Seafood restaurants in North America
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A
Treasure Ship
A landmark since the ’70s, this trip of a place houses three separate restaurants over three levels of a full-scale replica of Sir Francis Drake’s 17th-century Golden Hind galleon. Hook’s Grille & Grog, at dock level, serves Caribbean cuisine (mains $11 to $24), and is open for lunch and dinner. On the 2nd level, the Main Dining Room is open at dinner, and serves steaks, seafood and huge salads (mains $16 to $30). Opening onto an open-air deck, the 3rd level contains Captain Crabby’s, with all-you-can-eat dinners of crab legs, shrimp and ribs (buffet $20 to $30), and cocktails served at the Deck Bar overlooking Grand Lagoon.
reviewed
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B
Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough
Lobster lovers should check out Abbott’s, on the waterfront in neighboring Noank. Order your lobster (or other seafood) at the window, get a number, pick out a table by the water and, when your number is called, pay and dig in. New England doesn’t get much better than this on a warm summer night. Just down the road is Abbott’s sister business, Costello’s Clam Shack, open similar hours. To reach both from Mystic, take Water St/Rte 215 southwest. When you reach a stop sign take a left (Mosher Ave) and stay right when it divides. Turn left onto Main St and right onto Pearl. BYOB beer or wine.
reviewed
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C
Drago’s Seafood Restaurant
You used to have to truck out to Metairie to enjoy the oyster creations of Drago Cvitanovich, one of the many Croatian immigrants who brought a heady knowledge of shellfish from the Dalmatian to the Gulf Coast. Now Drago’s has an outpost in the downtown Riverside Hilton. The surf-and-turf menu is alright (we like the ‘Shuckee Duckee’ – a duck breast topped with oysters), but the real draw are the charbroiled oysters, dripping with butter, garlic, parmesan and their own juices after kissing an open fire. It’s one of the better business lunches around, by dint of taste and price.
reviewed
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D
Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant
The old school of American seafood cookery believes in the following: fry it, then serve with a lemon wedge. That sounds a little simplistic, we know, but believe us: when chefs perfect the art of batter-frying there are few better ways to consume something from the sea. The cooks at Jack Dempsey’s are in that hallowed, great fry-and-broil fraternity. You may not think there’s a lot of art or pretty edges to a catfish platter and fries, but bite into that firm flesh overflowing with salty, delicious grease and you’ll realize this kitchen is working in its own rarefied air.
reviewed
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Taku Glacier Lodge
Juneau has several salmon bakes. Though aimed primarily at tourists, they provide great food (hard to go wrong with fresh salmon) with an experience conveying the flavor of frontier Alaska. Taku Glacier Lodge is reached via a 15-minute floatplane flight up Taku Inlet, and allows you to combine flightseeing, glacier viewing and a salmon bake in one excursion.
The tour lasts three hours and is a little pricey for a salmon dinner, but a much better experience and cheaper than taking a helicopter to the ice field. Sign up at the lodge's booth on Juneau's waterfront, behind Merchant's Wharf.
reviewed
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E
Coast
The move from its original Yaletown location has upped the size and coolness quotient of this buzzing seafood joint where Vancouver movers and shakers like to be seen scoffing a wide array of aquatic treats. Knowing reinventions of the classics include prawn or lobster flatbread pizzas, but it's the mighty seafood platter of local salmon, cod, scallops and tiger prawns that true fish nuts should indulge in. Fish-and-chips (try the red snapper variety) is $14 on Sundays and there's also an excellent raw bar with oysters a'plenty. After dinner, hit the adjacent O Lounge for a swanky cocktail.
reviewed
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Shucks!
So close to Vermilion Bay and the Gulf, it’s no wonder that Abbeville, 21 miles southwest of Lafayette, is known for oysters. Until recently, you could take your pick of three oyster-shucking restaurants within two blocks. At the time of writing, legendary Black’s had been sold and remained empty. You can still suck ’em down in Dupuy’s Oyster House (337-893-2336; 108 S Main St), first opened here in 1869, and at the newfangled Shucks!. Look up more information at the Vermilion Parish website: www.vermilion.org.
reviewed
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Dupuy’s Oyster House
So close to Vermilion Bay and the Gulf, it’s no wonder that Abbeville, 21 miles southwest of Lafayette, is known for oysters. Until recently, you could take your pick of three oyster-shucking restaurants within two blocks. At the time of writing, legendary Black’s had been sold and remained empty. You can still suck ’em down in Dupuy’s Oyster House, first opened here in 1869, and at the newfangled Shucks! (337-898-3311; 701 W Port St). Look up more information at the Vermilion Parish website: www.vermilion.org.
reviewed
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Tequila's Sunrise
If you can handle the Eagles barrage (you're almost guaranteed to hear Hotel California at least twice while you're here), pop into the restaurant that claims to be the original restaurant that was in Hotel California. Whether you buy it not, it's a fun place, and every inch of just about everything in the place is covered in permanent marker, business cards and dollar bills.
