Food, was great BUT here’s the kicker. Service was amazing untilllll it was time to leave. So apparently there is a rule that you can only have a table for a certain amount of time. They don’t make this clear when you’re making the Rez but they do let you know when you sit down. (I wasn’t personally told but my friend who sat first was.) I’ve worked in a restaurant where we had this rule to an extent, and from one service industry girl to another, here are some tips. #1, you the server need to take control of the timing of your own table. If things are moving slowly, it’s your responsibility to speed it up. Rule #2, always assume your table isn’t looking at the clock. We ordered 2 ($17) drinks when we were apparently over time. I would neverrrrr let a table order another round when I knew we would have to kick them out 5 mins later. Okay rule #3, if it gets to the point where you unfortunately have to ask a table to leave, and this should be the LAST resort, and they still haven’t finished their experience, make sure there is another place for them to hang. I would always make sure there was a place at the bar, or a corner at least. They told us we had to leave when we had full drinks, and we asked if there was a place to finish out drinks and they said no. So we awkwardly stood where there were no people, kind of near the bar, to then finish our drinks. Why would you let someone pay for something and then not let them finish it? Don’t you think it would be better to let them know, hey you may not want to order that bc we do need the table back, if you knew there was no space anywhere else? After we stood awkwardly we were asked to move, but there was nowhere to move. We chugged one of the drinks and left the full one on the bar. Not a great way to end a night. I know they mean no harm and everyone is just trying to do their jobs. I’ve been on the other end of this a million times and hate that we were the “annoying table that didn’t leave” - but maybe from these tips, the management and staff at Ensenada’s can avoid these awkward encounters in the future. If you are thinking about trying this restaurant, it’s so good so plz do, but just have a timer in your pocket so you don’t accidentally over order or overstay your welcome.One more thing- to the hostess that got roped in and asked us to clear the area we were standing in, you were just doing your job. 10/10 hospitality and totally not your fault. No notes!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Patatas Bravas, Fish Tacos
Kathryn Anderson
A fantastic Mexican/seafood fusion spot!We came here for my husband’s birthday and everything we ordered was divine. We started off with the salsas (you’re going to want to love spicy food if you order this) and got 2 aguachiles (both superb), shrimp tacos (I could have eaten 5 of these), and the whole fish (perfectly cooked, so flavorful and tender).Will definitely be returning soon!Vegetarian options: It’s a heavily seafood based menu so not sure I would recommend for strict vegetarians
Everything that we ordered was amazing. The fish Al Pastor was awesome!. The fish tacos the list goes on. Go get some.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Flor Alba
The food was good but not authentic. The service was terrible with the exception of the hostess who accommodated us. We felt rushed. We were were mid-entree and the waitress asked if we needed more food or if we were working towards dessert. She kept coming back. It was just uncomfortable. Needless to say, we are not returning nor recommend it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nash Georgiev
Amazing restaurant, Ricardo was a great host and the staff is trained very well! Looking forward to seeing them again soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
renee michaela
Simply delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Uwe Ortmann
Its s great place to be. Super food, possibly best pattatas bravas i head. Aquachile was superb. Tostadas with Tuna delicious.. on top great drinks… really
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shannon Kenny
Excellent foods packed with flavor and good vibes all
Great food - mediocre service (only from our server - other FOH people were great). Had a wonderful meal for 4 over the weekend. Mezcal flights were great as were all the dishes (ceviche, aguachile, butterflied fish). A few issues with the service:(1) the restaurant was out of fish so the pescado ceviche and aguachile were unavailable - not ideal, but things happen, only issue was that one member of our table had a shrimp allergy. When we asked our server if we could order the Campechano ceviche and aguachile with the shrimp on the side, as we'd still be paying the full price, she noted that it would not be possible to accommodate this, but we agreed that she would try to get us the shrimp on the side. Later, our server, with some attitude, ended up putting a small bowl of grilled shrimp on our table - great, we were thankful and assumed this was the shrimp that we would have received originally; however, when the bill came, she let us know that the shrimp was charged on our bill as a shrimp taco! This was not communicated to our table earlier and I found it a bit rude/ridiculous - I understand if our earlier request couldn't be accommodated, but to charge us for another dish without warning is not good customer service.(2) there was a general feeling of being rushed through dinner.I would go back for the food but had a bad experience with the server.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Rutger van Faassen
Food was amazing. I am always a little disappointed when restaurants tag on a fee for paying with a credit card…Dietary restrictions: Good gluten friendly options
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Patatas Bravas, Fish Tacos, Fish, Guacamole
The food here is good, not amazing, nothing that will knock your socks off, but the prices are a bit ridiculous (8 bucks for a single taco? 60 bucks for a fish?). The atmosphere is good but I think you can find better food for more reasonable prices elsewhere.
