Firefish Grill

Eh this place was okay. I don’t know if I was just being super picky and it was Valentines day, but it wasn’t my favorite spot. I did like their menu, though. It was different and interesting and it’s something I appreciate. The blood orange margaritas were bomb. Get the pitcher! You can get 5 or 6 margs out of that thing, makes more sense money wise. My tacos were cold, my fries were messed up. And who the heck has fries with their tacos? That’s random… anyway, I would go back, but it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Decent food, amazing view. Seated right away, waiter was nice and polite. Overall a good experience.

Dining with a view.
The western side of the restaurant features a beautiful view of Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Of course you get the same view just from walking along the wharf, but there’s something about enjoying a meal while watching the tranquil ocean that’s very calming.
We were given a basket of complimentary bread to start. I enjoyed the variety of bread which included sourdough (with and without sesame seeds) and whole wheat. The bread came out lukewarm and would’ve been better warmer.
Our waitress was on-​point and came by frequently to top off our waters. Three of us including me were in the mood for the Fish and Chips ($ 14.95), while the wife ordered the Fisherman’s Pasta ($ 15.95).
The fish in my entrée was Pacific snapper, deep fried in Anchor Steam beer batter. No other choices for the fish or batter were available. The batter was very thick, which in this case detracted from the fish, since the fish was sadly not too flavorful. The fries and coleslaw served alongside were unfortunately the best part of the meal.
The wife enjoyed her Fisherman’s Pasta with prawns, scallops and fish in a fettuccine sauce. However, she also found the fish in her dish to be bland, and after I tried a bite, I agreed that it tasted like the fish in my own entrée.
Overall this is an ok place, but we were disappointed that the fish in our dishes was lacking the fire that the name of this place seems to promise.

Was seated right away. Got a good view of the ocean front. Food was amazing. Got our drinks and water quick which was nice. With the awesome weather we needed it! All the food was good we will be back when we are in the area!
Halibut, oysters, rockafella oysters, shrimp and the clam chowder bread bowl. All amazing!

We went to locals night on a Tuesday. There were plenty of choices. I had a pork chop and my husband had seafood Rockefeller for $ 10.95. The portions were generous, the food arrived in a timely manner which was great on a week night. The food was hot and cooked perfectly. Best of all everyone from the hostess to the chef who delivered our dinner in person were attentive and seemed genuinely concerned that we were well taken care of. The Maitre ‘d also stopped by to see how we were doing and validated our parking. It is nice to receive such great service.

I don’t normally write Unilocal reviews, but I make exceptions in the event I feel some things should be brought to the attention of either a business’ patrons or its staff.
I’ve been to Firefish three times, most recently tonight. My first time was a few years ago when I had a chicken picatta, and my second time was about half a year ago when I ordered the Monterey scallops and a chocolate mousse-​like dessert. They were all delicious, and the service was satisfactory.
I came here earlier tonight on a double date with a friend of mine. I ordered the cioppino while my girlfriend and friend had the stuffed salmon. I loved my cioppino other than the fact that every other bite was met with some sand granules. This tells me the clams or prawns were not thoroughly washed. It was a shame, because it tasted great other than this setback, but it made me wonder if I should have had the cioppino at Gilda’s a few doors down for $ 9.00 less with the special they had going on. I know how difficult it can be to clean seafood, though (especially shellfish), so I can’t grill anyone too hard. In addition, however, the cioppino’s tomato «broth» as it was referred to in the menu, was much closer to a marinara sauce than a broth.
My friend, however, noted the stuffed salmon was a bit fishy tasting; something my girlfriend and I agreed on. This typically does not happen with fresh salmon; only frozen, in my experience. Of course, the word «fresh» generally indicates that a fish is never frozen — though some people’s definitions may differ — and there is some debate over whether fresh or frozen fish tastes better, but it was slightly off-​putting to hear the server refer to the salmon as «fresh» (especially since, upon hearing a conversation between another table and a server, it was revealed the fish was indeed frozen at one point — though I didn’t hear the conversation very well, so take it with a grain of salt). Was the stuffed salmon bad? No, I wouldn’t say so, but it’s definitely not worth $ 31 to me (particularly considering it’s a «special» and more expensive than anything on the standard menu). I left feeling a bit perturbed that I could have spent that much per person at my favorite all-​you-​can-​eat Brazilian steakhouse (and now can’t afford to for a while). My friend’s salmon was a bit fishier tasting than my girlfriend’s, however, but my friend’s experience was worse because he couldn’t stand the hollandaise sauce. I couldn’t tell if he thought it was bad in comparison, or because he never had it before. I don’t like hollandaise sauce, myself, but I digress.
My advice is to stick with the regular menu if you can, watch out for sand in the cioppino, and enjoy the nice ambience that Firefish has.

