Fish Hopper, Monterey

The food was cooked to perfection. The ambiance of the surrounding were up to fine resturant standards. The only slight draw back is the service; the populariuty of this resturant allows the waiters, and waitresses to be understandingly busy. The resturant was above all very accomedating. I see myself becomming an abitual visiter. I encourage everyone who wants to go to a good resturant to visit the Fish Hopper in Monteray.

We visited this restaurant after visiting Monterey Bay Aquarium. We asked for a table by the window and had a great view of the ocean. However, the food was not worth the price. My husband ordered the clam chowder which was o.k. I ordered the prawn scampi and I thought it was terrible. The shrimp was dry and had no flavor. I had expected much more from this restaurant (especially considering the price of the dishes), but was very dissapointed. It was also very hard to get a hold of our waiter even though it didn't look like it was very busy.

Food was great and so was the view. We were seated inside near the indoor fire pit and had a window facing the sunset over the ocean, it was beautiful.

Ok, one caveat... This is a tourist trap area... Cannery Row, right next to the Aquarium, and right down from Fisherman's Wharf... I'll start out with the positive. This is on a small pier that hangs over the reefs, a small beach, and, has a great view of the ocean. There are a couple of terraces with outdoor tables were you need to fend off rogue seagulls, and have a great view of lounging seals. Also, I sampled their clam chowder... Very high fat content... which, of course, means delicious! The place was bustling for lunch today, but, we didn't have to wait too long for a table for four. We sat outside looking over the beach. We started with some fresh oysters, that were pretty good. Not sure what the variety was, as the weighter didn't offer that information. They were large, covered with barnacles, and meaty. We also ordered a sampler that came with some delicious calamari (very tender, lightly breaded, and fried), a grilled artichoke with aoli, some garlic bread, and a crab cake with a chili mayonaise on top. Nice start. This came with a tourist-oriented flaming, cherry flavored rum drink. We ordered it for the flame. Sweet and big. Reminded me of being in the Virgin Islands and drinking rum swizzles every evening. The mains sounded great, but, failed to deliver. I ordered the Halibut with prawns. It came overcooked, the two prawns were miniscule, and, it came atop some overcooked, dry, and uninspired mashed potatoes. Heather ordered the crab crusted sea bass. This was a slice of fish, ontop of potatoes, and crusted with shredded crab, butter, bechamel, and baked into the fish. It was greasy, salty, and had no finesse... This is standard, tourist trap fare. It's more about the location than the food. All said and done, our meal, plus two kids' meals came to about $145.00 with tax and tip. Kind of an expensive lunch, but, we did order a giant flaming drink and a couple of appetizers...

I love their food the great veiw the service, and most of all the pelicans that would sit on a window and think, it was so funny.it had the best pricing. the otters will lay and eat, if you step outside you will see a great veiw of the ocean. the other stores, plus before going you can go to the Aquarium. It is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -Alyssa

My husband and I had brunch here and it was great. We had a table right next to the window so we had a nice view of the bay. The food was fantastic and we would highly recommend it to others!

I was dining alone, on a relatively busy day and had no trouble getting a table right at the window side overlooking the water. I had to wait about ten minutes before my server came but like I said, it was fairly busy ( I was brought bread during that time though). On the recommendation of a very nice young lady selling shrimp cocktails out front, I chose the blackened rare ahi tuna with mango salsa. Very good. The tuna was cooked just right and of good quality and the vegetables and sauces that accompanied were delicious. Light yet savory and filling without weighing down like fried fish. I saw some desert dishes served to other tables that looked exquisit but too early in the day for me. I found myself wishing I had brought a couple of women I know... the view was very nice.

I ate at this restuarant and I had a California Crab and alfredo dish and it was simply WONDERFUL. One of the best diushes I have ever had. This restuarnt is on the water so it had a great view too.