02/16/09

Worst food - Waste of Money!!!

by Kj27

My husband took me there for a romantic dinner with a preset menu at a hefty price. We were expecting to be fed very well. To our disappointment most of the food was RAW! The appetizer was fried but cold in the center and raw lobster... The salad had way too much dressing and the lobster bisque had no lobster. Our main entree was just a piece of meat with no sides - not enough food and both of our entrees were undercooked and had to be sent back. I don't even want to mention the cheap dessert that we barley touched. I commented on the food to the waiter and he asked if the manager came by... Not till the end of the evening he came and plopped a free creme brulee for our troubles. I began to explain that he is serving undercooked food and he gave me the hand as if the free dessert should make me feel better about over paying for a horrible meal! Avoid this restaurant - there are many better seafood restaurants in Dallas!!!

02/14/09

Worst Dining experience in Dallas

by TXFoodLover

My husband and I recently ate at the Oceanair for a special night out. We have been to the one in Indianapolis, which we highly recommend that location, so we were expecting similar service. What we encountered was the worst night of service we have received anywhere. The food was ok, but not as good as our previous experience (and we ordered the same meal). The price was overrated for what we received. To start the night we arrived for our reservation only to wait an hour for a table. During that time we saw several people arrive after us and seated right away. We wouldn't have been as frustrated if we didn't have a reservation already made, and these people had later reservations than we did. Our waitor was nice, but slow. What should have been a dining experience that we were expecting to last at most 1.5 hours, ended up being a three hour ordeal and caused us to miss plans we had made for later in the evening. We will never again go to the Dallas location.

• Pros: nothing comes to mind
• Cons: Service

01/25/09

Delicious food, great service, amazing food.

by jmleff

I am not a local but visiting Dallas on business. I went down to The Oceanire on a Sunday night at about 8:30pm and it was still fairly busy (not bad for a Sunday to be sure). Arif was my server and he was very, very good. I started off with 4 raw oysters from the raw bar, very nice ice chilled presentation with fresh cocktail sauce topped with fresh horse-raddish and another sauce I have not seen before but equally very tasty. The BLT salad was my second course and it was excellent. Very fresh greens and very good tomatoes, especially for this time of year. I had the jumbo lump crabcake appetizer as my entree' and it was incredible. About 98 percent crab meat cooked to perfection... (can get rubbery but this was perfect) Overall I had a great experience and amazing food. I will be back if I am in town again.

• Pros: Excellent service, great food, extensive wine list, seafood at the galleria but not "at the galleria"
• Cons: None

12/13/08

Getting sick is never pleasant....

by ninn001

Getting sick is never pleasant, and never have I had to pay so much for it. When we called the restaurant, the manager left us on hold for over twenty minutes. We hung up and called health services; I'm interested to know what the inspector found. I really want the three days it took to recover back, but they wouldn't even give my money back.

08/11/08

Great Seafood Great Service

by mr_h

Despite the great reviews and recommendations from others I never considered going to The Oceanaire just because of its location in the Westin Hotel. Granted the hotel is a nice hotel, however their more known for their rooms than food. So maybe that's why they brought in a the small seafood/steakhouse restaurant chain. The atmosphere is comfortable and fun with high ceilings, ocean liner accents and blue lights washing out the white walls. We started at the bar for couple of cocktails. The bartender was attentive, professional and poured great drinks. We then took a table and from there had wonderful service. Our server was knowledgable of the menu and specials. The calamari is the best in town; tender, and cooked perfectly. Most places give you a side of some kind of concoction to smother the flavor; this did not even come with one, and wasn't needed. The clams baked with Canadian Bacon were as sweet as could be. The Mahi was cooked perfectly and the Pecan trout is hard to be beat. The restaurant is a to story dining room with the second appearing to be a great place for a date with the curtain draped balcony you get to escape from the bar chatter.

• Pros: Seafood, Service, Ambiance
• Cons: Tight seating

01/29/08

Ultra-fresh fish

by amr10s

This glamorous, upscale restaurant located in the Westin Galleria not only boasts uber fresh fish, but wonderful service and unique side dishes. With fresh fish flown in daily, you can have it broiled or grilled, or choose from one of the chef?s masterful creations. The side dishes, which are very large portions, include shells and cheese, asparagus and hollandaise, or salt and vinegar fries, which were voted the best in Dallas by The Dallas Observer. The service was superb, the fish fabulous, and the atmosphere perfect for a Saturday night dinner.

07/05/07

Will keep me coming back!!!

by foodgeek02

As soon as I walked into the restaurant I was transported in time. Totally forgot about the heavy rain that doesn't seem to stop and relaxed immediately. We were promptly seated in a huge leather booth near the front and before we knew it had warm bread and a tray of random pickles and vegis... interesting to say the least. Our server was very pleasant and professional and helped us put together the perfect evening from the wine to our entrees. I can't think of any moment that I would of changed. As we were leaving my wife asked me "Why haven't we been here before?" We will be, and have been since. Those other comments about the food and service... not sure where they went but it wasn't The Oceanaire!

• Pros: Music, Fresh Oysters, Attentive Staff
• Cons: Can get busy on weekends but we learned to make reservations

06/28/07

WOW me every time!

by scamper11

I have been here many occasions and have never been disappointed in any dish or with service! This is one of the top three overall consisteant restaurants in Dallas! If you love oysters you have to visit the raw bar. It is comfortable and the service from the bar staff is top notch. The dining room is plush, the noise level perfect and the booths are the best in the city. As far as the food; NO BETTER SEAFOOD IN THE SOUTHWEST! Hands down the freshest I have tasted outside of California. Oceanaire consistenetly supplies the most pleasurable and consistent dining experience of anywhere in Dallas. I have been taking my clients to Oceanaire for four years and many have returned on their own!

• Pros: Seafood, Service, Consistency
• Cons: NONE

06/17/07

horrible beyond words

by dyne

this is some of the worst seafood i've ever had. the crabcakes were decent, but everything else (esp. the shellfish combination) was such a waste of time and money! SO dry and unfresh!!

• Pros: waiter
• Cons: hazardous shellfish!

06/13/07

Best seafood around!

by friscodiner

I was pleasantly surprised to find such a great seafood restaurant in Dallas, of all places. When we walked into the Westin Hotel (through some construction for what looks like a major renovation) lobby and found the entrance to the Oceanaire, it was like walking into the dining room of an oceanliner from the 50s. The atmosphere was a bit startling at first but made me feel like I was stepping back in time. I kept waiting to see Fred and Ginger come waltzing by our table.

The server was prompt and helped recommend a nice glass of wine from an extensive list. Then he told us about the menu and helped steer us toward some great food. The Ahi Tuna was some of the best I have ever had. The portions are so large we had to have a to go bag. The prices are a little on the high end but for what you get, it is well worth it.

We throughly enjoyed dining there and will be back. We have eaten fresh seafood on both coasts and the Oceanaire was beyond anything we have enjoyed so far.

• Pros: Complimentary Valet Parking, Fresh, Fresh Seafood, Large portions
• Cons: A bit crowded, not a quiet place but you can talk.