598204 Sat Feb 21 17:15:31 -0800 2009 38 16 Mid-Atlantic 0 4440035 Has anyone been to Seagrass Restaurant in Ocean Grove? I think it is in the spot that used to house Captain Jacks. The website is www.seagrassnj.com. Any feedback would be appreciated. Sat Feb 21 17:15:31 -0800 2009 136433 charmel 1 4463274 Well, since no one replied...I decided I would give it a whirl anyway and I was very glad I did. Two couples went there last night and the restaurant was absolutely charming. Beautiful decor and very NYC like in choice of decor. We had a wonderful waiter Matt who was both knowledgeable about the menu, giving us fine recommendations and also familiar with the history of the restaurant. It seems that the restaurant was bought from Captain Jack's original owners in 2005 and the name was kept for a few years until the new owners got their feet wet in this business. June 2008, they decided to "make it their own" and remodeled ,changed up some of the menu and gave it the name Seagrass. The restaurant's atmosphere was very warm, chic and relaxing. There were many tables full and the noise level was not noticeable. We tried the "specials" menu which is a price fixed dinner at $25 per person and there were many other choices on it that shown on line.The price fixed includes soup, salad and an entree. I think they change the specials ($25) menu all the time. Matt recommended that we start with the NE clam chowder. He explained that one of the owners was from Boston and that the chowder was one of her personal specialties. He was right....it was amazing...so fresh...just the right texture....I would order it again in a heartbeat. The salad was a mixed greens with shaved parmesan and a champagne dressing....also so wonderfully fresh and just right on the dressing. Two of us had the ahi tuna, done perfectly with mashed sweet potatoes,avocado salsa and fresh steamed asparagus.The other couple had prime rib and salmon. The husband said the prime rib was excellent and that he would order it again without doubt. It came with red bliss mashed potatoes, frizzled onion rings and also the asparagus. The salmon was also top notch. For dessert we tried (I forget the exact name) ice cream and chocolate won tons. It was banana ice cream with 4 small square egg roll looking rectangles. Each "won ton" was filled with like a chocolate ganache. Wonderful and very innovative. All in all a very relaxing, delicious meal and we all voted to return very soon. There are so many things to try on the menu that we can't wait to sample some other dishes. In the nice weather it will be nice to sit at the outside tables. We would ask for Matt again as our waiter. He was just delightful and very attentive. One drawback.....the name of the restaurant is not very visible...just a small emblem on the glass door. Although lit very attractively, if we were not already familiar with the area we would have been uncertain as to if it were the right place. I'm am very pleased that I gave it a try. Anyone else, please let me know your thoughts. I always am curious if I have the same palate as others here on the board. Sun Mar 01 12:49:51 -0800 2009 4440035 136433 charmel 2 4467331 On your recommendation, I am going to make a reservation for 6 for my son's birthday dinner. I will keep the hounds posted. Mon Mar 02 16:14:14 -0800 2009 4463274 50093 Babs16 3 4467339 Hope you enjoy as we did. Mon Mar 02 16:15:40 -0800 2009 4467331 136433 charmel 4 4468864 Sounds good! Will have to give it a try. I did notice that they mention on the website that they are BYOB, which is illegal (advertising it, that is...). They also invite folks to bring in "Spirits," which is also against the law. Beer & wine only... Tue Mar 03 08:08:21 -0800 2009 4467339 172765 equal_Mark 2 4469991 I agree with all you said charmel - to add a bit - we have been to Seagrass for New Year's Eve dinner as well as Valentine's dinner. I must say that not a step was missed on either holiday. Many places seem to drop the ball on holidays or offer a menu scaled back from the usual. In fact we are going agin for my partner's birthday in 2 weeks - Tue Mar 03 12:59:11 -0800 2009 4463274 71929 tuxedo 3 4473737 charmel, I made a reservation for 3-14 and on I requested Matt as our waiter on your recommendation. Can't wait to report back Wed Mar 04 14:06:38 -0800 2009 4469991 50093 Babs16 4 4476863 I'll be there on 3-14 as well!!! Thu Mar 05 12:36:47 -0800 2009 4473737 71929 tuxedo 