Famous Oyster Bar

Falsely seduced by the homely appearance of the restaurant I found myself going in with a friend this past Saturday for a late dinner. Mistake number two was ordering the "Lobster Newburg".
I will have to agree with another comment from the unfortunate birthday girl who compared the food to someone coming out of a school cafeteria. It appeared that the cook simply threw some lump lobster meat onto a tasteless "white sauce" and then placed it on a plate with the safe finesse as a tenured cafeteria matron.
Though the menu listed this "dish" coming with potatoes and vegetables, it was brought with poorly cooked rice. Requesting a correction from the server appeared to be a bother to him as he returned with a small dish of overcooked mixed vegetables.
The bill, $90.........the tip, minimal.
An overall truly bad dining experience. One not to repeated, and, hoping this prevents others from making the same mistake.
Lesson learned.

I visited NYC for a week and ate here 5 of those days. The calamari was wonderful along with the seafood pasta dishes. i would highly recomend this restaurant, and can't wait until i revisit the city and the restaurant. Absolutely wonderful.

This past wednesday, on my 30th birthday, I decided that I wanted to try out the Oyster Bar. The restaurant always seemed to be busy and despite the bad review I read here on CitySearch, I gave it a try. What a MISTAKE. My wine was warm and the amount of Calamari that we got in our Calamari appetizer ($11) could have fit into a coffee cup. I ordered the main lobster which was GROSSLY overcooked. It came with a salad, which was decent and although it said it came with a potato, they gave me french fries in a tiny sauce dish! My boyfriend got the Surf and Turf with a TINY lobster tail and a "filet" (yeah, right) full of fat, And yes, his veggies looked like they came from a grammar school cafeteria too. As I said, it was my birthday and my boyfriend had told them he wanted them to sing me happy birthday both when he made the reservation AND then again during the meal. You guessed it, they didn't do it. Just brought the bill ($109!!!!!) Don't make the mistake we did...eat somewhere else.

The decor obviously hasn't changed since they opened in '59. The pre-dinner bread is hard and chewy in a bad way. The main courses display a complete lack of imagination. My seared tuna was cooked through and was simply a piece of meat...no seasame seeds, no salt/pepper, nothing. The vegetable side dish reminded me of my third grade lunch room.