Tin Fish Restaurant (Sunrise, FL) – Review

This post was most recently updated on May 26th, 2016

About a week ago I saw this post on Facebook from my mom raving about this little restaurant in Sunrise, FL called Tin Fish.  Since this is not far from home we decided to give it a go and see what all the fuss was about.  The Tin Fish restaurant is a little gem of a place, it has a casual atmosphere and simply put good fresh food.  Not sure why it is called Tin Fish as I am pretty sure that nothing they cook in there came out of a tin.

The Food

Our order consisted of their “Famous Fish Tacos”, a dozen Apalachicola Florida Oysters on the half shell, a bowl of New England Clam Chowder, and a bowl of Lobster Bisque.

The fish tacos are probably one of the best I have ever had.  Lightly battered and fried, perfectly seasoned cod fish that was melt in your mouth delicious. The fish sit over coleslaw and was drizzled with some sauce that was just a match made in heaven for the fish. The two generously portioned tacos came with a side of seasoned fries that were crispy but still potatoey (is that even a word?).  My husband declared these tacos to be simply outrageous.

The dozen oysters were freshly shucked at the bar and they were accompanied by freshly grated horseradish, cocktail sauce, lemon, a mini tabasco bottle, and a huge amount of crackers.  Much to my delight I actually received thirteen instead of twelve oysters, and even better I got to eat them all by myself since the rest of my family does not like them. Many oyster critics say that Apalachicola oysters are some of the finest in the world.  I honestly cannot say as quite frankly I love all oysters.  But I can say that these were juicy, plump, clean and dense, not to salty, and they do not need any sauce to cover up their taste.  Although I have to say that the freshly grated horseradish did accentuate the flavor of the oyster for me and it was a rare treat.

The New England clam chowder was very creamy and had large amounts of what I can only assume were fresh clams in it.  The clam meat was not minced, but diced, and every spoonful of the soup had several pieces of it to enjoy. I did find the seasoning a bit lacking but I added some of their spicy sauce and this made it perfect for me (I like some spice in my life what can I say).  My daughter was quite happy with the soup just as it was without any extras added to it.

The lobster bisque had great flavor and a huge piece of lobster in it, and while the taste was spot on I prefer my bisque a bit thicker in consistency.  My youngest daughter however did not complain and happily consumed it with a little help from her dad.

We did not get to try any other items on the menu but they did have a large variety of seafood, raw, fried, and grilled. But if seafood is not your thing don’t worry they also had some chicken dishes and burgers and even some gator and frog legs and a few salads that will suit the vegetarian.

Click here to see a sample of the menu.

The Atmosphere and The Service

This little restaurant has a laid back, casual atmosphere that seems to belong more on a fishing pier than in the strip mall it is actually located in.  It is family friendly, reasonably priced, and the service was outstanding.

We even got to meet the founder and owner, Chef Joseph Melluso, who came out to deliver the oysters himself and make sure that everything met our expectations.  You can tell that Chef Melluso loves what he does and takes pride in his restaurant and his food.  Not only is the food of high quality but the staff sings his praises and seems to enjoy working there.  I was also informed that 3 days a week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday they have live music which brings in quite a crowd so keep that in mind if you are planning to dine on those evenings.

For a map of this location click here.

Conclusion

Tin Fish is a little gem of a restaurant, with good quality fresh food, comfortable atmosphere and good service.  We will definitely be back to try some of the other dishes on their menu.

If you visit and like what you see and eat, do as we did and be sure to follow the directions – Thank their chefs and ring the bell.

Happy Roving!!!