Seafood night at GOLDFISH

Our good friends are relocating to Charlotte, NC, and we're dining at Goldfish before they leave.

Goldfish is located at Perimeter Mall at 4400 Ashford Dunwoody.  We were interested in seafood, so we thought we'd try this restaurant located equidistant between our homes.  I had read some reviews that were good on TripAdvisor, so we took a chance.

*Disclaimer - due to our seats staring at the glare of the outside window, the photos aren't very good unfortunately.

Here's the menu:

Appetizers East Coast Oysters half dozen 13.95

with cracked pepper mignonette & cocktail sauce

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail or Crab Cocktail

cocktail & Marie Rose sauces Lump Crab Cake with red onion, tomatoes, & cucumbers Fried Blue Crab “Fingers” with cocktail sauce Fried Oysters with tartar sauce Hot Chili Seafood tossed in a sweet chili garlic sauce Tempura Lobster Tail 4oz. with wasabi honey mustard Whole Sizzling Catfish with ponzu sauce

Fresh Catch (served à la carte)

Pan Roasted, Grilled, Blackened, Steamed or Fried

Soups and Salads

Chilled Seafood Tower 39.95

Half of a chilled Maine Lobster, half a pound of Peel & Eat Shrimp, Lump Crab Meat Cocktail, Mussel Salad, 4 East Coast Oysters, 4 Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, Imported Scottish Smoked Salmon all served on a bed of ice, with Cracked Pepper Mignonette, Cocktail Sauce, Marie Rose Sauce, Lemon & Crackers

Small Plate Appetizers $6 individually or $15 for 3

Mediterranean Hummus with warm pita Mini Burgers (2) with pickles Shrimp & Chicken Dumplings (4) with ginger sauce Tempura Shrimp (3) with tamarind sauce

Oysters Rockefeller (3) with Rockefeller spinach & hollandaise Beef Satays with Thai curry sauce Crispy Calamari with marinara sauce & garlic aioli Old Bay Peel & Eat Shrimp with cocktail sauce

Mussels in White Wine Cream or Spicy Thai Curry Sauce Crab and Shrimp Spring Rolls (2) with plum sauce Lettuce Wraps with ground turkey, cilantro, red onion & fresh ginger

* Tilapia * Trout * Catfish * Atlantic Salmon * Blue Cod

Scallops

Lemon Sole Jumbo Shrimp Twin Lobster Tails Yellow Fin Tuna Mahi Mahi Swordfish

Chicken Tortilla with tomato, corn, tortilla, avocado and lime Seafood Gumbo with andouille sausage Tossed Salad chick peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, herb vinaigrette Classic Caesar white anchovies, parmesan cheese, & croutons Iceberg Wedge blue cheese dressing, tomatoes, bacon, croutons Baby Spinach & Arugula goat cheese, pine nuts, cranberries Mediterranean Salad grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella,

sweet red peppers, baby arugula, balsamic vinaigrette

Sandwiches and Baskets

Sandwiches are served with lettuce, tomato & fries Baskets are served with fries & coleslaw

“Fish & Chips” Cod, Tilapia, or Catfish tartar sauce Fried Shrimp or Oyster Po Boy spicy remoue Grilled Salmon BLT herb mayonnaise Blackened Mahi Mahi tartar sauce

Angus Burger bacon & blue cheese Chef’s Specialties

Barbecue Salmon pepper jack cheese grits, jicama slaw Swordfish Au Poivre cracked pepper seared, herb goat

cheese whipped potatoes, grilled asparagus, cognac cream sauce

Charleston Shrimp & Grits shrimp, andouille sausage, spinach, tomatoes, roasted garlic cream, pepper jack cheese grits

Crab Stuffed Shrimp six jumbo shrimp, crab meat stuffing whipped potatoes, lobster cream sauce

Grilled Mahi Summer Salad baby arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, olives, red onions & peppers, red wine mustard vinaigrette

Parmesan Herb Tilapia fresh mozzarella, tomato & basil salad with balsamic vinaigrette

“Tom Tom” Lemon Sole whipped potatoes, green beans, mustard brown butter sauce & fried capers

Wasabi & Soy Glazed Tuna tempura fried portobello mushrooms with wasabi honey mustard sauce

Pan Seared Scallops mushroom ravioli, wilted spinach & tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, aged parmesan cheese

Crab Cake Entrée summer squash, oyster mushrooms, asparagus, corn & leeks, tomato vinaigrette

Pan Roasted Trout roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized apples, wilted baby spinach, apple cider vinaigrette

Herb Roasted Chicken Breast whipped potatoes, garlic green beans, red wine jus

Hanger Steak and Shrimp iceberg wedge, Tabasco fried onion rings, red wine jus

* Fish available for $5 à la carte daily 4:30 - 6:00PM Excluding holidays.

