{"id":10300,"date":"2011-01-15T20:31:44","date_gmt":"2011-01-16T03:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=10300"},"modified":"2018-07-19T18:41:33","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T00:41:33","slug":"desert-fish-albuquerque-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=10300","title":{"rendered":"Desert Fish – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span> Desert Fish, a seafood oasis on Central Avenue<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you were entertaining a visitor from Seattle or Portland, would you take them to Long John Silver’s, Captain D’s or even\u00a0 Pelican’s<\/a> to show them how the seafood in land-locked Albuquerque measures up to the seafood in those two bastions of fresh, succulent seafood?\u00a0 Not likely!\u00a0 You’d probably want to take them to a restaurant which showcases New Mexico’s red and green chile.\u00a0 For some reason, however, during business trips to Seattle and Portland, my well-intentioned colleagues insist on taking me to Mexican restaurants.\u00a0 Perhaps they assume that with my Spanish surname and place of residence, I would want to try their Mexican food.\u00a0 That makes as much sense as expecting me to stay at La Quinta and drive a Ford Fiesta rental car.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a consequence of such faulty (albeit well-meaning) assumptions, I’ve been subjected to such chains as Chevy’s and other restaurants of that ilk where instead of “red or green,” a gloppy brown “sauce” absolutely reeking of\u00a0the accursed demon spice cumin\u00a0is ladled on liberally over the overly cheesy entrees.\u00a0 Perhaps discerning my disdain for chains, my colleagues have also entertained me at such independent, but no less offensive Americanized Mexican restaurants as Macheezmo Mouse (you read that correctly).<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> The swanky interior at Desert Fish<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Admittedly two or three days into a business trip, I start to crave New Mexican food, but not so much that I’ll visit a pitiful pretender.\u00a0 My friend and colleague Steve Caine did that and will forever rue the day.\u00a0 Upon returning from Portland, he asked me to help him with his expense report. His itemized report indicated he had dined twice at Chevy\u2019s, a middling quality Americanized Mexican restaurant which wouldn\u2019t survive in the tough Albuquerque market. I teased him mercilessly. Worse, when our boss saw what the commotion was all about, he immediately put Steve on double-secret probation. Steve has never lived down visiting a Chevy\u2019s in Portland where he could have had some of the country\u2019s freshest and best seafood.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the din died down, Steve admitted somewhat sheepishly that after two days in Portland, he was missing New Mexican food so desperately that he visited the closest facsimile he could find. It was either Chevy\u2019s or the aforementioned Macheezmo Mouse. Most business traveler from New Mexico have probably been there, too\u2026well, not to Chevy\u2019s, but at a point in the trip where the craving for New Mexico\u2019s inimitable cuisine strikes like an addict\u2019s need for a fix.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Mojito Ceviche:\u00a0 Rock cod thinly sliced and marinated in lime juice, light rum, sugar and mint. Served with fresh made blue corn chips.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Peter Martin can certainly relate to that type of craving.\u00a0 The Seattle native and owner of the Desert Fish restaurant has been marooned on a land-locked desert isle of a sort, having moved to New Mexico shortly after a friend bought the Tesuque Village Market<\/a> outside of Santa Fe. \u00a0 Youthful in exuberance and chronology, Peter has been working in nightclubs and restaurants for more than two decades, but it wasn’t as much an entrepreneurial spirit that prompted his venturing into the restaurant ownership business as it was just how much he missed seafood.\u00a0 No matter how much New Mexico’s restaurants may think they’re serving good seafood, they’re not serving the type of seafood with which Peter was raised.<\/span><\/p>\n

That would be seafood prepared as it is throughout the Pacific Northwest by seafood houses whose idea of freshness is off-the-boat and where catch of the day means this morning.\u00a0 It’s seafood the type of which you find at the world-famous Pike’s Place Market<\/a> where fishmongers toss fish at one another to the delight of visitors.\u00a0 It’s wild-caught fish which are healthier and are more palatable in texture, aroma and flavor than their farm-raised brethren.\u00a0 It’s an oyster bar serving a variety of oysters with a sweet oceanic flavor.\u00a0 It’s Dungeness crab, a delicately flavored, slightly sweet West Coast delicacy.\u00a0 Peter has made all of this available in Albuquerque.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Fresh Oysters: Kumamoto, Snow Creek, Penn Cove, Kushi and Miyagi with three dipping sauces: Clover honey and Tabasco, Raspberry and Champagne<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The aptly named Desert Fish was launched on December 10th, 2010 at the former site of Sonny’s Bar and Grill on Route 66 in the Nob Hill District.\u00a0 Gone are the pool tables, dartboards and numerous televisions usually tuned to sporting events.\u00a0 The bandstand was retained, its stage to be graced by local music acts, their tunes piped in through a sound system reputed to be one of the best in town.\u00a0 The ambiance is refined, like a true Northwestern seafood emporium and not a stereotypical nautical themed template. <\/span><\/p>\n

