fish and chips Archives - Curiously Carmen

After months of patiently waiting for the weather to get warmer in Vancouver, it has finally come. The boyfriend decided to surprise me and take me to Stevestone for a date, and I could not think of a better day to go. The skies were blue, the water was calm, the air was fresh, and the temperature was hot.

Originally, we were planning to go to Pajos, but the lineup was very long and we wanted somewhere that we could sit comfortably and enjoy the view. So after walking around, we decided on going to Sockeye City Grill because they had nice patio seats and view.
There was another restaurant right beside this one we were going to go to, but after checking our phones, we saw that it had an abysmal 28% with almost 200 user votes. I’ve never seen a rating so low save for Kiwawa in Metrotown, so I’m glad we saw that before we went to that place.
We were seated promptly on the patio. Here is a picture of our lovely view. There was a loud family next to us with a crying baby, so of course, things weren’t 100% perfect but the parents managed to keep the crying controlled for the sake of other customers.
The boyfriend decided on getting the two piece cod fish and chips ($18). Yes, the prices here are going to be a bit pricier because Steveston is a tourist area and the seafood is also fresh, local, and wild. Originally, I wasn’t going to have much because I didn’t want anything oily or greasy that day, but it was so good I ended up having more than one bite. The cod was so juicy and fresh. I’ve never had such fresh fish and chips before!

The batter was also very crispy, and the tartar sauce accentuated the juiciness of the cod even more. I felt like our cod tasted like a higher grade of fish (it’s the cheapest type of fish on the menu) because it was that good! The pieces were also very large. A lot of places have their batter really big so it looks like the fish inside is too, when it actually isn’t but this wasn’t the case. YUM!
As for me, I got their large seafood chowder. I was a bit disappointed because there wasn’t much variety of seafood in it. I only tasted a few pieces of cod inside. At least what small amount of seafood I had in here was juicy and delicious though. There was a lot of vegetables in here. I found the taste to be a bit bland, but improved a lot when I sprinkled some salt and pepper to it.
To add to the semi-disappointing chowder, I added the bread bowl for $3. However, I didn’t realize that the bread bowl meant that it would come in its own baskets. I thought it meant that the actual bowl for the soup would be bread. 🙁 Oh well, the bread was good at least. It was soft and doughy, and tasted good when dipped in the chowder.
Here is a bonus and random picture of Steveston, I just thought it looked very pretty (save for the garbage bin…oops). Overall, our visit to Sockeye City Grill was decent. I would recommend getting their fish and chips rather than the seafood chowder. The service was also nice and attentive.

Our hostess also asked us if we preferred a table with lots of sun, or shade, and then proceeded to give us the best seat available. If you want a to enjoy a nice and comfortable lunch at Steveston, I would recommend this place.

Update: I posted this a few hours the same night after finishing our meal there. My friend told me this morning that they had severe food poisoning and had to see the doctor. He was the only one that had the fried oysters (which was an add-on option for the Dine Out menu), so that was probably what caused it. He didn’t eat anything after we went out, so chances are the culprit was the oysters! You have been warned.

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The Fish Shack is one of the restaurants owned by Glowbal Group Restaurants, which is pretty well known in Vancouver. Seeing that it was one of the places on the Dine Out 2014 menu, we decided to try it this weekend after making a reservation.

We went as a party of four – my friend and her boyfriend, my boyfriend, and myself. I have mixed feelings about this place, and I’m going to be as honest as I can with it here. It was definitely an interesting and unique experience atmosphere-wise, and the food was decent but my friend got horrible food poisoning afterwards from one of the dishes.

Food: Originally, we came here for the Dine Out menu but all of us, (except for one) ended up ordering off the regular menu instead. All together, we ordered the New England clam chowder in a bread bowl, fish and chips (2 pc snapper),another fish and chips (1 pc ling cod + kimchi style cole slaw), Fish Shack salad, Fish Shack mixed fry (calamari, shrimp, fish bites), penne jambalaya, and sticky toffee pudding.

We all agreed that although the food wasn’t bad, it also wasn’t delicious either. The clam chowder was pretty good, generous portion of seafood inside and the bread bowl was also very big and filling. My boyfriend thought the fish batter for the 2 pc snapper was soggy, although the fish was alright.

He also said the chips were really good, which I agree with once they’re sprinkled with vinegar! My friends enjoyed their other dishes but one of them didn’t like the jambalaya. The Fish Shack mixed appetizer was alright as well, I think I just personally did not like the type of fish that was used. It tasted a bit bland to me, but the portions of the fish were generous.

Some of the food we ordered!

Decor: I really liked the decor of the restaurant. When you first walk in, you see a black wall which is filled with different facts on various types of fish, illuminated under cute little red lamps.

The other wall was filled with wooden pallets which gave off a legitimate seafood restaurant feel to it. Tacked to select pallets were cute trivial facts, jokes, or puns on seafood. The decor and look was what I liked most about this place!

Service: Our server was really funny and we enjoyed his presence. He had a sarcastic sense of humor which we enjoyed, but I could see other customers that would not appreciate it.

While we were eating, we heard some shouting and dishes dropping in the back. One of us saw and heard a server yelling in the kitchen, “don’t f**king talk to me like that” and some other workers pulling him back. However, it did not cause much of a scene or ruin our experience.

The wait time for the food was decent as well, my boyfriend and I had to wait longer for ours since we didn’t order starters, but our server confirmed this with us first.

Ambience: The restaurant was moderately busy. Not busy enough so that it was cray cray but the bar seats were all filled. There are 4 screens in the front of the restaurant, but they aren’t that big so I wouldn’t recommend coming here to watch a sports game.

Overall, the decor of the restaurant was very refreshing, friendly, and welcoming. The food itself was nothing special but the service is good. I would say to give this place a try if you are a big seafood fan and check out the decor while you’re at it!