Fishy Fishy Cafe — Restaurant in Southport

I only fear that my review of this fabulous restaurant will somehow fall short in describing how incredibly fabulous it is. After a sad couple of weeks with the passing of a friend a family member and our Doggie we decided to get a bite before returning home and found ourselves on the waterfront at Fishy Fishy. The aroma was intoxicating coming from the kitchen and with all the other places there it was an easy choice. We were instantly greeted by a smiley friendly hostess who seated us outside by request overlooking the water with a sublime view. A cocktail order was taken and delivered almost instantly. I had a whiskey sour, my wife opted for the Bourbon and everything orange cocktail. Both were nicely mixed and proper. Our food order was from the starters menu consisting of the Cajun Mahi, a crab dip, the coconut shrimp and a bowl of clam Chowder with small bread basket. The server returned quickly with the plater and a nice smile. The Chowder is probably the best I have ever had, and as an aside I have been a judge in the pleasure island Chowder cook off twice. The texture was creamy and smooth as silk with a flavor that made me audibly moan with pleasure. The clams perfect. The Mahi was perfection as well with just a slight undertone of heat overtone of spice. The accompanying sauce was terrific however the fish stood so strongly on its own we used very little of it. The coconut shrimp was Devine with an extra surprise that the coconut batter was ground as to not have the typical overcooked stringy sharp edges and again cooking was perfect. The crab dip is next level recipe amazing. I think it is a base of rue with a bit of cream cheese to achieve its silky smooth texture with a hugely generous amount of crab meat. Celery just the right amount of pimento sweet onion and fired to a golden top crust. Served with an artisan loaf nicely sliced on the side. The bread basket was a genius mix of several different style rolls all wonderful. I simply can't remember a more delicious and enjoyable meal to compare this to. I can't recommend Fishy Fishy any stronger. Thank you for a dinning experience that made a terrible time melt away...

My dining experience at Fishy Fishy Cafe was sub par. The ambiance and location of fishy fishy cafe is excellent but the food left something to be desired. I understand that ordering chicken tenders at a primarily fish serving resturaunt is a childish thing to do, however, the party I attended with also had some complaints about their food. Two of my good friends ordered the Carolina Seafood Plate which comes with two items and you have the choice of Shrimp, Oysters, Flounder, or Scallops. However, the two must be prepared in the same way; fried, grilled or blackened, which makes little to no sense and is the reason I did not order this. Blackened flounder is quite good and is what I would have ordered, but, I would not like to have blackened oysters, scallops or shrimp. Furthermore, the portion sizes of the food was insufficient for the price. My order of chicken tenders was, although a childish one, deeply upsetting. The food came out looking somewhat appetizing, but came up short to my expectations. The chicken tenders had absolutely no crunch to them, and the breading was cooked on the outside but left a slimy layer where it connected to the chicken. The barbeque sauce tasted like it was from a bottle and the fries were insufficiently seasoned. The inability to properly prepare chicken tenders speaks volumes to the quality of more difficult dishes. On top of somewhat dissapointing food, the staff members we encountered were not the nicest. All of the food looked very appetizing but did not taste as good as it looked. Despite all of this, we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset at a bayside resturaunt amongst freinds which is very hard to beat. If you do plan on dining here I would suggest going at lunch time because the menu...

Ok, I typically will brag on places and I will only write negative reviews if it’s deemed necessary. But I’m going to give you my thoughts on this place. I’m a lifetime visitor of Southport and the surrounding areas. I decided to try this place for the first time recently. Honestly, I really don’t see what the big hype is about this place. Yes, it’s on the water and you have good scenery but the main course meals was just ok. The apps are better than the meals in my opinion. Got a couple of drinks from the bar and told the waiter it had too much ice only to his rebuttal was ‘I didn’t make it’ as he walked away with the glass. I didn’t say the drink wasn’t good. Ok, I let the disrespectful comment go and continued on excitedly waiting for my food to arrive. Ordered the double seafood platter (double shrimp) only to my surprise that both picks had to be cooked the same way which made absolutely no sense but whatever. Received my food….I had to pause and asked myself ‘is this it’? A $24+ seafood platter with a double order of fried shrimp gave me around 10 pieces of shrimp and small sides. What a rip on price and a major disappointment on the quality. They weren’t even large shrimp either. Needless to say I finished my meal cause I sure wasn’t about to let my skimpy meal go to waste especially for how much I was paying for it. For those reading, I’m not saying this place isn’t good. All I’m saying from this review is to choose wisely and consider other places on the island where you aren’t paying for the scenery. Maybe I just had a bad experience my first go here, but unfortunately I will not be going back...