Tugboat Fish and Chips 22 — Restaurant in El Paso

I dislike giving a low rating, as I really try to find the best in restaurants, but I gave this place 2 chances (once for lunch, and once for dinner), and both times it wasn't good.

Now I want to start off with the staff are very polite, and I really have no major complaints about the service. The only big thing was the first time I visited, they forgot to put the tartar and cocktail sauce in the bag. The food needs it.

The decor is interesting, it does give that dockside vibe, but also because the windows are mostly covered, it's a bit claustrophobic. The one thing that needs to be removed is a 10ish year old newspaper review of the restaurant, it's dated and no longer relevant.

The reason it's no longer relevant, is that it was apparently from the restaurant's glory days, and the food no longer lives up to the hype. I got a combo platter both times. The fish was wonderful, and the shrimp okay, but the rest wasn't. They use a clunky, mushy, and tasteless tempura batter that's okay on the shrimp, but doesn't pair well with the oysters or scallops, it just overpowers the natural flavors and gives them a weird texture. Not sure if they use the same batter on the fish, it seemed to have a different texture, also it wasn't as gloppy, and I think would go better on the scallops and oysters. There was no seasoning other than salt, so the entree items were essentially a vehicle to deliver the rather boring tartar and cocktail sauce to your taste buds. Lastly, the fries were awful, they had this weird taste I couldn't place, not sure if it was cooked in old oil, or just fishy oil, but they weren't salted at all, so overall gross.

This was a really big waste of $40 between the 2 visits, as the combo platter isn't cheap. I doubt I'll be back, there is a Long John Silver's closer to me, and frankly, the...

Wanted sushi so stopped in because the traffic and construction on Dyer made it crazy to get to Asian Market on the other side of Dyer. That being said, the male staff were not very friendly and did not know what masago or tobiko were (REALLY?!) So we settled for two rolls without either. That was $32 before tip. We got it to go (we were asked to move several times because they were mopping, we had thought they were closed when we walked in as all of the chairs were up on the tables) they were hanging things up and decorating. The sign insisted that face masks were mandatory, although none of the employees had them on. The guy who made our sushi pulled up his bandana when he made our sushi, although the guy standing next to him talking and laughing with him, wore nothing...we are not even sure we got what we ordered, lol...one roll had huge pieces of mainly rice wrapped in some pink "paper textured fish (?), it was not good. We had a few pieces of chopped up ginger like 4 or 5 slivers (yes, slivers, not the whole pieces you typically get)...the other roll smelled incredibly fishy, we believe it is because they sprinkled some seaweed flakes into the rice (?) The ginger slivers and tiny container of eel sauce drown out the fishiness... more than likely, I would not ever eat there again. It was definitely not worth the $32 we spent for two subpar sushi rolls with no masago, no tabiko, ginger slivers, packaged salt sauce, I meant soy sauce, and just barely enough eel sauce to get through one and...

Ok First off: friend zucchini was the best I have had in a while. Teriffic light coating; most folks will want to add some salt or vinegar. Tried the tempura veggie appetizer on another visit. Very good.

Fish was quite good. I could have done with a two piece order and been fine. Good sized pieces, cooked through and not dry around the edges. The members of our group who ordered chicken and shrimp both were satisfied with their selection as well. Cole slaw was the pineapple variety, a bit wet but tasty (that we did finish) Note: the fish was great warmed up in the oven. Two things to be aware of. They share a parking area with a wireless provider, at least when we were there, parking was competitive... Only one ADA spot between the two business (if I remember correctly) Food is cooked as it is ordered so, if you are looking for an L.J.S. fish experience, or are in a hurry, this may not be the right...