The menu features everything from surf-and-turf platters to garlic shrimp, salads and good ol' Mexican food. If you'd rather taste premium tequilas, try the tequila bar.
reviewed
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C Restaurant
This pioneering seafood restaurant overlooking False Creek isn't cheap – drop by for lunch if you want to budget a bit – but its revelatory approach to regional sustainable fish and shellfish makes it the city's best seafood experience. You'll be hard-pressed to find smoked salmon with cucumber jelly served anywhere else, but there's also a reverence for simple preparation that reveals the delicate flavors in dishes such as local side-stripe prawns and Queen Charlotte scallops. Check ahead: early evening three-course prix-fixe specials are offered periodically.
reviewed
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G
Fish Wharf
In case you didn’t know, Washington, DC is basically in Maryland, and Maryland does the best seafood in America. You get it fresh as hell – still flopping – here, where locals will kill, strip, shell, gut, fry, broil or whatever your fish, crabs, oysters etc in front of your eyes. Have a seat and a beer on the nearby benches and bliss out. If you haven’t had steamed hard crabs with Old Bay, or a fried soft-shell crab sandwich, have some, now, now for God’s sake. The wharf is also known as the Main Ave Fish Market.
reviewed
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H
Pajo's
It's hard to think of a better spot to enjoy fish-and-chips than the boat-bobbing wharf at Steveston. Luckily, this floating, family-run local legend fully delivers. After perusing the fresh catches on the backs of the nearby fishing boats, follow your nose and descend the ramp to Pajo's little ordering hatch. You'll be greeted by a friendly face and a menu more extensive than your average chippy. Go the traditional fresh-fried cod, salmon or halibut route (with secret-recipe tartar sauce) or mix things up with a yellowfin tuna burger and zucchini sticks.
reviewed
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I
Tony’s Pier
About 15 miles and a world away from midtown Manhattan, City Island is one of New York’s most surprising neighborhoods. Founded by the English in 1685, the 1.5-mile-long fishing community juts into the Long Island Sound and Eastchester Bay, connected to the mainland by a causeway. The Victorian clapboard houses here definitely look more New England than the Bronx, and the island is filled with boat slips, half a dozen yacht clubs and some rowdy seafood restaurants – notably Tony’s Pier, which fries everything but the cocktails.
reviewed
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J
Tony Cheng's Seafood Restaurant
Skip the Mongolian barbeque on the ground floor - everything tastes pretty much the same, and instead head upstairs to the seafood restaurant. The place looks a little dingy, but it has one of Chinatown's best kitchens. The fare is mostly Cantonese and seafood is what to order (you can watch your dinner swimming about in tanks).
On weekends Tony Cheng's attracts droves of Chinese Americans for the traditional Hong Kong dim sum - you can still order during the week but the choices are less varied, coming off a menu and not a rolling cart.
reviewed
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K
Blue Water Café
Under the expert eye of chef Frank Pabst, this high-concept seafood restaurant has become Vancouver's best posh oyster bar and the pinnacle of Yaletown fine dining. House music gently percolates through the brick-lined, cobalt-blue interior, while seafood towers, arctic char and BC sablefish grace the tables inside and on the patio outside. If you feel like an adventure, head for the semicircular raw bar and watch the whirling blades prepare delectable sushi and sashimi, served with the restaurant's signature soya-seaweed dipping sauce.
reviewed
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Cockatoo
This new addition to Deer Isle is deliciously off-the-beaten-path and serves Portuguese-inspired seafood dishes. Start with crisp codfish balls, followed by mussels over linguini or paella and wash it down with crisp vinho verde (semi-sparkling white wine). You can feast in the informal dining room or outside on the patio overlooking pine trees and a secluded cove below. Call for reservations and directions. To reach Cockatoo, take NH 15 a few miles north from Stonington and drive east on Oceanville Rd, following the signs.
reviewed
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L
Pacifica Seafood & Raw Bar
The newish fish house in town is right on Wagner Park. It has a raw bar and serves creative tapas, such as steamed mussels and elk sausage for light snacks, and eight seafood mains for dinner. The main dishes include classics such as Hawaiian ahi with wasabi mashed potato, grilled ono with black sticky rice, and sea scallops served with white truffle and fava bean purée.
