We are foodies so what we put in our mouths matter. We started with the crab dip which was good. The homemade salad dressings were very good. We all had different fishes and enjoyed our meals. The restaurant is loud though. read more

pretty satisfied with the service i received here, alongside with the delicious lobster bake and also the jumbo crab cakes. absolutely recommend this little spot in LBI for a great dinner. will definitely be back to try out the rest of their delicious sea food and lobster menu! the restaurant is cozy and the bar section is well removed from the main dining room if this is a concern to anyone. read more

Black Whale - lobster bake! - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

Been to the Black Whale many times but after tonight I've come to the conclusion that it's not for me. I do like the food but the atmosphere is just too loud and bustling. Very low ceilings and close tables don't help. The salad is standard but the 'secret' of mixing the two dressings make it super tasty. Calamari app was also standard but fresh and nicely fried. I really enjoyed my clams with chorizo and linguine. Although I wish the bread that came with it had been toasted as it was stale. Would have enjoyed my dunking more! The service was friendly and efficient but felt slightly rushed. The longtime hostess surely knows how to run the show (no easy task!) but can be just a bit abrupt. Perhaps understandably. If you plan to go, two things. Have a reservation or you will absolutely positively have a long wait. And if you are going with kids, save money by getting them a beer. Joking of course but my daughter's chocolate milk (with hardly any chocolate) was $6 and my Yuengling draft (cold and fresh) was $5. Go figure. Lastly, I'm old school but don't like signing the bill via a handheld device. Sever was nice and I'm sure if we asked it could have been printed. But happened so quickly/felt awkward so we just rolled with it. read more

Got a gift card for the black whale with the "tide pool" or "tide family restaurants". When the check came they said we were not able to use it. They refused to accept it even after they agreed the were part of this group of restaurants but the black whale logo was not on the card. Even before we got the bill we said thank god we did not have to pay full price for the meal. Drinks: watered down and not good at all. Food: the swordfish Milanese tasted Ike a frozen fish meal. The bbq mahi-mahi tasted like something from long john silver drizzled with bbq sauce and not ripe mango. Would not recommend and will not be going back to this place read more

Black Whale is always one of our go tos when we're staying in LBI. Food drinks and service are always 10 out of 10! Highly recommended! read more

Black Whale - Tito's martini with blue cheese stuffed olives - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

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Consistently good place. Crab cake sandwich is the best on the island, no contest. It's pure crab and the buns are superb. Wings are excellent. Oysters are also great if that's what you're looking for. Bar and dining service are both great. read more

We came to the Black Whale last minute because all of the other restaurants were fully booked. Cool name, okay food. I got the $34 Shrimp and Scallop Santa Cruz which looks incredible, however the dish was quite bland. You receive a salad for the table along with your entree which unfortunately does not feed many. We had 5 people and received a salad sized for about 2 people. They fool you by putting the salad bowl on a separate bucket of ice which makes it look bigger than it is. The star of the show was actually the bread, very warm, dense and tasty. The wait staff is good, restaurant is clean. I'm not raring to go back though. read more

Black Whale - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

I've come here with my family to celebrate a birthday multiple times, and always had good experiences. I especially recommend the crab & artichoke dip as an appetizer. It's not cheap, but nothing is on LBI. There is plenty of seating, and a good beer & cocktail selection too. read more

Black Whale - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

Amazing dinner at the Black Whale on 9/18/23. Our server, Ryan was spectacular, pleasant, quick and most accommodating. The food was delicious. We started with the broccoli appetizer which was very creative and tasty. Also had the crab dip. I had the shrimp and scallop Santa Cruz, absolutely delicious, my wife had the lobster bake, outstanding and so much food and lastly my daughter had the lobster thermador, Aldo delicious. I highly recommend The Black Whale and will visit again before I depart LBI on Sunday, 9/24/23. read more

We arrived pretty early, but they were able to immediately seat our group of 10 all together! Connor's service was attentive and friendly, tending to our large group needs without complaint or error. We tried a selection of their signature cocktails, the espresso martini being a group favorite. Oysters, calamari, and soups were enjoyed as appetizers with no complaints! We ordered a variety of fish for entrees, and everyone agreed their food was fresh and delicious! I would absolutely recommend anyone visiting stop by here for a great family meal! read more

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The food was just OK. For $40 there was nothing special about the crab cakes. Average. No zing, no sauce. Basic. Fries were excellent, though. The one star is for the service. I have never been in a restaurant, especially a decently expensive one, where the table behind you had screaming kids and management allowed that to continue, utterly ruining the experience. People around us were eating fast. I couldn't even finish half my expensive meal. It took everything to not say anything. But, that's the restaurants job. I understand in this day and age people are leery, but, you're destroying the dining experience for lots of other people. read more

