Cantankerous Fish, Castro St., Mountain View

[Steve Fenwick]

A somewhat contrarian opinion:

Herself and I were looking for dinner tonight around 8PM, so we tried
trolling Castro Street, and hooked a Cantankerous Fish. The clue should
have been that Cascal, next door, had a 45-minute wait and Cantankerous
Fish was a walk-in. While it wasn't a bad meal, it certainly wasn't good
for the price. I saw Mr. Amacher's review just now, and we had a
distinctly different result.

The ambiance is medium-loud; we could hold a conversation tolerably
well, but it's definitely not a quiet dining spot. The table we were at
had marginal clearance for staff and diners to pass--not as bad as
Zucca's by-the-mirror tables, though. The kitchen noise was evident, but
the high counter backsplash cut off much of the theater of the open
kitchen.

We started with the steamed clams. These were quite good, particlarly
with a little fresh lemon, and presaged a good meal. Alas...

I had the trout; she had the scallops. The trout was nicely browned and
flavored with a lemony beurre blanc. The accompanying blue lake beans
were only lightly steamed, which I liked (good crunch), but she didn't.
The jasmine rice I requested in place of the mashed potatoes were hot,
just right in stickiness, and complemented the fish nicely.

Alas, the scallops. An odd seasoning and decidely too-soft texture
suggested poor preparation. Her rice was also much cooler. It was as
though I had gotten the efforts of the head chef, and she a new
sous-chef. While not bad enough to send back, definitely not worth the
tab. She who dislikes most fish agreed that I got the better entree.

We tried the desserts to see if they were better. The cheesecake scored
a hit with herself; even though the berries (raspberries and
blackberries) appeared to have been frozen (well out of season around
here), the lack of bottom crust went down well. The warm chocolate,
unfortunately, was only slightly above room temperature. The chocolate
sauce was nicely bitter, for those who like dark chocolates.

Service was mediocre at best. The waiter tried to take our order under a
minute after we had been seated. No specials were read (do they have
any?) We ordered drinks and deferred our main order. This lead to a long
delay in getting our order in (maybe 10 minutes of good sourdough bread
and table water). The clams were delivered promptly, but while we were
still on the last two, the waiter delivered the entrees. After that, he
was essentially invisible, until we were obviously well past done with
the entrees. We ordered desserts; after that, the waiter sort of tossed
two spoons on the table (presumably for the ice cream with each
dessert). A different waiter brought dessert; our original waiter
deposited the check, then proceeded to ignore us again. The hostess
eventually took the check.

With no wine, we were out $72 (one appetizer, two entrees, two desserts,
one soft drink, one large mineral water). Given that we could have had a
much better meal at Zucca for the same price, or two at Pasta? for a
little more, I don't see much reason to return. I'll wait for another
ba.foodie (or two) to negate our experience with positive ones before
going back.

Steve

[JC Dill]

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 23:59:48 -0800, Steve Fenwick

Post by Steve Fenwick
Service was mediocre at best. The waiter tried to take our order under a
minute after we had been seated. No specials were read (do they have
any?) We ordered drinks and deferred our main order. This lead to a long
delay in getting our order in (maybe 10 minutes of good sourdough bread
and table water). The clams were delivered promptly, but while we were
still on the last two, the waiter delivered the entrees. After that, he
was essentially invisible, until we were obviously well past done with
the entrees. We ordered desserts; after that, the waiter sort of tossed
two spoons on the table (presumably for the ice cream with each
dessert). A different waiter brought dessert; our original waiter
deposited the check, then proceeded to ignore us again. The hostess
eventually took the check.

I hope the tip you left reflected the service you received. When I
get poor service like this, I always write a note on the check saying
the low tip is reflective of the service delivered. I would have left
perhaps 10% for this service, low enough to attract attention without
outright stiffing the waiter.

jc

[axlq in California]

Post by Steve Fenwick
Herself and I were looking for dinner tonight around 8PM, so we tried
trolling Castro Street, and hooked a Cantankerous Fish. The clue should
have been that Cascal, next door, had a 45-minute wait and Cantankerous
Fish was a walk-in.

Interesting... every time I've been to CF it's been a waiting line.

Post by Steve Fenwick
The ambiance is medium-loud; we could hold a conversation tolerably
well, but it's definitely not a quiet dining spot.

