Kingfish Hall

The service is really bad! Food is overpriced and overrated. I couldn’t say anything else! I will not recommend this place. A waste of money!

I’m sad to report Kingfish Hall no longer stands. The windows are papered over and the restaurant is gone from Todd’s website. Kingfish had my favorite lobster roll in Boston and was the sight of many celebrations, jazz brunches, and crème brûlée controversies.
Todd English can still be seen, in all of his hunky, chisled glory, giving his trademark wooden delivery on a number of cooking shows. (Gordon Ramsey he is not)
RIP Kingfish.

My boyfriend and I had a $ 25
coupon for Kingfish Hall. Otherwise, I don’t think I could have justified paying so much for dinner. My review would be closer to 2.5 stars, but I’m docking at least a half star because right after we ordered, the fire alarm went off… for the next 15 minutes.
The waiter explained that the alarm is connected to the entire Faneuil Hall marketplace and it was likely a store down the way causing the alarm. Regardless, by the time it went off, we were ready to leave. Our waiter never came back to take our drink order, and we had headaches by then so we skipped wine.
The onion bread and dipping oil were very good to start. Our entrees were good but nothing special for the price: Thai bouillabaisse ($ 31) and fish & chips ($ 22). The bouillabaisse was chock full of seafood, which was nice, and came with a (terrifying) lobster head on top. The shrimp were great, but the fish was bland and the lobster was rubbery. The carrots and Thai curry sauce were excellent.
The Parmesan fries that came with our fish were awesome, and so was the malt aioli to dip them in. The fried fish was tempura-​fried, so it was very light. Again, good but not great.
I was not impressed with our waiter calling us «kids» every time he addressed us (we’re 22, not 16).
Barring the fire alarm and lackluster service, I would have given it 3 stars for what we actually paid. I can say, though, I probably wouldn’t come back without a coupon. It’s good, but just not good enough.

Todd English has truly lost his touch.
What happened to the brilliant and gifted chef of Olives glory? He’s been spread so thin — the curse of the celebrity chef — that every one of his establishments disappoint completely. If only he had stuck to Olive’s and maybe 1 or 2 Fig’s, but no. He got lost with his head in the stars and sold out on the beauty and magic of his food. So disappointing.
In Quincy Market, on my way to lunch and catch sight of Kingfish Hall. Told the BF that Todd’s restaurants were amazing back when I lived in Boston full-​time. Immediately greeted by a hostess who looks like she’s in sweats. We ask if there are any nonalcoholic cocktails, as the BF doesn’t like to drink so much at lunch — she looks at the ceiling, contemplating. «Ummmm…Coke? Iced Tea? Ummm. Ginger Ale? I think they could maybe… um…make some other drinks and take out the alcohol or something? Maybe a margarita? Without alcohol?» She obviously had no idea what was on the drink menu, what’s possible — the hallmark of poor training, and a very bad sign for the start of a meal.
As soon as she walked away, I said to the BF, «Todd English would sh*t his pants if he saw that.» His restaurants used to be top-​notch, the best trained staff, customer service delight. I couldn’t believe this could be happening in one of his establishments. No sooner do I say this, than I look up, and who do I see standing behind my BF, but Todd English! I happen to know he mostly lives in NYC now, so it was an odd coincidence.
I said hello, as we used to have friends and business acquaintances in common — he didn’t remember me, and I wouldn’t expect him to — shot the breeze for a moment, went back to lunch. He goes back to a business meeting at a nearby table — def NOT in the kitchen at all — just to be clear, he wasn’t the one doing the cooking.
Waiter takes a long time to come to our table — did I mention that there was only one other table full at lunch time on weekday during the holiday time shopping rush? So, he is most definitely not busy with other tables, not that that should matter.
He comes over, also seems not completely knowledgeable about the menu — we order: veggies tacos, lobster tacos. Also has no other ideas about nonalcoholic drinks. I order a nonalcoholic margarita. The kicker: it’s a mix! Not even a freshly made margarita, which as a former bartender, I can tell you, is one of the easiest drinks to make. Horrible.
Bread comes, pretty good; decent flavored, garlic, something, olive oil dipping sauce.
Food takes a looong time for an empty restaurant.
Food comes and underwhelms. UNDERwhelms. The BF’s veggie tacos are lackluster at best; my lobster tacos, while filled with a generous amount of fresh lobster, are BLEH. No flavor, wrapped in dry, tasteless inauthentic tortillas, a DAB of some kind of sauce underneath the lobster that I can’t even make out — an utter and complete disappointment. We decide not to order anything else.
Wait for 10 minutes for the waiter to reappear with the bill. Put down card. Wait another 10 minutes for the waiter to reappear. Todd English sits to my left completely unaware. BF and I finally stand up and get ready to leave. Waiter finally shows up again.
BTW — the place is expensive. I am ALL for paying a lot for a great meal, at great service experience– I don’t blink at gigantic bill after an amazing experience. But a gigantic bill for a Sub-​Cheesecake Factory experience offends me.
The restaurant itself is very beautiful, and it’s in a great spot.
Judgment: bad service, blah to bad food, all flash, no foundation. It’s too bad. Todd English used to have a gift.
PS talked to several friends and family members afterwards who told me that trips to Olives over the last few years have been terrible disappointments and they ultimately stopped going. Todd also told me Olives is closed — so now even the flagship has sunk.

