A Meal Fit for a Monarch at King's Fish House?

King's Fish House

1521 W. Katella Ave.

Orange, CA 92867

I love when my parents anniversary rolls around. Not because of the reasons you may think though. Sure, I am happy and proud that they have been together for over 46 years, and are a stones throw away from 50 years of wedded bliss together. Yes, I am also happy for them because if there wasn't a "them" as a couple, I would not be here writing this food blog right now. I get it, I am proud of having them as my role models. I really like seeing the calender turn to their anniversary because it means that the long two month streak of having family holidays is coming to an end. No more presents to buy, at least until Fall, when all three of my nieces have birthdays. For at least two months there is nothing on our calender, other than the Fourth of July.

I decided to combo my parents anniversary and Father's Day into one dinner. I had a King's Fish House gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket for awhile now, so this would be a great opportunity to use it. We decided to meet up at King's at 6pm on a Friday night. The Angels were playing the Yankees, and there was lots of activity in the Stadium Promenade shopping center. The restaurant was packed, but my parents are notoriously early all the time, so they got us a table. Both Katie and I had been to King's Fish house before, but this would be my parents first time eating here. We reviewed King's early last year, and you can reminisce by looking at that review here.

King's Fish House is part of the King's Seafood Company which operates five other restaurants. There are now 11 King's Fish House locations, and three of those are located in Orange County, (Laguna Hills and Huntington Beach are the others). Started in 1945 by Lou and Mickey King, the company is now headed by their sons, Sam and Jeff King. The focus of all their restaurants is seafood, and that is what we were here to eat, so let's see how it all turned out for us.

If seafood is the most popular item on people's minds when they come into King's, the Sourdough Bread that you get at the start of each meal might be a close second. This half loaf of bread was served warm, and with plenty of butter. I could have probably hoarded this, but I decided I would share with my parents since it was their anniversary. See, I can be a giving person some of the time.

During our visit it was the Maine Lobster Festival, and Katie took full advantage of this by getting the New England Lobster Roll ($23.75). This sandwich is offered either Classic style or Connecticut style. The classic sandwich comes with mayo and is served cold. Katie selected this sandwich Connecticut style, which is served warm, with only butter and a few green onions on top for some color. This is my preferred version of this sandwich also. The bun was a toasted hot dog bun, which is top split, so the lobster and butter do not slide out. This sandwich is of course was very rich. The lobster was prepared well, and the bun had a good crunch to it. I was a little disappointed with the amount of lobster in this sandwich though. For an over twenty dollar sandwich I thought it should have been stuffed with more lobster, but that was my only complaint with this sandwich. Even though the menu at King's did not mention anything about side items, Katie did get to choose two of their Sidekicks. She opted for the Red Potato Salad and the Coleslaw. The potato salad was the better of the two. It had a very good dressing over the potatoes, which were cooked well. A very solid potato salad. The coleslaw was a little on the bland side. The cabbage was crunchy, but that might have been due to the lack of dressing used in this. Not the side item to choose here.

I would consider my Mom to be a fish and chips connoisseur. Almost anytime we have been to a seafood restaurant, this is her "go to" dish. This was the case at King's Fish House as well. These Beer Battered Fish and Chips ($15.75) really made my Mom happy. She exclaimed that she could not think of one bad thing to say about this meal. She was very happy with the batter and the fish inside of it. This was served with coleslaw and french fries. She thought that the fries were very good, as she is partial to smaller fries. She thought the coleslaw was just okay.

My Dad really took some time perusing the menu at King's. After a lengthy deliberation he selected the Hazelnut Crusted Farm Raised Salmon ($21.95). This salmon was served with a lemon butter sauce. My Dad was very pleased with his meal also. He thought the fish was cooked well, and that the hazelnut crust did not overpower the fish, but rather complimented it. He would not hesitate to get this dish again. For his side items he got the Garlic Mashed Potatoes and the Cheesy Grits. The mashed potatoes were okay, but the grits really blew them out of the water. I have had these before, and they are a must get side item when coming to King's Fish House. They have a great texture and the cheesiness that accompanies them adds a great flavor. My Dad cleared his plate pretty quickly.

I got a similar meal to my Dad's choice, the Macadamia Nut Crusted Wild Alaskan Halibut ($29.95). I almost always get the sand dabs when I am here, so I decided to change it up a bit. This was a very well prepared fish. The macadamia nuts kind of overshadowed the fish's natural flavor, and they could have used a little more of the orange ginger butter sauce that was poured over this, but I did end up enjoying my meal. For my two side items I got the Sauteed Spinach and the Macaroni and Cheese. The spinach was cooked nicely, just enough to say it was not soggy. The macaroni and cheese was okay. It had a very nice bread crumb topping, but it really lacked a cheesiness that you want to have when consuming macaroni and cheese. Should have got the cheesy grits instead.