I never noticed; I've always chosen to eat outside.

As seafood restaurants go, I thought CF was pretty good -- and as
far as I know, since Global Village Cafe closed down, it's the only
real choice for a seafood dinner if you're on foot on Castro street.
Yes, the ethnic restaurants also offer a seafood dish here and there,
but it's not the same.

-A

[Dave Kearns]

Post by axlq in California
As seafood restaurants go, I thought CF was pretty good
...it's the only real choice for a seafood dinner if you're
on foot on Castro street. Yes, the ethnic restaurants also
offer a seafood dish here and there,
but it's not the same.

And your problem with the seafood offerings at Fiesta Del Mar Too is
??????????

-dave

[Meg Worley]

Post by Dave Kearns

Post by axlq in California
As seafood restaurants go, I thought CF was pretty good
...it's the only real choice for a seafood dinner if you're
on foot on Castro street.

And your problem with the seafood offerings at Fiesta Del Mar Too is
??????????

Wrong character -- not "??????????" but "$$$$$$$$$$."



Rage away,

meg

[Dave Kearns]

Post by Meg Worley

Post by Dave Kearns
And your problem with the seafood offerings at Fiesta Del Mar Too is
??????????

Wrong character -- not "??????????" but "$$$$$$$$$$."

If you consider FdM2 to be 10$, then CF has to be 25.......

-dave

Post by Meg Worley
Rage away,
meg
--

[Meg Worley]

Post by Dave Kearns

Post by Meg Worley

Post by Dave Kearns
And your problem with the seafood offerings at Fiesta Del Mar Too
is ??????????

Wrong character -- not "??????????" but "$$$$$$$$$$."

If you consider FdM2 to be 10$, then CF has to be 25.......

You haven't been to FdM2 lately if you think their seafood dishes are $10.
Five shrimp for $14 isn't quite at the Tamarine level but pretty
close, given the quality.

Not having been to the CF, I can't say whether it is good value; I'm
just observing the problem with FdM2. Besides, the CF is a Scott's
venture, isn't it? Bah.



Rage away,

meg

[Karen O'Mara]

Post by Dave Kearns
If you consider FdM2 to be 10$, then CF has to be 25.......

I predict FdM2 will lose "Best Seafood Restaurant" award from the
Voice readers to CF this year.

FdM2 only has crab, shrimp and mahi (and maybe a few other things in
their fish soup, if you can find them) as seafood offerings.

I also predict FdM2 will have a big change this year. And, not for the
good.

Karen

[Max Hauser]

Post by axlq in California
As seafood restaurants go, I thought CF was pretty good -- and as
far as I know, since Global Village Cafe closed down, it's the only
real choice for a seafood dinner if you're on foot on Castro street.
Yes, the ethnic restaurants also offer a seafood dish here and there,
but it's not the same.

Since Cafe Yulong opened in Sept. 2002, revising the range of Chinese
cooking available in downtown MV (lots of interesting atypical dishes,
strong emphasis on seafood), it developed a loyal follwing among seafood
fans. Some of those fans including this one enjoyed braised whole fish in
ginger on Christmas night. The loaylty continues (even if the place did cut
down a small willow tree when it opened, to display its mural of a willow
tree!)

743 W. Dana St. off Castro and opposite Nick Chaput's venerable independent
Dana St. Coffee Roasting Company (St*rbuck$ be damned!). Telephone 650 960
1677. I carry their business cards and Vaso Azzurro's along with my own, to
hand to people seeking excellent moderately priced restaurants in Mountain
View.

[The Ranger]

Max Hauser <***@THIStdl.com> slyly admitted in message news:***@corp.supernews.com...
[snip]

Post by Max Hauser
I carry their business cards and Vaso Azzurro's along with
my own, to hand to people seeking excellent moderately
priced restaurants in Mountain View.

So where's your place and why've you been keeping it a secret?

The Ranger

[Max Hauser]

Post by The Ranger
[snip]

Post by Max Hauser
I carry their business cards and Vaso Azzurro's along with
my own, to hand to people seeking excellent moderately
priced restaurants in Mountain View.

So where's your place and why've you been keeping it a secret?
The Ranger

I carry these restaurants' business cards along with my own personal cards,
I have no restaurant connection in downtown MV. (Herr oder Frau Ranger.)

