The Fish House in Key Largo, Florida

Outstanding Seafood Dining in the Keys

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

November 26, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo One of the nice things about renting a house or cottage for a family vacation is the ability to keep meal costs down by cooking in. That is one of our favorite benefits of using timeshares for most of our vacations. That said, it seems wrong to ...Read more One of the nice things about renting a house or cottage for a family vacation is the ability to keep meal costs down by cooking in. That is one of our favorite benefits of using timeshares for most of our vacations. That said, it seems wrong to take a holiday in the Florida Keys and not get out for at least one nice seafood dinner . . . unless of course, you don’t like fish. Out of the six of us, we did have a couple of people who didn’t so we had to find a place that would also cater to the meat lovers in our group. The Fish House seemed to fit the bill.

We arrived at approximately 6:00pm for dinner and were immediately seated. Adrian was introduced as our server, with Carlos assisting. First things first, beverages. Most everyone had already decided on soft drinks since we had beer and cocktail fixings at the house. With that taken care of, the next order of business was to decide on food.

Because I had been talking up stone crabs for two days, my sisters both wanted to sample them but at $39 for between six and eight (1.5 pounds) for dinner, there were really not enough to share with the table so they opted for the half-pound appetizer which included five nice sized claws. Served with drawn butter and lemon, they both seemed to enjoy the delicacy from the sea.

For dinner, I did order the large stone crabs. Adrian had brought by one of the jumbo claws, which seemed to be as big as my entire hand. With just four making up a dinner serving of the same one-and-a-half pounds, I just couldn’t justify the added $10 price. David decided on the crab stuffed mahi-mahi for his dinner ($25) which was outstanding. The dinners came with a choice of potato, a small half-ear of corn and coleslaw. For $2.95 we opted to sub a dinner salad for the slaw.

It was surprising that there was no bread served with the meals, just a basket of assorted crackers. We did decide on a side order of hush puppies which were plentiful enough to share with the table.

Others in our group ordered other fish dishes, with the "matecumbe" preparation (a house specialty) that consisted of minced tomatoes, shallots & capers. For the two land lubbers, they had steak and ribs, which were reported as rather bland tasting. The beef was prepared with no spice or seasonings, while the ribs were apparently cooked and then slathered with sauce. Both said the meat was tender and prepared well, just on the rather flavorless side.

Most of us were really looking forward to Key Lime Pie, something that the Florida Keys is known for. Our large meals left little room for dessert, however, which made a carry-out pie our next best option. Actually at $6 per slice and $16 for the entire pie (six slices) a pie-to-go was a much better deal! In fact, we enjoyed pie later that night at the house, and for a couple more nights later that week.

If you are planning to go to The Fish House, look for a discount coupon in the local visitors’ guide. We were able to use a 10% off, which they applied to our entire group even though we had our checks written up as three separate couples. For David & me, our check came to $97 + tip for dinner and two cocktails plus the whole pie.

For the quality and quantity of food, we were very pleased with this dining experience. The service was exceptional; we would recommend this restaurant as an excellent choice for visitors to Key Largo. As a side comment, when we left at around 7:30pm, they had a short wait of maybe three or four groups. Since this was a Tuesday evening, I would guess that they probably have a longer wait on the weekends, but they do not accept reservations.
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From journal Thanksgiving in the Keys

Over-Rated

by Traveller204

Canada, Ontario

March 15, 2008

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We ate at The Fish House on March 13, 2008. Not impressed at all. The conch fritters had a few shreds of conch and lots of bread. The Margaritas were very light on Tequila, tasteless and $1.50 more than advertised. Ordering fresh fish was a ...Read more

The Fish House

by rdkjsmith

Mayfield, Kentucky

February 6, 2003

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All of the websites we had visited prior to vacationing in Key Largo agreed that the Fish House was THE place to eat. When we got there and saw what the restaurant looked like, we weren't too sure about eating there. It definitely wasn't fancy, and ...Read more

From journal Diving Getaway in Key Largo

The Fish House

by Club Fred

Port Coquitlam, British Columbia

October 14, 2002

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After a string of disappointments we finally struck gold! If you truly love seafood that is fresh and prepared well (not deep fried as we found in many places), you will love The Fish House. I highly recommend the seared yellowfin tuna (if it's ...Read more

From journal Waterlogged in Key Largo

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Outstanding Seafood Dining in the Keys

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The Fish House

The Fish House

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Outstanding Seafood Dining in the Keys

Over-Rated

The Fish House

The Fish House