We walked in about 4:45 pm and was told that dinner was being served at 5:00. So we had to walk around Faneuil Hall for a bit. I don’t know why we weren’t allowed to get our table or anything. Wasn’t to happy about that/​It also left a bad first impression with me. But wow this place is impressive. They gave us a tremendous private booth upstairs and our server was great and very down to earth. We had real fresh bread with an oil, garlic, and parsley dipping sauce. The Thai Mussels came with a broth that didn’t go to waste. The Mussels were a nice size as well. The lobster tacos were probably the best thing we had there. $ 16 gives you 3 tacos with a ton of lobster meat and spices. Great appetizers! The New England Lobster bowl for entrée was delicious as well. The steamers that came in the boil were a bit hard to peel the skin down but when I succeeded they were incredible. The Broiled Lobster was a nice size and full of meat as well. Drinks were good and I would go here again. A little pricey for everything you get but worth it when you wanna get away out of town for a bit.

TOTAL REDEMPTION!
i was in boston for 48 hours and had crappy meals the bulk of the trip… and then we came across kingfish hall!
i had the mixed greens, tomato bisque, and lobster grilled cheese sandwich. i was in HEAVEN!
the mixed greens were basic. the tomato bisque had just the right flavor and texture. and the lobster in the grilled cheese was SOOOOO generous, that it overwhelmed me. there were so many chunks of lobster, that i actually had to pull some pieces out.
i don’t know about the other menu items, but i do know that i love me some kingfish hall!
i wish people had recommended todd english rather than legal sea foods…

Best fish tacos EVER. There’s something amazing about the tender fried fish paired with pickled onions and tartar sauce. I wouldn’t call these authentically Mexican in any way since the taco shell is more like a square cut soft tortilla. 3 taco’s come served on a teeny plate and costs you about $ 15.
The side of brussel sprouts served with cheese curds and bacon. GENIUS. I would gladly order this again. Eating this dish is like eating a salad with full-​fat ranch dressing, egg yolks and bacon bits. Not for dieters.
This is where the positive review starts to go downhill.
The House famous whole fish they flame grill was a HUGE disappointment. The fish was extremely fishy and super bony, though it was tender. I can’t see anyone truly loving this dish unless they were Bear on Travel channel, surviving for weeks on end in the wild. Or you have few taste buds. Served with a side of wilted greens and a too-​greasy white bean spread, this dish left me feeling very underwhelmed. The fish would have been great with a dipping sauce. Heck, I should have asked for ketchup.
The seafood paella was almost just as bad. Nothing is a bigger turnoff in paella than undercooked rice. The grains in the paella were SO chewy it was to the point of crunchy-​ness. Don’t bit hard… you might split your filling. On top of that, the paella in general was so flavorless! Disappointment again.
You also leave smelling like a barbecue.

I ate here twice in the past two days. I’m in Boston for work and pretty much trapped (not that it’s a bad thing) in this particular area of the city with not a lot of time to explore.
My coworkers wanted seafood, so we found this place. I don’t eat meat, so I asked if I could have the lobster grilled cheese without the lobster. No problem. It was actually really great, it was on a flaky sourdough bread. It came with tomato bisque soup, which was delicious, and a salad. For dessert I had the key lime tart. It was very tart! The bottom crust was somehow really tough and crunchy as if it was overcooked, but that’s a minor thing.
My coworker ordered the two cupcakes, one red velvet and one Boston cream, but they were out of the Boston cream cupcake, so she was given two red velvet cupcakes.
The service was just okay. The server seemed like she was half asleep/​in a bad mood, but she perked up toward the end.
The next night, after a disastrous meal at The Barking Crab, my coworkers and I walked to Kingfish Hall in the rain by for dessert and tea. I had the caramel cheesecake with raspberry sauce and everyone else had crème brûlée. Smiles all around!

