Moby Dick Seafood Restaurant

Restaurant: Moby Dick Seafood Restaurant

Cuisine: American/West Coast/Fast Food/Seafood
Last visited: January 9, 2010
Area: White Rock, BC
15479 Marine Drive
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: Fish: 6 Other stuff: 2
Service: 5

Ambiance: 3

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

• Family owned
• Since 1975
• Specializes/famous for fish and chips and tartar sauce
• Huge portions, huge pieces of fish
• Only one kind of fish: Cod
• Deep fried and breaded everything, except for salads
• Familiar to locals and tourists
• Line-ups
• Homemade, family recipes
• Great for families/seniors
• Very casual, fun atmosphere
• Special: Buy 3 pieces and get 1 FREE
• Great option for picnic on the beach
• Some burgers, sides, salads available
• Award winning “Travelocity.ca selected local favourite”
• Dine in/Take-out
• Take-out window, patio area
• Accepts inteac/Visa/Mastercard

**Recommendation: Fish and tartar sauce (I’d even pass on the chips)

The first time I heard about Moby Dick Seafood Restaurant was at a family dinner. Thanks to me we always end up talking about food! :D My cousins and I were sitting at a table talking about the best fish and chips in the city. I was talking about how I wasn’t impressed by Pajo’s in Richmond and then with high enthusiasm one of them blurts out “Moby Dick! Moby Dick in White Rock is THE BEST Fish and Chips in Vancouver!” I could hear the passion in his voice and the excitement in his eyes. We could all feel it…it was pretty hilarious. Nonetheless all of us put it on our list of places to go!

So I came here literally right after my 3 course brunch at Giraffe Restaurant down the street. This was pretty much my second lunch, but I just had to try it! While waiting for Kim to arrive, I spent 20 min. walking up and down the street to burn off brunch so I would be hungry again. Kim and I have been talking about it for ages, so I’m glad we finally made it!

Moby Dick Seafood Restaurant has been around for ages, and not much has changed since its opened…not that I was alive then, but it doesn’t seem like anything has changed. It has the family owned atmosphere with that “tacky” quality fish and chip places have. It’s fun though and it suites the atmosphere, so I liked it! Even the service is very family-owned – everyone seems to be grinning from ear to ear and you can feel that they really appreciate your business from the moment you walk in to the minute you leave.

Some (very few) people may call it a "tourist trap", but I don't think so. I was there visiting in the winter and it was packed with locals. Ultimately you do get a huge piece of quality fish that's fried very well with homemade tartar sauce...I could pass on the other items though.

On the table:

**3 Pieces Fish & Chips 6/6

• $16.60 (If you order 3 pieces you get 1 free! The offer isn’t advertised, but they’ll give it to you.)
• Yes, this was the best fish and chips I’ve had yet. However I don’t have much to compare to because I don’t have fish and chips too often. I could, but I doubt I will find better than this.
• The fish is premium quality Alaskan Lingcod and they slice and filet it in house! It’s the biggest deep-fried fish I’ve ever had. The meat was was juicy, tender, flaky and fried golden brown to perfection.
• The batter is the 2^nd part to what makes this fish perfect. It’s a really thin crispy batter, to the point of almost forming air pockets. It was that light and I’m so surprised at how well it held on to the fish, the fish didn’t separate from the batter. I want to taste more fish than I do batter, and in this case I did. It was the perfect ratio.
• To my surprise, one of the first things I noticed was that the fish and batter were not seasoned. There was no pepper and very little, or I think none at all – salt! Usually this would be a big deal to me, because there should be some salt to enhance the flavour, but it didn’t bother me here too much because the star of the show was the tartar sauce!