There's a great, albeit a tad preppy, happy-hour crowd in the summer. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Happy hour runs from 3:30pm to 5:30pm.
reviewed
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M
Restaurante Pórtico del Peregrino
There are several pleasant, traditional-style dining rooms (some with air-con) surrounding a small courtyard in this upscale eatery. Yucatecan dishes such as pollo pibil (chicken flavored with achiote sauce and wrapped in banana leaves) are its forte, but you’ll find many international dishes and a broad range of seafood and steaks as well. Mole poblano, a chocolate and chili sauce, is a house specialty, as is artery-clogging queso relleno (Dutch cheese stuffed with spiced ground beef).
reviewed
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Sandbar
A vast array of West Coast seafood heads the menu at this long-established, high-ceilinged restaurant-with-a-view tucked under the iron arches of Granville Bridge. The fresh oysters are justifiably popular and they're best sampled on the fireplace-warmed rooftop deck – there's also a sushi bar if your raw mood continues. The giant wine list is also something to write home about, but the urban professionals crowding the U-shaped bar on weekends seem more interested in quaffing cocktails. A good romantic dinner spot.
reviewed
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O
Tsar Nicoulai Caviar Cafe
Indulge champagne tastes and caviar dreams with a West Coast twist: grassy, sprightly Sonoma sparkling wine and sustainably farmed California ostetra caviar. Pair bubbly by the glass with the Infused Sampler: caviar with traces of brandy, kaffir lime, wasabi, truffle and ginger. Better yet: samplers are half-price on Mondays and Tuesdays. But the most deliciously perverse bar snack ever has to be the ahi and sturgeon sashimi, served in a glass inserted into a fishbowl, with fish flitting around the base.
reviewed
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P
La Habichuela
An elegant restaurant with a lovely courtyard dining area, just off Parque Las Palapas. The specialty is shrimp and lobster in curry sauce served inside a coconut with tropical fruit, but almost anything on the menu is delicious. The seafood ceviche and tapa al ajillo (potatoes in garlic) are mouthwatering. The gorgeous aquarium in the lobby makes for a very attractive wait (reservations are advised). Finish with lime sorbet splashed with xtabentún, a Yucatecan anise-flavored liqueur.
reviewed
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Q
Waterbar
The giant glass column aquariums in the dining room and the splendid vista of the bay beyond give you some idea just how fresh and local the sustainably sourced seafood is here. Leave the dining room to Silicon Valley strivers trying hard to impress dates and investors, and make a beeline for the oval bar, where the plates and prices are smaller, and oyster shells and corks are popping to keep pace with orders of local mollusks with shallot/wine mignonette and local champagne by the glass.
reviewed
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Marina Jack's Restaurant
Anchoring the marina is this well-loved multilevel, multivenue eatery that offers something for everyone, but most especially that quintessential harbor-at-sunset ambience. Be serenaded by steel drums in the relaxed downstairs cafe and lounge, with expansive outdoor seating, tropical cocktails and an easy-on-the-wallet menu. The Bayfront dining room upstairs positions every formally laid table before curving, two-story windows and serves upscale surf-and-turf; make reservations.
reviewed
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R
Mr Pickwick's
The city's best Brit-style fish-and-chippery knows exactly how to make your favorite comfort food – even the chips are chunkily satisfying and you won't have to ask twice for malt vinegar. As well as the classics, batter-fried salmon and crunchy crab cakes are excellent, while the house-made tartar and lemon dill sauces are fresh and tangy. Check the daily specials and try a draft Dead Frog beer. The friendly service is outstanding here and it's a great spot to bring your kids.
reviewed
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S
Pure Spirits
The best of the upmarket eateries in the Distillery District, Pure Spirits' superb brick-lined vault fills with theatre-goers, international tourists and affluent locals enjoying plates of oysters on ice ($2 to $3 each) and delicious seafood and meat meals, like the Arctic Char – a mussel and clam bourride (soup) with toasted pine nuts, basil, vegetables and pesto tapenade ($27). Free live jazz on the patio in summer aerates the mood; reservations essential.
reviewed