fish market

good standby restaurant. it's been years since i'd ventured to the fish market - it has grown rather large over the years which isn't always a good thing. in the case of the fish market, growth seems to have served them well.

we arrived on mother's day without reservations but it seemed that most of the other restaurants weren't that busy either - apparently everyone went out for mother's day brunch instead of dinner. we waited less than a minute to be seated in an upstairs dining room that was busy but neither packed with patrons nor packed with tables. this was nice - having room to sit down without being jammed in like sardines which was part of the old fish market "charm". our table was largish but the location was a bit dark - we requested relocation to a window table which was intended for 4 - the wait staff was very accommodating and moved the 5 of us without an issue.

we started with appetizers of calamari and hotcrabdip. the calamari was very good - well cooked with a softer breading so that it was crisp but not crunchy. thecrabdip arrived with several ciabatta rolls for dipping - these were an excellent compliment to the dip which was filled withcrabmeat.

i opted for the fried fish ponchatrain which sounded good via the description. upon arrival, the presentation was very nice - thecraband shrimp atop the fish was "as promised". thecrabwas large lumps which was impressive - so oftencrabtoppings turn out to becrab"flavored" with littlecrabmeat. overall the dish was a bit bland for my tastes but seafood is easily overpowered by spices so this was neither unexpected nor unforgivable.

my dining companions ordered seafood pasta,crabcakes and the port city po'boy - all of which were well received. the oysters in the po'boy were enormous - dwarfing the other seafood on the platter.

the prices are a bit high - $22 for my entree but given the area, it's not unexpected. service was good although occasionally slow. i'll be back as this is a good restaurant for guests who are visiting the area.

great atmosphere...big 32oz beers and some of the bestcrabcakes i've ever had! market price for the lumpcrabcakes was a little pricy ($32) but totally worth it. i have lived in charelston sc and florida...still bestcrabcakes ever!

pretty good. mixed review on this one. thecrabdip was awesome! it was served with warm bread vs. chips, which i thought was different, so be careful not to fill up. you will be tempted to eat the whole thing.

my fried seafood entree had shrimp, fish fillet,crabcake and fried oysters. really enjoyed the fillet and the shrimp, but not too keen on the rest.

disappointing. went back to this place by mistake, so i ordered the bestcrabcake on the menu to see if it was any different. this one was actually quite good, all lumpcrabmeat and no filler. the side of asparagus was good, but the potatoes were again a flabby bain-marie offering. also got the lobster bisque. again, whilst the soup was more than acceptable, the cheap commercial croutons in a plastic bag reminded me of a highway dinner.
the incredibly cheap glassware and cutlery really did not match the $32 price tag for an entrée. poor dessert options (a couple of fruit pies). still not good enough for the price.


-----26 sep, 2012-----

for the football only. as a sports bar, this place is a lot of fun for monday night football.
as a seafood restaurant (bar menu), it’s very average especially at the price charged. i got the $24 lumpcrabcakes (broiled), they were a bit on the smelly side but ok. the sides however were less than good: lumpy fat chips with no real flavour, a tiny amount of average coleslaw and a poorly homemade tartar sauce. not good enough.

seafood was ok. i got the fried shrimp and it was over cooked. the marylandcrabsoup seemed to be missing crab. i doubt i will come back. not impressed.

great place, wonderful outdoor seating. i highly recommend the lumpcrabcakes.

okay seafood. went here while in town and really craved some seafood. my collegue who was a local told me they had really good food and it wasn't as expensive as the wharf, so i went.

it wasn't as expensive as the wharf, the clam chowder was very good, but the fish andcrabseemed to be over cooked.

i only ate there once and since i didn't have a reservation, i had to eat in the bar, so it may have been the seating location.

if you go, i definitely recomend the chowder.

for the amount of money we spent we left hungry and disappointed. the oysters on the half shell were by far the highlight of the meal. the soup of the day was acrabsoup in a light cream base. with each bite i either had to fish out chunks at shell from my mouth or crunch my way through so as not to be too rude. the sauteed soft shellcrabwas so portion deficient that i had rarely seencrabso small served in such a high reputation seafood restauant. i will not be returning.