  

Tartar sauce 5/6

• Small: $.80 Large $1.40
• The tartar sauce is another famous item at Moby Dick Seafood Restaurant.
• Start off with a premium ingredient and serve it with a homemade sauce…how can you go wrong?
• People say it’s the best tartar sauce ever, so I had my expectations set high. I wouldn't call it a classic tartar sauce though.
• It smells and tastes like dill vegetable dip and ranch salad dressing mixed together. It’s mayo based, so a bit thicker than a salad dressing. There’s lots of dill, some pickles and minced onions too. It could really be used as a potato chip dip or for a potato salad. It was creamy, but maybe a bit thinner in texture than a traditional tartar sauce. It was excellent, but the dominant flavour is dill and for a tartar sauce I would like a bit more of a pickled flavour.

Chips 1.5/6

• Small $3.90 Medium $4.90 Large $5.90
• To be honest I could do without the fries. They’re hand-cut Yukon Gold fries with the skins on (even though the menu says they peel the skins by hand).
• They’re a bit sweeter because they’re Yukon golds and they would have been excellent if they cooked them well. They were very oily though and soggy because they were soaked in oil. They were almost wet, and I had grease all over my hands.
• They could have been so good, but I think they need to re-assess the cooking temperature and time…or even just fry them twice or fry them longer in hotter oil. It catches me off guard because they nailed the frying time on the fish and the batter was so light and crispy.

  

Clam Strips 1/6

• Breaded clam strips served with cocktail sauce $4.90
• I was not feeling this at all. The batter was completely opposite of the batter on the fish. It was dense, crunchy and reminded be of the batter cheap pubs use for their onion rings. Or it reminded me of heavily battered popcorn shrimp, but with a fishy taste. The batter separated from the clam meat; however the clam itself was quite tender. It was a whole lot of batter and not a whole lot of clam.
• The clam strips were also quite bitty too. There were a few that were at least 2 inches and then a bunch at the bottom that were really small.
• I also didn’t like how they served it with 2 random onion rings. It was almost like they knew the clam strips looked a bit pathetic so they added the rings last minute to make the dish look fuller. How did they taste? Like a regular onion ring. It wasn't the fish batter or the clam batter, but somewhere in between.
• Cocktail sauce: The cocktail sauce was more on the ketchup side than it was on the horseradish side. It was quite mild, so I think it catered more to kids and seniors with sensitive taste buds. It was a bit tangy and lemony but I like a stronger kick to my cocktail sauce.

Pajo's - Fish & Chips

Pajo's - Wharf at Steveston Village, Richmond
Fish & Chips - "One of Each" - Cod, Salmon, Halibut w/Chips

Restaurant: Pajo's - Fish & Chips
Cuisine: Fish & Chips/Seafood/West Coast/British

Last visited: August 30, 09

Area: Multiple - Richmond, BC

154 East 8th Ave

Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very Good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2

Service: 2, well it's self-service

Ambiance: 5

Overall: 3

Additional comments:

• Since 1985
• Fish & Chips are inconsistent - depends which batch you get
• Small pieces of fish, soggy fries
• Heavy on batter, little on fish
• Don't go during peak hours, cause they make ahead and dish them out
  
• Eat outdoors on open patio right on the dock
  
• Hours depend on weather - call ahead
• Fun place to eat
• Pay at cashier/Self-service
• Pronounced "PaH-jo's" not "PaY-jo's"
• Line-ups/crowded during peak hours, weekend and esp. when there's hot weather
• Local fish
• Quite expensive for fish & chips, and especially for self-service
  
• Serves hamburgers, hot dogs, sides as well
• Store bought cole slaw, homemade chowder
  
• Tourist location - attracts families/still familiar to locals

**Recommendation: "One of Each" - Cod, Salmon, Halibut (I like salmon the best - skip the fries, they're soggy), Crab Cakes

I came here based on a recommendation and I would have never found it on my own, although it's a popular tourist location. It's right on the dock and you have to walk right to the end of Steveston Village where all the boats are docked and walk down a ramp in order to find it. It's not really hidden, it's just there's nothing else around it so you rarely wonder down that area.

It's famous for their fish and chips, but I don't think it's the best fish and chips I've had. If you're going to claim "famous for fish and chips" - I'm going to expect a lot. It's more "famous" because they've been there for so long, not because the fish and chips are better than everyone else. The pieces are kind of small and the chips are soggy; I think the outdoor self-service atmosphere is what makes this place great - not the food. Go for the atmosphere, not if you're expecting the best fish and chips of your life. It's really one of those "been there for 0ver 20 years and is part of Steveston history" places that you bring your kids and family to. Great for a visit on a hot summer day.

