Sea Basin — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

I visited today with my brother for lunch because I saw they were participating in Spring Restaurant Week. We made a reservation for 1:00 pm and as we walked in the hostess was literally spooning food into her mouth and I found that very off-putting. The restaurant had literally just opened and there was at least one reservation on the books so I'm just not sure why she was eating at the host stand, especially at that time. We were given the option for a booth or a table and chose a booth and not 5 minutes later she sat other patrons in the booth right next to us. And in an empty restaurant that feels so uncomfortable. There was literally any other booth available. It probably seems silly to mention but it's irritating when restaurants do that. And the entire time we were there no other patrons were seated in our section so it wasn't too busy to space us out a little, literally even one booth over would have made all the difference. Unless it's a rush, no need to pack people next to each other in my opinion.

Our waiter, though I didn't catch his name, was great. He was polite and prompt without being on top of us. All of our food arrived fast and was nice and hot. I was however disappointed to find along with the Restaurant Week menu, the only other menu provided was mostly just a drink menu and there were no non-alcoholic options. It also listed some happy hour specials, but no sweets or desserts to order. I obviously could have asked but it would have been smart of them and nice for us to see what else we could have ordered. Felt like a missed opportunity to me.

The Restaurant Week lunch was $24 for 2 courses and honestly the food was good, but not great. A basket that I assumed was assorted bread was dropped off and after unfolding the napkin on top, I discovered it was actually garlic bread. I ate maybe 2 bites because it was the most lackluster garlic bread I have ever had. It felt out of place and just a weird choice for what I assumed was a nice seafood restaurant. We both started off with the seafood bisque as our first course and I was incredibly disappointed. The texture was closer to jelly than soup and there was a bite or two of crabmeat? I'm not sure but neither of us finished. To be clear, it tasted good, but the texture was extremely weird. For the second course I got the Chef's Platter which was stuffed mushrooms, stuffed shrimp, and stuffed flounder served with rice. My brother got the Pan Seared Bass which was served with bay scallops, sundried tomatoes, a touch of cream sauce and rice. Both were tasty but nothing to write home about. The seafood stuffing was the best thing on my plate. I got a bite of my brother's bass and it was so mushy, I didn't even want another bite. The portion sizes were actually really great, I just wish the food was better in general.

All in all, I wish we would have gone to another restaurant and I probably won't be returning here any time soon. The best thing about this restaurant is the photo op when you walk in. Otherwise, nothing special and I would absolutely go elsewhere for a seafood meal. I say this as a seafood lover who spent half the year in Maine last year, so maybe I'm biased but I had higher...

I have never wriiten about a restaurant before but, we just got home from the Sea Basin and I had to comment.

Hey Spiro! - The place has crappy food and bad service! I wish I could say something nice...I love your new restaurant "Spyro's" ! It's great!! But, the Sea Basin...stinks. We got there at 3:01 and asked for lunch menus to be told that luch is over (3:00) and it can't be changed because of the computers?! What Crap!! For one minute!! Maybe it's all the TV shows showing what customer service should be that highlights how bad the customer service was, but...I wanted to go but my wife made me stay (I hate it when she does that...).

The free garlic bread tasted good but, was ice cold - frigid garlic bread?...better to have nothing at all. The waiter, a young college-like deer-in-the-headlights person, did not know anything - the specials or the menu, when asked questions about it - good staff training there Spiro! My wife ordered a Margarita with Patron only to be told they didn't have the brand - real classy place there! The first drink was pure alcohol while the second was weak as over-cooked linguini. A good restaurant needs consistency! The lobster bisque was a powered chicken soup base with "fake?" lobster thrown in or if it was real lobster I did know it came in such small specks. My mother, who accompanied us, ordered the Manhattan clam chowder - she's still looking for the clams! Our acerebral waiter was playing with the service computer while a waitress brought out his (our) order because it was ready. This guy didn't even check with the kitchen to see if it was out! If it were up to him we'd still be waitin' for it!

The brolied lunch combo wasn't bad if you like A baked clam with your bread stuffing. The crab stuffing really wasn't too bad. The waiter got confused with our sides (mashed potato, broccoli, pasta, and fried zuchinni) and they all came to different people at different times during the meal. As our little genius was refilling our water glasses he spilled cold water over my wife's lap and gave a quiet "sorry." The pasta I ordered as a side had a sour, metallic-like, off-tasting sauce on it such that I couldn't eat it. Hey Spiro - you're better than this!

We ate what we could, finished up, and left. With all the restaurants around here you can be sure that we won't be back to this place again!!...Now "Spyro's" is another story; great atmosphere and food. Go there is you can! It's worth it; excellent food and...

Had an early Mother's Day dinner. I think I was a little generous with my rating. Average food, below average service, rediculously high prices. I gave points for the staff being polite. Just another restaurant that jacks up the prices to take advantage of Mother's Day. It's really aggravating to go out on Mother's Day for lunch or dinner these days. You're better off going to a chain eatery, unless your into the brunch and mimosa scene. My wife said that she went to the Sea Basin website looking for their dinner menu but must have missed their "special" Mother's Day menu. It was a paired down version of their regular dinner menu, but with higher prices for less food. For example, I had a chicken entree for $26 but their regular menu's price for the same dish was $19 including soup or salad. A salad with my dinner was an extra $8, costing $34!!! And I got one of the cheaper dishes on the menu. They even added a $1 to the kid's dinners; $15 for chicken fingers and fries?!?! The tap water tasted like it was straight from a bathroom sink and the staff only came to our table once to check in. If your gonna charge those prices, you can at least filter the water. Our table was on the upper floor which I'm assuming is for catered parties but they only had 5 or 6 tables, so it felt a little awkward. The meal and experience was really disappointing and my wife said she's done going out to restaurants on...