5 4477506 We have plans with friends for 3-14 and were just trying to figure out where to go. Our friends were talking steak at Ruth Chris, but maybe I can convince them to come to Seagrass. How funny would that be? Can we all meet???? Thu Mar 05 15:22:05 -0800 2009 4476863 136433 charmel 5 4490836 We have a 7:30 reservation party of 6. Would be great to meet. Tue Mar 10 09:18:10 -0700 2009 4476863 50093 Babs16 6 4497460 2 of us - 5:30! Thu Mar 12 08:07:27 -0700 2009 4490836 71929 tuxedo 7 4498220 Couldn't change our plans for Ruth Chris. Please all post your feedback. Thu Mar 12 11:17:58 -0700 2009 4497460 136433 charmel 1 4483441 Just had dinner with my husband at Seagrass. It was our first time there. Bread, soup, salad were all excellent. Both of us had the pref-ixe special menu for $25.00. We had the red snapper. That too was excellent. Our waiter was attentive and helpful. He filled our water glasses before they were empty, and he offered us more bread when our dinners arrived. I give this BYOB restaurant an A. My husband and I eat out several times a month, and we are very discerning when it comes to food and service. Seagrass earned high marks on all counts. We highly recommend it. Sat Mar 07 19:14:25 -0800 2009 4440035 272576 brucefans 1 4491093 The wife and I went to Seagrass last Saturday and we will give it a passing grade, however they are nothing special or noteworthy. They simple miss the mark by a bit. Both the service and food were lacking. The $25 price fix does not include coffee or desert which will bring the bill up to a normal level anyway. My wife made a remark that she thought it was Captain Jack's simply reinventing themselves. Sure enough when I got the credit card receipt it still had Captain Jack's printed on top. Nuff said ... Tue Mar 10 10:21:54 -0700 2009 4440035 169391 JerzeyShore 2 4492456 I'd love to know where you can have quality seafood with soup, salad, dessert and coffee (including tip) for $70 a couple. This is what we paid at Seagrass. Please enlighten me. I would love to know where these other restaurants are. Most of the seafood places I have been to, and some of which were absolutely nothing to write home about, were $25-$35 just for the main dish....no soup, no salad....nada. And most had a bar, so that pumped up the bill even more. I am open to suggestions if you have some, but sometimes I find the foodies here on the forum just a bit harsh on some restaurants. Anyway, we are all entitled to our opinions and I certainly respect yours...no harm intended. I will definitely return to Seagrass to see if we enjoy it consistently and if you ever do try it again...our waiter was Matt and he was a joy. He didnt stop fawning over us, constantly filling our water glasses, asking if we needed anything else, bringing more bread, etc. We tipped him very generously because we felt that he really deserved it. A good waiter can definitely add to the experience. Tue Mar 10 16:16:08 -0700 2009 4491093 136433 charmel 3 4492488 If your idea of a great restaurant is a waiter fawning over you then so be it. Your right we are each entitled to our opinions and my opinion of Seagrass is "it is just OK" nothing more. Sorry if this offends you but they are not even in the same league as other establishments mentioned on this boaed such as Trinity, Drews, Belford, Bay Avenue and the like... Tue Mar 10 16:25:33 -0700 2009 4492456 169391 JerzeyShore 4 4493009 Wow...chill Jerzey......my idea of a great restaurant is not just a waiter fawning over me...that is offensive. Of course it is a combination of everything...the food, the ambiance, the service and the price. What I am saying is overall Seagrass was enjoyable to us. Trinity is a fabulous restaurant....if you can afford to pay $150+ per couple to dine there all the time. We enjoy it immensely, but have only been there a couple of times. I know, for us it is more of a special occasion type of place. Belford Bistro has very good food also, but on a Saturday night the noise level can be deafening. My spouse puts in very long days in the retail gourmet industry and does not find a noisy restaurant relaxing at all. We are also tremendous fans of Drews and dine there often, but we are not always in the mood for the cajun flair. Yes, Seagrass may not be in the same culinary league as some of these others, but I think the overall restaurant (food, decor and service) was definitely more than just "OK" for us. It worked for