Legal Test Kitchen (LTK)

We love Legals and had a friend in to Boston for a medical conference so we thought we'd try the Legal Test Kitchen. DON'T GO. I should have known when we were served stale rolls that it wasn't going to be a good meal. The food was not at all up to Legal standards. A very disappointing meal.

Every Legal Seafood restaurant has a slightly different character, but LTK at the Seaport had novel cuisine, and a hardworking staff whose first question at noon was, are you under time constraints? Wow! No better way to say you care, then backed it up with great service and no delays. You even made time to sell me gift cards, thank you Legal! Still my favorite restaurant in the Boston area for over 15 years.

Work nearby, but had not been in years. Very pleasantly surprised. Great menu, unique for the Seaport. Service and food was excellent. It was pretty quiet, but things seem to ebb and flow around here depending on things happening at the hotels and convention center. We'll be back often, I am sure.

Food was just ok the service was good and quick. I think that it did not live up to past reviews or what i have come to expect from the legal name

We are frequent diners at LTK, but this lunch was beyond amazing. Drinks, appetizers and entrees were above expectations! Cannot wait to go back

It was good. Atmosphere was "Ok". Waiter was excellent. Music was way too loud and they kindly turned it down. I was there with two friends and it was quite empty. The menu seems quite limited. Took us a while to each find something that would appeal. IN the end, everyone loved their food- salmon with Thai noodles, etc; salad with shrimp salad; crab cake with egg on top.

Exceptional seafood in a very casual environment. Menu items offered unique twists on bar food, along with some fine dining-quality entrees. Our party of 3 enjoyed a few very affordable seafood appetizers, a lobster roll, a mixed seafood special and a classic bolognese. All of it was good quality and well-prepared. Cocktails also were good. Would grab a bite there any time.

I've always been happy with the food at Legal, but this trip to the test kitchen was an exception. The cevice was a wad of congealed chopped scallops. The oysters were just ok. The shrimp were excellent but overshadowed by the rest. Legal Harborside is much better and right across the street.

Great meal. Nice Seaport location.

Everything was fantastic! The only thing bad was that that honestly the lights were too low to read the menu. Otherwise it was a fun and delicious meal!

Great service and food. Will be back.

Oysters were good (though shucker needs some practice to avoid leaving shell bits). Food was so-so...definitely not worth the price compared to other Boston restaurants. Service was slow.

I took a friend from Arizona to what I figured would be Boston's premier seafood experience. The service was really really great but not much of a selection of seafood and didn't really seem to be any dishes that were "tests" or inventive.

Staff was great and attentive. Food was good and in all but one plate innovative and yummy. A nice experience

Our service was very slow from the moment we arrived. It took at least 5 min. to be greeted at the door & our food delivery took an hour.

Great menu and food with many great choices.

The meal was great, and the atmosphere was too. I love the dining room/bar vibe. It was a little loud, and they seem to cram a lot of table in. Plus, our waiter was inattentive, so that wasn't great.

My dining companion had food allergies and the server and chef were very attentive. I had the fish tacos and potato wedge appetizer.

I was looking forward to going and having innovative seafood.
Nothing was innovative and not much variety of seafood.

Too noisy. Disorganised wait staff. My wifes cod and chips was "beautiful ". My crab sandwich was bland.

The low price should have been an indication of the quality of the dishes. There was nothing very interesting or very good about the menu or the food that we ordered. Had to send back a few dishes that were undercooked. Not sure if the "test" in test kitchen was to test new dishes or to test new chefs but the menu was pretty standard and more like a 99 restaurant then a Legal brand restaurant. I'm unlikely to eat here again.

Was in for a business meeting. The server did not ask how much gone we had and it took forever to get food - likely because they were understaffed in the floor, but not the kitchen. The manager never checked in. Basic attitude is very lax and not on top of anything. My clients had to leave and take their lunches boxed. Not returning.

Food was poor. Service was acceptable. Restaurant atmosphere was poor, it felt dirty and looks outdated.

Perfect meal, attentive and prompt service.

A friend of mine (ok, my girlfriend) recommended this restaurant to me. I focus on customer experiences in my profession and was first impressed by this restaurant for delivering a great experience.

You are greeted at the door instantly by a staff member. A second person escorts you to your table and engages in some light conversation, which I found pleasant. The server visits the table very shortly after being sat.

The server was not overwhelming with the attention he gave but explained each dish I asked about with detail.

I went with a half dozen oysters to start. They were very fresh and had a great MA bay flavor.

For dinner I had the Cod, which was served on top of a medley of vegetables with corn dominating most of the space. I loved it. The sweetness of the corn complimented the fish.

Lastly, their selection of wine was large enough to pair with any dish. I went with a flight that was named something like "Oyster Whites" or something. Basically, it was three dry whites that paired very well with the oysters.

Overall, excellent restaurant.

There was four of us. We had reservations for 830 and it took forever to get our app and entrees. We left at 10 pm. We never received bread even though every other table did. Our waiter disappeared and never dropped our check.

This is a favorite spot for us to go to before a concert at the Pavillion. Really good food and relatively quick. We both had the striped bass entree and we split the tuna shashimi appetizer. Both were excellent.

I have never had a bad meal here. Food is great. With a rotating menu, there are always new options to choose from. The service is also excellent. Friendly and knowledgeable wait staff. Would strongly recommend.

Great place for dinner before a show at the Pavilion. The menu isn't quite as extensive as the "main" restaurant across the street, but it has some very unique items at fair prices. I thought the crab macaroni was excellent; the cheese sauce was smooth and creamy but not cloying and the dish was lightened a little more with vegetables. I especially loved the charred octopus appetizer; very fresh and unique. Drinks were a little on the pricey side, but not ridiculous for the neighborhood. On the whole, a great dining experience.

I have been to Legal Seafood locations on dozens of occasions. LTK was not nearly as good with their execution and attention to details. We ordered a plain, dry hamburger and let our waitress know we had allergies to certain ingredients. The burger came back with a sauce on it and had to be redone.

However, LTK did come through and did not charge us for the burger.

All in all, their food is still delicious.

Just an average food, overpriced and mediocre quality.

Sorry, Legal, but I expect better from your franchise. We did not have a great experience at LTK and will not return. We ordered 8 large shrimp to share at our table. The presentation could've been better; they arrived on a very large plate crowded together on one side . . . and there was a hair on one of them. The braised cod looked and tasted dry; expected a nice rectangular piece of fish but it was broken in small pieces as though it had fallen off the serving utensil. The fish tacos were covered with a mass of shredded purple cabbage. Overall, the menu should feature innovative seafood and fish options rather than so much pork/chicken/beef. On the bright side, our server was attentive and did not make us feel rushed.

Headed to concert

This was our first visit to LTK. The food and service were great. Our only observation was that it was very dark inside.

Great place to go before a concert at the Pavilion. Good food, priced right.

Our waiter (tall and deep voice with beard) was wonderful and very nice!!

Legal Test Kitchen never disappoints! Although we ordered traditional food during this visit, it was delicious as usual!! It’s worth the trip!

Food and service was good. I had a very nice shrimp salad. Good pace for lunchtime. I would have given it 5 stars - but ours was the only table that wasn't served rolls. Because of nature of my guests, I didn't want to ask., but for some reason this always bothers me when service isn't consistent with all tables.

Service was excellent starting with the host up to the manager. I will be back and will definitely recommend.

I had the Cobb salad (with shrimp salad) and my son had the creamy crab mac and cheese. Both were delicious. Also, the shrimp cocktail was out of this world. The rolls were nice and warm, too.