South Bay Wild Fish House — Restaurant in Astoria

We had high hopes going in as we had heard good things. It was really odd ordering, paying, and tipping before we were seated. Not a fan of that. The people working were all very nice. Decor is awesome. We had the ceviche. The chips were great but the ceviche had no flavor whatsoever. It tasted like nothing. We finally asked for lemons and added salt to get some flavor. The chips were better without the ceviche. My wife had the fish tacos. They were good. Not great but good. I ordered the sole banh mi. I was expecting an actual banh mi. The bread was more like a hamburger / hot dog style bread. It was not like chewy banh mi french bread. While there was daikon, cucumbers, jalapenos, and carrots, all typical of a banh mi, there was also a burger style sauce on it. The sandwich just tasted nothing like a banh mi. I took the fish off the bread and it was actually cooked really well. The fish alone was good. The fries were the highlight for me. Otherwise, it was just not a great meal. We also did not see a server very often. Again, they were all very nice, just not much attention. We spilled something at one point and finally had to go to the bar to search out napkins. I guess it didn't matter as we had already tipped them? We don't drink and it seems maybe this is more of a bar with food than a restaurant? Not sure. Really nice people. Great chips and fries. Decent tacos. Nothing we would...

The clam chowder is up there with the very best I've ever had.

Neat little joint with a dining room on the ground floor and another on an upper mezzanine.

My husband had the batter-coated rockfish and I had the prawns. We split a plate of crab/shrimp cakes. All of it was delicious.

We had the coleslaw, which was a little different than the norm. It was made with a lightly sweetened vinaigrette and allowed to wilt a little. My husband did not care for it but it was right up my alley!

The menu is not very big but, based on what we ate, they focus on providing quality food with great flavor.

The fella who waited on us was a neat guy. His wife runs the kitchen and she freaking knows what she is doing! I believe they are the owners. They should be because they took pride in everything and it showed!

The place is decorated with fun things like a skeletal prirate with a hook, peg leg, and a skeletal parrot on his shoulder. There was also a cleverly constructed jellyfish lamp that I'd have loved to take home with me.

At the end of our meal, the bill was presented on a humungous lure-flasher. We thought that was fun!

We have decided this will be our restaurant whenever we...

We had Lady Luck on our side. We were lucky to find this place for dinner this evening. The other lucky part is that we were literally the last people that got in for dinner tonight. This place is so busy they have to cut the line off since they close at 8pm. At worst case they would have let us order to go but we didn’t want dinner in our room. The food was super fresh and creative. I had the Grilled Petrale Sole Banh Mi Sandwich. The fish was made to perfection and the roll they used had a nice flavor and complimented this Vietnamese Sandwich. This was served with a good helping of those Steak Fries that were cooked just right. It was one of the best grilled fish sandwiches I’ve ever had. My wife had the Grilled Rockfish Tacos. The chef warms up the corn tortillas in a little oil on the grill. The tortilla is soft but has a little texture which keeps it together for every bite. Tasty and 3 fairly large tacos - Definitely a meal.

The staff was friendly- you order at the counter then they seat you and bring you your meal. Highly recommend coming here but get there with plenty of time since it is crowded and they don’t take...