us and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Oh well, if we all liked the same things.....the world would be a boring place. Tue Mar 10 19:38:14 -0700 2009 4492488 136433 charmel 5 4493819 I have to agree with you that eating at top level places can cost a lot of money and there is a need for places such as Seagrass. I'm actually gald that you like it and are promoting it. In this day and age every establishment needs all the help that they can get. Wed Mar 11 07:13:08 -0700 2009 4493009 169391 JerzeyShore 6 4493914 At last we agree and yes, I think we do need room for restaurants in the next tier, particularly in this economy. I will be curious to see what others think as they give it a try this weekend. Wed Mar 11 07:38:59 -0700 2009 4493819 136433 charmel 7 4498138 Ray's Seafood - Little Silver Navesink Fishery - Atlantic Highlands Thu Mar 12 10:59:28 -0700 2009 4493914 172765 equal_Mark 7 4514730 Charmel, everything that you said about Seagrass was right on the mark. We dined there Sat night and everyone raved about the food. When I made the reservation I requested Matt as our server as per your posting. He was a great waiter. He answered all of our questions and made wonderful suggestions. The New England Chowder I think it could have been salted a little bit more, but overall it was good. We all ordered off of the pre-fixed menu which comes with soup, salad and entree. I had salmon ( cooked perfectly) with raviolis stuffed with squash and babies carrots. My son ordered the steak which was cooked exactly as he likes it. Two of the diners ordered fluke (which we were told was delivered fresh that day). The fish was done perfectly. I tasted that also. Coffee and dessert are not included in the prefix but we ordered 5 different types of yummy treats. I had the warm apple galette, pastry crust, warm apples cooked just to tender and vanilla ice cream. My husband tried the Key Lime Pie( almost as good as the Blonde Giraffe in Key West). The carrot cake was so moist with a cream cheese frosting. The chocolate flourless cake ( I missed tasting this) but I was told it was delicous. And lastly my future daughter in-law ordered a slice of peanut butter pie that had chunks of reeses and oreos in it. She said that the pie was light and airy and tasted as if it whipped. We all agreed that we would come back and dine there again, just not during the summer. Tue Mar 17 18:05:42 -0700 2009 4493914 50093 Babs16 8 4515151 So glad you enjoyed Babs. Always glad to pass along a place that I enjoyed. I am curious to see if Tuxedo liked it too. Tue Mar 17 20:48:47 -0700 2009 4514730 136433 charmel 9 4515753 Enjoyed our meal very much! We started with the scallops app and also had the ahi tuna salad which I advised was going to be split between us - the kitchen was kind enough to portion it out so we did not have to. I had monkfish over mashed sweet potatoes and spinach, my girlfriend had the filet mignon ( cooked PERFECTLY ) ( well done - yuck ) and it did not come out like a hockey puck. Desert was lattes and the banana and chocolate wontons. We even made a reservation for our next visit - Wed Mar 18 06:43:58 -0700 2009 4515151 71929 tuxedo 10 4618094 Glad to report to you all that Seagrass was consistently delicious. We went back for our second visit this past Saturday night and we were just as delighted as on our first visit. We requested Matt who was so great as our waiter before. What really impressed us was that although we were not able to be seated in his section, he still waited on us because of the request we made(and it’s not like he knew who we were at all). We got a little nervous when we arrived because the place was jumping. Ocean Grove is a great little town and once the warm weather breaks, everyone is out and about. Seagrass, however, was very true to keeping with our 8:15 reservation, which I was glad to see. We still stuck to the $25 price fixed special as it is truly a phenomenal deal. I don’t think they will be keeping this deal through the summer season (I think it will end at the end of April), but I would definitely go back even for their full priced menu. We did however add a few of our own appetizers this time. We tried the Coconut Shrimp and the Fried Calamari. Both were unbelievable, but I particularly loved the raspberry sauce that came with the coconut shrimp. It had a slight kick to it and I even used it on the calamari (I wasn’t wild about the soy based