[The Ranger]

Max Hauser <***@THIStdl.com> wrote in message news:***@corp.supernews.com...
[suh-nip]

Post by Max Hauser
(Herr oder Frau Ranger.)

It /is/ a mystery...

The Ranger

[Steve Fenwick]

Post by axlq in California

Post by Steve Fenwick
The ambiance is medium-loud; we could hold a conversation tolerably
well, but it's definitely not a quiet dining spot.

I never noticed; I've always chosen to eat outside.

Not a choice that night, at least if the outside seating is out front;
we certainly weren't asked about an inside/outside preference. It was
pretty chilly--none of the Castro restaurants had outside seating that
night.

Post by axlq in California
As seafood restaurants go, I thought CF was pretty good -- and as
far as I know, since Global Village Cafe closed down, it's the only
real choice for a seafood dinner if you're on foot on Castro street.
Yes, the ethnic restaurants also offer a seafood dish here and there,
but it's not the same.

I'm not sure I would have classified GVC as "American" or "Seafood";
they happened to have a number of American seafood dishes, but it's not
like they're Scott's.

Ethnic restaurants aside, the good "American seafood" choices in this
part of the Bay Area seem sparse, compared to the excellent "ethnic
seafood" restaurants. It's better over toward the coast.

Steve

[Todd Michel McComb]

The waiter tried to take our order under a minute after we had
been seated. No specials were read (do they have any?) We ordered
drinks and deferred our main order. This lead to a long delay in
getting our order in (maybe 10 minutes of good sourdough bread and
table water). The clams were delivered promptly, but while we were
still on the last two, the waiter delivered the entrees. After that,
he was essentially invisible, until we were obviously well past
done with the entrees. We ordered desserts; after that, the waiter
sort of tossed two spoons on the table (presumably for the ice cream
with each dessert). A different waiter brought dessert; our original
waiter deposited the check, then proceeded to ignore us again. The
hostess eventually took the check.

It's interesting that this seems to be the *precise* pattern of
mediocre service in 9 out of 10 cases that mediocre service occurs.
I wonder if anyone has a theory for why it should be this particular
pattern of rush/delay.

As for Cantankerous Fish, I haven't been there. My tastes are, I
guess, pretty much the complete opposite of Axlq. If I want seafood,
I'm heading for a Hong Kong style restaurant, and American style
would be a last resort sort of choice. Consequently, Cantankerous
Fish is a restaurant I might never try.

[axlq in California]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
As for Cantankerous Fish, I haven't been there. My tastes are, I
guess, pretty much the complete opposite of Axlq. If I want seafood,
I'm heading for a Hong Kong style restaurant, and American style
would be a last resort sort of choice.

Actually your tastes are surprisingly similar to mine. My problem
with Asian restaurants is that more often than not, their "seafood"
turns out to be just shellfish or shrimp. When I go out for
seafood, I usually don't want shellfish, I want a fish that swims.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out last night that Sue's Indian
place on Castro does serve actual fish (albeit the pomfret was too
spicy for my taste), and I learned elsewhere in this thread that
there are other Asian restaurants that do, also.

Post by Todd Michel McComb
Consequently, Cantankerous Fish is a restaurant I might never try.

It's worth a try. They make a good salmon. And, I don't know of
ANY other place except the now-defunct Global Village Cafe, that
serves rock shrimp. If you never tried 'em, you should; they're
like little lobsters.

-A

[Todd Michel McComb]

My problem with Asian restaurants is that more often than not,
their "seafood" turns out to be just shellfish or shrimp.

Well, that is indeed what I tend to prefer, but the wife and kids
often get fish. Most (maybe all?) of the Cantonese seafood restaurants
around here have some fish, so at least at that existential level,
it seems fine.

BTW, the new Chinese market in NW Mountain View, Golden Phoenix,
will fry any of their live fish for you to take home.

I learned elsewhere in this thread that there are other Asian
restaurants that do, also.

Fu Lam Mum and Kirin are always going to have some sort of fish.
Don't just look at the menu, but ask about smaller fish.

I do like rock shrimp, but I'm drawing a blank on where I last ate
them (sometime in 2003).

[Danny Low]

Post by axlq in California
Actually your tastes are surprisingly similar to mine. My problem
with Asian restaurants is that more often than not, their "seafood"
turns out to be just shellfish or shrimp. When I go out for
seafood, I usually don't want shellfish, I want a fish that swims.

