Located near downtown Orlando on Central Boulevard, City Fish is a restaurant that prides itself in serving fresh seafood and seasonal beers. They offer different specials on each, depending on the day of the week. Upon walking through the doors, I could not help but notice the unusual fusion of rustic and urban pier decor. Black and white photos which appeared to be from many, many decades ago adorned the walls. The photos were counterbalanced by columns in the restaurant with mimic graffiti all over them. Also decking the walls were large flat-screen TVs playing sporting events airing that evening.
My friends and I were seated rather quickly. However, we had plenty of time to select our drinks because there was a considerable time lapse before our waitress made an appearance to take our drink orders. On the table they had a small menu and it displayed a few specialty drinks including the “Marshmallow Sparkler” (made of marshmallow vodka, cranberry juice, and champagne) and the “Eola Swamp Water” (consisting of strawberry infused tequila, blue curacao, sour mix and soda water).
Once the waitress appeared again to take our drink order, I opted for a pumpkin ale, after all, City Fish did boast on the website about the seasonal beer. You can imagine my disappointment, then, when the waitress informed me that they were out of pumpkin beer.
I then chose the waitress’s suggestion of the Oberon Ale. It was a decent beer with an interesting and slight citrusy flavor.
After another lengthy absence of our waitress, she made another cameo to take our order. I went with an appetizer of jalapeno hush puppies and the cheeseburger for my entree. One of my comrades ordered oysters. She wanted to split the type of oysters and was eager to try them since she saw the fluorescent “Oyster Bar” sign taunting passerby’s in the window of the restaurant.
However, the restaurant was out of two of the three types of oysters offered on the menu that day (blue points and Hog Island oysters). She settled for the type they did have. My other dinner mates ordered an appetizer of the New England Clam Chowder accompanied by entrees of squash spaghetti and shrimp.
I was eager for the appetizers to arrive; the jalapeno hush puppies seemed very promising. I was not let down when they made it to the table. The hush puppies themselves were phenomenal. They were flavorful, but the jalapeño did not overpower the taste. Equally as impressive was the sauce that was served with the hush puppies; it was a key lime herb mayo that transformed the jalapeño hush puppies from good to downright delicious. The New England Clam chowder was notable as well. It was very flavorful and had a enough
potato flavoring so the clammy taste wasn’t too dominate.
Our entrees arrived and I noticed that the burger was missing the lettuce I ordered but it wasn’t a big enough deal to mention to the waitress. However, I was highly disappointed when I actually took a bite of my burger. The chef seemed to have confused “well-done” with burnt.
The only redeeming quality of this meal was the fries; they were quite tasty and cooked for the correct amount of time.
The squash spaghetti with fish, the recommended dinner special, was delicious. It was served with scalloped potatoes and the whole entree was an unexpected, good combination.
Both the oysters and shrimp were appetizing as well. Both seemed rather fresh and the cocktail sauce complimented them nicely.
Overall, I would recommend all of food ordered with the exception of the burger (unless you have a craving for charcoal). According to them, they were voted Orlando’s best New England Lobster roll. It’s a restaurant worth checking out, but I would suggest going early in the night before they run out of a considerable chunk of their menu.
Daily special and address available at www.cityfishorlando.com
