Reel Seafood Co

I’ve came here several times now and each time was great. Today we came with my folks and hubby for Sunday brunch. Love the Bloody Mary section of the menu where there are so many different renditions of my favorite cocktail. I had the Mary Jane today, made with tito vodka and came with a shrimp! We had the smokey sliders, king crab flat bread, roasted duck flatbread, and lobster Benedict. Oh, who would forget an order of the truffle fries? Sunday brunch was done right and we left happy-​bellied!

We came with a party of 10. One waiter handled us with NO support. Wow. Waiter was below average. Food was average at best. If this is the best Albany has to offer, get out of town.

We went for New years eve and it was busy.
We went early and the restaurant was just starting to get busy.
They sat us directly next to another 2 top. The space was cozy. There plenty of open tables at this time that we didn’t have to sit so close to someone else.
Wait staff was very friendly and attentive.
Ordered the seafood tower. Very large serving platter that took up the whole table with shell bowls, drink glasses, small plate, hot rolls and condiment dish. We had to set the bread basket on the empty 4 top next to us.
The crab and lobster were amazing and the muscles, clams, oysters where served perfectly. With lots of different dipping sauces.
We ordered the beet and goat cheese and the bibb salads they were both very good.
We order the duck confit and the angry shrimp roll. The duck was not our favorite the sauce was just not what we expected. The angry shrimp roll was ok. It’s warmed all the way through unlike a sushi roll that has tempura shrimp. We sent back the dick and replaced it with a crab cake that was huge and very tasty.
All in all it was pretty good. A little pricy but it was delicious.

One of my favorite date spot! The happy hour is great (week days 4 – 6 and weekend 3 – 6) with dollar oysters and clams!
Everytime I come here, the service is always impeccable! They make sure we feel welcome and are super friendly!

Absolutely fantastic! This is deffiently worth the price of the dish. The seafood is fresh and cooked to perfection. I personally recommend the ahi tuna as it is paired beautifully with the rozoto.

Blue point oysters on the half shell that come with a few options to dress. Lemon, tobasco, horseradish, cocktail sauce, and champagne vinegar. Cold, fresh, huge but $ 2 ea.
The stuffed haddock is fantastic rich and buttery with a large portion of fish and crabmeat stuffing to go with it. However tonight I tried the special grilled Swordfish and while it was a decent portion atop smashed garlic potatoes and very good, I longed for my crabmeat stuffed haddock.
With local beer on tap the oysters, and grilled swordfish called for a light IPA from a local brewery.
I’d talk about the desserts but I’m always to full to order any.

Brunch Alert!
Came here for brunch on a Sunday,
I know it’s a seafood restaurant but I didn’t order seafood.
YO!
What amazing food!
The best crispy pork belly with three cheese grits and a sunny side up egg. Great menu (although it was tough to decide cuz all that shit sounded good) Dope brunch #beverages. Bellinis, mimosas. Tried some of the ahi tuna, must say it was a pretty good tuna, dark like it should be. The wait staff were very friendly but not overbearing so it was a nice middle. Shouts to my girl Beth. I live in the city so it’s really rough to justify the trip off of brunch. But this spot is banging. Dope aquarium décor btw.

My wife and I ate there on a Saturday evening — 5:30. Busy but not overly crowded. Granted, it was on the early side.
The food was attractively presented, hot, and delicious. Portions were more than ample.
Service was friendly and efficient, but bordered on being rushed. Our entrees arrived even before we had finished eating our rolls. The pace of meal delivery should have been a little slower.
A bit pricey but, overall, worth it.

We stopped in over the weekend on Saturday morning for a lovely brunch. I love that there’s live music during brunch and we were lucky enough to have enjoyed some excellent guitar playing throughout our meal. The brunch menu covers all the bases and keeps price points reasonable. There were some nice looking bloody marys, but we elected for a bottle of wine.
My other half went with a 3 stack of lemon pancakes and a side of bacon. I went with some really tasty pork belly with grits and an egg. Also ordered some truffle fries which were delicious. Service was wonderful as well.
Plenty of food and a really excellent bottle of Chenin Blanc came to 70 dollars. Reservations recommended as the space fills up quickly and the brunch crowd was definitely steady. Can’t wait to make it back in.

Ambiance has changed since I was last here. Clean crisp design, soft music, and still the outstanding seafood I remember from before but the display is high quality. Can’t wait to come back again.

I can happily recommend the shellfish Cobb salad. Worth the price. Stuffed haddock was a complete meal, fresh broccoli side was very good. We Did not leave hungry.
Lovely environment. Cool fishy ocean atmosphere but not gold, still intimate and warm.
Greeter was charming, service was good.
Would come again.