Have you tried Canton Delight in Cupertino? (behind the Target store
there). Excellent dim sum on weekends and a wide selection of seafood
for dinner.

Danny

Don't question authority. What makes you think they
know anything? (Remove the first dot for a valid e-mail
address)

[Wayne E. Amacher]

Remove the "." from wamacher to reply. My response is bottom posted.

Steve Fenwick <***@nospam.invalid> wrote:

: A somewhat contrarian opinion:

: Herself and I were looking for dinner tonight around 8PM, so we tried
: trolling Castro Street, and hooked a Cantankerous Fish. The clue should
: have been that Cascal, next door, had a 45-minute wait and Cantankerous
: Fish was a walk-in. While it wasn't a bad meal, it certainly wasn't good
: for the price. I saw Mr. Amacher's review just now, and we had a
: distinctly different result.

: The ambiance is medium-loud; we could hold a conversation tolerably
: well, but it's definitely not a quiet dining spot. The table we were at
: had marginal clearance for staff and diners to pass--not as bad as
: Zucca's by-the-mirror tables, though. The kitchen noise was evident, but
: the high counter backsplash cut off much of the theater of the open
: kitchen.

: We started with the steamed clams. These were quite good, particlarly
: with a little fresh lemon, and presaged a good meal. Alas...

: I had the trout; she had the scallops. The trout was nicely browned and
: flavored with a lemony beurre blanc. The accompanying blue lake beans
: were only lightly steamed, which I liked (good crunch), but she didn't.
: The jasmine rice I requested in place of the mashed potatoes were hot,
: just right in stickiness, and complemented the fish nicely.

: Alas, the scallops. An odd seasoning and decidely too-soft texture
: suggested poor preparation. Her rice was also much cooler. It was as
: though I had gotten the efforts of the head chef, and she a new
: sous-chef. While not bad enough to send back, definitely not worth the
: tab. She who dislikes most fish agreed that I got the better entree.

: We tried the desserts to see if they were better. The cheesecake scored
: a hit with herself; even though the berries (raspberries and
: blackberries) appeared to have been frozen (well out of season around
: here), the lack of bottom crust went down well. The warm chocolate,
: unfortunately, was only slightly above room temperature. The chocolate
: sauce was nicely bitter, for those who like dark chocolates.

: Service was mediocre at best. The waiter tried to take our order under a
: minute after we had been seated. No specials were read (do they have
: any?) We ordered drinks and deferred our main order. This lead to a long
: delay in getting our order in (maybe 10 minutes of good sourdough bread
: and table water). The clams were delivered promptly, but while we were
: still on the last two, the waiter delivered the entrees. After that, he
: was essentially invisible, until we were obviously well past done with
: the entrees. We ordered desserts; after that, the waiter sort of tossed
: two spoons on the table (presumably for the ice cream with each
: dessert). A different waiter brought dessert; our original waiter
: deposited the check, then proceeded to ignore us again. The hostess
: eventually took the check.

: With no wine, we were out $72 (one appetizer, two entrees, two desserts,
: one soft drink, one large mineral water). Given that we could have had a
: much better meal at Zucca for the same price, or two at Pasta? for a
: little more, I don't see much reason to return. I'll wait for another
: ba.foodie (or two) to negate our experience with positive ones before
: going back.

: Steve

: --
: steve <at> w0x0f <dot> com

I ususally go out to seafood restaurants in the hopes of keeping my
cloresterol down and lengthening my life. I have coronary artery disease,
but it doesn't seem to have any effect other than greatly increasing my
prescription costs!

Have you tried Bluewater Grill in Menlo Park?

At the moment I would rank the seafood restaurants in the bay area as
follows:

1. Steamers Grillhouse, Los Gatos
2. Any restaurant in Boston, MA
3. Bluewater Grill, Menlo Park (they serve an awsome hot fudge sundae as
well)
4. Cantankerous Fish, Mountain View
5. Mezza Luna, Princeton by the Sea (for their seafood salad)
6. Sushi Maru, Sunnyvale (outstanding!)
7. Banzai (sp?) Sushi. Berkeley
8. Bay Sushi, Sunnyvale (haven't been there for a while)

Other places:
9. Hawg's Seafood bar, San Jose (haven't been there for a while)
10. Cook's Seafood Restaurant, Menlo Park (tasty, deep fried, not good for
the heart, better than any other fish and chips place, definitely not
fancy!)
11. Lou's Village, San Jose (went there once haven't been back)
12. Scott's Seafood, San Jose (Overpriced for what you get, Cantankerous
Fish is an offshoot of Scott's and in my opinion much, much better)
12. Todai is the pits!