dipping sauce for the calamari- nothing was wrong with it- my personal taste just doesn’t care for the pairing). We also had our soups and salad, both consistently fresh as on our last visit and we tried a couple of new entrees. Our waiter Matt recommended the Seared Red Snapper with fresh tomatoes, basil and a delicious pesto oil flavor. The fish is so perfectly cooked, so light, fresh and flavorful. It was accompanied by the sweetest baby carrots I have ever eaten and perfectly cooked asparagus. Our friends also had the Snapper and were extremely pleased. My spouse had a Strip Steak, which was cooked just as he ordered, medium rare. For primarily a seafood restaurant, the meat is very good according to my spouse. His steak was accompanied by sweet potato fries. We had some cappuccinos and shared just one dessert since we were stuffed. Definitely a new favorite of mine….just hope that I can get a reservation with the crowds of summer. The owners made a very smart economic move by offering the $25 price fixed menu during the off season months. I think it has definitely paid off for them. Kudos to you! Wed Apr 22 09:04:34 -0700 2009 4515753 136433 charmel 11 4619990 When we were there in March charmel, I thought that Matt said that the pre-fix was on until May. I hope it is because I would go back in heart beat. Wed Apr 22 18:22:00 -0700 2009 4618094 50093 Babs16 12 4620404 I will have to find out for sure when it ends, but even the full price menu looks well worth it......the prices are pretty on par with other restaurants and the food has been wonderful the two times we have gone. Wed Apr 22 21:18:41 -0700 2009 4619990 136433 charmel 13 4625345 charmel, when you find out please post. We will be dining there again just not during the summer months. Fri Apr 24 11:01:58 -0700 2009 4620404 50093 Babs16 14 4627060 Will find out the details for sure...we love to walk the boardwalk after dinner in Ocean Grove. Years ago we used to have dinner at The Manchester Inn down there. It was a bed and breakfast that served dinner on the porch, but they stopped doing it maybe 5 years ago. Our friends go every weekend to Nagel's for breakfast. Fri Apr 24 22:12:50 -0700 2009 4625345 136433 charmel 15 4684930 Just checked the web site and no mention of the pre-fixed menu anymore. Thu May 14 16:54:20 -0700 2009 4627060 50093 Babs16 16 4685613 No, they are not running it for the summer since it is their peak season down there. I think the prices are still fair for the fresh delicious seafood they serve. We just love the town of Ocean Grove. Last weekend we went down there about 8:30 for coffee and dessert and sat outside at one of the coffee houses down there on Main Avenue. They had a guitarist performing and it was delightful. Hopefully, when the season is over, Seagrass will bring back the prix fixe for the Fall/Winter. Thu May 14 21:33:45 -0700 2009 4684930 136433 charmel 17 4686038 Going there tonight for dinner. Party of 8 Will report back Fri May 15 06:00:16 -0700 2009 4685613 50093 Babs16 18 5146683 Babs16....Just checked Seagrass website and they are running the $25 prix fixe special dinner again, but this season it is only on Wed, Thurs and Friday night......not Saturday. I hope that I can manage to get there during the week. It is a little harder since we are a half hour away, but I'm sure we'll get there somehow. It was a great deal for the price! Sun Nov 01 08:22:18 -0800 2009 4686038 136433 charmel 19 5167841 Was there for dinner Friday night - Prix Frixe dinner every night Mon Nov 09 13:04:19 -0800 2009 5146683 71929 tuxedo 20 5171063 Thanks for the update Tuxedo. Now the website was updated to say all night, every night! I'm so glad since I want to bring a big group there on a Saturday night. I think they will love it. Can't beat the price for what they give you. They do a great job and they are smart to attract winter business that way. It's a great promo for people to try the restaurant. Tue Nov 10 14:46:23 -0800 2009 5167841 136433 charmel 21 5172451 I agree with you - wish more places would include "special pricing" on the weekends Wed Nov 11 07:27:45 -0800 2009 5171063 71929 tuxedo 1 5181152 Took my husband and my father here for dinner last night, and overall it was a great meal solid meal. For the $25 we were all very happy with what we got. I had the clam chowder which was little thick for my tastes, I like a more milkier version, but my husband and father both had the mushroom and