2.5
I know right! For a Todd English restaurant, I expected at least 3.5 star meal. We ordered the lobster roll with homemade potato chips and a bowl of the lobster and corn chowder. The food came out fairly quickly and the wait staff was very attentive. The presentation was very nice, but the problem started when I took my first bite. The lobster roll was just okay. I really was expecting more, but sadly, it was just lobster with light mayo and seasoning inside bread. The lobster and corn chowder was actually quite good, but still not what I expected.
I really wanted to like this place, but the what made me almost give this a 1 star was how atrocious the bathroom was. I mean this place was definitely not buzzing with business. Why didn’t anyone clean it up! If this is what your bathroom looks like, I don’t want to know about what their kitchen look like.
Bottom line: Disgusting bathroom, very $$$ for average food

What happened to the corn and lobster chowder? If it was on the menu, I missed it. So since I was on my 10 day work trip/​lobster roll tour, I ordered the lobster roll. It was salty and not worth $ 25. Maybe the chips and baked beans justified the price. Roll was dry. Didn’t eat it like a sandwich, just with a fork. The constant changing the overhead light from blue to red to green was super annoying. Busboy/​bread guy had a hard to understand accent — reminded me of Mike Myers’ Dieter from SNL.
It was also curious that they served a bread basket even though I had already ordered a sandwich.
Was much better the last time I was in town in 2010. Service was meh. I was a single diner so maybe that had something to do with it. Sorry, I don’t get to drag family and friends with me when traveling for business. If only you knew how much of an overtipper I am for reasonably good service.

I went for a late lunch Sunday afternoon in June with my husband and 18yr old son. We are fans of Todd English restaurants having dined at Orlando, Boca and Fort Lauderdale locations. We find the restaurants trendy and reliable with interesting décor and food preparations. We wandered upon Kingfish Hall in Quincy market area quite by accident when we were looking for a sit down place for lunch. We were so disappointed with extremely slow service (restaurant was not busy), clueless waitstaff and food that was barely palitable. Calamari was an unsucessful attempt at a «bang bang» preparation, clam chowder was thin and missing clams, pork sliders came to the table cold with rubbery cheese and both tuna preparations were lacking in flavor and flare.
It was a disappointing and expensive dining disaster.

The fact this is the product of a reputable chef is quite disappointing…
When I came here to eat with a friend for lunch on a Saturday we were about the only ones there. Despite the fact that we were about the only ones around, service was atrociously slow. It probably took about 10 minutes after being seated for anyone to even come get us water, another 5 for a waitress to take our drink orders, and another 10 to get our draft beers. Pathetic.
As for the food, it was adequate but definitely not delicious. I tried the smoked salmon sliders which would have been good, but the crème sauce that they were slathered in left a bit to be desired. Yuck.
So, two beers and a sandwich order a piece later, my friend and I found ourselves leaving Kingfish let down… and over 2 hours later (and not because we were dragging out our meals). Wow.

This was the last stop of our Boston trip and I’d have to say that it was a good one to end on. Since we chose to stay away for the most part from most of the more touristy strip restaurants (not to discredit any of them), we were almost reluctant to try anything near Quincy Market/​Faneuil Hall. We had just wrapped up our last few hours for the long weekend and wanted somewhere with some nice air conditioning to chill out in before the trip to the airport. Unilocal led us here and I’m glad we came.
Being that I’m starting to write my reviews in reverse chronological order, this one is still the freshest in my memory. About as fresh as the seafood that was served, which was excellent!
We ordered up a tuna tartar, tuna sliders, some fish and chips, and the thai bouillabaisse. Fairly simple or common food items, yes, but executed quite well. I personally really enjoyed the bouillabaisse. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but each type of seafood (huge shrimp x 3, mussels, clams, fish chunks) was cooked just right, and for once I did not receive any of those maddeningly empty shells. You know, the ones that look so gorgeous on your plate, but are like a tease with no seafood inside!
The thai curry was just right and brought the dish together. It was a slightly different experience with each bite so it never got boring. I’ve probably tried dishes like this at least 10 other times in the past few years at various locations and this is hands down the best. An unexpected gem.
The service was excellent and I was a bit surprised that there weren’t more patrons at the restaurant given how much foot traffic there was outside. I’d definitely have no problem in stopping by again.

Was excited to try this restaurant after our hotel concerierge suggested it. Didn’t realize it was the place I’ve passed by plenty of times. Started with a cucumber martini (forgot the exact name) and it was tasty. A little too much mint for my taste but it did the trick.
As an app, we got the seafood tower and it was phenomenal. Shared a few things for dinner:
— The dancing fish special — we saw this upon entering the restaurant. The fish were spinning on skewers above the grill. The fish of that evening was branzino. It was simply prepared but delicious in taste.
— Thai bouillabaise — this had a variety of seafood mixed with curry broth and chinese eggplant. The dish overall is very good however I expected the dish to be more soup-​like. Instead the texture was more like a wet paella.
— Wasabi crusted tuna — possibly the best tuna I’ve ever eaten! I’m not too big of a tuna girl because I tend to favor white fishes but this meal was fantastic! The crust had a nice subtle crunch to it and the tuna was cooked perfectly.
Would come back solely to eat that tuna again!

