Phil's Fish Market

After the Elkhorn Slough Safari Tour, we went down the street to a highly recommended restaurant, Phil's Fish Market, which celebrity chef Bobby Flay had a throw-down with it's owner in January 2009.

You can check out the famous episode here: Throwdown with Bobby Flay - Cioppino

But before I talk about Phil's, check out this automatic pancake maker from our hotel's breakfast buffet...

You just press a button...

...and out came two hot pancakes! Ingenious!

Okay.. onto Phil's Fish Market. It had a long line, find your own seating, does not take reservations, indoor and outdoor seating and the parking lot is so tiny that everyone parks out on the sidewalkless streets.

This restaurant specializes in seafood... fresh seafood from the Monterey Bay. And we all agreed that the dishes were fresh and the portions were huge!

We first had the calamari which was what was recommended as the freshest catch! I love the tentacle parts!

I've been hunting for the best steamed clams.. and this was the best one to date! Huge clams and the key was the broth. It was filled with diced tomatoes and garlic.. so yummy to dip your bread in! I could have just eaten this as my main dish!

A specialty of Phil's was fried artichoke hearts... nothing big to me but I'm not into artichoke.

Manhattan clam chowder is the red version of clam chowder but this was not red at all but orangey and it was delicious!! The best 'red' chowder I've ever had. Other versions are too tomato-based but this was more creamy. I loved it so much that I bought some frozen to take home.

The Cioppino.. what Bobby Flay came to check out! It was deliciously filled with fresh clams, mussels, squid, fish and scallops.. but the topper was the broth. Not too tomatoy.. which is what I prefer!

Now.. all of the above dishes was what my husband and I ordered for lunch! Below are dishes our friends ordered.

Our friends had grilled salmon with green salad, garlic bread, and rice.

Artichoke Provencal sauteed scallops, shrimp, garlic and wine

Combo Seafood  Sliders (blackened scallop slider, sauteed shrimp slider, calamari steak slider, & grilled salmon slider)

Very FULL customers.. who will be returning soon!