artichoke soup which they enjoyed. I had a the almond crusted grouper served with sweet potato mash and roasted beets, while the presentation was nothing to holler about all the flavor points were there. My husband had the berkshire pork belly served with tomato risotto, he really enjoyed this dish especially the risotto. My father had the duck which was a very big portion. The desserts were good, nothing great, but a nice way to end the meal. The carrot cake was definitely the best. I am happy that they are offering this meal on weekends and it is a great deal when you are looking to go for a meal out, not spend a fortune, and have quality ingredients. Will return!!! Sat Nov 14 09:05:23 -0800 2009 4440035 91998 emilyb27 2 5182962 Love this restaurant!!!!!!!!!!! Hoping to go this Friday night with a party of eight who have never been there. Their pre-fixe menu has something for every taste and I love the fact that they are a BYOB. Sun Nov 15 08:07:50 -0800 2009 5181152 50093 Babs16 3 5184583 We went Saturday night with friends who have never been and they raved about it. This too is one of our favorites. My spouse and I both love the ambiance....very relaxing and definitely has a cosmopolitan feel...can get a bit noisy when full, but what restaurant doesn't. We sat in a booth for the first time and it was soooo comfortable. The booth can probably hold eight and for the four of us it was delightfully roomy. The food was outstanding as always. The owners really know their game and their fish is of the most superior quality. We think the presentations are done very professionally with just the right drizzle, just the right plating....very aesthetically pleasing. We started with the coconut shrimp...crisp outside...succulent inside and wonderfully paired raspberry dipping sauce. Then onto salads which are always so crisp and fresh. This time the mixed field greens included sliced apple, gorgonzola and dried cranberries in a refreshing champagne vinagrette.Two of us had the Ahi Tuna, sesame crusted. Cooked to perfection and served with wasabi potatoes, a very interesting seaweed slaw and accompanied by a ginger soy glaze on the plate for dipping if you choose. We loved it! My spouse had the steak and scallops, which was a 10 oz. strip steak accompanied by about five nice size scallops in their own small baking dish topped with seasoned bread crumbs which had a nice kick. He was a happy camper. Our other friend had Curried Shrimp with vegetable rice. She said that the curry flavor was just right.....not too overpowering and the sauce had fresh diced tomato which added an interesting contrast. Dessert followed with my favorite...chocolate and banana wontons with vanilla ice cream for us three and warm apple struedel with of course vanilla ice cream for my husband. I had cappucino and in alot of restaurants my complaint is that it is never hot. Not so at Seagrass......HOT cappucino, just the way I like it! We have been to Seagrass several times over the past year and have always had a meal that never disappoints. Additionally, the wait staff that we have had are so attentive, knowledgeable about the preparations, polite and friendly. The last two visits we have had Michelle, who served us in top notch style. Our friends were thrilled that we recommended Seagrass and can't wait to return when their kids are in for Thanksgiving break. Except for the coconut shrimp and the cappucino, everything else is part of the $25 per peron special menu. What is also great about this menu is that they offer over a dozen entree selections, which vary all the time. Sun Nov 15 21:24:24 -0800 2009 5182962 136433 charmel 4 5201128 We went to Seagrass as planned on Friday night. Everyone but my husband and myself had been there before. We knew how good the food was before hand. As usual we were not disappointed. Five of us ordered off the pre-fixed menu and had more than enough to eat. I won't bore everyone with the details but as good as the food was the service was not up to par. Drinks orders were forgotten,( sodas, water), one soup order also, the wine was not placed in buckets when opened and It took a very long time to get our coffees and desserts. , Normally, I let to let the establishment know about my concerns but when we were leaving there was no one around to at the hostess station to tell. I will go back but never to be served by that waitress again. Sun Nov 22 19:15:25 -0800 2009 5184583 50093 Babs16