20. Fresh Off the Boat (I)

My Overall score: 3.9/5

Nancy’s score: 3.9/5

Ordered:

Lobster Rolls (why called rolls when there’s only one? :p) ($14.95)
Softshell Crab ($15.95)
Fu-schnicken ($12.95)

Simple menu but sometimes all you need is just a few great quality and yummy dishes!

Nana and I both loved the Softshell crab burger and lobster roll! The burger was juicy and the lobster roll was filled with a good amount of lobster meat!

It was after hearing this place had a softshell crab burger that we came all the way down here. And it worked out perfectly because there was also the Chinatown festival going on the same street and you can bet we ate till our tummies were bursting! By the way this place is one of those buy your food first and sit down to eat places!

Presentation: 3.7/5

WARNING. The photos we took here of the food is not the same as how you’re going to receive the food . I have to admit… just for that picturesque appearance we went above and beyond. Very extra haha. (Scroll down to Taste to see the pictures!)

It originally came in boxes (like the to-go boxes from burrito libre). I felt it didn’t do the food justice in displaying the gorgeous colour of the seafood. Plus we were staying at the restaurant to eat it so I would’ve preferred it on some plate at least haha.

Nancy: 4.3

Health: 4/5

I wouldn’t come here looking for a healthy meal, there’s a lot of fried items but getting the salad instead of the fries can help with that! Though… do you really want to 😉

Nancy: 4

Atmosphere/location: 4.5/5

This place is super convenient to get to, it’s near a ton of other popular restaurants along Queen street and reachable by the streetcar along Spadina Avenue! We’re not too sure about parking though.

We love the decor inside! Well thought out and organized. I found it cute they have a wall full of just siracha bottles Haha.

Cost: 4.3/5

I think it’s a good price for what you get! Though I am thinking about the restaurants back at home that offer seafood… it’s probably not the best comparison as we’re not close by any bodies of water so you tend to get less seafood for a higher price.

Nancy: 4

Taste: 4.4/5

Nancy: 4.2

Lobster roll

We loved this lobster roll. Look at how stuffed it is! The roll is nicely toasted as well! The lobster was juicy and had great flavour!

Softshell Crab

Next is the softshell crab ‘sandwich,’ Sorry I want to call it a burgerrrrrr ;P. THIS IS AMAZING. Very worth the trip down here! I thought it was going to just be a very fried and crunchy texture. However, it had a nice crisp outside with a juicy soft inside layer. Nancy said it was well-balanced in flavour and texture. We did you a favour and cut it to let you see the inside layers (see below)!

Fu-Schnicken

The fu-schnicken was definitely not what Nancy and I expected. Nancy said the fu-schnicken was not that great. The flavours didn’t stand out, the kimchi didn’t seem like it belonged with the sandwich. I will have to agree that there wasn’t really anything that stood out for me. We were kind of disappointed because so many people were raving about this!! Since they mentioned it was an interpretation of an Asian surf and turf sandwich we wished it focused on bringing out more of the seafood flavours. You mainly taste the Korean beef…but perhaps we love our Korean food and this didn’t really do it for us.

Service: 2.5/5
This place scores low for service for Nancy and I.

Let me tell you what happened:

We came in right when it opened, and asked if we can come in yet. They said we could, however we weren’t greeted or anything. It was quite clear it was our first time there and didn’t quite know the procedure but they never offered help or a menu.

Anyways, that’s fine for me, I’m not that picky with service for smaller restaurants. The more disappointing part was that they didn’t have their house slaw. So when we ordered the softshell crab, all they said was they didn’t have it and didn’t offer any options. So we asked if we can replace the slaw with some salad instead then. However, they kept using different reasoning, such as: the salad is too expensive, and the only options we can have is have only fries (which already came with that item anyways) or only a salad.

Overall I just didn’t like the way they handled the situation. There were no apologies for not having their supposedly well-known slaw that we were excited to try out either.