Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mitchell's Fish Market inTampa - Lunch - 4.5 stars

Today, our children are with their Bubby preparing for tomorrow night's event, Sedar 2011. The Mup and I decided to go to a nice lunch at a new place, get some accessories for his new toy, and dilly-dally since we cannot often do that comfortably with the kidlets. A Facebook friend, who is also a teacher at the kidlets' school, posted about her outing last night at Ocean Prime for her anniversary. Unfortunately, they do not open until 4PM on Sundays. Back up plan in full effect, we decide to go to Mitchell's Fish Market, a place we have been wanting to try.

First Glance: It looks a little ritzy. Inside is clean, moderately upscale, staff is friendly, raw bar (oysters) seats 4 and has an impressive mound of fresh oysters on ice for your viewing (and slurping) pleasure, a fish display like you would see at a deli/meat/fish monger counter beautifully displays their wares, and more than one room accommodates larger, private parties.

First Bite: Being a San Francisco Bay Area native, sourdough is my favorite starch, bar none. Tampa is hardly the place to find decent sourdough. Much to my surprise, fresh, hot sourdough baguettes are served as a precursor to your meal. The tartness was spot on, too! Impressed so far.

The Meal: Blackened Salmon & Spinach Salad. $13 is a little pricey for lunch, I will admit. However, the salmon was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The salad got and A+ for portion size, was fresh and had the exact amount of dressing needed. The dressing was obviously made in house and had the perfect amount of sweetness for a spinach salad. The pecans were chopped (which I prefer in a salad) and the apple slices were cold, crisp and juicy. The red onion was sliced extremely thin so it did not overpower the salad. However, the goat cheese could have played a bigger role.

Overall: Why 4.5 instead of 5? The lack of goat cheese and the price. You pay for good food, but if I am paying $13 for a 3oz salmon and a salad, toss a little more goat cheese in there! Other than that, I will not complain. We will definitely be back.