Chuck's Fish — Restaurant in Madison

After several years of complaining that the area has no fish restaurant, it finally does, but a bit disappointing. The place doesn't seem to know exactly what it is.

The pricing is upscale, but the service, appointments, and menu are not as much. I arrived before 7 on a Thursday night, with the restaurant about 90% full or more. The noise level was moderate, and the music a bit energetic for a fish place, but not too loud.

With no reservation, I felt fortunate to be seated immediately. The lighting was low and atmospheric, if unattractive (overhead shabby-chic mixture of yard-sale looking chandeliers, many with crystals, several colonial, incongruous with the open rafters & rows of milk-glass globes of bistro lights).

As I looked over the menus, my server came and went several times to the table adjacent, enough that I supposed she wasn't my server, as she never spoke, never addressed me, and never greeted me until about 10 minutes later, she appeared, spoke and brought water. That seemed odd, as most dine-in restaurants pride themselves on courtesy and promptness. Altthough they were full, there was no atmosphere of hurry or panic or haste, so relaxed, which was mostly good.

In preference for iced tea, I declined water and she asked twice about my unsweetened tea with lemon, and I asked for sweetener (the pink stuff). The tea arrived and was perfectly brewed, but she plopped down about seven packets of sugar. Not sure what she was thinking, as when my face looked up, she knew she had brought me something else. She then said she thought they only offered Splenda or sugar. A few restaurants do that, but it would have been better to state that rather than bring the order otherwise. Fortunately, they brew tea fresh and it was fine unsweetened

My appetizer was the eel sushi roll, and was brought soon enough and beautifully presented. It was very good, and reasonable at $12. As I observed the room, most of the line cooks were Latinos, and almost all of the servers on the floor looked to be under 30.

The entree was grilled snapper, with a cream sauce which had tiny shrimp in it, lemon, and maybe capers. The sides were the boursin potato cake and some brussels sprouts. Both were OK, but not commendable. The potato cake had no discernable flavor and was pureed white potato deep fried with a coating of bread crumbs that were very fine and perfectly browned. The brussels sprouts had a sort of floured sauteed surface on some of them, but a fish sauce perhaps thrown in with them? I tried them first and could not make outt what was flavoring them, but I did taste fish and and a very slight tang. The blandness of both vegetables was underwhelming.

The snapper was about the width and length of three fingers on my hand, cooked perfectly, but not well presented. My plate was put together without an eye to presentation.

My server was only waiting on two other tables, and not especially busy, yet let my tea run out and then asked me, while I was dining on my entree, if I would like more tea. Just baffling.

The general impression was that most of their servers may have been inexperienced in upscale service. I saw faded jeans, which also doesn't speak well of a restaurant where my tab was $72, including a 20% tip, for a dinner witth no alcohol, no dessert, and a modest appetizer. There was also a general haphazard look to the hosts and staff. One was wearing a fairly dressy cocktail outfit, some donned black aprons, and others just plain street clothes a student might wear.

Oddly, there was a bread plate on the table but I saw no bread on the menu, but it may have been there for appetizer use. The tableware was a quality gage knife and fork, but no spoon and I was not offered an iced tea spoon. The napkin was a fine quality linen, like a tea towel. There was no tablecloth. The wall art was a bit of a rummage sale hodgepodge of various photos and pseudo-impressionist paintings of vases of flowers. Several glass vases with silk arrangements were well done.

It was not a bad meal, just really...

After reading a number of 5-star reviews of earlier visitors, I was disappointed in the overall experience on my first visit. While some aspects of our visit were excellent, some were much less so. We arrived for our 7:15 dinner reservation and were seated promptly. The dinner rush-hour was ending, and tables began clearing on this weeknight right after our arrival. After placing our dinner order, our table service was anything but attentive. Our empty water bottle was never refilled, we sat looking at an empty sushi tray several minutes after we finished and stared over our dirty dinner plates for 10 minutes until I was able to flag down our server for the check. We sat at our table for a little over an hour. The lag between our order time and the delivery of our main course seemed 10 or 15 minutes too long for a simple protein and two made ahead sides, especially since the tables were clearing. An hour earlier it might have seemed OK. The sushi was excellent. Prepared as they indicated in a traditional style, it had just the right mix of flavors. It was served within the time you might expect. I could have eaten several of the roles! The gumbo was nicely prepared, the ingredients good, but the overall flavor/style was a departure from the more traditional and just didn’t leave me wanting for more. The protein (stuffed shrimp and parmesan crusted grouper) was very well prepared, the ingredients very good, the flavors were excellent, and the portions were adequate for the price. The sides seemed more of an afterthought. The mushroom risotto was good, very mild and OK to accompany the fish. The green beans were cold, rubbery and flavorless. They were more of a detraction than a benefit to the plate. Even my wife left hers. My wife prepares something similar at home with Asian flavorings and visitors fight for the last helping. There is plenty of room for Chuck to up his game on the sides. We didn’t have dessert or alcohol with this meal. Our total was just under $75 a person, including the ridiculous 3% (or whatever) added sales tax. The staff we interacted with were all pleasant, but the efficiency of the earlier reviews was not apparent during our visit. Maybe the training staff has now departed? We saw no evidence of a manager in residence during our visit. The general noise level makes polite conversation very difficult, and reduces the overall comfort level of the dining experience. I understand restaurants are like this by design, but it makes no sense to me. We generally enjoyed the dinner, but it could have been a much...

Update 3: Went tonight and yesterday..... yes back to back.....I am sure I told you about the sushi and service already......but the pizza, red snapper, key lime creme brulee, and fudge brownie sundae....Chuck's doesn't miss....if you haven't tried it you missing out

Update: Second Visit in 3 weeks. It's not a bad dish on the menu. You can't go wrong. As previously stated below....yet again, Chuck's was excellent. This time, we got a chance to meet one of the owners, Chris. After raving about how great the experience was yet again, somehow, we mentioned Destin Florida. Only to find out that his mother owns and manages Harbor Dock, which was also one of the best experiences we've ever had. Just want to say thank you to Chris and his wonderful mother for these experiences and we'll definitely be back when she is in town and will definitely pay another visit to Harbor Dock in July when we return to Destin

Chuck's provided my lady and I an awesome dining experience this evening. This was our 1st time dining with Chuck. Walked in and was immediately seated without a wait. Very intimate restaurant with low lighting and soft music.

Noticed immediately that the restaurant had 3 bar areas. Your standard drink serving bar, a sushi bar, and a bar where you can peak into the kitchen and watch the team prepare the food, which will hopefully help you decide what you're going to have.

We started with the chicken egg roll as an appetizer with a asian chili sauce. Came out quick and pipping hot. The presentation was excellent and tasted great. Dinning experience started off great.

The main course was my lady had the fried shrimp, and I had the Spider and Kenji Rolls. Again, the main course came out shortly after we finished our appetizer. The fresh jumbo shrimp were fried to perfection along with the french fries. The Spider Roll with the soft shell crab with the sea weed wrap on the outside was absolutely amazing. No soy sauce needed.....the Kenji Roll with tuna, avocado topped it all off.

Service and pricing is A1, and the fact that it has recently opened and the experience was amazing says something for Huntsville. If you've lived here for a while, then you know new restaurants aren't very good initially. We have to give them some time to work the kinks out, but not Chuck's.

We will definitely be back, oh, and they are open until...