I came here last night with my boyfriend and parents, as my parents are staying in the Custom House for the week.
I’ve been here about 5 times, and last night is the first time I’ve been back in about 4 years. I love love love the décor here. Fresh mussels and clams line the bar, there is a fire pit in the middle of the restaurant, and hanging fish decorations can be found throughout (sounds weird, but they’re really cool!).
We sat in a very comfortable shell-​type booth upstairs. We were greeted by about 3 servers, all of whom were pretty confused as to who would be serving us for the night. We ended up with Victor, who was not very knowledgable about the menu, albeit he was a very nice guy. We got off to a rocky start (took about 20 minutes for someone to come over and take our drink order and then another 20 to actually get our drinks). We were completely surprised by the complementary calamari that was brought to the table for the long wait. Such a nice surprise and totally unnecessary (we were busy catching up with each other)!! And mmm was it good.
For food, I ordered a Caesar salad to start. It was huge but needed a bit more dressing. It was delicious nonetheless. My boyfriend, my mom, and I got the crispy lobster for our meals after it was recommended to us. Bottom line: it was pure heaven in my mouth. It was fried in tempura batter and came with rice, asian slaw, and scallion pancakes. Everything was delicious! My dad ordered the swordfish and I’m pretty sure he downed it in about 10 minutes. I tasted it and again, pure heaven. We also ordered the Parmesan fries which unfortunately were quite soggy and inedible.
The food in general was amazing, and I would’ve given 5 stars but the service was shaky and the women’s bathroom looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months (I work as a hostess and I have to check the bathrooms for cleanliness every 20 minutes, so I’m a stickler for this).
I will definitely be back!

While the service is impeccable, the food fell short for me. My friends had the lobster rolls and I had a seafood pasta and everything felt very salty and overseasoned. Desserts were also overly rich and hard for three chocoholics to finish.
This has the potential for lunch but dinner was expensive and not for me.

Todd English is big name apparently when it comes to East Coast fare, so I had to see what all the hype was about for my first meal in Boston this year. The quintessential Boston dishes including clam chowder, and lobster roll were my controls for this restaurant experiment that I hoped would be successful.
The clam chowder, though beautiful in presentation, was a little lack luster for me. The thick cut bacon and potatoes were unfortunately more prominent than the actual clam flavor. Had a few more of the clams been present, I would have been more pleased. Luckily, the lobster roll landed and turned the entire meal around. A well portioned brioches square was split down the middle and filled quite generously with the most tender lobster to ever grace a sandwich. Truly, truly melt in your mouth goodness. Homemade, Old Bay seasoned potato chips, baked beans, and coleslaw accompanied the sandwich, but they were merely distractions to the grandeur of the lobster roll. Truly a sandwich to be remembered.

Came here with several friends, and had an excellent time. The service was solid, the fish was extremely tasty. I had the halibut. The asparagus served with that dish was also quite good, although I thought it was perhaps a bit over-​seasoned.
The atmosphere was pleasant, too: The relaxed but colorful décor, the wide windows, the open wood grill with whole fish turning on spits.
The patio was crowded, but the interior was pretty empty. Inside by an open window is a great alternative if you want the fresh air but not so much of the crowds and noise.

I’ve been going here for years and just keep going back. Yes, it’s filled with baseball cap wearing tourists, but Todd English knows how to do seafood in a way that stands out in the best seafood town in the East. So go there, nod to the folks in Orioles caps and Cardinals shirts, and eat yourself a good meal.
The ambiance is… strong. Crazy colors, rocks hanging from the railings, and the din of a hundred folks on two levels coming and going. But if you settle into your table and let yourself become part of that noise, you’ll feel oddly at home.
The service has always been solid, bordering on great. Valentine’s Day, lunch on a weekend, dinner on a Friday night. The water glasses are always full regardless.
My most recent trip netted me a lobster roll, delicious even by Boston standards, with a side of crunchy cole slaw and nicely done baked beans. Oh, and Old Bay potato chips. Yes ma’am.
Kingfish looks touristy and sits in the middle of a touristy area. But if you find yourself there, go in and order boldly. You’ll enjoy it.

This was our oyster/​clam feast. Seated by the big boiler they have, my girlfriend V and I had ourselves a healthy serving of shellfish. You know what they say about oysters, right?!
I kicked it down with a hefenweizen and we were off to do more damage around the area. A pricey place, but delicious if you have the money to spend.