Based on this thread we will try Cafe Yulong in the near future.

If you can lead us to new and different seafood restaurants, I would sure
appreciate it. I sincerely hope that I have missed some really, really
good ones!

I generally cook fish at home, and in my opinion I cook as good or better
than most restaurants. I can hardly wait for sea-run king salmon season
to begin.

I rank seafood as follows:

1. Fresh caught crappie from Lake Comanche
2. Fresh caught trout and coho salmon from Lake Almanor
3. Sea-run King Salmon
4. Pacific Seabass
5. Petrale Sole
6. All the rest

My favorite fish market is Race Street, San Jose. Are there other
suggestions?

Wayne E. Amacher

[Jo Ann Malina]

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
10. Cook's Seafood Restaurant, Menlo Park (tasty, deep fried, not good for
the heart, better than any other fish and chips place, definitely not
fancy!)

Cook's has raised their prices again. For $30 recently, we got
1 2-piece mate's order, 1 3-piece captain's order (both halibut), one
small crab salad, 2 Tejavas. Too expensive for the quality, which
continues to deteriorate.

The fish pieces were huge, and tasteless. The crab salad was a small
amount of crab (also tasteless) scattered on iceberg lettuce with a
side of thousand island dressing. Given how few fish-n-chips places
there are around here, I may go back when the wild salmon come in. But
I sure wish there were more alternatives.

[Al Eisner]

Post by Jo Ann Malina

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
10. Cook's Seafood Restaurant, Menlo Park (tasty, deep fried, not good for
the heart, better than any other fish and chips place, definitely not
fancy!)

Cook's has raised their prices again. For $30 recently, we got
1 2-piece mate's order, 1 3-piece captain's order (both halibut), one
small crab salad, 2 Tejavas. Too expensive for the quality, which
continues to deteriorate.
The fish pieces were huge, and tasteless. The crab salad was a small
amount of crab (also tasteless) scattered on iceberg lettuce with a
side of thousand island dressing. Given how few fish-n-chips places
there are around here, I may go back when the wild salmon come in. But
I sure wish there were more alternatives.

Strange -- I've been making pretty regular visits to Cook's (typically
monthly) for years, and I've detected no change in quality. Prices have
edged up a bit. They have slightly addressed one of my peeves in that
they now offer a single combination plate (fish and shrimp), although it's
not a good deal.

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
If you can lead us to new and different seafood restaurants, I
would sure appreciate it.

Not specifically seafood, but in the same vein as going to Chinese
restaurants for fish (and Mayflower is my personal preference
food-wise), the Thai restaurants have some tasty fish preparations,
as do the higher-end Indian places (Amber, Turmerik). You don't
really need everything on the menu to be seafood in order to have
some good seafood. Actually, though, we tend to order almost all
seafood if we go out to a Chinese restaurant.

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
Are there other suggestions?

Again, the Chinese options are plentiful. MV Market there on Castro
has good seafood. You just can't beat the price in Asian markets,
and they are also obsessed with freshness.

[Alison Chaiken]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
Not specifically seafood, but in the same vein as going to Chinese
restaurants for fish (and Mayflower is my personal preference
food-wise),

What seafood dishes do you recommend at Mayflower?

Post by Todd Michel McComb
You just can't beat the price in Asian markets, and they are also
obsessed with freshness.

I agree. After getting 4 lbs of fresh mackerel for $4.36 last week, I
can hardly complain! But the great thing for me about 99 Ranch 99 is
the quality and healthfulness of the takeout seafood, which is as
convenient as KFC or pizza and not much more expensive.

[Todd Michel McComb]

In article <x6ekslgmjc.fsf_-***@scoville.wsrcc.com>,
Alison Chaiken

Post by Alison Chaiken
What seafood dishes do you recommend at Mayflower?

