Oddfish

Restaurants open, restaurants close.  It is the natural cycle that happens all the time in a very competitive industry.  To keep up with all the happenings is sometimes an exhaustive exercise since many do not even publicize.  However, those usually are Asian restaurants that do not understand the value of promotion and social media (LOL).  Lately, and I'm referring to the last quarter, there have been quite a few interesting spots open up and it has been difficult to keep up.  But slowly, I'm crossing them off the list one-by-one.  The latest was Oddfish, where I was fortunate enough to corral Mijune for dinner.

Our first dish was my favourite of the night.  Merely labeled as Spicy Squid on the menu, it wasn't very descriptive nor did it do the actual dish any justice.  Consisting of simple ingredients including garlic, chili, olive oil, parsley and chives, the flavours were layered and impactful from the high heat cookery.  Caramelized and texturally on point, the squid was intensely flavourful with an appealing chew while being tender at the same time.  Next up, we had the Dungeness Crab & Shrimp Cakes were large in size and full of actual seafood rather than filler.  The crab was fluffy and bouncy while the shrimp had a fresh snap.  We would've preferred larger chunks of crab, but that was not a huge issue.  Inside, it was rather wet, however, that was a whole lot better than dry.  The natural sweetness of the ingredient came through while being complimented by the creamy and tangy sauce underneath.

For our main entree, we shared the Whole Seabass with chermoula and cilantro & red onion salad.  When it hit the table, the large fish was rather impressive to look at.  With a squeeze of the charred lemon, the dish was light and easy to eat.  At first, we thought the amount of chermoula was rather meager, but after asking for more, it was established that the original drizzle was enough.  It would've been too bitter to have more than they put on the plate already.  As for the fish, it featured well-seasoned and crispy skin that was my favourite part.  The flesh was flaky and soft, but could've been done a bit less for my liking.  However, that did not make or break the dish.

We got a couple of sides for our main dish that included the Fries with mayo and the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with dates, pepitas, capers and Parm.  Although not uniformly crunchy, the fries were pretty solid.  They were thick cut and aggresively fried.  Firmly crisp and not greasy, the fries were still full of potato goodness on the inside.  As for the brussels sprouts, they were also quite good being cooked just enough so they maintained they firmness.  At the same time, they were also cooked all-the-way-through as well.  They didn't skimp on the ingredients as there was a nice mix of sweetness, tang, saltiness and nuttiness.  From the dishes we tried, we agreed the food was pretty solid in a relaxed environment.  Definitely should be an option for someone looking for seafood in Kits.

The Good:
- Focused menu (on seafood)
- Well-prepared food
- Friendly, relaxed service

The Bad:
- As with anything seafood, pricing can get up there, but we thought it was reasonable