Fish House — Restaurant in Peoria

My wife and I drove up to Peoria for a concert Friday night, and we had dinner at The Fish House. First, let me say our server, Katelyn, just might be the best server either one of us have had - anywhere, ever. I'm 56 years old and we've traveled quite a bit and eaten at quite a few restaurants, and Katelyn is truly one in a million. She knew the dishes well enough to describe them, and made some good recommendations. She was energetic, attentive, took her time with us and never made us feel rushed; she was very personable, and just really made it a really great experience for us. We can't say enough good things about her.

As for the food, we started with some crab stuffed mushroom caps that came out piping hot and covered in cheese. OMG, were they good! Then we had salads, and Katelyn asked if I wanted blue cheese crumbles with my blue cheese dressing (to which I replied, "I want ALL your blue cheese crumbles!" LOL....) Katelyn didn't disappoint! The salad was perfect. For the main course, Katelyn recommended for me the Sweet Chili Thai Sea Bass - something I probably wouldn't have ordered, had Katelyn not described it well and sold me on it. And it was DELICIOUS! Quite possibly the best fish dish I've ever had! Seriously. I would have a hard time ordering anything else next time we're there. My wife ordered the Grouper Oscar, and it was really good too. She was very happy with it.

We finished off with a slice of turtle cheesecake, and that too was delicious. For beverages, I had a couple cocktails including the Barrel Aged Black Manhattan. I was very impressed with it, and after Katelyn described how they make it, I asked her if they bottle it for sale. So she went and asked, and brought me back a bottle of it to bring home! So I had a couple more last night here at home. : ) If we find ourselves in Peoria again, I can't imagine eating anywhere else (and we'll be asking for a table in Katelyn's area if she's there)! It was a great experience and a great meal. We can't recommend The Fish House....and...

The staff was EXTREMELY pleasant! The lighting is very low which honestly made me super relaxed (almost a little too relaxed I wanted a nap) Now. Their food. It's not bad food I promise! It's just not worth paying the price they have on the food. Their fried sample platter was to die for! I mean it even had alligator! Everything else honestly left me disappointed. The presentation was lovely. I ordered the crab cakes. There was only two which was kind of frustrating and they honestly were very heavy on the breading not as heavy on the crab. The cake in general felt very heavy. Then my husband and I got the lobster bisque. It had maybe one big chunk of lobster but the soup was good in my opinion. My husband didn't like it. For dinner one they took a while to get it to us. I got the Neptune platter and my husband got the gulf of Mexico shrimp. My Neptune platter was ok. The lobster was cooked perfectly. But the scallops and shrimp were extremely bland and disappointing. The scallops were sitting in some liquid and tasted like they were reheated, they were actually hard and tough which scallops never should be. The deviled crab cake was not my favorite. But the hush puppies were amazing! Id never had them before!! My husband's shrimp was literally just a couple of shrimp on a stick. Both of us had to use salt and pepper to season our food(which I don't feel like you should have to do at a restaurant unless you like things a specific way) we both had potatoes au gratin as a side. They were ok but a bit undercooked unfortunately. Our server brought out a cute little cheesecake with a candle since it was our anniversary so that was sweet. It may have been nice to have some options since my husband can't have certain foods but like I said our server was marvelous! She was truly a pleasure. Overall. Not a bad place. Way overpriced though. I honestly don't think...

Food was decent but poor customer service will keep my fiancé and I from returning. The first red flag came when I called a week ago and asked to make a reservation for Valentine’s Day. The hostess informed me that they do not offer reservations on Valentine’s Day and it was their busiest day of the year so I should instead consider making dinner plans on the Wednesday before because “you don’t have to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the actual day”. (What?). When we arrived on Thursday the hostess was on the phone making audible sighing sounds and frustratedly flailing her arms around. The restaurant was surprisingly slow for their “busiest day of the year” so we were seated relatively quickly. Ordered an appetizer, 2 entrees and a bottle of wine. The food came out before the dinner rolls, we were left to refill our own wine glasses and never offered a refill on our waters. When the bill came out the waitress had charged us for a bottle of wine twice the price of the one we ordered and refused to make the correction. After requesting to speak to a manager she made the correction herself and I was never able to speak with a manager which leads me to believe this is a scam pulled often there banking on the fact that customers either will not notice or will not address the price difference. When spending well over $100 for dinner for two I would expect far better and more honest service. I still tipped 20% because I’m sure that was her concearn in the first place given that my fiancé and I are young and eating at a somewhat expensive restaurant. Next time I will save 50 bucks and go to...