We tend to order based on what's in season, whether crab or lobster,
probably some live prawns, and a fish. They cook these things all
manner of ways, so it depends on what you like. I like the crab
fried with chile & garlic, the lobster in ginger sauce, the prawns
steamed with garlic, etc. We tend to get the most variety in fish,
depending on what they have, and whether we feel like crispy or
not. Oh, and we often get giant clams or maybe regular clams.
Mayflower will generally have the biggest variety of live seafood,
and be able to handle the widest variety of preparation methods.
Off the menu, we'll always get a soup (bamboo pith and crab, often),
usually a cold appetizer sampler, and maybe a simple meat dish to
complement the seafood. The downside is they often have banquets,
which can be annoying.

[axlq in California]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
You just can't beat the price in Asian markets,
and they are also obsessed with freshness.

That wasn't my impression.

At Asian markets, I see more wilted vegetables and more cloudy-eyed
fish than at any other grocery store. Also, the smell of the fish
section in an Asian market reeks more strongly of decay than other
fish stores. Yes, I'm including the market on Castro here.

On the upside, you can buy live fish at that Asian market. And when
the vegetables are fresh, they are really good; I guess one has to
go at the right time.

-A

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by axlq in California
On the upside, you can buy live fish at that Asian market. And when
the vegetables are fresh, they are really good; I guess one has to
go at the right time.

I agree the vegetables aren't generally that great. It's sort of
buyer beware with the fish, but we've always found it easy to get
something very fresh. You wouldn't want to go in there with a
blindfold and come out with whatever you happened to get.

[axlq in California]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
I agree the vegetables aren't generally that great. It's sort of
buyer beware with the fish, but we've always found it easy to get
something very fresh. You wouldn't want to go in there with a
blindfold and come out with whatever you happened to get.

Even with eyes wide open it's buyer beware, when you go to an Asian
market to buy some unusual seafood item. I went in once, and saw
some skate wings ("sting ray" wings). I had never seen them sold
before (only caught by fishermen on the Berkeley pier), or eaten
them, so I thought I'd cook them to see what they were like. I had
no way of knowing what they were supposed to look like or smell
like, no telling whether or not they were any good. I cooked them,
and they tasted nice enough that I'd eat them again, but my fiance
got a mild case of food poisoning and threw up all evening.

-A

[Todd Michel McComb]

Post by axlq in California
Even with eyes wide open it's buyer beware, when you go to an Asian
market to buy some unusual seafood item.

I should clarify what I said. Just as with restaurants, I have a
tendency to remember only the best items. That's why I go, and so
I mainly ignore the no-good stuff. I'm not going to eat that anyway.
So I try to remember to mention this when discussing restaurants,
i.e. whether a restaurant has some good and some bad things, or if
it's all good. In that context, then, let me say that in my
experience, the typical Asian market has seafood which is both
fresher and less fresh than that in the typical "American" market.
The latter tends to be more consistent, clustering somewhere in the
middle of freshness. I go to the Asian markets to buy the freshest
items. They will have more things right off the boat, but they'll
also keep them longer, hoping to sell them if they don't sell
initially.

Regarding skate wings (which are astonishingly cheap to buy, given
their standing in high-end tasting menus, BTW), they will smell of
ammonia when they are going old, just like shark (of which they are
a close relative). Oftentimes people get sick and think it's food,
when really they just had a virus passing through their system; I
am quite certain that food poisoning happens less often than it is
cited. Or it might have been other contamination. Freshness per
se in a skate wing should be easily detectable.

[axlq in California]

Post by Todd Michel McComb
I should clarify what I said. Just as with restaurants, I have a
tendency to remember only the best items. That's why I go, and so
I mainly ignore the no-good stuff. I'm not going to eat that anyway.
So I try to remember to mention this when discussing restaurants,
i.e. whether a restaurant has some good and some bad things, or if
it's all good.

...which brings us back around the the original subject of this
thread, Cantankerous Fish. They have good items and not-so-good
items. The good items are worth going for. And rare items are
worth going for, even if they're not the best (although it's hard to
mess up rock shrimp, and I liked the ones at CF).

-A

[Steve Pope]

Post by axlq in California
At Asian markets, I see more wilted vegetables and more
cloudy-eyed fish than at any other grocery store. Also, the
smell of the fish section in an Asian market reeks more strongly
of decay than other fish stores.

That's my impression too. It's pretty sad, because one
would like to think one could obtain good produce in say
Oakland Chinatown, but the times I have checked it out
it was very disappointing.

