SUMMATION: Supposedly famous for fresh, local fish, but all they had fresh was Yellowtail Snapper. They are trying very hard to be different and fancy. Little English is spoken. This place is better than most small, seafood restaurants, but not really worth going out-of-the-way.
NAME: Fish Ocean Grill
SIZE: Very small, but not in a quaint way.
TITLE: "Not Quite Special" [Yelp, Parguera Pirate review #539, submitted 3 February 2015.]
MY RATING: Good (3.4/5)
TELEPHONE: (939) 400-FISH [=3474], (787) 546-0549
E-MAIL: thefishoceangrill@gmail.com
RESERVATIONS: yes
TAKE OUT: yes
HOURS OF OPERATION: 11 am-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday and Sunday; 11 am-10 pm Friday-Saturday
LOCALITY: Calle F, Aguada, Puerto Rico 00602
DIFFICULTY LOCATING: moderate
DIRECTIONS: At Aguada 00603 cloverleaves on PR 2 (and PR 111 intersection), go south on PR 115, turn right onto PR 442, then left onto Calle F for 0.7 km. Park on the left in front of their large, unmistakable sign. The restaurant is also marked on Google Maps.
OCCASION: Checking out a relatively new, recommended restaurant with a friend for dinner.
PARKING: Narrow lot across road in front of their large sign.
Open air with ceiling fan and floor fan inside. Cool after a rain, but could be hot in the summer.
OUTSIDE SEATING: 3 picnic tables and 3 tables for 2.
GREETING: Excellent, no waiting, led directly to table inside.
LAYOUT: Porch covered with open-sided tent with 3 picnic tables and 3 tables for 2; Small room with 2 tables for 4 and 1 for 2. Small windows with screens, but with the door wide open, this does not matter.
DÉCOR: Ambiance is institutional. Picnic tables are wood and have attached wooden benches. The tables are of heavy wood and are attached to the wall. The chairs are monobloc plastic. There are no table cloths and the napkins are paper. A pole lamp with multiple lights shines in your face.
DISCOUNTS: lunch specials
WINE: House sangria was good.
BAR: full service
WATER: In medium-sized bottles.
CUISINE: Seafood, Puerto Rican
FLATWARE: Lightweight dinner fork and serrated steak knife with a plastic handle. Porcelain brightly, solid colored plates.
MENU FORMAT: Plain Spanish text
MENU ITEMS: fresh fishes, mofungo, upscale local seafood, chicken, churrasco (skirt steak)
WAITSTAFF: Excellent, quick, all smiles, young women in short-shorts. Little, if any English.
APPETIZERS: My First Mate had "Tostones Stuffed with Churrasco" (squashed, twice cooked, green plantain with skirt steak), which were 4 plantain cups filled with churrasco in a red sauce. They were very good. And "Massa de Pescada" (little pieces of fish), which was breaded, fried grouper. The presentations were good. The fish was grouper and good, but the texture was too soft.
SALAD: A lot of sliced iceberg lettuce with 3, thin, half slices of tomato on top, which was very Spartan. This is not in line with their other attempts at elegance.
ENTRÉE: I had broiled Yellowtail Snapper. The presentation of the fish was excellent. Two fish bent into a circle, covered with well-cooked yellow onion and green bell pepper, and with a large lime cut into a basket, with a handle, in the center holding mint leaves and 2 cherries. The flavor was excellent, but the fish were over done, also they had been fried, not broiled. They were Yellowtail Snapper, but I had ordered a medium-sized fish and they severed 2 small ones. A medium one would have been adequate, but 2 small ones were not. Our friend had chicken breasts stuffed with yuca, which was very good. However, the presentation was ordinary. Her serving size was large.
SIDES: Our friend found her pin pasta in marinara sauce bitter and bad. She would not eat it.
CONDIMENTS: Their "tartar sauce" was heavy with mustard, used sweet pickles, and was very good. However, it was far too strong for the delicate flavor of fish. I used mine on my "salad." Oil and vinegar was placed on the table.
SALT AND PEPPER: None on the table.
SERVING TIME: Reasonable
BATHROOM: Women's room door is in the dinning room and men's just around the corner. Small and individual. Blue liquid soap and a wood, paper towel roll holder.
COST COMPARISON: Specials are cheap, but menu is more precious than most local seafood restaurants.
NOISE LEVEL: Quiet even after the restaurant filled up, but there is some street noise. Sound trucks [4] were particularly bad. The music quality was okay and the volume was okay.
HEALTH: Wear bug spray.
ENVIROMENTAL: The dried bleached sea stars were unfortunate.
MADE IN THE USA: Fork and knife were made in Brazil.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Owner/Manager:
(I) Lighting should be improved.
REVIEWS: rated Excellent, 4.9/5, 100 reviews (FaceBook); Very, Very Good, 4.4/5, 21 reviews (FaceBook); Excellent, 5.0/5, 1 review each (Google & Yelp).
HISTORY: Opened in June 2013. read more