Note: The fish and chips are inconsistent. Ours were a soggy batch becuase we ent during busy hours and they have a batch of pre-made ones. It depends on your luck, the really sweet lady next to me let me try hers and hers was a a good batch - nice and crispy.

On the table:

• **"One of Each" - Cod, Salmon, Halibut
  
• (Just to try them all, but salmon was best) $13.09
  
• Kind of hard to judge because we got a premade batch, so the batter was soggy, but I did try a better batch so I'm able to gauge a general idea.
• Cod 2/6
  

  

• Cod 2/6 - picture below is from a better batch, still not enough fish...
• From a good batch it would have been 2.5/6, but mine was a pre-made batch so the batter was soggy. Even when I tried a piece from a better batch where the skin is crispy - there's still not enough fish. It's a wimpy small fillet of cod they use too, so there's too much batter not enough fish. The batter and fish aren't seasoned, at least they don't taste seasoned, so you really need the tartar sauce. It's local fish, but not necessarily the best quality so it wasn't one of those "doesn't require seasoning because it's so fresh" things either
• **Salmon 3.5/6
• The salmon was still good even from a pre- made batch. So it would be even better, if it was fresh. This was the most flavourful of the 3 - not fishy tasting, but just flavourful. It was moist, flaky, and cooked to perfection. It wouldn't have been much better if it was a fresh batch - just because the salmon part was fine, it's just the batter was soggy...so either way it would probably be a 3.5/6. Same problem as the cod though - too much batter, not enough fish.
• Halibut 3/6
• The halibut was quite good. Nice and meaty, pretty good quality to use for fish and chips. You got the most out of the halibut - in terms of batter to fish ratio. The halibut is the only one that was sturdy or thick enough to stand up to the excessive batter they use. The other ones had too much batter , not enough fish.
• Chips/Fries
  
• Soggy, you can pass...especially since it's served in a cone and then they put the fish on top...so all the heat gets trapped inside an d it just gets really soggy.

  

• Crab Cakes 3.5/6
  
• They call them "Famous" crab cakes, they should really call them fish cakes. It's made of almost all fish. If they had called them fish cakes then they'd be a 4/6.
  
• They're made with cod, salmon, halibut, artifical crab meat, green onions and pesto. The most worth it - 2 for $5.69.
• They're nice and flakey on the inside because of the fish, not because of the crab. They're pan-fried and could be sturdier - they get soggy really fast. For me, it was better than the fish and chips becuase they had flavour. They are good FISH cakes, but not good CRAB cakes. There's a big difference.
  
• Chowder 2/6
  
• It's actually 1.5/6, but I give it a 2/6 because it's homemade...which is unexpected for a place like this that's serving such a high volume. I appreciate the effort.
  
• It's really really thick and creamy - they went too heavy on the flour. It's not really the thickness that bothers me, but more because it lacks in flavour. There's are lot of thinkening agents in there, like potatoes, but it's just kind of bland. I wouldn't order it again.
• They call it "chowder" and not "clam chowder" for a reason I think - there' s not much clam
• Mushy Peas 1/6
  
• Typical of British cuisine, and common as a fish and chips side.
  
• Pass on this - it's only .99 cents for a small...which I wish I could get back. It's literally 5 spoonfuls straight from a can...ew, they were really gross. Why it comes in a large?? I don't know.
  
• I like mushy peas too, and I've had great ones, but these were pathetic. They weren't even mashed.
  
• They aren't even peas, they taste like a cheap brand of preserved beans...I can't even say preserved because it sounds too fancy of a word for these...they were canned...cheap canned beans.
  
• Cole Slaw
  
• I didn't order it cause it's store bought - so it should be standard or whatever is cheap, cause I don't imagine them investing much into their sides...besides their crab cakes.