Photo: Tripadvisor

Dolphin Restaurant

Name: Dolphin Restaurant
Address: Gibraltar, GI
Telephone: +350 200 70000
Price range: ££–£££

Seafood££–£££

A Seafood restaurant that rates below most of Gibraltar, on 30 Tripadvisor reviews.

Gibraltar Index

3.8 / 5

Tripadvisor3.130

Google3.9266

A weighted blend of both, not an average. How this works

Ratings read 6 September 2026.

Our review

The Dolphin is a seafood restaurant beside the public pools at Rosia Bay, looking out over the strait, and it scores 3.1 on Tripadvisor from 30 reviews and 3.9 on Google from 266, for an Index of 3.80. We re-read the reviews on 6 September 2026, the newest from late August. One May 2026 complaint was posted word for word on both platforms, so we count it once.

The food is still rated above the front of house. Google reviewers this summer name the pepper steak fillet and chips as the best on the Rock, praise friendly waiters, and thank a member of staff for calling a taxi for two lost tourists; older Tripadvisor accounts add prawns in creamy spinach, sardines al espeto, calamares and clams in garlic butter. A family who held a communion there in May praise the manager, Dan, and his team for a top-quality day.

The service accounts are the reason for the 3.1, and the two June 2026 reviews from Sunday takeaway regulars turned away while the room stood empty remain the most damaging: both now say they have taken their custom to Cabana, a few metres up the road. The May account of two servers ignoring a table while a later couple was seated and served straight away sits alongside a German visitor told only drinks were available while the next table ate. A language barrier is mentioned by several, and more than one felt English speakers came second.

Quality wobbles too: an August Google review reports cold food, poor service and rudeness, a September 2025 review a cold bolognese that tasted reheated, a March 2025 lunch of gritty clams and forgotten, then cold, fries. A resident found £37 for two light plates and bread poor value, and a July reviewer thought the social-media adverts far outran the plate. Against that, a beer is £3 and a Wednesday lunch filled the terrace, so booking is advised.

Come for a booked table, a family event or a beer and chips by the pools at sunset, where the reviews are warmest; for a walk-in lunch or a Sunday takeaway, be ready to be ignored or turned away, and speak Spanish if you can. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here; this write-up is from the reviews, on which the kitchen and the setting earn the Google number and the welcome earns the Tripadvisor one.

Written from the Tripadvisor reviews and both platforms' scores on 6 September 2026, not from a meal we ate — nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here. We show the Google rating but have not yet read Google's reviews for the write-up. The recurring themes it draws on are below.

What reviewers consistently say

Our summary of recurring themes across the 27 most recent reviews, written in our own words and read on 6 September 2026. Recent reviews from both platforms are quoted, with attribution, further down.

Pepper steak, prawns, sardines and clams are named warmly, and the setting by the pools at Rosia Bay is loved.
Sunday takeaway regulars turned away from an empty room, twice in June 2026, and both now go to Cabana instead.
Walk-ins describe being ignored while others are seated and served.
A language barrier recurs; several reviewers felt English speakers came second.
Booked events go well, with the manager Dan and his team praised by name.

What it gets right

Seafood and a pepper steak that get real praise
A setting by the pools with sunsets over the strait
Handles booked functions well

What it gets wrong

Regulars turned away for takeaway while the room sat empty
Walk-ins ignored, and a language barrier
Value questioned by residents, and cold food reported

How it compares

It holds 3.1 out of 5 on Tripadvisor from 30 reviews — well below the Gibraltar median of 4.1 across 106 restaurants with enough reviews to rank, and on a moderate number of reviews.

Among comparable places, it is the lowest-rated of the 12 Seafood options we track.

It is priced in the middle of Gibraltar's range.

How the Gibraltar Index Score is built

It is not an average of the two. Each source is weighted by how many reviews it carries, then pulled toward the Gibraltar average so a high score from a handful of reviews cannot outrank a strong score from thousands. Dolphin Restaurant scores 3.1 from 30 on Tripadvisor and 3.9 from 266 on Google, which the model blends to 3.8.

We read the 27 most recent Tripadvisor reviews and summarised what recurs, in our own words; the reviews we drew on are quoted below, attributed to their authors. The Tripadvisor and Google scores are each shown 1:1 as those platforms publish them; the Index Score is ours and the formula is above. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here, so nothing is a first-hand verdict.

Recent reviews

Shown from each platform, attributed to the reviewer. We don't edit them — read the full set at source.

Tripadvisor★★★☆☆3.1· 30

All on Tripadvisor →

2026-06-16
Go 30 meters up
We eat there 50-100 times a year but went on Sunday for a take away around 12.30 and were told that they were not serving food as they were fully booked but there was not a single customer there! We went to Cabana instead which was great. When we returned to our table next to our friends had just got a take away from Dolphin restaurant. Wmore →
GibTravel · via Tripadvisor
2026-06-14
How to alienate repeat local customers
We go for takeaway at Dolphin every Sunday at 1230-1300. Today we went at 1230 and we where told that they would not serve us as they had all tables fully booked for an event . Despite the restaurant being empty and the staff hanging around doing nothing they were not offering take outs. All we wanted was fish and chips. This is not the fmore →
AUSTLON · via Tripadvisor
2026-05-30
Ignorant staff
Appalling service The restaurant only had 4 tables with customers sat at tables Two servers present but no one approached. I went to ask if we could sit and told yes. Not taken to a table. Acceptable that they were serving, so waited at table. Again No one approached so asked for a menu and waitress took drinks order . Sat waiting again, more →
ETMather · via Tripadvisor
2026-05-23
Bella’s Communion
Yesterday we celebrated Communion at Dolphins Restaurant. I can only have praise Dan and his amazing team in making the day so special for all of us. Food, Service and Location was top quality . I can highly recommend this location to all that appreciates good seafood and value for money.more →
johnmY7106SX · via Tripadvisor
2026-05-17
Where the locals go
Food fantastic Location brilliant (Rosia bay) Price extremely reasonable.more →
davew2thompson · via Tripadvisor

Google★★★★☆3.9· 266

All on Google →

2026-08-22
Dziękujemy panu z obsługi, który pomógł nam zamówić taksówkę do hotelu, kiedy zgubiłyśmy się jako turystki :)more →
Monika · via Google
2026-08-18
Todo perfecto los camareros muy amablesmore →
Mihai Vasc · via Google
2026-08-06
Food served cold , service poor. Rude toomore →
Stephen Wilsdon · via Google
2026-07-27
Fritanga y ranchomore →
Carmen Rodríguez Carrión · via Google
2026-07-25
Not the best tbh. The adverts for this place on social media are next level. Sadly not for me, on a positive note a🍺 of Heineken cost me £3😃😎more →
Michael Alcock · via Google

Reviews are the opinions of their authors, reproduced from Tripadvisor and Google with attribution and a link to the original. Dolphin Restaurant did not provide them and Gibraltar Index did not solicit or edit them.