El Fish Marisquería

Had a great meal at El Fish Marisqueria! The Yucatán fish dip was the standout--super flavorful and creamy, and the chips were perfectly crispy. We also loved the tostada Ensenada with octopus and shrimp--it was fresh and had a nice kick.The fideo seco was a fun surprise--kind of like high-end Spaghettios with lobster (in a good way!). The shrimp enchiladas were fine, but not as exciting as the other dishes.The vibe was great, service was solid, and getting a reservation was easy. Definitely a spot worth checking out if you're into seafood!

El Fish Marisqueria: The "Le Bernadin" Of High End Mexican Fusion CuisineThank you Ariel Lacayo for another great restaurant on the upper west side.!! You enter and are greeted by a wonderful hostess like Catalina. Whether seated at the bar or a table, the experience is similar to a 3 star Michelin or NY Times reviewed restaurant. The bartenders are expert mixologists and so friendly and outgoing if you like. The service is impeccably choreographed. The menu is diverse and intriguing. The starter fish and other options are tantalizing and delicious: I especially like the lobster bisque, baked clams, and tortilla and taco options. Each main dish I have had is a treat and memorable: Some of my favorites are the lobster fideo (so original), lobster empanada, and the perfectly made medium rare (for me) fajitas to mention just a few. Ending with the deserts poses a wonderful dilemma in choosing from a great and delicious selection. The wine selection is extensive enough to cover all combinations to enhance each course.In short, I love El Fish and have made it my second home for a great meal, especially since I live only two blocks away

Strange but true: Until the opening of El Fish, Amsterdam Avenue from West 60th to West 70th had exactly zero sit-down restaurants. And even if we include every single spot selling sustenance, there isn't much more: Vanguard wine bar, which has small plates, is the next-closest thing to a full-blown restaurant, and the remaining options are a Starbucks, an H-Mart and a couple of tiny Chinese takeout joints.Sure, there are real restaurants on some of the side streets and a block away on Broadway, but it's still a striking stretch of dining desolation, given that the thoroughfare's half-mile portion in the West 60s is lined from start to finish with huge residential beehives with abundant storefronts. There's also the fact that this 10-block section of Amsterdam Avenue includes Lincoln Center and its near-daily throngs of fine arts aficionados.So, it's putting it mildly to say that El Fish has helped to fill a big void. Given the utterly enormous size of that void, pretty much any real restaurant would've been welcomed, but El Fish is far from run of the mill -- it's a stylish spot, it's got an uncommonly spacious dining room, its Mexican food is impressively creative, and it offers an ambiance of laid-back sophistication that really should be attractive for the aforementioned patrons of the opera, ballet, theater and philharmonic.The menu is interesting in multiple respects, e.g., its prices range from very reasonable ($20 for a generous plate of lump crab, aioli, avocado and microgreens) to almost comically high ($20 for six littleneck clams).In addition, the city's current dining ethos is very much reflected in the combination of a pescetarian focus and a maximalist approach to ingredients and plating. Ymmv on whether this is a good thing.Take, for instance, the whole fried bass with bok choy and rice. A cynic might question the wisdom of cutting half the sea creature into nuggets that are fried separately, and then dousing everything in a refined Mexican version of General Tso's sauce, and squeezing all of that onto a platter alongside a mound of slightly damp rice and fronds of bok choy. But a different person might laud the creativity, and point out the lovely use of hominy kernels in the rice, and note that $40 is a very fair price for a plate that four people could share as a main. I'll also draw your attention to the side of "Mexican greens," described as verdolagas, or purslane, which is a big bowl of long-stemmed greens with bewitching herbs and spices, and a welcome break from the usual side of spinach or broccoli or green beans.As for beverages, I'll mention that my wife ordered a mocktail but was almost served a real cocktail, and that the server promptly brought the correct drink and then comped it when the check arrived. For some people, accidentally drinking alcohol would be a big problem -- akin to a vegetarian accidentally eating meat -- and so El Fish gets bonus points for taking the error seriously and responding professionally.Overall, Amsterdam Avenue's dining landscape remains quite barren. But it's hard to imagine one restaurant changing the scenery more than El Fish.

