Ship Bottom Shellfish

Not happy called and asked for pricing and quantity of platter and was told the wrong price and amount went to pick up my order and the price was way higher than I was told on the phone and the quantity and quality way less. There was a huge line and when I questioned it they were rude and said well do you know the name of the person you spoke to? There were many other angry customers behind me so I just said whatever I never coming back here. But I was definitely taken advantage! Don’t let them rip you off too!

Since I live on LBI, and was running late one night, I stooped at this place to try some takeout. Uh oh. It’s the same owners that own Mud City Crab House. I wrote a review there and the details apply here as well.
Here’s what the Mud City review stated …
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This place is near a world class source of seafood. The servers have told me on multiple occasions that everything they serve is FROZEN. They charge top dollar as well.
The thing that gets me is that there are two serious issues with this «restaurant» that should be relatively easy to fix.
#1 is that they seem to hire local high school girls as servers and hostesses. None have any apparent experience as servers or working with the public and NONE of them have any manners whatsoever. They are too busy talking to the other workers and slinging their gum to pay attention to their customers.
One night a few months ago, on my way to a meeting 40 miles away, I stopped and ordered clam strips, a nice finger food to eat in the car. No sides. Just the clams. It took almost a half hour. When it came, I pulled out my credit card only to be told my the Miss Priss working the register that their credit minimum was more than my ordered totaled. I told her it was credit or nothing since I carry little cash. She said she would not take the credit card so I left the order on her counter leaving her with her mouth wide open and the gum ready to fall out. That was my first visit. Friends told me that must have been a «bad night.»
A few weeks ago, I stopped and ordered the same thing. This time there was no problem using a credit card but when I tried the first piece after getting back in the car, it was so-​o-​o over fried that it splintered when stabbed with the fork. The entire order was like that. Way overcooked.
I will never go back.
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Now the staff here was not the unmannerly bunch at Mud City but I only ordered takeout and wasn’t seated or received regular service. But to serve FROZEN seafood cooked badly at premium prices crosses them off my list.

Definitely worth the long wait to be seated. This place is small and only has a few tables to sit at (they also do take-​out) but let me tell you, this is some of the BEST seafood/​shellfish i’ve ever had. The special of the day was the Crab and artichoke dip, which you dip bread in. One of the best flavors i’ve ever tasted! Simply amazing and the ultimate comfort food. I also ordered the raw oysters which were delicious, they give you lemon, Tabasco sauce and cocktail sauce. For my main course I had the jumbo king crab legs, which were humongous. The meat I took out from the shell was literally the biggest piece of crab meat i’ve ever seen. All in all an amazing meal, a bit on the pricey side but totally worth it.

This place is ok, but not my favorite place for seafood on LBI. Getting fresh seafood from the market & cooking it yourself is a better way to go.
Ship Bottom Shellfish had a long wait, so we ordered take out. Everything came out fairly quickly once we ordered.
The quality of the food was fine. Some items were better than others. My family enjoyed the grilled tuna. The crab wasn’t my favorite — I’ve had better. The oysters were huge!
The prices were closer to $$$ category for LBI.
This place is great if you’re looking for a restaurant that serves seafood & don’t mind waiting in line. If you’re open to doing some DIY seafood at home you’re better off getting some fresh seafood & making it up yourself.

I came here craving a crab cake after hours on the beach. I took a take out and the wait was about 5 – 10 minutes. I also came around 11:15 when they just about opened. I had the jumbo crab cake that was baked and it was fantastic ! Decent sized crab cake with enough flavoring. I’m also not a big fan of slaw but the slaw on the side was very refreshing and light. The display for the market was clean and I would definitely stop by for my next seafood purchases when I’m around.

Hubby & I ate here Saturday for lunch. The best seafood we’ve had since our trip to Maine!
The clams were tender and so good. The New England clam chowder was amazing. My hubby said his fish & chips were the best he’s had in a while. Service was very good.
The only negative thing I could say is the portions are on the small side. We are looking forward to returning and trying more items.

Heads up — the font on the menu is weird and we thought we were getting 8 each with the seafood sampler (not 3). The place was packed on a Saturday by 5pm so we ordered takeout. Got a bucket of mussels, cole slaw and a side of fries. We ordered a soda too but it was neither in the bag nor charged to our card. Food was good but pricey. There are better values to be had on the island.

There is a lot of seafood dishes to choose from. We had crabs, a lot of them and they were all really good. Service was really friendly. It’s a BYOB which comes in handy because on a Monday night there was about 1:20 wait for a table of 4 and you can have drinks out front. There is a beer store across the street. There is a better selection of craft beer at the store a few blocks down. In all, it’s not a bad place if you have the patience to wait. It wasn’t as expensive as I would have thought for a seafood place either.

Food was great…(take out) but why must we be so snippy and nasty to the young help? When the bill was done correctly did the owner give our poor counter help an apology? Nope! He then confused himself with the check out while this poor girl was crying.
We all have bad days, but why not apologize for your bad behavior if you are the owner.
Was extremely painful to watch a young girl being scolded… when in the end everything was right.
Gave her a big tip and hopefully she fines a new job soon!
Sorry can’t go back there.

We stayed within walking distance of this restaurant recently and had such a great meal here. We went on a Monday night and had to wait about 45 minutes, but it was worth it. We had fried calamari, steamed shrimp and raw oysters as appetizers outside while we waited. They were all fresh and tasty!
We had entrees that ranged from mussels to soft shell crab and we were all happy with our meals and left with a full belly. The atmosphere was the right mix of seafood shack and nicer restaurant and we definitely recommend this place!
I’d say my only complaint (which seems to be common on LBI) is that they have no free refills on drinks. For the price that soda syrup costs per glass (pennies!), it just seems to be poor customer service to use this technique to save money. A person with refills and a happy experience surely must outweigh those few pennies.
Otherwise, I’d say you can’t go wrong with Ship Bottom Shellfish! Enjoy!

