SURF CLUB CANTINA — Restaurant in Saint John

Having been a foodie most of my life and being married to a professional chef for 20 years I have extremely high expectations when dining. It's always been our policy to never go to a new restaurant for at least 6 months after they open so as to give the chef and crew time to fine tune their operation. Left to my own, because my wife was catering an event, I decided to take a wok on the wild side and go try out the newly opened Wok On The Beach on only their second night open for dinner. Honestly I did not have high hopes but wanted to at least show up to see what it looked like inside and sit at the bar for an appetizer or two to show my support. They were doing a soft opening and only serving appetizers and after the oyster shooters were so awesome I ended up ordering more and more, finally having 7 of their 12 offerings. I saved 3 of them and brought them home for my wife when she returned home and she was totally impressed. It was so good that I'm taking her back there for their third night open to celebrate her birthday. As with any new restaurant the new crew was just learning how to make it all work together which is to be expected. I'm sure under Chef Bruce's oversight the service will become...

Got there around 5:30 and waited at the stand to be seated. Waited for about 5 minutes (with staff walking around) until someone told us to sit wherever we want. There was no sign indicating this. We sat and there were only a few other tables dining and some people at the bar. From what I observed there were two servers and one bar tender. My partner and I waited at our table for about 10 minutes but no one showed up. The tables next to us were served but we were ignored. My partner then went to get drinks at the bar. I waited at the table and texted him about 10 minutes later saying no one has come yet. I go over to him at the bar and he has only just gotten his drinks. There weren’t that many people at the bar and they already all had drinks. I’m not sure what was taking that long. At that point we got the drinks and left and went to the restaurant next door. We ordered and received our food from there within ten minutes and there were way more people. I wouldn’t go back to Surf Club Cantina.

Also-edited to add, we saw them putting glass containers in the trash....

Loved it. We were welcomed by the chef who seated us and gave us menu recommendations. Nice variety and vegetarian options available. Casual atmosphere with view of bay. Looked like the bar is favored by locals- not surprising because the drinks were good and the vibe was warm and friendly.

Chips and guacamole were very good. (Chips are from fried flour tortillas which was different from what we are used to and very nice).

We had pulled pork and fish street tacos (with jerk seasoning) both were delicious and very generously portioned. Big pieces of delicious fish and slightly sweet slaw on the fish tacos, and sandwich size helpings of well seasoned pork and melted cheese on the pork tacos served with a slightly smoky sweet cause and sour cream on the side. Too full for dessert and we didn’t even order rice and beans sides. Service was quick though we were in no rush. We will go back to try the burgers and...