The Fish House

There are a few types of restaurants that are virtually impossible to find here in Miami-Dade County, including: (1) a Chinese restaurant featuring a tank filled with swimming seafood that diners can eat, not just watch, and (2) any place with genuine Ipswich fried clams. Sadly real New England fried clams are not to be found at the Fish House. If they were, though, I suspect they’d be prepared just right, because the rest of the place’s fried seafood is. Forget heavy egg-and-crumb coatings and exploding beer batters that result in a plate of seafood that’s more starch than protein. The shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels, and mahi-mahi nuggets in a $15.99 fried combo platter were all simply dusted in flour that cooked up crisp, light, and nearly greaseless. There is, however, no sea in this seafood establishment. The place is not located on the ocean — or a lake or a canal or even next to a swimming pool. Most seafood can be ordered fried as well as blackened, grilled, or with scampi butter, creole, Portobello, or Parmesan sauces. The last three did not seem treatments necessary to inflict on fish so fresh. Most entrées come with two sides, of which remarkably crisp coleslaw and a small but varied house salad (with a perky caesar-style dressing) were the winners, thanks to freshness and tasty housemade dressings. Even the tartar and cocktail sauces that accompanied the seafood were homemade. Actually, they would have gone great with some fried belly clams. But Fish House’s offerings are good enough to compensate for what it lacks.

• Cuisine(s): Raw Bar, Seafood

  Hours: Mon,Thu 11:30am-12:30am, Sun,Fri,Sat 11:30am-11pm, Tue-Wed 11:30am-10pm

  Price: $$

  Payment Types: All Major Credit Cards

• Attire: Casual

  Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Takeout, Private Party, Catering, Banquet Facilities, Wheelchair Accessible, Kid Friendly, Vegetarian Friendly

  Serving: Dinner, Late Night, Lunch

  Entertainment: Live Entertainment

• Alcohol: Beer/Wine

  Reservations: Accepted, Recommended, Required for Large Parties, Call-Ahead Seating Available

  Parking: Lot Available