While rich, dark woods imbue a room with masculinity, Desert Fish’s more gender-neutral light, but no less rich, woods give it character.\u00a0 The bar’s paneled wainscoting extends to the smooth hewn planks on the ceiling.\u00a0 Exposed industrial-style ductwork adds a touch of modernity while a twelve-foot totem pole, reminiscent of those carved by the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest,\u00a0 provides a bit of whimsy.\u00a0\u00a0 On the day of our inaugural visit, the topmost figure on the totem pole sported a Seattle Seahawks helmet.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Cioppino: Hearty fish stew with shrimp, Dungeness crab, salmon, clams and mussels in a savory tomato broth with our own Desert Fish spice. Served with grilled bread.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The restaurant has two main dining areas.\u00a0 As you enter (through a door on the edifice’s west side, not through Central Avenue as you might think) to the right there’s an intimate dining room with about a dozen tables.\u00a0 More commodious is the main dining room where your interior views are of the stage, bar and oyster bar while your exterior views through large picture windows are of Central Avenue.\u00a0 You’ll want to appreciate those views later; first you’ll want to peruse the menu which is not so much a compendium of all great seafood, but a carefully selected assemblage of incomparable seafood.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are seven appetizers on the menu including a couple (French fries and kabobs) which are decidedly not seafood.\u00a0 A soup of the day and clam chowder as well as a number of salads provide delicious alternatives to starters to be\u00a0 sampled during future visits (and there will be many), but it’s the “bar menu” which will command most of your attention.\u00a0 Price points are surprisingly comparable to what you might pay at a restaurant in Portland or Seattle and there’s no compromise in quality here.\u00a0 Seafood is flown in fresh every two or three days.\u00a0 A grilled rib eye steak au poivre is the only landlubber’s entree on the menu, but then you didn’t come here for meat, did you?<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Whole Dungeness Crab: Succulent steamed crab served with corn on the cob and choice of fries.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You came to Desert Fish for the seafood, the quality of which my foodie friend Larry McGoldrick<\/a> describes as “superior<\/em>.”\u00a0 On his Urbanspoon page, Larry assures readers that “Desert Fish has become a polished eatery and imbibery in the three short weeks that it has been open<\/em>.”\u00a0 You can trust the good professor of oceanography.\u00a0 He lived on Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay before moving to New Mexico.\u00a0 Larry’s recommendations in mind, we wanted to try everything he had but opted instead to try a few different items so readers can get two perspectives on the menu’s delicious offerings.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we do at most mariscos (Mexican seafood) restaurants, we had to have ceviche.\u00a0 At Desert Fish that means Mojito Ceviche<\/em>, thinly-sliced rock cod marinated in lime juice, light rum, sugar and mint.\u00a0 The ceviche is served with fresh made blue corn chips and in the fashion of tostadas de ceviche, the combination of light, delicate fish and crispy corn is hard to beat, not that the chips were necessary in the least.\u00a0 This is ceviche reminiscent of ceviche you might find at a Peruvian restaurant meaning it’s incomparably fresh and wholly imbued with flavors which are both complementary and contrasting.\u00a0 The infusion of fresh citrus juices and rum, in particular, impart an almost Tropical feel.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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<\/span> Truffle Fries, Sweet Potato Fries and House Fries<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seafood connoisseurs recognize that no other seafood offering tastes as much like the sea as oysters, renown nearly as much for their aphrodisiac properties as for their flavor.\u00a0 It’s a flavor attributable to terroir<\/em>, the specific environment in which they grow.\u00a0 Desert Fish offers a variety of oysters from a variety of locales.\u00a0 Order at least one from each and discern the nuanced flavors.\u00a0 The Kumamoto<\/em>, considered by many as the perfect oyster, is sweet and “fruity” in an oceanic way.\u00a0 Snow Creek<\/em> oysters, raised in the deep waters of the Puget Sound, have a hint of iron in a sweet-salty flavor profile.\u00a0 Penn Cove<\/em>, perhaps the most “beautiful” of all oysters, are about medium in brininess while retaining a sea-saltiness.