Cuisine: 4Service: 6Decor: 7Value: 4Overall: 4I was excited to come here ever since I saw pictures and reviews of their Fideo Seco. Unfortunately, this lobster version was a soggy mess that tasted nothing like the traditional toasty and crispy Spanish pasta that I loved every time I am in Spain. The high price of the dish didn't bother me much until having my first bite. Then it was all downhill from there.Yucatan Fish Dip and Grilled Octopus were both decent, but nothing to write home about. El Crab Melt BLT wasn't bad, but the thick cut bacon really covered up the delicate sweetness from the crab. Lastly, the Pescadillas Acapulco sounded interesting but did not hit the spot, just mushy tuna salad like filling in a deep fried shell that was too thick and quite hard.As for service, it was lackadaisical and way too absent whenever we needed something. The prices were quite high as well. Combined with the restaurant's underwhelming Mexican fusion cuisine, my friends and I will not be revisiting.

Bake Clam was the best thing we had.Tostada Ensenada was also very good but for $27 for 1 piece it's quite ridiculous.Octopus looks good but was not great.Lobster Fried Rice looks great but lobster was frozen with mushy texture.Mexican Green was little salty and saucy.Core Esquite was fine seems like they use Chinese Sichuan pepper oil?Churro was meh Ice Cream was poor quality.Wine by the Glass was poured at the table so not exactly sure what it was served.

Very pretty modern Mexican seafood restaurant. Was on the UWS after seeing a show on Broadway & decided to stop in after seeing an ad in the Playbill.Looked like reservations were not available so we opted for early seats at the bar. Husband had great drink that tasted like a margarita but there was vodka instead of tequila. Shared the marlin dip with chips which was fantastic- chips were homemade. We shared the branzino & halibut fish entrees. Don't recall the entire descriptions but they were both very good.Service was great which is very important. We skipped dessert but will definitely go back to try some of the other great things in the menu .

Zero complaints, I came here for dinner before a show at the met with a friend. I had the lobster pasta and the grilled oysters. The ambiance is dimly lit and cozy, customer service was great. The pasta dish threw me off at first when I spotted avocado but it was delicious together, very heavy on the lobster. The grilled oysters were very citrusy. I highly recommend and will definitely return when I'm in the area.

We were looking at restaurants in the area and when we drove by this place, we couldn't help but notice how cute it was. We were able to get a table without a reservation, but it was pretty early when they opened. Staff was very nice they do have cocktails, which were great. The menu offers seafood with a Mexican twist. Everything was delicious. To start we had the octopus which came with amazing seasoning. Perfect presentation and dips. The tuna tartar taquitos were delicious. For the entrée, we shared the Bronzino, which is off the bone very flavorful served with fresh tortillas. . We tried the eggplant side again ... delicious. for dessert. We had the churros. I would've liked to have a bit more churros than ice cream in this but that's my only complaint bc the churros were so good. Not too sweet just the perfect taste.

I live nearby so wanted to try. Food is OK but nothing special. The branzino portion was small. Service is not great and It's difficult to get the staff's attention, they don't refill water unless flagged down. Also worth mentioning is the noise level.Nothing was terrible but I left wondering why I spent $100 per person when I could have made a better meal at home. And ultimately isn't that why we go out?It's OK, but not an experience I'd care to repeat

Fusion mexican @ near Lincoln center, NYCHad a early dinner Friday and the restaurant wasn't crowded. My friend and I wasn't too hungry so we ordered crab salad and Fideo pasta and shared. Both of dishes were on a salty side. The crab salad had too much of a mayo and the pasta had too much tomato-chipotle sauce. The pineapple sponge cake with the sorbet was ok. The design of the restaurant was nice but tables were too close to others but service was very attentive.