Great local seafood joint. Sister restaurant to Mud City so same great food, a bit closer.
Parking is horrible!

First time visiting LBI & this restaurant we picked after looking on Unilocal. It was crowded on a Sunday night but moved along quickly. Small cozy restaurant. The food was amazing, being from NY I know good food & good seafood. This was fresh! Bacon wrapped scallops, oysters were outstanding. New England Clam chowder was to die for. We had lobster tails and crab cakes and blackened tuna & fried combo. We are every bite! Waitress was great too and staff very friendly. Awesome place and will def go back!

It’s saying something when your side dishes are so good that you eat it all before even getting to your entrée! We started with a crab cake and the tuna poke bowl. They were both great, i’ve been searching for poke ever since I had it in Hawaii and it did not disappoint! For my main dish i ordered sautéed scallops with jalapeño sauce and it was awesome. Even the corn and baked potato was good! Definitely coming back for the poke bowl.

Wow. This place has amazing food. Loved the blackened swordfish, the seafood bisque, the crabcakes and the baked oysters with tarragon, goat cheese and bacon.

Confused by 4 star rating. 24.99 for a 1 lb Lobster? Seems a bit steep considering Shop-​Rite has them for 6.99 right now. Certainly not paying for ambiance because there is none to speak of. Oh wait, their electric outlet on the ceiling had water dripping from it, so that was entertaining…
Service was mediocre, no personality, no smile. My Flounder sandwich was pretty crappy and portion was not good. My uncle complained about portion of his seared tuna sandwich also. Go elsewhere.

Amazing seafood! Very fresh and tasty; the service at the restaurant was good too. The atmosphere is simple but what really matters is the food.
We ordered the fish tacos, blackened scallops and garlic clams with lump crab. The fish tacos came with salsa and sour cream and were delicious. The fish was very fresh and tasted awesome in the tortilla. The blackened scallops were my favorite grilled nicely on the outside and still moist on the inside. I’m not a big fan of clams so they were just ok to me. Of the three dishes, it was my least favorite.
All in all, a great place to eat if you’re in Long Beach Island.

After two visits to SBS, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s one of the best options on LBI. The people who run SBS are very nice; they try to make everyone feel at home. The ambiance is chill, and the place looks homey.
The BYOB policy is great, especially if you need to wait before you’re seated. Show up with wine and beer in your hand and you’ll be given an ice bucket and glasses, even if you’ll be hanging around for 45 minutes before your table is ready.
A few BYOB places are cash only, but SBS accepts credit cards!
The food is pretty good, though there was one salad that didn’t appeal to me. Portions are large enough that you are likely to feel well fed as you walk away. Some details:
For my first visit, I started with the Manhattan clam chowder, which I thought was excellent. I continued with the grouper with prosciutto and capers and thought that the fish itself was fine but that the stuff on top of it was ill-​conceived. My two sides were a baked potato and some tomato basil salad. The baked potato was good, but it was quite small. The salad was obviously prepared long before it was served; I found it to be pretty awful, but my companions finished it for me.
On our second visit, I began with a bucket of mussels that were steamed with white wine and garlic. The taste was good and there were a lot of mussels in the bucket! I managed to get my dining companions to eat a few mussels, but I definitely did most of the eating. Not bad! My main dish was a blackened halibut with a wasabi cream sauce and two sides. I loved the halibut! For sides, I went back to the baked potato and chose cole slaw instead of the tomato salad. The cole slaw was fine.

One of my favorite places for dinner on the island! The prices are a little high so we don’t come here too often but when we do we really go crazy. Great service and specials… always so hard to choose what to get, but I usually have the tuna because it is so fresh.

Stopped in after a walk on the beach. The fish tacos were amazing. Honestly the best I ever had.

So by now, you know that you need to wait. But once you get over that, get ready for a great meal. Ship Bottom Shellfish was worth the wait.
So it’s a BYOB and they allow you to drink on their porch while waiting. For better or worse, that’s how my group killed time before we got seated. It was a fun way to pass time, but we ended up drinking the majority of the wine and beer that we brought for dinner. We didn’t really need more to drink, but in case you do, Shell Liquors isn’t too far down the street.
We had plenty of time to review the menu while waiting to be seated. So once we were seated it didn’t take too long to put our order in.
There were many intriguing fish and seafood dishes, but I had to order off the fish board. It’s not too often that I get to eat grouper, or trust a place in the Northeast to serve me grouper, so I figured it would be fresh from Ship Bottom Shellfish. My grouper was prepared blackened with garlic, butter sauce. I thought the sauce was already cooked into the fish and had my first bite sans sauce. To my surprise, the sauce came on the side and the grouper was just that flavorful on its own. My dish came with two sides so I opted for the garlic green beans and tomato basil salad. I don’t typically eat tomatoes on their own but they were doused in enough basil and vinegar that the salad tasted something that should belong on a bruschetta.
The service was fine and they came by to deliver food and refill out water as needed. We were a group of about 10 so our entire meal took some time, but it was absolutely worth it. I believe they are also open for lunch during the summer. I walked past one afternoon in between lunch and dinner and there was no line outside. If you are willing to eat at an off time, that might be a good opportunity to dine without the wait.
I really enjoyed my meal and I’d recommend Ship Bottom Shellfish to anyone looking for a good fish or seafood dinner in LBI.