San Diego's famous Harbor Drive boasts its world famous long-lived seafood emporium, Anthony's Fish Grotto, voted Peoples Choice for fresh seafood year after year. Anthony's, in business for more than 58 years, opened in 1946 by Catherine "Mama" Ghio, her two sons, Tod and Anthony, and son-in-law Roy. Mama perfected the old world Italian recipes her family, fishermen both in Italy and California, had come to enjoy, and today her grandchildren run the family enterprise and serve remarkably wonderful seafood in a lovely restaurant overlooking the beautiful San Diego harbor. It's a treat to eat here, and we are blessed with window seating on a clear, sunny afternoon on the waterfront.
If this story sounds a bit fishy, it's not, but it is vaguely reminiscent of another famous seafood restaurant on the waterfront I wrote about after visiting Seattle—Ivar’s Acre of Clams, and these two family run businesses have another similarity. Their tasty specialties made and keep them famous.
Service at Anthony’s is superb. The dining room is big, and each table is taken on this afternoon. While we're perusing the menu, our server, Ashley brings fresh hot bread and flavored butter--dried tomato--and it's delicious.
I order the Big Bay Combo--fried shrimp, crab cakes and grilled stuffed salmon. It is served with a big plate of crunchy coleslaw lightly covered with creamy pineapple dressing and a baked potato piled high with butter, sour cream and chives. Each selection is very good, but the salmon, rolled and stuffed with a vegetable filling, is superb. I've never had salmon prepared like this before, and it is a dish I shall remember. The fried shrimp are anything but shrimpy; they are big, plump, moist, and only lightly breaded. They were accompanied by Mama Ghio's homemade cocktail sauce. Very nice! The crab cakes are very different from the Maryland style cakes I love, so I have to rate them my least favorite. The crab was shredded, and while the cake did not consist of bread filling, I missed the lump crab that I'm used to in Maryland. But don't get me wrong, they were quite tasty.
Rob selects the Coastal Combo because it offers him a seasonal catch--swordfish caught in local waters. He's right in selecting the restaurant’s seasonal specialty. Obviously he is not going to get that in New York. The fish, he says, is unlike any swordfish he's had. It is a thinner cut, very tender and tasty. It is the best swordfish he has ever had, and that's saying a lot. His entree included grilled shrimp, big fat shrimp (is that oxymoronic?), and crab cakes. His feeling about the crab cakes is the same as mine, but he, too, enjoyed them.
There were still things we wanted to see along the waterfront, so we didn't stay even for a cup of coffee much less the tempting desserts, but if you are lucky enough to spend some time on San Diego's waterfront--embarking on a cruise to Mexico, for instance--find the time to dine at Anthony's Fish Grotto.
If this story sounds a bit fishy, it's not, but it is vaguely reminiscent of another famous seafood restaurant on the waterfront I wrote about after visiting Seattle—Ivar’s Acre of Clams, and these two family run businesses have another similarity. Their tasty specialties made and keep them famous.
Service at Anthony’s is superb. The dining room is big, and each table is taken on this afternoon. While we're perusing the menu, our server, Ashley brings fresh hot bread and flavored butter--dried tomato--and it's delicious.
I order the Big Bay Combo--fried shrimp, crab cakes and grilled stuffed salmon. It is served with a big plate of crunchy coleslaw lightly covered with creamy pineapple dressing and a baked potato piled high with butter, sour cream and chives. Each selection is very good, but the salmon, rolled and stuffed with a vegetable filling, is superb. I've never had salmon prepared like this before, and it is a dish I shall remember. The fried shrimp are anything but shrimpy; they are big, plump, moist, and only lightly breaded. They were accompanied by Mama Ghio's homemade cocktail sauce. Very nice! The crab cakes are very different from the Maryland style cakes I love, so I have to rate them my least favorite. The crab was shredded, and while the cake did not consist of bread filling, I missed the lump crab that I'm used to in Maryland. But don't get me wrong, they were quite tasty.
Rob selects the Coastal Combo because it offers him a seasonal catch--swordfish caught in local waters. He's right in selecting the restaurant’s seasonal specialty. Obviously he is not going to get that in New York. The fish, he says, is unlike any swordfish he's had. It is a thinner cut, very tender and tasty. It is the best swordfish he has ever had, and that's saying a lot. His entree included grilled shrimp, big fat shrimp (is that oxymoronic?), and crab cakes. His feeling about the crab cakes is the same as mine, but he, too, enjoyed them.
There were still things we wanted to see along the waterfront, so we didn't stay even for a cup of coffee much less the tempting desserts, but if you are lucky enough to spend some time on San Diego's waterfront--embarking on a cruise to Mexico, for instance--find the time to dine at Anthony's Fish Grotto.
No comments:
Post a Comment