Elena Macciò
Absolutely loved this meal from start to finish! Every dish was so good and the staff recommendations were also on point. Margaritas were delicious too.Kid-friendliness: Would not recommend bringing kids here
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ana Martínez
Went for my husband's birthday the place was packed, no I didn't make a reservation, I should have, however, they accommodated us at the bar, the only issue was that since were placed at the bar the guy prepared the drinks weren't so happy with us, idk if it was because we are and look like Mexican and the place was packed with white ppl or because we were eating there (at the bar) or he was just distracted, he seems to forget about us but not the rest of the ppl there, maybe he thought we wouldn't tip him idk ,I did feel a different treat, we spend a 300 dollars in total I'm gonna say the food was amazing the drinks as well the desert at the end was so good, I tip the guy with the 20% just because I wanted to remember him that we Mexican ppl have money as well and we tip as well, yes I'll come back with a reservation and hope I have a better experience because the food is worth it.
Melissa Santos
The best aguachile in NYC and the manager is great!!You can't miss it
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
El B.
The people who left 1 star reviews for this place are simply wrong.... Everything cooked to perfection..... really great flavors in all the dishes and everything tasted really fresh. Simply good food. Will def be returning.
Food, was great BUT here’s the kicker. Service was amazing untilllll it was time to leave. So apparently there is a rule that you can only have a table for a certain amount of time. They don’t make this clear when you’re making the Rez but they do let you know when you sit down. (I wasn’t personally told but my friend who sat first was.) I’ve worked in a restaurant where we had this rule to an extent, and from one service industry girl to another, here are some tips. #1, you the server need to take control of the timing of your own table. If things are moving slowly, it’s your responsibility to speed it up. Rule #2, always assume your table isn’t looking at the clock. We ordered 2 ($17) drinks when we were apparently over time. I would neverrrrr let a table order another round when I knew we would have to kick them out 5 mins later. Okay rule #3, if it gets to the point where you unfortunately have to ask a table to leave, and this should be the LAST resort, and they still haven’t finished their experience, make sure there is another place for them to hang. I would always make sure there was a place at the bar, or a corner at least. They told us we had to leave when we had full drinks, and we asked if there was a place to finish out drinks and they said no. So we awkwardly stood where there were no people, kind of near the bar, to then finish our drinks. Why would you let someone pay for something and then not let them finish it? Don’t you think it would be better to let them know, hey you may not want to order that bc we do need the table back, if you knew there was no space anywhere else? After we stood awkwardly we were asked to move, but there was nowhere to move. We chugged one of the drinks and left the full one on the bar. Not a great way to end a night. I know they mean no harm and everyone is just trying to do their jobs. I’ve been on the other end of this a million times and hate that we were the “annoying table that didn’t leave” - but maybe from these tips, the management and staff at Ensenada’s can avoid these awkward encounters in the future. If you are thinking about trying this restaurant, it’s so good so plz do, but just have a timer in your pocket so you don’t accidentally over order or overstay your welcome.One more thing- to the hostess that got roped in and asked us to clear the area we were standing in, you were just doing your job. 10/10 hospitality and totally not your fault. No notes!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 2
Recommended dishes: Patatas Bravas, Fish Tacos
A fantastic Mexican/seafood fusion spot!We came here for my husband’s birthday and everything we ordered was divine. We started off with the salsas (you’re going to want to love spicy food if you order this) and got 2 aguachiles (both superb), shrimp tacos (I could have eaten 5 of these), and the whole fish (perfectly cooked, so flavorful and tender).Will definitely be returning soon!Vegetarian options: It’s a heavily seafood based menu so not sure I would recommend for strict vegetarians
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Salsas, Aguachiles, Shrimp Tacos, Aguachile Rojo
