Barba Azul — Restaurant in Seaside

Given the high ratings, I was very disappointed. First the good: the shrimp tacos were very good as was the shrimp cocktail. The Baja fish taco was underwhelming however. The fish itself was very fresh-tasing but the taco was very bland and there was something gritty in it, like sand. The biggest disappointment was the Campechana. We ordered the more expensive "Especial" because we don't eat octopus. What we got was almost half octopus. I tried to eat a few pieces but they were so tough and chewy that I had to spit everything out. It was just inedible. When we pointed out that we had received the wrong item, we were told that the menu was wrong and what we ordered came with octopus. No apology; just a blatant lie as an excuse. I wasn't even asking for a refund, just pointing out the mistake. The waitress was very nice and perhaps someone in the kitchen mislead her (she had gone back there to ask). And of course we we charged for the $7 more expensive "Especial" campechana rather than the cheaper octopus one. Very...

We've been to Barba Azul three times in the past year, and each time we've left disappointed. We really wanted to like this place, because we know the owner of El Pollo Rey started up Barba Azul, and we LOVE El Pollo Rey. However, we've given up on Barba Azul. On our last visit, we ordered the grilled fish taco, Baja fish taco, and shrimp ceviche. The grilled fish smelled old and fishy as soon as it came out, and we ended up taking it home to feed to the dog. The Baja fish taco was also very obviously old. The shrimp ceviche had no shrimp in it that I could see -- it had some grey stuff in amongst the salsa that may have been fish or squid, maybe octopus. It was not that good. We visited around 11am on a Friday so maybe we came on a day that did not...

This place made my week. The food was outstanding and was full of flavor. I told how great the Latino community was here and there’s nothing greater than proving your wife wrong. She had the octopus and she couldn’t have been happier. I had the taco sampler and it was just like my friends abuella used to make for me in Seaside. Great service and an amazing chef. The nachos and pico de gallo were fantastic too. I highly recommend anyone go to Barba Azul. It also has an amazing drawings on the wall. It’s great for the family or a date night. It’s also easy to access from Monterey with the bus line. I’m coming back for sure. Anyone who gave this place less than a 5 star review is a terrorist and...