BRUNCH!!! I got invited to test the service. (:
There have been many excellent reviews since the re-​opening about a year and a half ago, but brunch is a new gig, including themed music brunches every other weekend (starting September 20 with Swing Band Sunday).
The new menu will have nine Bloody Mary creations, including the Mary Jane (served with a giant shrimp hanging off the side of the glass), Scallop Wrapped Mary (garnished with two bacon wrapped scallops), and the Crabby Mary (with a mini crab slider on a stick — in the glass!). I had a traditional and it was heady with horseradish, just the way I like it.
I tried their Crab Cake Benedict Oscar but I guess I got the diet version because there was no muffin, but I decided I didn’t NEED the muffin after all, and neither did the dish in some ways. The crab cakes were tender and mild, the sauce had a hit of heat and lemon. The homefries were boring, but maybe they can work on that one.
This is the BEST seafood restaurant in Albany, AND it’s a family restaurant in a sea of chains. They just keep getting better all the time.
(You know it’s sometimes SO COOL being a goddess, especially running around protecting the innocent from harm, but I think my secret identity has finally been breached.)
Love, Zena

First time here since the big changes. I thought the décor elegant but dark and not as welcoming. We ate on the patio, which was comfortable and quieter than inside. Our server was excellent, attentive and pleasant. Had my first Mint Julep in honor of, uh, horse racing? The Seafood Cobb Salad was perfect– fresh with shrimp, lobster meat & crabmeat. The lemony dressing very, very good. Rolls almost as good as in past years, but nice spreads added much. I had the cream-​sickle cheesecake, which was good, not great. Not orangey enough. I’d add more flavor plus a layer of sour cream on top. But then, shouldn’t everything have a layer of sour cream?
Used a $ 10 off coupon (from the Clipper?)

We were looking for a good seafood restaurant for our overnight stay and found Reel Seafood Company in Unilocal.
I liked the food. I’m not the kind to criticize every detail but the only reason (s) this place didn’t get a 5:
1. Service. Although not bad by any means, would expect more promptness for the price and what we paid
2. Salad was a little overdressed
3. The Cioppino was delicious! but… wished it had more lobster (the half lobster advertised on the menu was a stretch)
Otherwise, very good and WOULD eat here again!

I was craving seafood. and wanted to goto an oyster bar but of course there’s none in Albany or none comparable to those in NYC. I was not disappointed after coming here with my party and actually have become a frequent diner. I remember back in the day the restaurant was much different. The exterior is still the same and you probably wouldn’t guess that it’s interior is quite the contrary! During the day the sunlight radiates throughout the restaurant and the fish tanks/​mini aquarium is pleasant to the eye. During the evening the atmosphere is even better as lights are dimmed and the aquarium is more visible. I love the happy hour here and take advantage of the $ 1 raw oysters (blue points) and clams. The oysters are my favorite as they are very fresh and is served on ice with a mignonette, Tabasco sauce, a lemon wedge, and cocktail sauce. Better yet, there are even more happy hour deals at the bar and they are all 7 days of the week either between 3 – 6 or 4−6pm. Great place to grab dinner with friends and family or happy hour with colleagues and friends. Check out some of the photos I took from my visits… delicious and satisfying! From meats to seafood, vegetables to desserts, pastas to salads I would recommend giving this restaurant a try.

When I say the best meal ever, I feel that is an understatement. I do feel the outside of the resturant needs to match the inside… because the inside is so elegant! The waitress was attentive and everything I ordered I felt was so extremely freshhhh! It was beyond amazing. You will not regret your trip to the Reel Co.

Loved it so much, I had dinner one night and came back for lunch the next day. The steamers were that good! Paul was behind the bar both times and greeted me by name when I came in for lunch. I love when a place has great food and even better service. I highly recommend the seafood cobb salad. But be warned, it’s HUGE.

The restaurant was excellent. From the outside I expected to be like a Red Lobster.
But I was wrong. The food was super fresh. I highly recommend getting the seafood pasta bowl. The waitress was really friendly and explained to us all of the specials.
I will come back when I visit Albany, again!
Enjoy! #SeñorFood

From the way the place looked like from the outside I assumed I would walk in and see lobster traps hanging from the ceiling. Not the case! The interior is upscale, elegant, and completely unexpected. Do yourself a SERIOUS FAVOR. There is a Red Lobster up the street but go right past it and get to the Reel. I had the Giovani pasta. Huge shrimp and scallops in a broth with spinach and mushrooms. Excellent!

We were surprised at how busy the parking lot was for a Wednesday evening, and as we looked around the tables that were almost filled to capacity, we had to wonder if there was a convention in town. The patrons did not appear to be families, and most were in business attire. Fortunately, we were promptly seated at a two-​top.
Much has been said about the amount of money that was invested in rehabbing and updating the environment when the restaurant changed hands from father to daughter. While everything looked clean, we couldn’t help but feel that mostly what it got was a new paint job. But isn’t clean adequate for an environment?
Oysters and beer is always a good start to a dinner. There were five varieties of oysters available that evening, and while we tried to decide what combination of them would provide each of us with an equal number, and possibly still take advantage of the cost-​benefit of ordering in half-​dozen increments, we placed our order for pints of Bear Naked ($ 5.75) and a Davidson Brothers ($ 5.25) beer. Our server returned to let us know that the chef was not recommending one of the oyster varieties, so we settled on a total of eight ($ 19). All were fresh and cleanly shucked loose from their shell.
My wife ordered a Wasabi pea-​Crusted Alaskan Halibut ($ 27) and I had the Crispy Atlantic Salmon Special ($ 23). The halibut was served with baby heirloom carrots, ancient grains, wilted spinach, and yuzu miso. The fish was cooked perfectly, but seemed to lack flavor. There also did not seem to be a noticeable spiciness coming from the wasabi coating.
The salmon was also cooked to perfection and came with Yukon gold mashed potatoes, sweet corn-​fennel relish, beurre blanc, and basil oil. It was a tasty dish, but I think the plating could have used a bit more imagination.
Service was good considering the number of customers present. While nothing really wowed us, it still is a nice place to go for good fish choices if you are not inclined to cook at home.