Smuggler's Cove

Very poor business ethics. I canceled my reservation with in plenty of time before the required free cancelation time and my credit card was already charged and they tell me to dispute the charge with my credit card company rather than them giving me my money back. Sounded like she didn't want to do the work. Also the phone number for the business is someone's cell phone. Had a very hard time reaching someone to talk about this.

My girlfriend and I were served crab with a very strong ammonia smell and taste last night (2/9/16) at Smuggler's Cove in Tannersville, PA. This resulted in our throats burning, nauseous, upset stomach.. and one truly miserably night.
We've been to this restaurant well over 50 times (over the course of 8+ years). Aside from the occasional bad server, we've always thought very highly of them. We even used them for my company's Christmas party (and spent over $1,100 that night).
What follows is by far the worst dining experience we've ever had:
We each ordered the surf and turf (prime rib and snow crab legs). The steaks were great - as they always are. We both started on the crab at about the same time. She had a piece of crab, and immediately said that it didn't taste right. I tried a piece as well and agreed. She put hers down.. as I tried another piece.. thinking that maybe it was just a bad leg. After the second bite, my mouth started burning (as did hers). I also noticed a very strong chemical smell. I sniffed the crab.. and sure enough, it reeked of ammonia.
We immediately brought this to our server's attention.. who fully agreed that it had a very strong chemical smell. The manager came out and apologized to us profusely - and said that they would take care of it. They took the crab back to the kitchen, to show the cook as well as the owner when he/she was in.
At that point, my girlfriend was feeling light-headed, and was no longer interested in eating a meal.
They gave us menus, and asked us to order something else - so that we could take it home. We picked out 2 dinners and waited about 20 minutes. Our server did her best to help with the burning/upset stomachs (ginger ale, etc). She said that there would be absolutely no charge, for anything that night.
I thought that was kind of a given.. based on what happened.. and was appreciative that they came up with this solution. I figured that we wouldn't say anything about this.. because they were making an effort to make things right (and we've been a loyal customer for so many years).
Finally the food came out.. which we then thanked our waitress, and began to leave. As we were walking past the front desk, the manager called us over. She stated, that she never said that we were getting a free meal. And demanded that we pay for the second meal. The waitress immediately chimed in.. telling the manager that she told us it'd be free. The manager immediately pulled the waitress aside, and into the other room. Both of us walked into the other room after several minutes of waiting.. and were told by the waitress that she was going to cover the cost of the meal.
Both of us began arguing with the manager.. stating that this was absolutely ridiculous.. and that it's absurd that the waitress would have to pay for the meal. The manager continued to argue with us.. so I asked for some of the tainted crab back - so I could have it tested. The manager said that she understood, and would do the same thing if it was her. She went into the kitchen.. and brought back 2 legs - and allowed us to smell them - to confirm that it was the ammonia tainted crab legs.
We confirmed this.. and she then told us that we didn't have to pay anything. I insisted on paying so the waitress wouldn't have to pay for it (and also gave her a very nice tip - for being amazing).
After a lot of arguing.. and demanding that they charge my card - they obliged. We then left the restaurant - and put the crab on ice, when we got home. For the next 6 hours we felt awful, with symptoms such as: numbness and burning in the back of the throat.. difficulty concentrating.. severe upset stomach.. nauseous and difficulty sleeping. Even today (2/10/16), we're both still dealing with upset stomachs and difficulty concentrating.
I held off on leaving a review that night.. because I wanted to see if the owner of Smuggler's Cove would reach out to me (left him my work number on the comment card). He/she had an entire business day to call me.. and never did. So this leaves me no option, but to make this information public. I am not happy to leave this review.. and I find it sad to see a restaurant care so little about the health of their customers. If we ingested more of the tainted crab than what we did.. we could've both ended up in the emergency room.
I will also be contacting the health inspector that covers the Tannersville, PA area. I hope that an investigation will cause this restaurant to take health hazards like this more seriously.. and hopefully this will prevent others from potentially ending up in the ER.. or worse.
I also want to add that this situation could've been fixed so easily. We were ready to walk out the door and forget this horrible dining experience.. and the manager stopped us.. and basically accused us of trying to walk out on the bill. I've spent well over $5,000 at THIS restaurant.. and I find it extremely insulting that she would even suggest that. We went those 50+ times to have an enjoyable dining experience.. not to try and get a free meal.
Her lack of experience is going to get this establishment sued at some point - or shut down. I hope that they did not fire the server (her name is "Vin") for standing up for the customer.. and also doing what was right for the restaurant. She tried her hardest to talk sense into her manager.. yet the manager refused to listen to reason.