Marlin Moon Restaurant — Restaurant in Ocean City

3.5 stars would be a more accurate reflection of my views on this restaurant but in the absence of that option, 3-stars seem like the more appropriate choice.

Now for some more context on our meal: My wife, 4-year old daughter, and I found ourselves here for a very late lunch (early dinner for some?) at about 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Day 2023. Marlin was far from our first choice; our earlier meals in Ocean City, MD, had been at Hooked and Cafe Mirage (both of which I rated as 5-stars) and Spain Wine Bar (which I rated as 4-stars). I would have been far more interested in going back to one of those restaurants except that all of them (and several other places that we considered) were closed on Christmas. And therefore staying at the Hilton Suites literally next door to the Marlin, we found ourselves here at this restaurant on the afternoon of December 25th, 2023.

My daughter who is a sucker for calamari went with an order of "Bait" (which is what the calamari dish is known as at the restaurant.) My wife went with an order of the seafood pasta based on our server's recommendation. As far as my order is concerned, I couldn't decide about what to get and rather than going with a single entree, I went with two appetizers – a "Christmas special" item, the stuffed grouper, and another appetizer, bangin shrimp. My wife really enjoyed her pasta; she repeatedly said that it was among the best seafood pastas she had. I make very good seafood pasta myself and so I tried her dish, but I was nowhere as impressed as she was. I found the stuffed grouper to be somewhat under-salted and had to adjust the level of salt on it. My other appetizer, the bangin shrimp, was nice and had a good kick to it with some fried jalapeno bites along with the shrimp. The calamari were nice too, but I feel that both the bangin shrimp and calamari could have used a tad less oil. And on that point, it is the only time during our trip to Ocean City (or anytime in recent memory) when my daughter ended up having acidic burps for the rest of the day. That whole experience of seeing her uncomfortable was hard on us and moreover, coming on Christmas, it was also inconvenient as virtually all stores were closed. Finally, we found a 7-11 that was open, stopped there, and got Tums for our daughter before her acidic burps stopped – some two hours or more after her meal at Marlin earlier that afternoon.

As far as service goes, it was OK but well short of being great. Our server, Jackie, was clearly busy and so our water glasses weren't refilled on time. We had to beckon to another wait staff to get us some water. Our checks also took a while to come out. What irked me the most about the place though was that when I had checked out their webpage, I got the impression that they would have happy hour prices which normally runs from 3 - 6 p.m. (Recall that we got there around 3:30 p.m.) They also list a lighter fare that we were hoping to order from because we didn't want to load up too much that late in the day and leave room for dinner later that night. However, as the server explained, the lighter fare option (that includes sandwiches) is not available on holidays. That fact would have been good for them to state clearly somewhere on their webpage (or on their Facebook page) because it would have likely made a difference in where we went to for lunch.

All in all, while I am grateful that Marlin Moon was open on Christmas and gave us an easy and convenient dining option, under normal circumstances when more places are open, I would much rather try out other places before...

We were a party of 6 for NYE dinner. Reservation was for 6:30pm. Our table wasn’t ready but we were told it wouldn’t be long. We asked if they had a bar while we waited. The hostess replied yes, but doubted they had 6 seats available. They had 3 seats which worked for us ladies, while our husbands stood behind us. The bartender wasn’t very friendly and seemed irritated we asked for a drink menu. About 15 minutes later a new bartender arrived. She seemed happy n bubbly and greeted us with a friendly Happy New Year. We asked for 3 waters to accompany our drinks that the 1st bartender neglected to bring. She did provide them after greeting, making drinks, taking pictures and chatting with regulars. Sitting there and watching now for a good hour I said to my friends, I see how this bar accommodates after watching several regular couples arrive and sit and eat at the bar to get A-1 service.

7:30pm the hostess claimed they were clearing our table. 7:40pm we were seated. Our waitress was nice and friendly, but we could tell she was super busy with a lot of tables. We ordered. The apps n salads came out in a reasonable amount of time, but we noticed our’s arrived after a party of 6 received theirs and they were seated at least 15 minutes after us. Patiently waiting on our dinners, It’s now about 8:30pm, we soon noticed their dinners arrived before ours. We couldn’t find our waitress so we asked the hostess to speak to the manager. We felt our meal ticket got pushed or forgotten. Manager never came. 15 minutes goes by, no dinner, no manager. Now frustrated, went to the desk for the third time to ask what was up with the manager she claimed he was busy helping in the kitchen. Our waitress seeing we weren’t happy says our meals are being plated. We finally got served at 8:58pm. By this time we lost our appetite and had NYE reservations starting at 9:00pm. We had a few bites and asked for boxes. It was good, but we were over it!

When you’re paying top dollar for drinks, apps, and market price for dinners, I would expect more efficient treatment. An acknowledgment or apology from the manager would’ve been appreciated , maybe an offer of a free round of drinks, or a discount on a return! Very poor service on their part. Step up to the plate if you want 5 star ratings.

Next time don’t over book on a holiday, if you can’t handle it. I would’ve rather been turned down, due to being booked, than bad service from over booking. Too many other great restaurants with great service and friendly staff in OC, so we’ll forgo this one! Oh and Hey manager, no one likes a coward! Step up to the plate next time! Show your face! Stop hiding in...

Ahi tuna nachos filled with sinew. My husband had oysters and said they were delicious he also had the Crab soup and he enjoyed it very much. Unfortunately, I had the tuna nachos which I've had here before and I have had many many places. I couldn't even cut into them they were completely riddled with sinew. That's connective tissue throughout all the pieces so I had to sort of pull apart little tiny pieces of tuna and order to eat it. I wasn't going to say anything but I decided that maybe it's just a bad piece of Tuna and they should know. I told our waitress Devin who is super nice and just lovely. She said no problem, she apologized and said she'll take it off the bill which was very nice and I didn't even expect that since I ate some of it already even though she saw it was pieces pieces of sinew all through my plate. Then the manager came over and was pretty much grilling me as to why I didn't like it. He never once said I'm sorry for the inconvenience and he didn't even offer to take it off the check. I simply said I just wanted the chef to know that it was a bad piece of tuna filled with connective tissue. Normally tuna slices are like butter and you could just take a bite in it and it's delicious. It's not like it's the first time I've had this and it's not even the first time I've had it at this Hilton. I just thought he was very gruff and sort of pissed off like I was trying to get away with something. Devin came back with the check and she said he decided he would take it off the bill. The point of this review is just to say it's a very nice restaurant and the staff and the atmosphere and most of the food is very good but the manager and the tuna nachos are...