Went here for the first time for my birthday dinner tonight. Our waitress Adriana was not personable or attentive. When you see drink glasses that are empty, why wouldn't you ask if you need another drink instead of us asking every time. The atmosphere was so loud and we were not even near the bar. The food was ok nothing great tasted bland and the bread pudding dessert was mushy. We will not return, wasn't worth the hype. read more

My issue with this establishment has to do with a private event I booked. While the food and servers at the event were very good, the event coordinator Linda, was not. She was the opposite of accomodating. I booked the event there because it has a private room & because of the reputation of good food. The party was for about 30 people and I was charged a hefty room fee. There was a very long list of things that were NOT ALLOWED as far as bringing in decorations. I did not have a problem since I only asked to bring flowers. When I asked if they provided individual menus or place cards I was told they did not. Therefore, I purchased my own and asked to drop off the flowers for each table, menus & place cards a couple of hours before the event. The event coordinator then wanted to know who would be placing the said menus on the tables or the place cards on the entry table. When I responded that given the cost of the event I assumed the staff would, the response was that there was usually an additional charge but an exception would be made; she also said the place cards would have to be provided in alphabetical order...like she was doing me a huge favor! When we arrived at the restaurant 10 minutes earlier than the start time, the bartender in the room (for which I had to pay extra for) asked if my husband or I would like a beverage. After he handed us our drinks one of the servers nervously asked "does Linda know they are here?" She looked very anxious & immediately left the room. The bartender did the same. I might add that table settings were non existent. Plates were in small piles in rows across the tables with napkin & utensils rolled up on top as if the tables were waiting to be set. The only "place settings" were the menus I had provided. At 5 o'clock, the event coordinator comes into the room to introduce herself and explain how she has to approve of what customers want to do as far as decor because people have apparently folded napkins in ways she does not like or some ridiculous thing; this was unsolicited - I had not asked for anything special. The final straw was we were told we had to end the party promptly at 8pm because they was ANOTHER PARTY WAITING. Meanwhile, when we booked the room all that was said was if we went over the allotted time there would be an extra charge. Long story short, have your special event somewhere else...you can pay top dollar in a lot of restaurants where you will be treated better. read more

We have gone to the Black Whale for years - especially for my birthday. This is a special place for me on LBI. The swordfish MILANESE and the Seared Grouper were cooked to perfection. The Chocolate Brownie was a great finish. The Clams Casino is delicious - ok you get it - the chef and staff are first rate. Over/under cooked swordfish is a killer - they got it right.! One thing - I loved how the wait staff would write their name with a crayon on the table, often writing their name upside down, and leave a crayon for the wannable graffiti artists - but not this year. Our very good waitress said she was just lazy - but i didn't see others do this. A small touch - bring this back!!! It was also loud upfront in the bar, the guitar player seriously didn't need an amp... but then again, I am older and more sensitive to sound. party on! read more

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The service was great! The food is delicious! The salad dressings are absolutely amazing! The ambiance could use some improvement. I do recommend this restaurant! read more

The food and service are fantastic. The restaurant has various seating areas each adds its own atmosphere your yards away from the bay at the Jersey shore. What could get better? read more

Delicious food all around Service was great Ambiance was both family friendly or a place you would go with your friends and post up at the bar read more

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Our server Alayna was very nice and very professional. Food was great as always! The baked clams with crabmeat and the broiled seafood combo are go-to orders! Festive vibe and loved the servers' Halloween costumes! read more

Went twice and recent after Taylor swift was there. Great spot and great menu. The oysters are so fresh!

Yummy. So good!! The salad and the salad dressing was delicious!! The seafood is soooo good!! My fish was not cooked well. But everyone else was. The swordfish was great!! The finger potato's delicious. I would totally come back!! read more

Black Whale - Broiled Seafood Combination - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

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The ambiance is awesome! Customer service is second to none and the food is straight fire

I stopped by the Black Whale for outdoor dining. They feature a large menu of classic seafood, with cocktails and mixed drinks, though sadly they didn't offer draft beer (I'm not sure if this was a regular thing or due to the coronavirus). I ended up with a bottled beer, which was fine. I went for the jumbo lump crab cakes, which came with a free salad and choice of side. The salad was simple but acceptable; it came with a choice of ranch or creamy balsamic. I went for the broccoli as my side and it was solid. The crab cakes themselves were pretty good; the crab was fresh and plentiful and the dish was well balanced. I think the chef may have put too much mayo in the crab mix since it was pretty moist, but still it was a pleasing dish. Overall a fun spot for seafood on LBI. read more

