Uncle’s Fish Market & Grill

I have been wanting to try uncles for quite some time now, however normally I just go to nicos and I wish I had done the same today. Service was bad, food was not only overpriced for the portion sizes but also too salty.

Great food and service. Portions look small at first but you get full quick. I will be coming back here!

My family came for fresh fish and we’re not disappointed with the black cod, tuna, and salmon. Service was fast, informative, patient and helpful. An excellent family friendly fish restaurant.

I’m usually down to have dinner at Uncle’s. Whether dinner or happy hour, this place was usually a pick for me.
This evening we were deciding to go to either Uncle’s or Nico’s. My vote was always for Uncle’s. But after tonight’s experience, I beg to differ. The service was slow and convoluted. The food was still good. When you’re paying $ 30-​$ 50 a person, you expect a certain level of service and organization. Not knowing where to drop plates, to having ton constantly ask for drinks, then the water.
I won’t be coming back here any time soon. They need to get more organized and more attentive.

Surf and Turf — Jeff said the steak was good and the fish was ok. Next time he said he’ll just order the steak.
I had onaga with the wine pairing. It was good, and I enjoyed it.

The hostess seated us quickly, even changing tables to get us seated faster. Once we were seated the service started out ok but just went downhill from there. Hardly ever saw the waitress after we got our food and that was just for the typical «how’s everything» check. She had already started moving on to the next table before we even answered. Waitress seemed like she judged us and that serving us was an inconvenience. When I asked if they had a military discount I got a «are you kidding me?» look and a derisive, «No.»
Food was ok, a bit expensive for what you get. $ 17 for two fish tacos and tortilla chips. The scallops in my wife’s seafood pasta weren’t cleaned properly and still had grit in them.
Overall if it had just been the food I’d consider going back but it’s the service I have no interest in trying again.

We were 15 minutes late for our reservation due to horrific traffic & they were courteous & held our table. We called to tell them we were in route & were greeted with MUCH aloha. Fast arrival of Pu-​Pus, attentive water service for our parched throats, & helpful wine refreshes delighted the birthday girl. Truly savory appetizers, FAST Keiki meal (perfect for a leisurely little man’s schedule),& FRESH Ono fish. I’ll admit to regularly seeng them buying fish at 5:30 am Fish Market –a MUST SEE/​DO!!! We ate appetizers, meals & plowed through a dessert round. Do partake of Alvin’s Chocolate Cake! Our waitstaff busted for small & large tables with ALOHA! Kudos to the kitchen throwing down some Amazing Plates. MAHALO!

They got my coworkers order wrong and when they took it back the waitress was not very apologetic about it. By the time their food came back we were done eating. The food is okay but the prices are too expensive and when we spoke to the manager she almost seemed that she was taking the servers side. Not coming back.

My wife and I both loved it here. I had the steamed Monchong (although they were out of Monchong so they substituted Onaga), my wife had a special with shrimp, mahi and scallops.
Both dishes were well cooked with the fish done just right. I always take more points off when the fish is overdone.
The only problem we had was the clam chowder came out lukewarm but our server Tanya, took excellent care of us and fixed it right away. The other slight letdown was the chocolate dream cake which didn’t have much of a chocolate flavor to it and was on the dry side.
All in all though we had a great experience with excellent service and food. We will be back!

Love their crab and avocado sandwich and crab louie. I didn’t care for their seafood chowder because the pieces of fish were big and chewy and I thought it was chicken. The service was ok.

Customer service is slow. It only took about 2 minutes to get seated but the waiter/​waitress never came to our table. We left after 10 minutes of waiting. We didn’t even get water while we waited.
If you have AMPLE time to wait for extremely slow service, then this is the place. In our case, we received NO SERVICE after being seated.
I rated this place ZERO stars but Unilocal doesn’t allow it.

Our food was good. We had the calamari steak, poké tower, and oyster as our appetizer. I had the rib eye steak and it was good.
Came here for dinner and it was my first time dinning in here. Everything was good; the food tasted good, service was nice, and the ambience was nice. The food here is always fresh.

This place is pricey!, but since it was my boss’s treat why not?!
Fish isn’t usually my first choice on any menu, but when you’re at Uncle’s Fish Market, it’s crazy not to order fish. I ordered the fish (opakapaka was the option) and chips, and it is so fresh, doesn’t have a «fishy» taste, the fries wasn’t too greasy (well, kinda sorta, but I’ve had worst). The cole slaw kinda cuts from all the richness and gives it that extra flavor, I tend to use the malt vinegar instead of lemon, but need either one. I don’t like to eat a huge lunch while working, and I almost ate the whole thing. I use to enjoy the fish and chips from Breakfast, Lunch and Crab until they closed down, but enjoy Uncle’s definitely more than I do Nico’s. I’d probably return on a special occasion and if I’m craving for fish? (or if my boss treats again, ha!)

