Now for the highlight of the night. The tacos. Dear god what a travesty to seafood and tacos. It was downright offensive. I felt like I was on an episode of kitchen nightmares. It's one of those times when the food is served and you know its going to be bad just by the presentation. Got one mahi taco and one shrimp. Both tacos start with an oversized cold floor tortilla. Seriously butter on the flat top tortilla down 30 seconds you've got a warm toasty flavorful tortilla that's all it takes. Anyway start with a cold tortilla lay down I guess at the time warm seafood and then drown it in cold salsa, cold white sauce, and effin cheddar cheese. By now all these cold ingredients have made the seafood cold and you have this mess of a tiny bit of seafood drowning in a literal soup of condiments. A wet cold fish diaper of a taco. It tasted terrible overly sweet and the flavor of the seafood was lost. Oh and for crying out loud on the shrimp taco they put these microscopic tasteless salad shrimp that weren't even deveined. Side note: maybe I'm out of the loop or living under a rock but when does shredded cheddar...

This morning we had brunch at Tin Fish in Newburgh. We’ve been there several times for dinner, but never realized they have a separate brunch menu for Sunday brunch (10:00 am - 2:00 pm). We were pleased to see that for brunch they have table service, rather than their usual order at the counter then they bring it to your table service. The menu had many things we wanted to try, but we finally decided on the crab cake benedict and the seafood pizza. The crab cake benedict was a split English muffin with each half topped with a crab cake, poached egg, and hollandaise. Everything about it was perfect. It’s hard to find places that perfectly poach eggs - even most breakfast places around here don’t often get it right. Tin Fish does! The crab cakes were very good and the hollandaise was as luscious and tangy as you want it to be. The seafood pizza was also delicious. I was surprised that it came with macaroni and cheese (the menu just says freshly crafted side, so maybe it changes), but I never mind getting unexpected pasta 🤣 The pizza was very cheesy and had a generous amount seafood. I highly recommend squeezing the lemon slice that comes with it over the pizza. If I’m being picky, I felt the pizza could have benefitted from a touch of sherry in the sauce and maybe some capers or a drizzle of balsamic glaze as a bit of contrast to the very rich pizza toppings. But it was quite good as served and I had no trouble eating almost all of it - it’s also a generous portion. Everything was delicious and we can’t wait to go back and try more of the menu. In fact, we were sad that they don’t offer that menu aside from brunch. They honestly could open another restaurant with just that menu and probably...