Black Whale - Free salad - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

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[4.25 Stars] Our first trip to LBI this season found as many people at the Black Whale (end of April) as we had seen at the LBI hot spots in peak season. Having found Parker's Garage to be spectacular and Mud City to be monumentally disappointing (and grossly overpriced), we bet upon the Black Whale to fully redeem this restaurant group. Loud, boisterous and packed to the rafters, Saturday night found Black Whale ready to party. Surprisingly, on-street parking wasn't difficult. The wait staff was a bit terse, but adequate-- and extremely overworked. Our group of four began with two split appetizers: artichoke and crab dip and garlic baked clams. The dip was creamy and full of blue claw chunks. Dairy flavors were most noticable; a bit more salt and cayenne would have made a good appetizer even better. As for the clams, their sizes (and resulting doneness) varied greatly. The smaller clams were seriously overdone. Flavor of the baked clams was nicely garlicky. The four of us sampled entrees of fish and chips, king crab legs and gumbo. The always lovely Ms. G., a fish and chips connoisseur, proclaimed the Black Whale rendition to be among the best she has had in a long while. Similarly, all smiles were seen from my sister-in-law as she enjoyed the crab legs. As for my entree, the seafood gumbo was not without its quirks, but on balance, very good. Rather than a more traditional soupy broth, a thick melange of tomato, bell pepper and onion provided texture. Traditional Andouille was replaced by copious quantities of chorizo, overpowering all other flavors in the gumbo. A rather pedestrian grade of grits stood-in for the gumbo's rice, yielding a pasty and one-dimensional backdrop for an abundant serving of seafood. Two large shrimp, a split lobster tail, several plump scallops, well-cooked calamari, mussles and littleneck clams were each present. Each was fresh. Flavors were detectable, but again, hidden behind the barrage of chorizo. A more balanced hand might have made this a stellar dish. None the less, it was very good. We enjoyed a not-inexpensive feast at Black Whale, finding it to approach the level of enjoyment we found at Parker's Garage. A simpler fin fish entree might be my choice on a return visit, but that return would be welcome. read more

TL;DR Bar sucks, restaurant is good. Food and table service is generally good. LOVE Stephanie! But after my last few visits to the bar, I won't be back for a while. The dusty geriatrics that post up before sunset and never leave can easily be identified as the same salty losers that speed through no wake zones in the fall. They and their sea hag wives run up bar tabs of budget bottled beer and cheap chardonnay, blocking out those of us that would like to spend money on real drinks. If that wasn't bad enough for business, and the general atmosphere, the golden-child bartender with the constant self impressed smirk on his face, will only pay attention to these squatters that I equate to the piney's of Beach Haven but instead of drunk driving lifted pickups home, they drive their base model mercedes cross-overs which they can't even parallel park when sober. If you are planning to come to the bar for a cocktail (their dirty martini with blue cheese olives that are stuffed in house is really good), be prepared to stand and surgically extract it through cold shoulders, of the crusty crumbs I've been speaking of, that can't bother to lean aside or scooch their enormously cartoonlike barstools over for a second. One of the seagull-squawking spinster tag-alongs will inevitably knock into it mid cackle anyway, unapologetically spilling half of your drink on the floor. Get a second drink? Forget about it, our favorite self absorbed bar tender is already yucking it up with some other leeches at the far end of the bar while his colleagues, if any, struggle to pick up his slack. You'll be much better off grabbing a table in the dining room. The service is attentive, friendly and deliberate. It might as well be a separate establishment for the mere contrast to the bar area. It is also much cleaner. The worsening smell on the other side clearly comes from dirty mop water and sani buckets that only get changed out once a night. The fruit flies that have appeared recently are clear evidence of this. I can only assume this is because of the careless culture that pompous bartender has instigated. Unfortunately I will be breaking years of tradition and be celebrating my birthday somewhere else because of their declining atmosphere but I do hope things will eventually turn around. Their food has always been objectively good and Tide Table contributes to a lot of local nonprofits. read more

As a walk-in in LBI, you expect to wait, especiallyfor good seafood. But the staff here is so rude. I don't think we will return. I would recommend going to Howard's or to the Beach House. read more

