Fat Fish Bar & Bistro

Before I write this review I checked out a few of them that was previously posted. No doubt it seems like a nice place, I actually didn’t eat so I cannot talk about the food.
My wife and daughter took me out for father’s day, we usually start early (the day before) just to best the traffic.
So we got there on Saturday around 3:15 pm, we stood at the entrance for a few seconds. The hostess was on the phone so I decided to go and find me a table. An employee told me that I had to go to the hostess, I replied she is ignoring us.
She came out and told me that the restaurant is changing over from lunch to dinner and she will not able to seat us until 4 pm.
If the restaurant was packed I could understand, but the valet should know that the restaurant was changing, I don’t believed they knew because they took the car. There should be a sign or someone paying attention for any guests approaching the establishment, maybe they could take us to the bar or something (was the bar also closed?).
As I said I did not eat because there were no area to wait… must be careful, a customer may think you don’t need there business.
Beside is only food.

Excellent food and server Jordan was wonderful! Thank you for the Halibut recommendation and the crêpe dessert recommendation.

Been here twice this month. Beautiful atmosphere, staff is extremely friendly & attentive. Tapas are great and allow you to try a variety of dishes. Drinks are delicious, beers are ice cold! Recommend the empanadas, crab cakes, scallops, skirt steak skewers and their cheese dishes are all great! Lobster bisque was amazing! Filet mignon, fettuccini with shrimp & scallops was great! Ravioli was a different version than I am used to, but it was still good. Prices are reasonable. Desserts looked amazing, but unfortunately we were too full the last two trips, but definitely next time!

Have been here about a few times now and recommend this beautiful restaurant if you want to dine (literally) on the water. Great menu choices and they offer tapas style too. Ingredients were fresh and nice balance of flavors — we’ve tried the grilled scallops, lobster wrap, empanadas, smoked salmon, minted lamb chops and raw bar.
Neighborhood treasure!

Your Unilocal review says you take reservations. Apparently you don’t. You should fix that.

I am saddened by the other bad reviews! For dinner our guide recommended we go to FF for seafood! She was right on — my compatriots & I had Lobster, Salmon Salad, Steak, Pasta, Scallops, Mussels, Oysters, & Clams… The food was excellent worth the mulah for sure! Since I live in Chicago this was my only visit, but if I’m ever in Bay Shore again — OH YEAH, i’m totally going again!!! Thanks everyone at FF for an enjoyable time & excellent food! :D

Thought it would be a nice place to go with another couple and my three well behaved sons. I couldn’t be more wrong. I know this place gets crowded after Memorial Day so we purposefully went early Sunday when we knew it would be empty. This place hates kids and tried to dump us at the worst table — AND THE PLACE WAS EMPTY! We complained and ended up at the only table where the carpet was soaked. Staff was nice but the management was arrogant — I reflected the bad management decision in the tip and they had the extra arrogance to come to the parking lot and challenge me about that. To Mgmnt — I don’t tip well when you treat my family like second class citizens. You should pay your staff more because bad Mgmnt policies will be reflected by the patrons in their tips… We will never go back here.

Great salads, very fresh. Was able to get a side of lump crab to top one of the salads that didn’t come with protein. Only downside was they charged for refills on ice tea. Really?

Here’s another place that’s completely overrated. Love the view but the food just plain sucks and is way overpriced. Drinks are good but the servers seem like they rush you out if it’s a slow night. Good for drinks only but if you’re looking for great food and a great view, you won’t find it here. Also the parking sucks.

I absolutely love this place. The food and service are excellent. I wish they didn’t have to be seasonal. The fish is fresh and well prepared. Their drinks are spot on, especially the bloody mary’s. I can’t wait to go back once the season kicks in.

Never a bad meal! A summer must. The food is excellent and so fresh. A bit pricey but well worth it in my book. Wait time can be rather long for a fabulous spot by the rail overlooking the bay. I would definitely recommend trying at least once.

Lobster bisque is killer. Crab cakes on point. The French fries are ridiculously good. And even non-​seafood entrees (chicken /​skirt steak) are excellent. Love this place. Great view in the summer.

I came here for my birthday dinner with my boyfriend. I had heard great things about this place from friends, and was surprised.
When we first got there, it was an hour and 30 min wait to sit outside. They said they’d seat us in the «wine bar» immediately.
First, no one came to us for a solid 30 minutes. Then someone dropped off olives, bread, and water, but said nothing. Then, my boyfriend accidentally spilled his water. The hostess had walked by and saw, but said nothing. Then finally the waiter came over, I’m covered in water, its dripping all over the floor. The waiter just brought a new water, and didn’t even offer to bring napkins to help clean it up. He just put the water on the table and went to other tables. Truly appalling.
He came over 15 minutes later, and we said we wanted the check. We weren’t going to pay the overpriced prices and have horrible service. He kept asking why and if everything was ok, we said that we’d prefer to not talk about it and just go, the damage was done.
The manager came over and said that she was sorry, and told us she’d have us seated outside right away. That she did, which was nice. She also took care of the drink I ordered at the bar. We figured we may as well try it out.
Once we sat outside we had amazing service and the food was good. Our waiter was Jordan and he was really great. We ordered the seafood tower, the larger one. That was really good. Its a lot more food than you think, so if you are just 2 people, all you need is to order that and maybe 2 appetizers. The tuna steak was good, but could have had more flavor. We also had fried calamari which was good too, but not the best I’ve ever had. I also got the vanilla almond crêpe which was good. The rum punch was strong, but not too strong. I would get that again.
The food was average overall. It would have been worth the money if we didn’t have the initial experience that we did. But since we did have to go through with that, I don’t think I would come back ever again and pay those prices.

