The Sea Grill
“Old NYC style restaurant smack dab in the middle of the holiday splendor which is Rockefeller Center.”
“Had the seafood chowder, crab cakes, and a praline mousse inside a chocolate shell, served with a scoop of pear sorbet.”
“One of the attractive things about this restaurant is the view of the ice rink at ground level where you can see the skaters.”
The Sea Grill
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range $31-60
8 reviews
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Fresh, creative, delicious seafood in midtown!
I cam here for restaurant week for dinner and was quite impressed. The staff is very helpful with making selections and they really know the menu. Here what I had:
SAFFRON-STEAMED SHELLFISH "POT AU FEU" – quite a selection for an appetizer, very fresh and well seasoned.
MAINE MONKFISH 'OSSO BUCO' – still don't know how they did this. Nice piece of fish and hearty portion. very meaty. really a good choice for an entree.
THE SEA GRILL KEY LIME PIE – Not too impressed with this. Was certainly more of a cheesecake with a hint of lime flavor. Would get something else next time.
Overall, really great meal and they have some great wines to pair with everything.
4.5 stars! I came here for restaurant week for my mom's birthday and it might possibly become a birthday tradition. My mom was craving seafood so I decided the restaurant week menu here looked like what she had wanted. Very rarely would we actually order off the restaurant week menu but everything looked good. my parent's both wanted the lobster bake – very nice grilled lobster flavor. The clam chowder and crab cakes were delicious. I had the scallop ravioli which was pretty tasty too. Service was friendly too. Would def be back!
I've been here two times, once for lunch and once for my birthday dinner. The service is outstanding. The most recent trip was a week ago. We arrived a little late, but they sat us in the little bar area and we ordered drinks. We got a great table by the window. I ordered from the prix fix menu- the rock shrimp tempura (which I didn't really like, it was a bit bland), the crab cakes (tons of crabmeat and very filling), and for dessert a cheesecake with pistachio icecream. Other members of my party had the tuna tartare which was a generous portion and very tasty, as was the seabass. It was not the best seafood I've had, but overall pretty good and good portions. The waiter was very attentive and views were very nice. Will definitely return on another special occasion. It is pricey I guess due to the location and touristy.
Closing at 9:30? We dropped by at 9pm on a Friday prior to visiting Top of the Rock and were still accommodated. Dim, semi formal/dressy casual setting. Had to take the outdoor elevator down to get here.
Outstanding portobello fries with tasty cream dip. The whole table enjoyed them immensely. Should've skipped the gnocchi, way too soft, overcooked? Edamame! Rock shrimp roll was deliciously simple but pricey. I appreciated the chopsticks, small plate for wasabi/condiment mixing, and the soy sauce. Lobster Mac and cheese was cheesy-licious. Fair amount of lobster meat. Salmon sliders were tasty, 3 in the app. Fresh fish (mahi mahi) was good.
Offered bread a second time. Wait staff refilled water when needed.
Probably has beautiful views of the skating rink in winter.
Love the restroom tile colors! Tangerine in the ladies and caught a glimpse of sea foam green for gents.
The Rockefeller eats/shops are connected to the subway, convenient.
I was here yesterday as a party of 12 for lunch. For starters, we split 2 seafood platters and 2 trays of sushi – fresh and delicious. For the main, I ordered the grilled branzino over wilted spinach. The fish was grilled nicely, though the spinach was a little oily. For dessert, I ordered a fresh-pressed coffee and the much-raved about keylime pie, which was tasty (and seemingly lighter than their other signature dessert – chocolate pudding with chocolate syrup and pistachio ice cream – was a bit too full to get that, but did try a bit of someone else's and it's quite good if you're indulging). Then I noticed that everyone at the table got their coffee besides me. Okay – one service blunder, okay, fine. I didn't finish my dessert, so I had it boxed…and was simply never handed it. I'm not trying to be snobby here, but when you're paying as much as you are to dine here…you'd expect much better service.
Good food…service could use some work, especially for the price.
Restaurant Week Review:
Most restaurant week menus appear disappointingly bland and the main reasons I opted for the Sea Grill were because it offered more than 3 entrees, and for a seafood restaurant, a majority of those options weren't chicken or mushroom risotto.
As interesting as the dishes looked on paper, the flavor of the dishes themselves didn't really leave much of an impression. It's unfortunately one of those cases where there was nothing bad about our meal but there was nothing great about it either. The chowder was good thanks in large part to the smoked bacon. The rest of the meal was ok.
Overall, the restaurant's slight "old school" vibe, which came across as more dated than classic to me, and location right by Rockefeller Center weren't doing it for me.
Service was great though so my actual rating gets bumped up to the 3.5 star average.
Can't beat the view and the ambiance of this restaurant, however the restaurant week left something to be desired. I'm always a little on the fence about visiting restaurants during restaurant week as I feel their "signature" dishes become watered down and, en masse, take away from the speciality of the dish itself.
Sad to say that happened here with a seared salmon over shishito peppers and an asparagus foam. Under seasoned and while shishito peppers usually make me happy, these were a little on the soggy side (as if they'd been sitting for a little while under those heat lamps in kitchen). Additionally the dessert was 'eh' at best (key lime pie and chocolate cake) at our table.
The service was wonderful, and the wait staff were incredibly knowledgeable and accommodating. I would definitely return on a non-restaurant week night to see what they're really churning out of that kitchen.
I hadn't been here in awhile but was glad I went back. We had the pris fixe which included the lobster pot pie which was wonderful. First had the chowder which was also very good. For dessert we had the key lime pie which was also great. One of the really nice things about the restaurant is that you are on the same level as the ice skating and have a nice view of the rink and the skaters. The service was excellent and I'd definitely go back again.