A delicious Cobb Salad from Nick's Fish House
We stopped by Nick’s Fish House, at the end of Insulator Drive overlooking the Hanover Street Bridge, on one of our usual (these days) mid-90s afternoons. We were going to sit in the cool, dark, air-conditioned dining room, but it was packed and noisy, so we sauntered out to the deck, a good move.
It was very comfortable on the deck. It’s shady, there is a nice breeze, and we sat right at the deck’s edge by the Baltimore Yacht Basin marina, which is full of sailboats we can’t afford. One of the sailboats had a sure-footed little dog aboard.
To our right there was an honor citation party from the Coast Guard yard, and to our left there was a flocklet of female mallards waiting to help us with the leftovers.
Unfortunately for the ducks, there weren’t any. We perused the menu and were tempted by the multitude of appetizers, salads, sandwiches and more.
The Seafood Cobb Salad ($14.98) was delicious. A Cobb salad has a little bit of everything, and this one had (clockwise from the top) tomatoes, corn, cucumber, onion, bacon, shrimp and crabmeat arranged clockwise around a mound of frisee and field greens, topped with chopped boiled egg and avocado slices. It was lightly tossed with Louis dressing, which is very similar to Russian dressing but a wee bit spicier.
The Fish & Chips ($14.98) offered two fillets of cod dipped in Smithwick’s Irish ale and deep fried. You can really taste the beer in the crust, and it’s delicious. The fish is perfectly cooked, firm and flaky, beery and salty. The fries are crisp and hand-cut. You can also get sweet potato fries, or substitute any of the sides on the menu.
We turned up our noses at the kettle-cooked fries and the proffered cole slaw (made with Hellman’s, according to the menu) and went for the Carolina goat cheese grits. It was a worthy substitute: creamy and just rich enough for a summer afternoon.
You don’t have to get fish at Nick’s Fish House—there is steak and poultry also on the menu, but vegetarians are pretty much limited to sides, the garden salad and a vegetable pasta. On the other hand, why a gaggle of vegetarians would go to a place called “Fish House” is beyond us; it would be like a bunch of hungry beef eaters descending on Buddha’s Garden.
There is a raw bar and crab shack that opens in the evenings, and every Friday there is a deck party featuring music by DJ Yummy. We figure it’s a great deck party, because Nick’s Fish House is about the closest thing we have seen to Margaritaville in town, and there is room for about 200 people to thoroughly unwind.
Coming up on the deck, Nick’s Fish House will host tailgate parties starting three hours before every Ravens game, home or away, serving burgers, hot dogs, pit beef and pit turkey plus, of course, plenty of beer and cocktails. For home games, there’s a $5 shuttle to M&T Stadium, available with any food or drink purchase.
There is also a Sunday brunch, $24.95 adults, $10.95 kids 10 and under. It’s a little lighter on the seafood, featuring eggs, waffles and a carving station. We’re thinking eggs would be a good match with the grits.
There is an extensive wine and beer list, and we hear the Bloody Marys are dang good and the juice for the Mimosas is fresh-squeezed. We didn’t try the bar, and paid $36.13 for the salad, fish and chips and a couple of Diet Cokes, including the tax but not the tip.
Nick’s Fish House
2600 Insulator Drive
410-347-4123
Entrees $15-$23
Appetizers, sandwiches $7-$14
Open daily for lunch and dinner
BY JACQUELINE WATTS
editor@baltimoreguide.com
The sweet potato fries at Nicks are awesome. Also, the fish-n-chips isn’t cod–it’s a fish called ‘bassa’ according to the chef. I enjoyed the same dish in April, and asked the chef as he came out to the deck for a break.