Brought MIL here for her bd dinner and was not disappointed. This is my favorite local place to eat and hubby and I come here as often as we can. Love the local menu, plus the specials menu serves big portions!
I had the Sand Dab and after our appetizer (fav calamari in SC) plus a so delish Virgin Mary (I personally think alcohol ruins this drink, lol) I could barely finish half my dinner.
The food’s amazing, the view even more so. We love our FireFish!

My boyfriend and I came here for a birthday dinner b/​c we wanted to eat out on the water. This place has a GREAT view of the water and sunset, well worth waiting an extra 30 min to get a window seat. Come for the view not the food is my conclusion about this place.
Service was good, but food is lacking considering that the place wasn’t full and I counted 10+ staff in kitchen and 10 waiters. We ordered stuffed salmon and grilled seabass & prawns – both specials. I advise on getting their specials (it costs more) if you want bigger portions bc I’ve been disappointed by their regular menu. The seafood tasted fresh, but they undercooked spinach and onions for the seabass dish and prawns were kinda raw :/​Overall their dishes lacked proper seasoning. At least they took off $ 5 but for the price we could’ve gotten better seafood elsewhere.
I’ll be back because Firefish has one thing right: location! next time I’ll order something they can mess up: chowder (at lest I hope ^_^).

Restaurant had a beautiful view of the ocean… But sadly the fish and chips and clam chowder was definitely not expected. I’ve had better fish and chips in the valley area! The fish and chips is mostly soft with a very very light crunch. The fish however was nice and juicy and would have been much better if the batter was fried with a nice crispness.
Clam chowder was ok. Nothing special. Service was ok as well. Waiter gave a lot of attention prior to the meals. Once the meals were delivered, water refills were non existent. Had to request water which also took a few minutes.
It’s an ok place with a nice view, however for future visits I would not return here and try another restaurant on the wharf.

The views in this restaurant are amazing! If you sit by the window it’s really great, by the sea front. Food was not bad either. I had a Louie salad with crab, it was very nice and generous portions! Not like high gastronomy or anything but pretty good still.
Bread rolls and butter to go with the meal.
Service was impeccable.

We’ve been here several times with good service and food. Last night we brought my parents from out of town and my daughter and her friend. My step father and daughters friend both ordered the Fisherman’s Pasta. The rest of us ordered other dishes. My step father and daughters friend both had diahrea and vomiting. We are going to assume from the pasta as they both ate the same thing and we are all fine.
I called in about 20 mins ago to speak to the Manager to let them know. I was not rude or asking for any compensation but letting him know there was a problem and he should look into it. He was very rude and defensive said they probably were sick from something they ate a week ago? One lives in AZ and one here in CA. It was the dish and it needs to be looked into. All I wanted was acknowledgement that the dish made two people sick and he’d look into the food prep.
We spent over $ 200 which is no problem but to get the rude defensive response I received today is wrong. They did get sick from that food dish and that is not a reflection on the whole restaurant as the other 4 people did not get sick.
I suggest being a little more understanding and accommodating as the person from AZ changed their flight to go home today because they are stuck in the bathroom and possibly going to the hospital if the symptoms don’t subside.

I do not know what happened with this restaurant, it used to be good… but the last two experiences, disappointed me. I just tell you that I had at dinner a swordfish grill. I felt something tasting strange when I eat the fish, but only on a small portion. Early next morning I got urgently to the emergency room. Diagnostic? Food poisoning. As long as I did not have anything in between, you get the… conclusion.
Answer for the manager: January 2015

This restaurant is beautiful and is one of the more popular places on the wharf. True to its décor, please expect to drop roughly 30 dollars per person at this location. They seriously tried to fit as many seats as possible inside their small seating area. Next door, across the hallway, is Woodies – a cheaper, burgers and fries sort of place, owned by the same family. They share the bathroom with Firefish Grill.
M-​F they have a local menu where you recieve salad, a small entrée, and a dessert for 10 – 15 dollars if I remember correctly. I got that once, and as my entrée I chose this chicken sandwich that was super dry and tasteless. I also didn’t like the dessert – they change it everyday depending on the chef, so you sometimes get chocolate cake and other times you get something else.
Recently I came for dinner with a group of 7. I ordered the Firefish Grill and that was a giant skewer of different fishes, a dipping sauce, some over cooked vegetables, and flavorless rice. After squeezing a crap ton of lemons over my food, it wasn’t bad! The fish tasted fresh but it was cold in the middle – clearly the fish wasn’t cooked all the way through which didn’t bother me but may bother you. For 23 dollars I honestly expected much more.
I shared a bread bowl clam chowder with my friend. We thought it was a great deal for 9.50 but it ended up being 13 dollars because in fine print it’s 3 bucks extra for the bread bowl. It was really good soup, not overwhelming with clams.
The service was just barely ok. There was many moments where I was trying to flag down our waitress (at the beginning we were missing 2 waters and 1 silverware set) or for water refills but was left ignored. She was running somewhere other than here. Because of our large group, our total ended up being 202 and gratuity was 39 dollars. They required an 18% gratuity charge for parties larger than 6, which is understandable for this type of place but I personally didn’t think the service nor the food was worth the price we paid.

