Fresh Catch Fish Market and Grill in Hillcrest

by Stacey Kuhns

(Definitely not the fish market described in their name) 

 

While in the Hillcrest area, my boyfriend and I were looking for a place to eat. My daughter recommended Fresh Catch, which has been opened less than one year. Now my daughter does not eat fish, but she had heard good things about the restaurant so we tried it.

Fresh Catch is located at 3650 5th Avenue, #103, San Diego, CA, 92013. They are open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 7 days per week. This restaurant used to be an Italian restaurant. It is owned by the same person but he decided to go in a different direction . . . . . fish. The prices are pretty standard as far as fish restaurants go. Always a little more expensive than other types of food.

When you walk into this restaurant, it is pleasant inside. The staff is friendly. Our waitress, Ashley, was very good and attentive. There is a small fish counter with a fair variety of fish, but is almost set up as a display more than a place you would go to purchase fish. Some of the fish had visible prices and some did not, so there was inconsistency in the display which I did not care for. The fish prices there were expensive and ahi was over $21 a pound! (If you want a real fish market, I would suggest something more along the lines of Point Loma Seafoods.

We decided to start with cups of New England clam chowder, which was good. They also offer a Fisherman's Stew and Ashley brought us a small cup of it to try. My boyfriend liked it but I did not care for it. (You can also get either of these selections in a hot buttered bread bowl).

We also started with the appetizer plate of shashimi. Now, I love shashimi and this was no exception. The fish was delicious, but...I could tell this was a plate that had been in the refrigerator all day.

I asked Ashley if it was made fresh and she said it was made fresh that morning. The reason I knew it had been already on the plate and in the fridge was there was a green "salad" of sorts on top of the middle of the fish. (The fish were fanned out in a circle and the salad was in the middle). Where the salad had sat on the fish all morning, the fish were stained green. Definitely did not like that and wondered why they do not just make it fresh to order. I later noticed one of the same shashimi plates in the display case, with the salad on it and covered with saran. 

I found the menu lacking in descriptions. I like to know exactly what I am ordering. We then tried the fried calamari and while it was good, we agreed it was definitely not the best we had eaten. 

For our last dish, we ordered the Shrimp Mac n Cheese. Someone else took our order and when he brought it out, it was the Crab Mac n Cheese. My boyfriend and I had taken one bite each of this and the waiter came out, took it away then eventually brought out the shrimp mac n cheese. I found the crab mac to be extremely fishy tasting. The shrimp mac was very good. The crab mac was kind of runny but the shrimp mac was cheesier.

The Fresh Catch also offers clams, mussels, seafood plates, and salads. Their sandwiches sounded good. They offer a lobster roll, spicy fried snapper, fried oyster sandwich and a yellow tail BLT.

Overall, we found the restaurant just okay. I would not return for a second visit. I would probably just head over to Point Loma Seafoods.