Northwest Fishing Reports

My niece in New York is working for a famous chef who travels the USA looking for the best of the best in restaurants,diners and eateries.I cant give out his name but I'm sure we all seen his shows. They are wanting to feature NW Salmon as a topic. Shes asked me to get her some names of cool restaurants. Cool = Not your usual Red Lobster or Ivars type eateries.They are looking for food that is not your everyday salmon recipe.All help is appreciated. This is from my good sister in the East,not the wicked sister of the West. LOL....

Tough one. Johnny's Dock in Tacoma. Harbor lights in Tacoma. Stanley and Seaforts in Tacoma.
Budd Bay Cafe in Olympia.

Elliot's Oyster House on Pier 56
Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union
Palisade in Magnolia
Salty's in West Seattle - might be your best bet.

There are a few out of the way places I know that are quite good, however salmon is not regularly on the menu. Also keep in mind that there are a bunch of good sushi places in this area that serve raw salmon, yum!

To give this a bit of a clarification is they are looking for more funky atmosphere more then a Anthonys,Palisades,Rays Boathouse,type of establishment.I love the Salmon house on Lk Union. In fact I bass fish right there.These are all good restaurants. I guess I'm looking for more a Mom and Pop kinda dinning.Im suggesting spots like Jacks Fish in the market that makes a "to die for Ciopinno"..Most restaurants do not use fresh salmon.Saltys for one dosent use fresh very often.Anthonys do most of the time.Palisades is expensive the view is great but the food is So so in my book.I recently went to Rays for a very dissapointing salmon dinner.(tasted like a coho)So more then the word cool ,it would be funky original cool.

What was disappointing about tasting like coho? My coho always tastes great!

Saginaw's in Elma served one of the best Salmon dishes I have ever had. Baked in creamy horseradish and sauteed mushrooms. TDF (to die for)

Nothing wrong with Coho.I grew up in a family of fish mongers.My great Grandfather owned a place called Grand Trunk Fish,on the Grand Trunk pier in the 1920's-1930's.That later became Pacific Fish.Pacfic was bought out by Booth Fisheries.For us King (chinook,tyee)was the best. Coho was good when there were no kings around. Its just a personal preference.I catch alot of coho and enjoy them .To me nothing beats a piece of white king.That is my all time favorite.2nd would be Columbia Springers.I like the Columbiads better then Copper Rivers. Thanks guys for your inputs.I will look into Saginaws.That is what I'm looking for. Johnnys in Tacoma is another good one.Their crab is awesome.I'm also gonna suggest Tillicum Village.They do the spread eagle filets of salmon over a wood fire.

OK, take two.

Coastal Kitchen - Capitol Hill, salmon availability is spotty
Flying Fish Cafe - Seattle
The Salmon Cooker - Seattle pier 57


As your looking for funky, this one shouldn't be passed up even though they don't serve salmon.

Catfish Corner - Central District - out of this world gumbo, and really good catfish and hush puppies

Buckey's grill on Lopez Island. Incredible. The building sits on the edge of the water. The salmon is so fresh it tastes like they caught it out the back door just minutes before.

I'm bad with names. But that one when you get into ocean shores on the left. Also there is two across the street from mcdonalds on the road to the beach. All 3 are good. But the smallest one that's only open every now and then has the best fish n chips.

Rac, there are too many great restaurants in Vancouver, BC to list. A lot have a bit of Asian influence in their preparation. North of the border they seem to be a bit more adventurous in their preparation than what sells down here.

Best place bar none is McGlens in Wenatchee. Original home and club house of Wenatchee's semi pro baseball team I believe from the 1920's They've kept the early baseball theme and their service is out of this world.
You could live and die a happy man with a big plate of their smoked Salmon pasta and beer bread. That is if you can get past the brick oven pizzas and micro brews.

Thanks guys. This program will be on Wa. State only. The 2 topics or venues are Salmon and Vietnamese Pho House.The Pho Places I have pretty covered. I dont eat much salmon in the restaurants cuz like most of us we catch and make our own. I have allready asked to do a Throwdown with this guy. Im famous for my smoked ribs and salmon. I threw out my challenge.LOL.

racfish wrote:Thanks guys. This program will be on Wa. State only. The 2 topics or venues are Salmon and Vietnamese Pho House.The Pho Places I have pretty covered. I dont eat much salmon in the restaurants cuz like most of us we catch and make our own. I have allready asked to do a Throwdown with this guy. Im famous for my smoked ribs and salmon. I threw out my challenge.LOL.

Which Pho restaurants did you choose? Just wonderin, me and Tommytitan08 are avid eaters.

I work on !2th and E Yesler. Just about every restaurant around here sells Pho. I have to say my favorite is Rare Beef less noodles at Pho Hoa.Its right next to the finest bakery in Seattle "My Favorite Cakehouse".The other place is on 12th and Jackson. Its called Thahn Vi.It sits behind the Saigon Market. Good stuff. There are a number of good Pho houses in this area.

Heritage Restaurant- in Toppenish on the Yakima Indian Nation! They have a great salmon dinner. You can have luk-a-meen, I know I did not spell that right, but it is a dumpling/soup salmon chowder, with fry bread, then the salmon fillet which is always seasoned perfectly and a piece of fresh huckleberry pie. Rac, I know you come down this way for veggies, you gotta try it. It is off of highway 22 right in the Yakima Nations Cultural Center in Toppenish.

Just got around to reading about Pho and salmon. Ya Pho Hoa is a good 'chain' restaurant for pho but it is a big chain. Not sure I'd go with them considering your description of what you're looking for with salmon.
There's a little restaurant that sits in the middle of the triangle area in the street around 12th/Jackson that serves decent pho too and its location alone is funky, although I sometimes worry some drunk driver is gonna barrel thru the little thing LOL. Lucky for me, my wife's pho is by far the best. Plus she makes it healthier than the other places (they usually use beef broth). Thank goodness the thick animal fat broth the well-known pho places in Vietnam use is not common here. My throat had coated grease when I got done with that stuff. Yuk...:pale:

racfish- I think the name of the little place I'm thinking of is Pho Bac. Found this and think the description of it being in the middle of traffic and location must mean it is the one:

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Loca ... tion=24422

Not sure if it is too late but figured I'd chime in:)

I've seen a car T-Bone that restaurant. I saw the aftermath. They are good. Pho Hoa is a nationwide chain but I like the girl who runs it on the weekdays so I go so I can mac to her...Hehehe The Pho is good but she is better.On Rainier of Alaska st there is another Pho Hoa. I went to a Pho house in Factoria and it was yukkers. I like staying on my side of the lake for pho.Its never too late to answer a thread. They went with another type of venue so oh well. I was helping my niece out.

This is what I love about where I live. Just recently in a national magazine they said 98118 zip code was the most diverse in the nation.Drive down Rainier or MLK you'll find any type of ethneticity (sp) type of food.Some bizzarre but most very good.

Aha! Ulterior motives LOL. That's OK, atmosphere makes the food go down better too Ya I agree with you on staying on the west side of lake for Pho, at least for now. Pho Hoa is good stuff too.