The problem extends to a fair number of Chinese restaurants
as well, where one often gets served slightly moldy-tasting
or otherwise unfresh vegetables.

I really don't understand this situation....

Steve

[Al Eisner]

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
I ususally go out to seafood restaurants in the hopes of keeping my
cloresterol down and lengthening my life. I have coronary artery disease,
but it doesn't seem to have any effect other than greatly increasing my
prescription costs!

and then

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
3. Bluewater Grill, Menlo Park (they serve an awsome hot fudge sundae as
well)

Is there something which doesn't quite hang together here?

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
Have you tried Bluewater Grill in Menlo Park?
At the moment I would rank the seafood restaurants in the bay area as
1. Steamers Grillhouse, Los Gatos
2. Any restaurant in Boston, MA
3. Bluewater Grill, Menlo Park (they serve an awsome hot fudge sundae as
well)
4. Cantankerous Fish, Mountain View
5. Mezza Luna, Princeton by the Sea (for their seafood salad)
6. Sushi Maru, Sunnyvale (outstanding!)
7. Banzai (sp?) Sushi. Berkeley
8. Bay Sushi, Sunnyvale (haven't been there for a while)

I've been to Bluewater in Menlo Park a couple of times (once recently) --
it's pretty good (well, better than the Fish Market at least) and the calamari
appetizer is very good), but if it ranks second on a list of local seafood
places we're in pretty sorry shape! (Bluewater is, by the way, a mini-chain
from Orange Co. and vicinity.)

My one visit to Steamers was a lunch visit (I recall having crab cakes
or something like that) so I can't fully judge it, but I wasn't overly
impressed with the food (and the kitchen that day was exceedingly slow --
my waiter apologized repeatedly).

Maybe you need to get to SF. While I don't think it can match Boston
(although it's been years since I've been to Boston), Sam's Grill and
probably Tadich Grill are better than those top two above, not to mention
the more-limited-menu but excellent Swan Oyster Depot.
--
Al Eisner
San Mateo Co., CA

[Wayne E. Amacher]

To reply, remove the dot in wamacher.

Al Eisner <***@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
: On Mon, 23 Feb 2004, Wayne E. Amacher wrote:

:> I ususally go out to seafood restaurants in the hopes of keeping my
:> cloresterol down and lengthening my life. I have coronary artery disease,
:> but it doesn't seem to have any effect other than greatly increasing my
:> prescription costs!

: and then

:> 3. Bluewater Grill, Menlo Park (they serve an awsome hot fudge sundae as
:> well)

: Is there something which doesn't quite hang together here?


Yep! I'm human. I've only had the sundae once or twice. The doctors do
let you splurge once in a while! For $3.95 it's huge.



: Maybe you need to get to SF. While I don't think it can match Boston
: (although it's been years since I've been to Boston), Sam's Grill and
: probably Tadich Grill are better than those top two above, not to mention
: the more-limited-menu but excellent Swan Oyster Depot.
: --
Thanks for the tip. I'll try them, not likely soon though.

: Al Eisner
: San Mateo Co., CA

Wayne E. Amacher

[Al Eisner]

Post by Wayne E. Amacher
: Maybe you need to get to SF. While I don't think it can match Boston
: (although it's been years since I've been to Boston), Sam's Grill and
: probably Tadich Grill are better than those top two above, not to mention
: the more-limited-menu but excellent Swan Oyster Depot.
: --
Thanks for the tip. I'll try them, not likely soon though.

I should add that Swan is lunch-only. It's small and very popular, \resulting in lines at peak times. But it's worth a visit.

[Geoff Miller]

Post by Steve Fenwick
Service was mediocre at best.

[...]

Post by Steve Fenwick
I'll wait for another ba.foodie (or two) to negate our
experience with positive ones before going back.

Or you could print out a copy of your post and mail it to
the manager.

Not everyone is a natural leader, and that applies to
restaurant managers as much as it does to leaders in any
other profession. Maybe this one isn't sufficiently on
top of things at his restaurant, and needs to be made
aware of experiences such as yours in order to fix the
problem.



Geoff

[Mean Green Dancing Machine]

Post by Geoff Miller
Or you could print out a copy of your post and mail it to
the manager.

Actually, that's exactly what I did last night for Sirayvah.