By this time we were all pretty stuffed, but we decided we would split a dessert four ways. We all decided on their seasonal dessert offering, the Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwich ($7.75). This ice cream sandwich started with what I believe to be the same bun used on the lobster roll, then two scoops of caramel flavored ice cream are placed inside, and sprinkled with Alaea red salt. The last part of the dessert is a healthy pour of caramel sauce. We all really liked this rich dessert. The bread resembled a french toast type of feel to it, and the salt helped to cut the sweetness of the other items. Pretty well balanced dessert, and something we would all get again.

King's Fish House was a good choice to celebrate my parents anniversary and Father's Day. Both of my parents were really happy with their first time experience at King's. As we were walking out, my Mom told me that she could not find anything wrong with her meal and the experience that we had at King's. It's true, we had great service from start to finish during this meal. Our server, Andrew, really kept great tabs on us all night, even though the restaurant was full from the time we sat down, until the time we left. I feel that King's is definitely one of the better chain seafood restaurants around. Way better than that colored lobster place, and worlds better than one of my worst restaurants ever, Bubba Gump's. Sorry Forrest. I do kind of feel that the prices are a tad too high for the amount of seafood that you get, but King's is a solid choice for fish. I believe my parents have found a new favorite seafood restaurant. Now I am going to enjoy the next few months with no family birthdays or celebrations.

Out of five tridents, (because King Neptune, is the Roman God of the sea, and he holds a trident in his hand), five being best to zero being worst, King's Fish House gets 3 tridents.

For more information on King's Fish house, go to their web site here: http://www.kingsfishhouse.com/

King's Fish House to the Tower or the Throne?

King's Fish House

24001 Avenida De La Carlota

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

In Katie's family I kind of have a reputation. They take me to one of their favorite restaurants, I blog about it, and they are never satisfied with the results. They think that I am very picky, and a very tough critic. I think the reason they should be upset is that they have been eating at average places all this time. I am of course kidding, (I am not really, but I want to still be invited out with them!).

So, on this outing with the family we headed to King's Fish House. King's is a casual fish restaurant. They operate twelve locations, and three of them are located in our fair county, (the other two in OC are Orange and Huntington Beach). The vibe here at King's reminds me of a Lucille's BBQ restaurant. Although King's is a chain restaurant, you do not get that kind of vibe here. Let's check out what came out of the kitchen.

No bread basket here, but we were served this bread plate. This sourdough loaf was served warm, and had a great flavor. I could have eaten the whole loaf by myself.

I snapped this picture, just before Dennis dug in. He always goes for a cup of New England Clam Chowder when he comes here. He described this chowder as good, with just the right amount of spice. Plenty of potatoes and clams for his taste, and he liked the fact this was not as creamy as other chowders he has had.

The dinner salads were basic, but fresh. They are not going to wow you, but the blue cheese dressing for some reason this night caught my attention. It had more blue cheese flavor than most, and held on to the lettuce well.

Now on to the main entrees. We will start it off with Katie's selection, the Mediterranean Swordfish. This fish, caught off the California coast, was paired with a tomato fennel relish and Greek yogurt.sauce. This fish was very meaty, almost like a steak. The yogurt sauce was creamy and complimented the fish nicely. Also served with this was a sauteed orzo, which according to Katie, really balanced this meal out perfectly.

The patriarch of the family had the Mexican Shrimp and Wild Alaskan Scallops on a Skewer. Dennis enjoyed the portion size of this plate, and felt the shrimp and scallops were cooked well. For his two side items he went with Steamed Jasmine Rice and Macaroni and Cheese. The rice was average in his opinion, and the mac and cheese was a little on the dry side. Not the cheesiest macaroni we have had.

Not too different of a plate was Lynn's dinner, the Farm Raised Mexican Shrimp. Lynn echoed Dennis' comments about the portion size being good, and the shrimp being cooked well. She went with the Macaroni and Cheese as well, but also had the Sauteed Fresh Spinach. The spinach was the best side of the night for us. It was maybe sauteed with garlic, which really gave it a nice flavor.

After much deliberation I had the Parmesan Crusted Rockfish. I was very happy with the serving size of this entree. Four very well cooked pieces of fish, more than satisfied my appetite. My one complaint would be the lack of lemon butter on this. For some reason it was poured on the plate, rather than having it placed atop the fish. I should have just asked for more sauce, but I just made due. The Cole Slaw was decent here, but the mashed potatoes were flavor challenged. Next time I will opt for the baked potato.

King's Fish House is a pretty safe bet for a chain seafood restaurant. They are definitely better than Red Lobster, and on par with Bluewater Grill. The prices were a little on the high side, but the portion sizes make up for that a little bit. The sides here need some help. Besides the spinach, and maybe the Cole slaw, we were not too crazy about them. Service was straight forward and good. We sat out on the heated patio this night, and were quite comfortable. King's Fish House puts a halt to the run of mediocre restaurants that Katie's family has taken me to. I guess I will be invited to at least one more dinner, (I hope!).

Out of five Elvis's, (because of course you can not hear the name king, and not think of him), five being best to zero being worst, King's Fish House gets 3 Elvis's.

For more information on King's Fish House, click here: http://www.kingsfishhouse.com/index.html