The quality of the fish and the beautiful view bumped the rating up from a 3 for me.
Atmosphere– huge restaurant with dock space on the great South Bay. 2 small bars, one inside and one outside. No reservations are taken so waiting for outdoor seating can take over an hour. Very limited parking.
Staff– plenty of people working there, however, they are not very attentive. Our waiter was knowledgeable about how most of the dishes are prepared and gave good suggestions.
Food– extensive menu that includes tapas and full-​sized items. Menu items are labeled if vegetarian, which is convenient, and the gluten-​free selection is great! Portions are large, and prices are what you would expect at a seafood/​steakhouse.
Yellowfin Tuna entrée– beautiful cut of fish and very well prepared vegetables. The description claimed there was a chili ginger sauce, however, it was bland and added nothing.
Salmon entrée– one of the best cooked pieces of salmon I have had.
Calamari– meh, although they have tentacles, which is nice.

I’ve been to Fat Fish numerous times. It never disappoints. First off, it’s a great location and it makes you relaxed when you are there.
The food is really good and so are the drinks.
The mozzarella sticks were perfectly cooked and we’re so cheesy. I also got crab cakes as my meal. They were the size of my Palm and so meaty! Absolutely delicious and great price for two of them. Compared to some places that charge an arm and a leg for a pea size crab cake.

I went here a few days ago with a friend and it was mouthwatering. The outdoor part of the restaurant was very cool being that it’s so close to the water that if you stick your arm out the plastic, you’ll get wet. If you go here be sure to get a table close to the water. It’s beautiful and doesn’t have that stinky sea smell. There’s also a nice social bar outside. This is one of those upscale restaurants so dress a bit classy.

My friend and I walked in here around 5:30 on a Sunday — quite a busy crowd. We were asked to wait about 20 minutes for a table on the outside deck.
Hung out by the bar — live music and great frosty drinks. The bartending staff were super friendly and we found a small spot out the back door looking out over the canal to enjoy our cocktails.
We got called to sit fairly quickly which was nice and they sat us at a side table on the outside deck — you could hear the waves lapping up on the shore really was happy to be sitting right on the water.
The atmosphere was a nice balance of fancy and relaxed, the waitress and servers were very attentive, soft spoken and helpful.
We each got another cocktail — I had a spiked lemonade drink and my friend had sangria both mixed very well and refreshing.
For starters the tuna carpaccio was fantastic — the sear had a wonderful smokey and seasoned crust and the tuna was so fresh. Loved mixing it with the creamy avocado, citrus segments and dipping it into the green sauce on the plate. It was so good, writing about it now I’m craving it.
For main course my friend went with the halibut special and she loved it — for myself I went with the seared scallops. They were cooked to perfection so buttery and succulent — the orzo was in light broth, blistered cherry tomatoes and spinach mixed in. Honestly one of the best plates of scallops I’ve ever had. It would be hard to not order it again if I came back.
Alas we were quite stuffed to even think of ordering anything sweet to end our meal but others around us looked to be enjoying their choices.
Unfortunately I hate to make one bad point since the meal and service were just so perfect but once again a snafu with the bill.
My friend and I split the bill between two cards and they ended up charging her for the full bill and swiped my card first for my portion of the bill and again swiped my card for her portion of the bill.
I called and spoke to a manager when my friend told me she saw this on her account and I had verified the same mishap on my account and they apologized and said it would be resolved and not cleared on their end so our accounts won’t be hit when the charges clear out of pending.
Follow up to today my account is fine and my friend is still waiting for hers to clear up.
I just don’t understand why this problem plagues many restaurants I go to — it puts such a bad taste in my mouth after a great dining experience.

Live music, on-​the-​water vibes. If you’ve got a boat, take it on over, I would. Great beer selection, good drinks, yummy food. Lobsterfest– enough for 2 people for $ 32. Raw bar. Go.

We came to Fat Fish for a late summer dinner, Sunday if i remember correctly. There was a little wait so we decided to get some drinks at the bar. The hostess was friendly and we did not wait long. (just about one and a half drinks) The bar area was nice if a tad small and the bar tenders were all pleasant to deal with and were quick with the drinks.
The restaurant itself is nice with an indoor and outdoor area. The majority of the indoor area was taken up by some sort of private event so we were seated in the covered outdoor area which was nice. Our server greeted us right away and told us the specials. she was very friendly and came and checked on us throughout the meal.
We had the following:
Littleneck clams: extremely fresh and nicely sized.
Charcuterie (the wife wanted this, don’t ask me why… yes I know we were at a seafood place) It was actually good. Not the Cahrcuterie you’d find at say, Salumi but they definitely represented.
She got the Scallops Meunière which was seasoned well but the scallops were underdone. About a minute more and they would have been perfect.
I got the Mako and I was unimpressed. I had never had Mako before so I did not know what to expect, I was just kind of let down. It was cooked well but was just missing something.
We really enjoyed out meal here. It was a really good experience if not a tad overpriced, but it’s on the water and it was in season, so when in Rome. I would definitely come back for round two!

Food and service here is great! We made a stop after driving back from Robert Moses beach and was looking for lunch on the water. This place was perfect as they have an outdoor pier that overlooks water. We got the tapas:
1. Scallops
2. Fish tacos
3. Swordfish
4. Calamari
5. Veggie flatbread
All were delicious but for 3 people they were really small so we ordered the Mediterranean dish as well. The Mojitos drinks were also very refreshing. The service was very attentive. Overall the seafood and ambience of this restaurant is great! A bit pricey for small tapas plates. But definitely worth the price and stop!