XO Seafoodbar

My wife and I had a great experience at XO. We sat at the counter, which I would recommend if you like to watch and interact with the kitchen staff preparing the food, and we ordered the fixed price, four course chef's menu. It was really great. The food was tasty, and it was fun talking to the kitchen crew. Gabi took care of us from behind the counter, and she, along with the rest of her colleagues, did a great job. We especially liked that they would take the time to answer any questions we had about the food. They were very nice and talented. Our favorite food items were the razor clam appetizer, the main, which was perfectly cooked char, and the dessert, a tarte tartin with french plums. Highly recommend. Great experience.

Bad atmosphere, hot, dark, messy. Make sure you sit outside with cigarettes smell, much better than inside, don’t risk. Pasta is nasty, smell like coming from 6 months+ dry package, no where close to fresh (per manager’s claim) and instead of accepting client’s comment nicely, the male manager intentionally ignored us afterwards, we got to ask 2 times to refill the wine, nothing happened. Once we stood up to take the bottle ourselves, the manager made fun and stupid faces, attitudes. If you’re looking for good mussels, fish… maybe, if you are looking for good pasta and services, think twice or more.

Great place for the seafood and fish lovers! Price value worth taking Menu option as you get a lot of variety for the money (4 course menu for 79 Euro per person). Drinks are on a higher end but portions are generous. What is really pricy compared to the other restaurants of the same league are oysters - 5 Euro for 1 oyster, so personally would not take it again. Overall great experience, stylish place and friendly staff.

The experience was absolutely brilliant. We decided to seat at the counter to watch better the kitchen. The service was great and the food was delicious. The chef was explaining each single dish. Definitely high recommended!

Bad experience. Overrated price. Poor the chef and the owner for having bad team of operations. Bad setup, very hot inside, small table, dont come here for group over 2 pax. Don’t order pasta, their pasta is old, and it’s ramen not pasta. Please re consider, there are many more better places. Bad wine despite us asking for the best option for german wine. Servers dont attend us enough, we had to ask 2 times for refilling wine and nothing happened, we had to pick our own bottle to refill, thats when manager made the face and attitudes to us. Horrible and expensive experience.

Very weird neighborhood, very tight/small restaurant setup, extremely small table, very uncomfortable. Worst and most expensive pasta menu in the city, pasta smell old and very bland taste for 30+ euro. Overrated price and boring wine list. Trainee staff was serving us and had to go back to the unprofessional manager every time. The manager was rude and making the face back to us after we commented about pasta quality. At least the mussel was nice… otherwise this would be our worst night in Hamburg.

We went for a nice dinner as a couple and tried six different dishes and one dessert. Everything we ate was fantastic. We had already decided to try their signature dishes, Pasta Krabbe and Scallop, before arriving, and they did not disappoint. For starters, we ordered two oysters each and asked for recommendations for the rest. We were suggested Sakana Gyoza and Sashimi Crudo—both were good, though not mind-blowing. We also picked Red Calmar ourselves from the menu without seeing any reviews or recommendations. I must say, it was one of the most unique dishes I’ve had in a long time. If I had to recommend just one dish, this would be it! For dessert, we were torn between Tarte Tatin and Burnt Cheesecake. Since everyone around us seemed to be ordering Tarte Tatin, we went with that. However, we were seated near the bar, and when they prepared a Burnt Cheesecake for another customer, the aroma lingered, making us wish we had tried that as well! When making a reservation, you can choose your seating area, and the bar seats are the first to sell out. Since we sat near the bar, we had the chance to observe it closely, and I would highly recommend sitting there for a more immersive experience. In contrast, the dining area had terrible artwork—so much so that it completely disrupted the otherwise serene interior. As an architect, my humble suggestion would be to maintain the funky character while also striking a balance in design. We had two glasses of white wine each, and since they forgot our scallop dish, they generously refilled our glasses at no extra cost. The total bill was €197, excluding tip.

We took the 4 course chefs meal and this was definitely a highlight of a recent trip to Hamburg. The head chef explained how they made each course and the ambience was welcoming and friendly. Definitely a recommended experience!