It’s Comic Con weekend in San Diego and we decided to stay in the downtown area for lunch. The Fish Market Restaurant sits on San Diego harbor, next to the USS Midway aircraft carrier with indoor and outdoor seatings. The parking lot is relative small and all the spaces were taken. So, we had to do the valet parking. The Fish Market is known for fresh local catch and fresh seafood. By the entrance, they have an actual seafood counter at the front as you walk in and customers buy catch of the day as well as other fresh seafood. The restaurant is spacious and has two stories. The main floor is casual dining with wood tables and the more upscale version of the restaurant upstairs is for fine dining (food is more expensive but better ambiance). There is a bar in the main lobby. We were seated outside downstairs in the glass closed deck with a beautiful view to the activities on the harbor. There were sailboats, jet skies, cruise ships, party boats and people fishing next to the restaurant. Fish Market has a Comic Con menu and restaurant has a pirates theme for the Comic Con weekend. Hostess dressed up as pirate to greet us at the hostess station and the restaurant entry area was decorated with the pirates theme as well.

This restaurant offers fresh caught fish and supports the locally caught fresh seafood movement. We ordered the New England clam chowder and salt & pepper calamari as appetizers. The soup was rich, thick and creamy with plenty of clams. The calamari was tasty, small portion, with two dipping sauces, sweet chili and shot sauce, and had a heavy handed batter. For the main dishes, we had the popular Dungeness crab cioppino which came with a plethora of fresh seafood: Dungeness crab, calamari, mussels, clams, and linguine in a savory tomato based marinara sauce. There were two pieces of crispy, toasted bread on the side of the dish which we used to soak up the marinara sauce. We had the options to have the crab shelled or with shell. Serving size was generous and we had leftovers to take home. The service was prompt and efficient with one exception….waitstaff didn’t give us the complimentary sourdough bread and whipped butter and we were disappointed and reported this to their night manager. She said she will look into this situation and call us back but we have not yet heard back from Fish Market. We lowered the rating for the unsatisfactory customer service.

Outside seating for the full Fish Market experience is a must. Food was delicious and at a tolerable high price point for seafood (make no mistake, it is still expensive to have seafood during this high inflation economic landscape). For a family of 4, our bill came to $200 plus tips, plus service charge and plus valet parking. After lunch, we strolled around the bay and checked out the famous statue of a sailor kissing a young lady upon return from the war and the Bob Hope honorary status garden and the marina. Valet parking attendant gave us discount when we showed him our itemized receipt from Fish Market. For the fantastic scenic views on the waterfront and good food, we probably will visit the restaurant again and hope that they will serve us the complimentary bread. Next time, we will request for the secret “golden” chowder which is half Manhattan/half New England. Also, we will request for the secret Duckets Bucket, a mix of mussels and claims.