I’d so been looking forward to enjoying some good, fresh seafood while we were in Seattle. Not that you can’t find it here in Austin; it’s just not that reliable. It might be good and fresh on one visit, but not so much the next time, and of course you don’t want to eat seafood on Sunday or Monday since weekend delivery is sketchy at best. And we did in fact enjoy some very nice peppery calamari at Von’s on the first afternoon on the West Coast. But being right on the water evidently wasn’t enough for a Saturday lunch at The Fisherman’s to keep it fresh, at least for me and Santi.
We had great service. We had at least 10 people at the table. I like the fact that most everyone these days is agreeable to splitting checks. It wasn’t always like that. Our waiter Charlie was cheerful and got everyone everything they needed and he kept us with plenty of bread, which I should’ve stuck to.
So they have all these specialty drinks ($9.00) and we got the Cucumber Mary, which sounds like a derogatory term but in reality is virtually a salad in itself with all the garnishing they put into it. Someone else had one, too, so we know it wasn’t that. And it was pretty good, although on the weak side.
We considered getting the lobster (I don’t find it on their online lunch menu) but it seemed a little extravagant for lunchtime and as it appeared not to be local we decided that could wait until we got home. While we were waiting for our entrees, those of us who had soup and salad were served those. The Clam Chowder is good; not as good as my mom’s, obviously, but still decent for being on the other side of the continent from New England. Someone else had it, too, so we know it wasn’t that.
I ordered the Salmon Skewer ($15.95, or $15.00 if you look at the online menu, which also lists a different GM than their business cards) and while the salmon was plentiful, the taste was just kind of…well, not there. Mildest real salmon I’ve ever been served. The rice and steamed vegetables were also plentiful but being indifferent to the salmon at this point, they didn’t make much of an impression either. Santi had the Seafood Pomodoro ($16.95 online, $17.95 in person) and it looked pretty substantial. He seemed to like it.
By now you’re probably wondering when and where things went terribly wrong, and it was about the time we were finishing up the meal. I needed a loo. Not so unusual, but then five minutes later I was back in there. And this was not the cleanest restroom, mind you, although it was cleaner than the one we found later. That’s right, WE. I ended up running back to the restaurant from a block away to use the restroom for the FOURTH time, and it wasn’t 20 minutes after that when Santi and I started climbing steps to try to find yet another restroom in the Pike Place Market. So we both got sick, me for the second time on the trip.
It should also note that 34 minutes after I checked us in on Facebook, my niece commented “Don’t get the calamari!” Evidently she’s been up there recently. She too was not impressed with the place but liked the adjoining carousel. Which is kind of the point of the place, to me at least: you’re not going there for good food, you’re going there for an experience. You need to be suckered in like any other tourist, drink fancy weak drinks, enjoy the interior design (looks like someone ate the Disney Pirates prop house and threw it up) and take your chances in the smelly restroom. “Don’t get the calamari!”?? Don’t worry, sweetheart. We didn’t have a chance. The other sea-monsters got us first.
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