I really wanted to like Uncle’s more than I actually did. I really and truly did. Service was great, the staff members were friendly, and I actually did enjoy the fish sandwich that I got.
But because of the prices and the mediocre fish ‘n chips, I couldn’t rave about this place. I’ve had better fish ‘n chips. And I’ve definitely had them for a cheaper price.
This is one of the many restaurants that came up on Unilocal during my quest to find the best fish ‘n chips on the island. I went to Uncle’s once but it was several years ago, and I couldn’t even remember what I had ordered.
During my most recent trip to Uncle’s, I went with my mom for lunch on Labor Day. It was nice that the eatery was relatively uncrowded and service was fast.
Uncle’s is known for their fresh seafood, but I think I was still shocked to see how expensive the entrees were. The fish ‘n chips were one of the cheaper items. Although I really liked my fish sandwich, I know I enjoyed the one at Nico’s just as much – if not more – and I would probably revisit there instead of Uncle’s. Uncle’s does have fresh fish, I’ll give them that (a lot of fish options), but the entrees just didn’t meet my expectations. I was glad for the chance to experience this famous place, but I’m not sure if I would return. For the price you pay, you could have a more delicious meal elsewhere.
Here’s what we got:
«Daily Fresh Fish Sandwich»: The featured fish of the day for this sandwich was opah, and though I was hoping for mahi, I was still satisfied with opah because it was a flaky, fresh white fish. I ordered my opah Cajun-​style (with Cajun seasoning) and it also came with sliced tomatoes, lettuce and sweet onions on a Kaiser bun. I ordered my sandwich sans sliced tomatoes and onions, and I ordered my bun toasted, but it didn’t seem too toasted to me when it finally came out. No matter, though, because the bun was really soft and ended up tasting great. The entrée came with fries. I was glad that I got to try this sandwich; my fish was grilled with the Cajun seasoning which provided an extra savory flavor. It wasn’t as spicy as I had imagined it would be, but it was a good decision and I would order this again. I enjoyed it much more than my mom’s fish and chips. The fries didn’t have too much taste, in of themselves, but that was easily fixed with some salt and a lot of malt vinegar.
«Daily Fresh Fish and Chips»: I’m used to either getting cod or mahi when it comes to fish and chips, but the featured fish for this entrée was opakapaka. My mom ordered this fish ‘n chips; ever since our favorite one from Brew Moon was unavailable, we’ve been on the hunt for the best fish ‘n chips on the island. Both of us were terribly disappointed with the version from Uncle’s. It’s not that the fish wasn’t fresh; it definitely was. The entrée itself just tasted bland. The fries had no taste (my mom added lots of ketchup and salt), but both of us felt the fish was lackluster. The batter on the outside was crispy and fried to a nice golden brown; the batter-​to-​fish ratio was definitely proportional. I just wish the fish had more flavor; I was expecting it to have sufficient taste (salt? Seasoning?) and not to have to rely SO much on the tartar sauce/​malt vinegar to provide that flavor.
«Fresh New England Seafood Chowder»: If I ever did return to Uncle’s, this is what I would want to try. This chowder is made fresh daily and includes fresh fish and shellfish in a rich, New England-​style broth. It comes with crackers. Based on the photos I’ve seen of this dish, it definitely looks like it’s worth trying.

Uncles Fish Market and Grill is located on Nimitz, diagonally across for Nico’s.
I was very surprised on how nice it was inside. I did not expect it to be a dine in restaurant with waitresses. I was expecting something similar to Nico’s, where you would order and find a seat after.
I really liked the décor inside. Of course it was all fishing themed. They had old photos of fishermen on their boats, classic bamboo fishing poles, and even old school scuba diving helmets.
There are no restrooms inside the venue. They only have them across the street in-​between Uncles and Nico’s.
The Grub.
[[ FISH TACOS $ 17 ]]
These two tacos are filled with mahi fillets, cabbage, cilantro and avocado. Mehhh, these were alright, but extremely messing. The corn tortilla was falling apart like no tomorrow.
[[ CRAB SANDWICH $ 16.75 ]]
This sandwich is filled with crab meat, bacon and avocado! YUMMY! Can’t go wrong with this dish!
Overall — I thought this place was alright, probably better for dinners then for lunch.