Everything that we ordered was amazing. The fish Al Pastor was awesome!. The fish tacos the list goes on. Go get some.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food was good but not authentic. The service was terrible with the exception of the hostess who accommodated us. We felt rushed. We were were mid-entree and the waitress asked if we needed more food or if we were working towards dessert. She kept coming back. It was just uncomfortable. Needless to say, we are not returning nor recommend it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 1
Amazing restaurant, Ricardo was a great host and the staff is trained very well! Looking forward to seeing them again soon!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Simply delicious.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Its s great place to be. Super food, possibly best pattatas bravas i head. Aquachile was superb. Tostadas with Tuna delicious.. on top great drinks… really
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Excellent foods packed with flavor and good vibes all
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Patatas Bravas, Aguachiles, Tostadas, Guacamole
Great food - mediocre service (only from our server - other FOH people were great). Had a wonderful meal for 4 over the weekend. Mezcal flights were great as were all the dishes (ceviche, aguachile, butterflied fish). A few issues with the service:(1) the restaurant was out of fish so the pescado ceviche and aguachile were unavailable - not ideal, but things happen, only issue was that one member of our table had a shrimp allergy. When we asked our server if we could order the Campechano ceviche and aguachile with the shrimp on the side, as we'd still be paying the full price, she noted that it would not be possible to accommodate this, but we agreed that she would try to get us the shrimp on the side. Later, our server, with some attitude, ended up putting a small bowl of grilled shrimp on our table - great, we were thankful and assumed this was the shrimp that we would have received originally; however, when the bill came, she let us know that the shrimp was charged on our bill as a shrimp taco! This was not communicated to our table earlier and I found it a bit rude/ridiculous - I understand if our earlier request couldn't be accommodated, but to charge us for another dish without warning is not good customer service.(2) there was a general feeling of being rushed through dinner.I would go back for the food but had a bad experience with the server.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Food was amazing. I am always a little disappointed when restaurants tag on a fee for paying with a credit card…Dietary restrictions: Good gluten friendly options
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Patatas Bravas, Fish Tacos, Fish, Guacamole
Restaurantji Recommends
The food here is good, not amazing, nothing that will knock your socks off, but the prices are a bit ridiculous (8 bucks for a single taco? 60 bucks for a fish?). The atmosphere is good but I think you can find better food for more reasonable prices elsewhere.
Absolutely loved this meal from start to finish! Every dish was so good and the staff recommendations were also on point. Margaritas were delicious too.Kid-friendliness: Would not recommend bringing kids here
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Went for my husband's birthday the place was packed, no I didn't make a reservation, I should have, however, they accommodated us at the bar, the only issue was that since were placed at the bar the guy prepared the drinks weren't so happy with us, idk if it was because we are and look like Mexican and the place was packed with white ppl or because we were eating there (at the bar) or he was just distracted, he seems to forget about us but not the rest of the ppl there, maybe he thought we wouldn't tip him idk ,I did feel a different treat, we spend a 300 dollars in total I'm gonna say the food was amazing the drinks as well the desert at the end was so good, I tip the guy with the 20% just because I wanted to remember him that we Mexican ppl have money as well and we tip as well, yes I'll come back with a reservation and hope I have a better experience because the food is worth it.
The best aguachile in NYC and the manager is great!!You can't miss it
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The people who left 1 star reviews for this place are simply wrong.... Everything cooked to perfection..... really great flavors in all the dishes and everything tasted really fresh. Simply good food. Will def be returning.