Happy Hour--a seafood feast at The Fish House/Shuckers Seafood Bar

I searched for a seafood place (that is not Chinese) at the North end of Toronto. I discovered The Fish House over at Markham.  When I found out that the place had a Happy Hour for appetizers, it was enough to convince me to check it out! The place was divided into the main dining room of The Fish House and Shuckers seafood bar.

It had a good number of patrons, not quite what I expected for a week night. The atmosphere seemed more lively at Shuckers (and this is where they have the Happy Hour as well!) so we decided to go into this side of the restaurant. They shared the same menu, but at Shuckers there were TV screens and a lot more drinking going on.

We started off with some crab cakes while the girls had crispy fried calamari. The crab cakes were served with dill sauce. It was okay, but it left a bit of a greasy after taste.

Crab cakes

The calamari was served with a ginger cilantro sauce, which was a nice change from the usual tartar sauce. The girls, ever the calamari-lovers, enjoyed their dish while coloring their activity sheets.

Crispy Calamari

Hubby had Butter-Poached Lobster & Cod. A good-sized cod was pan-seared and topped with butter-poached lobster meat. Gnocchi and sautéed rapini complemented the rich, buttery dish—which was served like a very chunky soup. It wasn’t something hubby quite expected, but he enjoyed his meal.

Butter-poached Lobster and Cod

I had the Seafood Grill with crab-stuffed salmon and Mediterranean salsa, grilled jumbo shrimp & grilled calamari with chimichurri sauce. On the side were mashed sweet potato and steamed asparagus. It was a nice, light dish. I liked the grilled calamari—a dish we don’t often find in other restaurants. The mashed sweet potato was so filling that I had to share a good portion with DD#2, convincing her that “it’s healthy, honey!”

 Seafood Grill

Grandma, the birthday girl, had the Crusted Fresh Fish Platter. It consisted of Macadamia-crusted tilapia, crab-crusted rainbow trout, chili-coconut-crusted cod with white rice, steamed asparagus. Chimichurri was drizzled on top. Again, the dish was nice. I tried a bit of this as well. The fish was tender and not chewy, and the flavours were light and not overwhelming.

Crusted Fresh Fish Platter

Prices for each meal are around $20. Not very cheap, but then again, we expected seafood to be on the pricey side. We were told that the fish they serve is flown in from around the world and the dishes we had were fresh (or should we say, fresh-frozen?). But I’ve had better and fresher seafood.

I’m not raring to return anytime soon to The Fish House/Shuckers Seafood Bar. But you wouldn’t have to drag me to go back, either--especially for Happy Hour!