Stumbled upon Firefish Grill on the way to a different restaurant, but this caught our eye first so we went here instead. We chose wisely!
Besides the beautiful ambience, the restaurant provided a great experience for an early dinner. The views of the water, candle on the table, and not too loud atmosphere made it easier to enjoy their good food.
Our waitress, Ashley P., was great too! She went over their specials, was very helpful with any questions we had, and checked in on us often. Overall, she made us feel welcomed and comfortable.
Though the food was a bit expensive, it was worth the price. Such huge portions that I was able to take enough home for lunch and maybe even dinner the next day. The drinks we ordered (Strawberry Daiquiri and Blue Hawaiian) were great too and complemented our meals well.
Thanks for the good time, Firefish Grill!

Came here during the weekend with the family and it was a good experience overall.
Food (entrée portions were huge):
Crab cake appetizer (⁴⁄₅): you get one large piece. Soooo delicious
Seared scallop appetizer (⁴⁄₅): another great dish. Goes well with the spinach
Clam chowder (²⁄₅): I really wanted to like this because I love clam chowder in general. But it came out warm… (Barely)
Sea bass special (3.5÷5) fish was a little bit towards the dry side
Cioppino (4.5÷5) tons of fresh seafood in one plate. What’s there not to love
Scallop with pilaf (forgot the name) (⁴⁄₅)
Ambience (⁵⁄₅) love the water view! Definitely the reason that bumped this review to 4 stars
Service was pretty good. Manager came and checked on us and made sure everything was going well

Unfortunately we had a horrible experience, I recommendes this plave to my friend because I had been there a year agp and the food was great. It’s sad to see that the standards are not as high.
The service:
They’re are getting two stars because the server and the host were friendly, other than that I was very disappointed to have picked that place to have lunch after kayaking.
The manager clearly doesn’t care much about keeping costumers happy. (I’ll explain)
The food:
Total disaster! My ahi tuna salad appeared to be fine, but once I tried it it was nothing but romaine lettuce and a ton of ginger soaked in vinaigrette, with only 4 – 5 slices of ahi tuna.
The lettuce wasn’t even crunchy and the ahi tuna had no taste. I have had that salad in the past and don’t remember it being as bland.
After I complained about my food the manager came over and instead of apologizing, he merely focused on saying that the salad didn’t have dressing and I that apparently I ordered the wrong dish. Instead of asking me if I wanted to order something else he started to walk away. Apparently I didn’t need to eat, since I didn’t like my first dish.

Beautiful view, nice ambience, and delicious seafood.
I got the FireFish Skewer (came with salmon, scallop, some white fish, shrimp, red&green bell peppers, purple onions) and a side of steamed carrots&squash, and rice pilaf. A bit pricy but not bad for seafood in a restaurant with a nice view! $ 18.95.
The free bread&butter that they give for free is delicious and of high-​quality too.
The service was not bad!

Not too bad, the ambience is nice and sitting on the warf, your treated to great view of the ocean.
The food never disappoints. My only complaint is its a little pricy, but I guess your not just paying for the food but also the views. Nevertheless, not a bad place to spend a romantic dinner on the water.

Just a short walk from the boardwalk and hotels.
I started with a Soquel Chardonnay, yum. Fruit foreword with pear and pineapple followed with low acid and a very nice finish of vanilla oak. Turns out it’s Bargetto. That’s a plus !
Appetizer for starter is Oysters Rockefeller for which they give you three. Absolutely the most correct version of the dish. Delicious !
My next course is Monterey Bay Sand Dabs. Something you can only get in this area of California.
The sand dabs are fantastic soft and tender with soft fish flavor. Nicely fried and covered with a caper sauce. Served with mashed potatoes and perfectly cooked vegetables.
This has been a very pleasurable experience with a very attentive staff and manager. My master mixologist Jake treated me very well as I dined at the bar.

I just enjoyed a delicious meal with a great view and it was on a fabulous special with it being «Locals Night.» I had enjoyed a nice run along West Cliff and decided a piece of fish afterwards sounded good. I’m in town for work so I of course saw the Wharf and had to have dinner here.
Clint was my server this evening and he was fantastic! He’s young for a person working in a nicer seafood place but I will say he was more than knowledgable on all of their seafood dishes, very polite, attentive and very informative. After asking him several questions about different menu items, I decided the Cajun Snapper sounded the best. I’m glad I went with this option as it was truly delicious, the tomato jambalaya sauce was really yummy. Clint was also accommodating to me not wanting rice so he was able to give me double vegetables.
Cute spot, obviously very touristy but it’s nice to know they offer the locals a special during their «non-​touristy» season. Lucky for me I’m not a local but was still able to receive great food at a great price! I’ll be back in a few months!