Available for an additional charge: Hong Kong Style sautéed spinach, sherry-soy broth, sticky rice 5.95 CrabStuffed toppedwithlumpcrabmeat&lemonbutter 7.95 Oscar Style whipped potatoes, asparagus, lump crab meat, hollandaise 12.95

Chargrilled Steaks Rare: Cool Red Center Medium Rare: Warm Red Center Medium: Hot Red Center Medium Well: Thin line of pink

Well: No pink We are not responsible for steaks cooked Medium Well and above.

Please allow us to “butterfly” your Medium Well or Well Done steak.

** 8 oz. Filet 29.95 14 oz. Jumbo Filet 37.95 ** 12 oz. New York Strip 31.95 24 oz. Cowboy Ribeye 36.95

Excluding Holidays

2.95 Whipped Potatoes or Pepper Jack Cheese Grits or French Fries 3.95 Macaroni & Cheese or Sautéed Spinach or Steamed Broccoli 4.95 Mushroom Ragout or Loaded Whipped Potatoes 5.95 Steamed Asparagus with Hollandaise 6.95

** Steaks available for 1/2 price daily 4:30 - 6:00PM

Au Poivre topped with cracked pepper & cognac cream 2.95 Add 3 Jumbo Shrimp to any entrée 8.95 Add a Lobster Tail to any entrée 14.95

Garlic Green Beans or Coleslaw

Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of highlights at this restaurant (other than an enjoyable visit with our friends).  

We began the meal by ordering some wine and a couple of cocktails.  Can't go wrong with the wine, but both of the drinks were subpar.  

And the service was less than prompt.   In fact, throughout the meal, whenever we needed our waiter, we had to hunt him down.

Next was the best part of the meal - oysters!  We ordered a dozen East Coast oysters.  They came with a cocktail sauce, a very weak mignonette  (not one shallot to be found), lemon halves and crackers.

They were delicious, and in hindsight, I should've ordered 2 dozen!  I even converted one of our friends to an oyster fan!

We finally tracked down our waiter, and we ordered dinner.

I ordered tuna, which was seared very slightly and served with soy sauce.  It was an appetizer portion, and it was just OK.  I think it's difficult to mess this one up - as long as you have good quality fish, the preparation doesn't get much easier.  But the presentation left a lot to be desired.

Another dish that we ordered was the tilapia (Parmesan encrusted and served with a caprese side).  This dish was horrible.  It arrived looking like it had either been sitting under the heat lamp too long, or it was microwaved too long.  The fish looked and tasted like frozen reheated fish sticks, and the tomatoes and basil were cooked (!) onto the scalding hot plate with the balsamic burned on the bottom of the plate.  It truly was the worst tilapia meal we've ever tasted.  Again, this fish is so easy to prepare, and it's so mild, you only mess this dish up by overcooking.

One of our friends ordered crab stuffed shrimp, and it wasn't too bad, other than being a bit chewy (and I wouldn't have paired it with mashed potatoes).  But the sauces that accompanied the dish were not appetizing.

Another friend ordered the scallops.  I hesitate to order scallops, as I had some bad ones a few years back, but regardless of that, these didn't entice me.  My friend ate them, and he didn't complain, but the word "mediocre" comes to mind.  Sorry again for the poor picture quality.

Finally, I can't say I enjoyed the atmosphere at Goldfish either.  It's large, loud, and it feels more like Red Lobster than fine dining.  For what came to around $50 per person, I expect more.  There are way too many fabulous options in the Atlanta area.  And I'm very excited to quickly try somewhere new that knocks my socks off.  My advice: stick with the goldfish that swim in a little bowl.  We won't be returning to the restaurant named Goldfish.