Fish Shop — Restaurant in Washington

I went into dinner REALLY wanting to love this place. I’d read a few writeups about it and was excited to eat there. The Scottish original is evidently highly lauded and is King Charles’ favorite fish place. But, like so many recent DC outings, it failed to meet my expectations.

I’ll start with what I liked. It’s a beautiful restaurant. It’s airy. Great decor and views of the Wharf. Impressively styled bar. Friendly hosts. Parking is easy as it sits right above Garage 3.

We settled into our table and perused the menu and wine lists and ordered a few cocktails to start. Our server Roger was delightful and asked if we wanted some bread service for the table. Bread service is $4 for two small pieces of focaccia with a smear of butter on the plate. This was our first mistake.

Upon splitting one of the focaccia, the middle was cold and doughy, literally raw. We brought this to a managers attention (very apologetic gent with blond hair and glasses) and we were promised that a new batch was “being baked as we speak.”

Cocktails arrive and they were good - I had the bourbon/rhubarb and a friend had the tequila/cucumber/soda.

Round two of the bread arrives. Keep in mind. We’ve been seated for almost an hour at this point and we still have our menus in hand. Of the four pieces of focaccia for this round two are again raw cold and doughy in the middle. Paul Hollywood would be really disappointed. All the pieces were cold so the promise of freshly baked/as we speak focaccia was not a thing. I again brought this to our servers attention, showing him the difference in crumb between the fully baked and underdone pieces. He brought a manager over and this is where it really went south for me. She said the right stuff but looked more annoyed at us/me. I was trying to be super diplomatic about it but her explanation was “Well the focaccia appears to be holding on to some moisture.” Duh. Turns out you need to bake it to get the moisture out. Her tone was not apologetic. It was not at all conciliatory.

After removing the focaccia, we ordered some starters and they were good. The Chimney smoked trout crumpets and the Tuna Tarta-lots were tasty but quite pricey at $4-6 per piece. To the restaurants credit, we were comped 6 oysters and a crab/zucchini salad. The grilled fish for 3-4 was a porgy big enough for 2. For $90. The grits were outstanding. Buttery and well seasoned.

We also had the sea bass, risi e bici, and tuna carpaccio which were all nice. A previous reviewer had mentioned the food was overly salty and I did not notice this.

We also asked for some glasses of wine and other drinks that were never brought to the table.

At the end of the night we all just wanted to leave. I had really high hopes but I don’t think they were unrealistic. Fish Shop is an expensive night out and you’ll still want to head down to shake Shack afterwards to get your fill. It was the service and managers attitude, however, that I can’t abide and will prevent me from coming back. Your undercooked bread isn’t my...

Food was amazing, I know its a fish shop but somehow I ordered the Bobo chicken. And not the chicken of the sea I might add. We dined in this past friday and boy it took me until now to sit with my thoughts on this one (perhaps I'm a little lazy). Even though I had the chicken, cooked to perfection by the way, our table had ordered just about everything. Every dish I tried was gorgeous and tasty beyond words found in my vocabulary. Negroni's were on point too. Green Gazspacho w/ pickled crab and quark (dont know what that is) was such a treat with these warmer days. Hot smoked trout was nice and smokey and seasoned to perfection.(Im not even a huge fish person! (except catch and release over some cold brewskis-hobby of mine). The grilled NJ squid was great and cooked perfectly, and the icing on the squid ink cake is that it wasn't Octopus because they're so intelligent I couldn't eat one. Theres a lot of finesse in that back Kitchen, steady hands I suppose. Also, the little neck clams with sausage, ramps and chickpeas was amazing too! For sides, the grits were great and super yummy! Sauteed greens were unlike eating greens at all. You dont have to force feed them down your throat. The just kind of slurp 'em down (giggity!) who woulda thought?! These sides show a little bit of the southern country that MD/DC technically could be considered. What do I know though, food was great and ambiance was great. We were greeted by what felt like the entire front of house squad upon arrival and that made me feel good! Good vibes, good food. No BS! Great spot right on the agua! Bring your friends and fam, you wont be...

Had an incredible evening at Fish Shop at the Wharf. If you get a chance to walk around the space you get a great sense of the scale, the tall ceilings, beautiful art, and the curated atmosphere is truly unique among the dining rooms on the waterfront.

Beautiful wine list, tons of really interesting choices by the glass and a comprehensive bottle selection with both familiar classics and hidden gems from across the globe. LOVE the emphasis on woman owned wineries!

The food is as beautiful as it is delicious. The tuna carpaccio was a standout among the knockout menu. Highly recommend the hyper-seasonal rockfish dish for the spring season, it quite literally embodies the aura of a perfect spring day by the water. The only disappointment when it came to the food was the fact I was so full I couldn’t try everything…

Kudos to the staff for their dedication and commitment to a seamless experience. We felt both incredibly cared for, but never overwhelmed. Everyone from the attentive backwaters keeping our waters full, to our anticipatory server seeing to our courses of food hitting the table precisely at the right moment, and the somm who had excellent recommendations on wines for the evening and the managers who were cool, calm and collected through a rigorous first week kept the room feeling under control and with an air of confidence. Shoutout to the talented chefs in the kitchen also (love an open kitchen) whose efforts were clearly felt in their dishes.

All in all, the wharf certainly has bragging rights hosting one of the most dynamic and entertaining restaurants in the city. I can’t...