Blue Marlin Restaurant — Restaurant in San Benito

Two regular fish plates, and a regular shrimp plate were ordered. Both fish (snapper), and shrimp had a taste which was unmistakably fresh-caught. The shrimp were jumbo. Both were finished with a crust that was extremely light and crunchy, with a hint of either onion powder or dried green onion. The fish was extremely thin. All servings were delivered hot out of the fryer.

One of the diners is a retired academically trained professional chef who has worked in kitchens in Port Aransas, and in New Orleans. He deemed the tartar sauce to be of Excellent quality, both in taste and in texture. The cocktail sauce, on the other hand, was watery, and seemed to be missing the dash of horseradish needed to make it everything a cocktail sauce can be.

Both regular and combo plates, along with Botana platters - sharable samplers - are served with fries and a green salad. The crinkle cut fries tasted as though they were at the end of their life, to be expected as this visit occurred mid-afternoon, and naturally traffic was slow. They were not well salted, and the temperature was on the cool side, but they were passable enough.

The salad was a tomato slice and an onion slice on a bed of shredded lettuce with no seasoning or dressing (and none offered by the server). The greens were fresh, cool, and crisp. The tomato was bland in flavor and pale in color, but was not mushy. The onion was a true salad onion - mild and sweet.

A basket of tortilla chips gives the diners something to munch on while waiting for the main course. It is served with something more on the line of a sauce than a salsa. It has a medium level of spiciness. It is orange in color. The taste is indeed pure salsa, with a very modest level of cilantro to it, suitable for those who don't take well to the taste of cilantro.

With the meal itself, one can select from either fresh tortillas, or Texas toast.

The main dining room is expansive, with extra dining space out in the back. There is also an oversized foyer at the entrance. The toilets are difficult to locate, hiding off to one side of the foyer. Everything is decked out in typical Mexican cantina decor.

Everyone agreed that a return visit was definitely...

I ordered a shrimp plate from this restaurant over the phone and they told me it comes with rice. After pick up and driving home, it did not have any rice. I was told it’s “very rare” that they don’t add the sides and waited for 5 minutes so they could ask the cooks if they remember putting rice on my plate. Instead of being offered a refund or compensation I had to prove the cook didn’t complete my order. I was then told I can go all the way back from north Harlingen to San Benito to pick up the rice. A few months ago, oyster bar messed up my ordered and offered me another plate. The waitresses here didn’t care and were happy to argue the issue. I have never made a review before but the lack of customer service...

My favorite seafood restaurant in the san Benito/Harlingen area. Waitstaff is always friendly and attentive. Fish soup has a wonderful flavor and generous amounts of fish. The rice is the best white rice, it’s very garlicky. We always grab a ceviche tostada and those are tasty too. Excellent prices and a guy playing guitar and singing every day. The restaurant itself is brightly painted with fish and other sea creatures. I honestly don’t know why this place gets bad reviews, it’s not a high end restaurant but the food is always fresh and served hot. We’ve tried almost everything on the menu and never had a bad experience. Everyone is masked up now, which...