I’ve done mostly lunches here so parking has been easy enough where I park right by the venue. I like bringing my haole island visitors, mostly military, when they ask for fresh seafood. I let them know I’m bringing them right next to where they auction the fish early in the morning. If they like, they can go with a friend of mine to these auctions real early in the morning. No takers yet. Must be late sleepers.
As you enter, the matre d’ greets you confirming the number in your party then introduces you to your waiter who glides you along to your destined table. The retro pictures take you back to a time when fishing was in it’s prime. When catching 600lb tuna was abundantly plentiful no one had concerns about over fishing. Compared that to now where catching a 200lb tuna makes breaking news. Makes you feel guilty eating fish. And yet here we are.
My favorite is the mango opah. It’s a special they serve from time to time. The fish delicately cooked with the sweet mango is a wonderful taste of blended goodness. I’ve had this about 3 times and consider this one of their top dishes. You can go to their website to see what their current specials are.
The $ 17.00 steamed clams with garlic bread hands down is good eats. I love the broth in this that brings out the taste of the sea. So delicious.
Uncle’s Seafood Pasta at $ 21.50 is filled sauteed fish, shrimp, scallops, calamari and clams over linguini pasta and mushrooms. We chose marinara over alfredo. This is a wonderful dish filled with some many good seafood pieces that gives your mouth a variety of textures and taste. We’ve ordered this a few times and are always happy with it.
Like many regulars, the daily fresh fish and chips is a great deal for lunch, sold at market price. Pretty reasonable and fills you up right, not too full able to think on your feet and alert if you still have to go back to work. A good thing is they are deep fried in zero trans fat.
I’ve had no problems with the service here and consider it top notch. They are friendly and will keep a conversation going if you allow it. Great for asking advise as we have with many of our visitors. This one time I brought my guest here and paid. However, we were so excited with our plans during their stay we walked out before the check and card were brought back to me. An honest mistake for sure but I didn’t realize this until I got my guest back to the Hale Koa Hotel. I immediately rushed back there. As soon as I stepped in and our wait person saw me, she immediately went to the back shortly and came out up to me to hand my card back to me with an apology. I told her I should be the one apologizing and laughed. I signed the check with a little extra.
It’s nice to sit here, enjoy who you’re with, the customer service. You never feel rushed, just relaxed time slowed down.

Don’t expect to have an awesome rib eye or an amazing shrimp scampi at a seafood restaurant that specializes in fish dishes. Their poke is amazing though. Like. Yum.
One bite of the rib eye and I wanted to send it back. Too much sauce, but without the sauce, it had absolutely no flavor. What did I expect really from a seafood restaurant? But I really did hope it was as amazing as their poke.

What a wonderful place to have lunch with your bf and his grandma. The timing was just right because towards the end of our meal, there were plenty of people waiting outside to dine in.
My food was the Uncle combo fish and chips: Calamari slices, shrimp, and ono fish panko battered with fries and cole slaw. My bf had the lunch special and his grandma had the steamed monchong chinese style. My meal tasted so ono that I ate everything (technically bf helped me eat some fries). I decided to order the gelato tahitian vanilla flavor. Rich and smooth flavor, but contains plenty of sugar.
The service was fast. We were seated right away. As mentioned earlier, if we arrived after 1230pm, we would probably have to wait. There were a lot of business dressed people eating here.
The restrooms are located outside of the restaurant, between this place and Nico pier 38.
The prices are quite high, but of course you want quality food, not mediocre type of food. Next time I fine here, I’ll try their dinner special.

Delicious fresh fish and good service a good seafood restaurant make.
Uncle’s is located right by the harbor, so I was a little skeptical at first since you basically have to park across from a bunch of cargo containers. I was pleasantly surprised though, because the industrial-​ness of the area didn’t affect the quality of the food at all.
We got the poke trio to share and they were all really good. I don’t think I could pick a favorite! The fish was extremely fresh and didn’t have any of that fishy taste or smell. It had a really nice texture as well.
I also got the lunch special, which was HUGE. It was two large pieces of fish, a starch (I got fries, but you could also get rice), a side of sashimi with wasabi, AND a salad! The white wine and caper sauce was delicious and I had to try very hard not to lick my plate clean.
Service was good and prompt, and the staff were very accommodating for our requests and knowledgeable about the menu. We also had a child with us and they brought her crayons and distracted her so the rest of us could eat! The staff tell you about the specials, but the only place I saw them listed was on a board OUTSIDE the restaurant, so once they had left (and we’d forgotten those options) we had to go outside to check what the specials were. It’d be useful to have them listed somewhere visibly inside the restaurant as well.
The only bad thing was that we had a half dozen oysters, and of those, two were bad. We were still charged for the full half dozen, even though some couldn’t be eaten.
Parking is readily available in the outside lot.

The thing with service at Uncles, I’d describe it as casual and that’s not a bad thing. I don’t necessarily need to be doted upon, simply seat me, take my order, bring food and then the bill. The servers are always nice.
I ordered the Miso Butterfish with a side salad and it was DElicious! So moist, gently flaked and so tender. Hubby ordered the special of the day which was a plate of Mahi topped with scallops, and accompanied by some other seafood selections. He really looks forward to some good scallops but these were pretty small. He said the overall taste of his plate was pretty good. His only complaints were that he ordered white rice and got brown instead and the waitress completely forgot about the beer he’d ordered. It wasn’t charged so we assume she just didn’t catch it, it’s okay.
… thinking back, our first visit had been for lunch which was pretty good. I had had the sandwich special of the day and hubby had the fish n chips. He said the batter was too bland, he prefers a little seasoning in his batter. But otherwise the fish was good. No complaints at lunch service.