Marlin Moon Restaurant

""Absolutely delightful experience! The shrimp Gulf, The oyster raw and lobster orzo were incredibly delicious. The cream crab was a stand-out dish, and the salad was just perfect. To top it off, the key lime pie was amazing. This seafood restaurant is a definite must-visit!""

"3.5 stars would be a more accurate reflection of my views on this restaurant but in the absence of that option, 3-stars seem like the more appropriate choice. Now for some more context on our meal: My wife, 4-year old daughter, and I found ourselves here for a very late lunch (early dinner for some?) at about 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Day 2023. Marlin was far from our first choice; our earlier meals in Ocean City, MD, had been at Hooked and Cafe Mirage (both of which I rated as 5-stars) and Spain Wine Bar (which I rated as 4-stars). I would have been far more interested in going back to one of those restaurants except that all of them (and several other places that we considered) were closed on Christmas. And therefore staying at the Hilton Suites literally next door to the Marlin, we found ourselves here at this restaurant on the afternoon of December 25th, 2023. My daughter who is a sucker for calamari went with an order of "Bait" (which is what the calamari dish is known as at the restaurant.) My wife went with an order of the seafood pasta based on our server's recommendation. As far as my order is concerned, I couldn't decide about what to get and rather than going with a single entree, I went with two appetizers – a "Christmas special" item, the stuffed grouper, and another appetizer, bangin shrimp. My wife really enjoyed her pasta; she repeatedly said that it was among the best seafood pastas she had. I make very good seafood pasta myself and so I tried her dish, but I was nowhere as impressed as she was. I found the stuffed grouper to be somewhat under-salted and had to adjust the level of salt on it. My other appetizer, the bangin shrimp, was nice and had a good kick to it with some fried jalapeno bites along with the shrimp. The calamari were nice too, but I feel that both the bangin shrimp and calamari could have used a tad less oil. And on that point, it is the only time during our trip to Ocean City (or anytime in recent memory) when my daughter ended up having acidic burps for the rest of the day. That whole experience of seeing her uncomfortable was hard on us and moreover, coming on Christmas, it was also inconvenient as virtually all stores were closed. Finally, we found a 7-11 that was open, stopped there, and got Tums for our daughter before her acidic burps stopped – some two hours or more after her meal at Marlin earlier that afternoon. As far as service goes, it was OK but well short of being great. Our server, Jackie, was clearly busy and so our water glasses weren't refilled on time. We had to beckon to another wait staff to get us some water. Our checks also took a while to come out. What irked me the most about the place though was that when I had checked out their webpage, I got the impression that they would have happy hour prices which normally runs from 3 - 6 p.m. (Recall that we got there around 3:30 p.m.) They also list a lighter fare that we were hoping to order from because we didn't want to load up too much that late in the day and leave room for dinner later that night. However, as the server explained, the lighter fare option (that includes sandwiches) is not available on holidays. That fact would have been good for them to state clearly somewhere on their webpage (or on their Facebook page) because it would have likely made a difference in where we went to for lunch. All in all, while I am grateful that Marlin Moon was open on Christmas and gave us an easy and convenient dining option, under normal circumstances when more places are open, I would much rather try out other places before coming back here."

"The Hostess needs to be retrained. The Hostess killed the vibe from the start. Judging by some other comments, the Marlin Moon has not resolved this issue which is very concerning. We were not greeted walking in. She looked like we were an inconvenience and we infact, then, felt like an inconvenience. My wife and I were given this tiny little table Sunday morning for breakfast. The Hostess gave us two menus, one of which had wine stains all over the front and the other didn't even have a menu! We were not given any silverware either.... I asked where the restrooms were and lo and behold, they don't have any (you need to use the double tree facilities. Go back out, down to the first floor, two lefts and it will be hidden behind the pool area) This "fine dinning" experience is starting to run its "coarse" Our server was the only redeeming factor at this point. Bright smiles, helpful energy, this young man just saved us from leaving the restaurant. We noticed 2 lovely couples (party of four) come in and were seated in front of us. Sure enough the Hostess strikes again... she had only given them two menus and this nice young lady had to get up, go back up front and get two additional menus. They did not look pleased. The Marlin Moon, at this point was starting to feel a little clammy. The food was good but like I previously stated, we had to ask for silverware and did not get a refill on the waters. We thought our server went on break but he was just probably busy. He did cater to my wife's gluten allergy. All in all, not going to come back here... there are too many other restaurants that deserve a change to set a decent first impression."

"Food was good, service was good. Overpriced though, $17 for a basic espresso martini isn’t it. But the options, speed of food and seating made it worth it."

"A hidden gem in OC, MD! The whole staff was super friendly and our server, Mackenzie, was awesome. Atmosphere was wonderful with a great view, food was delicious and waiting time was minimal. An excellent choice even if you aren’t staying at the hotel. Thanks so much!"