Review: Fish Market

Every now and then, my friends and I go out for lunch for a good chin wag over some delicious food.  We normally end up choosing restaurants we haven't visited before and decided on the Fish Market.  No, not the actual fish market down at Souk Sharq, but the restaurant near the Kuwait Towers.  Also don't get confused with the smaller more obscure "Fish Market Restaurant" in Salmiya.  I'd always thought that was a second branch and only recently realized that it has a different logo and a very slightly different name.

Before going, we hit google to read up on reviews on what to order and were quite surprised to find just one review, so without further ado, here's my contribution to the blogosphere! 

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

The restaurant has a great view of the sea, but we ended up picking a table in the middle of the restaurant and away from the windows.

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

On being seated, you're presented with the menu to choose the appetizers and noodle or rice dishes.  After which you're taken to the display cases to "shop" for your seafood.  Of course, we were pretty clueless and left this to the capable hands of the staff (who happened to be the restaurant manager!).  He chose the seafood for us and also made suggestions on what cooking style to choose for each.  There are 16 different options, from various styles of sauteing to deep fried, steamed and charcoal grilled.  It's no wonder we were overwhelmed!

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

While our order was being prepared, our waiter put a complimentary starter plate containing prawns on toast and spring rolls on our table.  Though the spring rolls were a little soggy, the prawns on toast were delicious.  

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

For starters, we ordered the Chef's Special Platter (4.5 KD) which was actually quite a lot and if we'd known that there would be a complimentary appetizer (this is served to all guests and not just us), we probably would've skipped ordering a starter.  Nevertheless, it disappeared quickly and there wasn't one item we didn't enjoy.  Who doesn't love fried food right?  The platter contained the same above prawns on toast, fried calamari, crumbed prawns and crab cakes.

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

For our noodle and rice dishes, we went with the Fried Noodles with Fresh Vegetables (KD 2.150) and the Fried Rice with Garlic and Eggs (KD 1.750), though both items didn't really wow us, if I'm being completely honest.  The rice was definitely under-seasoned and the noodles were a little too wet and sloppy for my taste.  

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Next up, the seafood, the foremost reason of going to the Fish Market in the first place.  We'd selected the Kuwait Prawns (KD 13/Kg) and had them done two ways (wow, I feel like I'm on Masterchef!).  Below is the Black Pepper Sauce with Hong Kong XO Sauce.  Got to tell you, this dish smashed it!  It was delicious with obvious hints of garlic and spice and really packed a punch.

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

We'd also selected the Peppered Lime and Garlic Sauce for half of the prawns and though it wasn't bad, just didn't wow us.  I would probably choose another cooking style next time.

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

For fish, we had the Sea Bass (KD 12/kg) Charcoal Grilled with Oriental Herbs and Spices.  I'm not normally much of a fish person and whenever I do eat it, I want it loaded with as much flavour as possible.  So ordering grilled fish was quite a risky move.  Having said that though, we were pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this!

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

The winner however was the Sheim (KD 10/kg) as it had been Deep Fried with Salt, Chili, Pepper and Garlic.  The Sheim probably wasn't the best fish choice for this as it had a lot of bones, however the flavours were amazing and I  kept going back to this.  

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Though we were completely stuffed by this time, we had to order dessert and had Panna Cotta (KD 2.350) to split.  Though other restaurants do this better, it was silky smooth and left us wanting more.

Fish Market - Near the Kuwait Towers on the Gulf Road

Having over ordered quite a bit, we had placed bets on how much our meal would cost and were pleasantly surprised when the bill came to just KD 35!  In hindsight, we would probably order just the one fish next time and maybe skip ordering an appetizer due to the complimentary one, but overall a great meal.  We literally waddled out feeling content and quite happy with ourselves.  

1 comment:

  1. Seafood restaurants are my favourite!:) I would love to try that grilled and fried sea bass plates; it's nothing like I've ever seen before:) Here in North America, it's mostly served as a whole roasted or grilled fish, with some oil and vegetables on the side. Thanks so much for sharing!

    Yuliannova

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