fish in sausalito....at least it wasn't the only reason we were there

We took advantage of one of the rare sunny weekends lately to head up past Marin way out Bolinas way, because, why not. After a full day of wandering the coastline we were making our way back toward the city when hunger struck. This time I was prepared and remembered a place in Sausalito that Ms. O had been to recently and at the time, it seemed like a good idea and time to give it a try. It is called Fish and seafood is their game.

When we got there, seems they were "in between" food times and dinner didn't start until 5, so we got a couple beers and grabbed a menu to kill time. The place is right on the water and has a giant outdoor area for seating, which is great, if it is warm. But today was chilly and we decided to take in the surroundings in the warmth indoors.

Perusing the dinner menu, it is what they call limited, and maybe just a little pricey. Though they are all about the sustainable and local thing, which we all know means higher than average. The SO said they'd pay too, which also helps.

Diving right in with chowder of the red variety and with a Portuguese slant. It is made with tomatoes, linguica, clams, madeira, smoked paprika, Sausalito Springs watercress (yes, it is a thing), potatoes and cilantro--$6 a cup. So, it was interesting. The clams and linguica were a little on the light side and the cilantro was a little on the heavy side. Like the main flavor component kind of thing. Now I like me some cilantro, but this was more than you could find in salsa. Pretty happy all we got was a cup, don't think I could have gotten through a whole bowl.

Yes, fish tacos! I was gonna get the fish and chips, but decided to try and be a little healthy and skipped all the deep fried stuff. Grilled fish on a bed of cabbage and some soft corn tortilla shells underneath all that, with a side of salsa, roasted tomatillo and lime crema. It was a whitefish and whatever the fish of the day was (forgot to look) and I think the quoted price was like $20 something for what you see above. Too be honest, I'm not sure it mattered what the fish was since it was overcooked and dry. Add in all that dry cabbage and I was glad I had those 3 sauces. The tortilla shells had more moisture than the fish. And look! More cilantro! Just what I needed! Next!

Wanna hear a funny story? The SO sometimes doesn't totally read menus, they see something and catch a few words are like, "great, that sounds good!" And that is how we ended up with the hangtown fry--butter fried and cornmeal encrusted oysters, steamed Petaluma eggs, wild mushroom bread pudding, bacon and spinach for $23. Here's the funny part, me and the SO HATE oysters. Like loath them from their grey exteriors to their slimy soft textures. When I saw the order, I was like, "did you read the menu? You know what this is right?" No, they didn't. But here it was in front of us and we are going to give it a try.

The steamed eggs were nice enough, though not as runny inside as you might have liked. The bacon was actually burnt and on the too salty side. The spinach was also burnt to the point of being bitter. The mushroom bread pudding kind of blah. I kept thinking polenta would have been better, mostly because it has more flavor. Then we come to the oysters. Well, the crust on them was kind of nice--crispy, not over cooked and crunchy. You could taste the butter poachedness of them underneath the crunch too. And when it came right down to it, if I liked oysters, they seemed like they would have been good. In the end I couldn't get past my texture issue and overall flavor issue with them though I did get in two pretty big bites. But what a surprise, probably the best thing in this dish was the thing we hate the most--oysters.

What can I say, overall I thought the food was lacking, overcooked and way too pricey. Though had they not manage to kill the bacon and spinach, that hangtown fry might have been worth it, for those of you into oysters. Too bad they don't make a version where you can substitute some fried fish for those oysters then I might have been on board, except for the burnt stuff.

I guess if you are looking for some fresh oysters and few brews while watching the sun set over the bay, the maybe Fish is for you. Me, I won't be going back. Though next time I find myself in a spot like this I've learned my lesson and will just go ahead and get the fish and chips. Better to eat something not so healthy than to go home hungry. Or in our case, stop into Mollie Stone's on the corner and get some kind of sweet dessert to wash away those oyster taste memories.