\u00a0 Kushi<\/em> (Japanese for “precious”) oysters have a clean flavor and are small in size.\u00a0 Miyagi oysters are full-flavored and robust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though I prefer the unfettered flavor of oysters in all their native deliciousness, Desert Fish serves their oysters with three dipping sauces: clover honey and Tabasco, raspberry and champagne.\u00a0 Each imparts its own complementary flavor ameliorating qualities to the oysters.\u00a0 Unlike most oyster “shooters” which are tangy and piquant, these sauces are sophisticated and delicious.\u00a0 The champagne resonated most with me with its characteristically dry and sweet flavors.\u00a0 Neither the raspberry or clover honey and Tabasco sauces are as sweet as their names might suggest.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> Milk and cookies<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During all my visits to San Francisco, one of America’s truly great culinary hotbeds, the one dish I absolutely have to partake of is cioppino<\/em>, a fish stew whose genesis is indeed the City by the Bay.\u00a0 No one does this Portuguese-Italian dish better than the seafood houses by the piers.\u00a0 Traditionally made from the catch of the day–usually Dungeness crab, shrimp, mussels, fish and clams–in a savory broth of fresh tomatoes and a dry white wine sauce, it is a hearty, delicious comfort soup.\u00a0 Though several restaurants in Albuquerque have tried their hand at cioppino, they all fall woefully short.\u00a0 Cioppino is a very nuanced dish with distinct seasonings which bring out the flavor of their seafood constituents.\u00a0 Desert Fish’s rendition includes a beautifully pink grilled salmon, Dungeness crab, clams and mussels and is served with grilled bread.\u00a0 It’s a San Francisco-worthy cioppino.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another San Francisco treat popular throughout the Pacific Northwest is Dungeness crab<\/em>, sweeter and more tender than lobster with more meat than the vaunted blue crabs of Larry McGoldrick’s former stomping grounds.\u00a0 The legs\u00a0 and body are engorged with sweet, succulent meat that’s easier to extricate than the meat of Alaskan king crab.\u00a0 At Desert Fish, a whole Dungeness crab is served with sweet corn-on-the-cob and your choice of fries.\u00a0 Ask the accommodating wait staff to bring you a sampler of all three fries: sweet potato, truffle fries and house fries, all of which are so reminiscent of the fries served at seaside stands.\u00a0 The corn-on-the-cob is grilled and unseasonably sweet.\u00a0 Best of all, it’s a whole ear of corn, not a half-sized piece that will have you longing for more.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/span> The totem pole at Desert Fish. Check out the Seattle Seahawks helmet on top<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dessert menu includes several surprises including milk and fresh-baked cookies.\u00a0 While milk and cookies<\/em> may sound a bit quaint outside the child’s menu, these cookies are very good–two chocolate cookies with chocolate chips and pecans.\u00a0 Milk, of course, is the perfect accompaniment to cookies of any kind.\u00a0 This is a combination that might take you back to your childhood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Desert Fish is the real deal–a Pacific Northwest seafood house in the desert southwest.\u00a0 From its look and feel to the fantastic flavors of the fish and more, it is a welcome respite for expatriates from either coast.\u00a0 It’s the type of seafood restaurant to which I wish my colleagues would have taken me all those times I suffered through Mexican food as mediocre as any you’d get on a frozen dinner.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Desert Fish<\/strong>
\n4214 Central Avenue, S.E.
\nAlbuquerque, New Mexico<\/strong>
\nLATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 15 January 2011
\nCLOSED<\/strong>: May 2013
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 1
\nRATING<\/strong>: *
\nCOST<\/strong>: $$$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Fresh Oysters, Chioppino, Dungeness Crab, Mojito Ceviche, Fries, Milk and Cookies<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you were entertaining a visitor from Seattle or Portland, would you take them to Long John Silver’s, Captain D’s or even\u00a0 Pelican’s to show them how the seafood in land-locked Albuquerque measures up to the seafood in those two bastions of fresh, succulent seafood?\u00a0 Not likely!\u00a0 You’d probably want to take them to a restaurant which showcases New Mexico’s red and green chile.\u00a0 For some reason, however, during business trips to Seattle and Portland, my well-intentioned colleagues insist on taking me to Mexican restaurants.\u00a0 Perhaps they assume that with my Spanish surname and place of residence, I would want to try their Mexican food.\u00a0 That makes as much sense as expecting me to stay at La Quinta and drive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[440,607,262,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-albuquerque","category-closed-in-2013","category-closed","category-seafood"],"yoast_head":"\nDesert Fish - 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