Bad service ruined what could have been a decent meal. The unfortunately our waitress(Jen) never showed up for game time. Not very friendly, had to be prompted to tell us the specials and fails to mention a $10 charge when we asked for a side wedge salad(instead of the salad that comes included in the meal). Never asked if we wanted another drink. The food was just OK. I had a Parmesan encrusted halibut, but the Parmesan was barely noticeable- it was drowned out with a sweet sauce that overpowered the fish. Wish I had been told about that prior to ordering. All in all, a disappointment and not worth repeating in the future. read more

Your service was below par as soon as we walked. The waitress who walked us to the table was upset cause we wanted a larger table for six. She rolled eyes and we decided to leave she called us ASSHOLES. read more

Took the Wife, 2 kids and MIL to eat @ Black Whale. Hopefully a Manager or Owner reads this. Whoever you have at the front door (Hostess Girl with black hair, glasses and lots of arm tattoos) she definitely needs a improvement in hospitality. No smile, welcome or anything. Looked beyond annoyed, unfriendly and made our first few minutes standing there waiting for a table awkward and turned a nice evening into not so nice. I'll say the food wasn't bad, our server Alayna was much nicer. But honestly whoever is at the door should be the welcoming Face of your restaurant. read more

Friendly and attentive bartenders for happy hour rush -thank you for your smiles& service!

Average meal. Small portions, not as small price. Have had tastier plates in my day. Shrimp and scallops in my dish were large and not half bad though. Usually can get a seat fairly quickly. read more

Food always great, so fresh. Service great as well! One of our favs! Love the broiled seafood platter which has a bit of everything.

Absolutely unremarkable meal for it an incredibly inflated price. The halibut special that I ordered was completely overcooked and dried to the bone and served over a bed of pasta, which look like it was covered with Ragu sauce. Crabcakes were mostly filler and the french fries were tasteless, cold and overcooked. read more

Highly recommend! We immediately fell in love with spot! Lots of great Seafood options and perfectly prepared. When we got our Bill we felt we got quality for the price. read more

Great restaurant with the best crab cakes and delicious lobster rolls. Great service and fantastic outdoor space!!! Loved everything about this place! Would love to go back ASAP!!! read more

Such a smooth night having dinner with our group of 16. We sat quickly, then had very easy flow of ordering, bringing drinks, then apps, and finally main meals...super efficient. In addition, the menu is expansive and reasonable and everyone spoke highly of the food. So all in all a good experience especially for a large group, highly recommend compared to similar places in that area of beach haven. read more

Overall the food was pretty solid, and the fried clam strips especially were very good. That being said, the prices seemed very high for what I thought was pretty standard seafood. Additionally, we were only one of two tables eating during an early lunch hour and it was pretty difficult to get our waiter's attention throughout the whole meal. She did seem very busy with other tasks but it was a bit surprising. read more

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We went once. The food was average and the bar staff was less then friendly. Only cared about talking to his friends. Probably won't go back read more

I had the crab cake sandwich with fries. The sandwich was generous and very delicious. The fries were tasty. The coleslaw was a little dry. The service was excellent. Great bar area. Had the crab cake sliders and tuna tacos. Both were excellent and perfect size. The garlic clams are awesome! Some of the best dipping broth you will taste. My last visit was with friends. Garlic clams, soft shell crabs, oysters, linguine and clams in spicy red sauce. Every dish was excellent. The salad was fresh and the homemade dressing was tasty. Our service was tentative, friendly, and informative. The restaurant was a bit loud, but acceptable.? read more

A new happy place to add to our list of LBI favorites. When I saw the horseradish and local hot sauce on the table when we arrived I became very hopeful. I love what they're trying to do here... and they are mostly succeeding! Old favorites mixed with unique modern takes on seafood. Great beach atmosphere without being kitschy. Minor complaint... all of the local beer on tap were IPAs. Guinness is great... but how about a local stout? Shout out... paper straws! Love the eco consciousness! read more

Black Whale - Seafood Near Me - Beach Haven, New Jersey

We have been to Black Whale multiple times and everything we get here is always great! Yesterday, we went around 7pm and waited about 20-30 minutes for a table and while we waited we had a drink at the bar. The bar area was pretty loud since it was very crowded, but once we were seated at our table it was much quieter. We started with 12 oysters which were really good! Their oysters are some of the biggest and tastiest ones that I've had. My group's entrees were the crab cake sandwich, pasta Santa Cruz, shrimp skewers, and ahi tuna. The crab cake sandwich was really good and had lots of crab meat and not a lot of filler - which is great! The shrimp skewers with Brussel sprouts and the Santa Cruz pasta were very yummy as well! The group favorite was the ahi tuna steak. We thought it was better than most sushi restaurants we have had it at in the past! We will definitely be back during the summer! read more