Reeling In Another Great Dinner at Slapfish - CLOSED

Slapfish

19696 Beach Blvd.

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

After four years of doing this blog, I often wonder if the great restaurants we have visited continue churning out fantastic food. With a growing list of reader's tips and critically acclaimed restaurants, visiting a restaurant twice has become increasingly rare. We exchanged our Ducks ticket in Huntington Beach the other day, and I wanted to share one of our favorite seafood places with my parents. So we took a trip down Beach Boulevard and introduced them to Slapfish.

Our first trip to Slapfish was only a year and a few months ago. It seems like it has been longer, though. You can read about our first experience here. By now, you probably know the story of the Slapfish. It's the brainchild of Chef Andrew Gruel and Jethro Naude. They started this business as a food truck, but graduated to a brick and mortar restaurant in the early part of last year. They are passionate about serving sustainable seafood, claiming it tastes better, which they prove with almost every plate from their kitchen.

The big news at Slapfish is that they are expanding. Franchising will happen in a big way, and they hope to open 500 restaurants over the next ten years. Those are lofty goals, but their food may warrant it. The first franchises are expected to open in of all places, the Middle East, early next year. A little closer to home, there are rumors that they have been looking at locations in Newport, Irvine, and Costa Mesa, all of which will help cut down on my drive time to their Huntington Beach restaurant, meaning more frequent trips to Slapfish.

Slapfish is located in the Newland Shopping Center, between Yorktown and Adams on Beach Boulevard. We arrived just after 4PM on a Sunday after watching my beloved Jaguars go down in defeat to a much superior team. (at this point, a high school team might be superior to the Jags, but I will still stand by them, no matter how many ulcers they give me). So, I was ready to drown my sorrows with some great seafood. The guys at Slapfish keep things casual by having guests order at the counter, and then the food is brought to your table. Let's see what this visit to Slapfish brought our way.

For as long as I can remember, I have known my Dad to enjoy a good clam chowder. So, it was no surprise that he would start with the Clam Chowder ($5.50) here at Slapfish. This creamy concoction is filled with nice-sized clams, a very creamy and flavorful base, and bacon crumbles for good measure. I could tell he liked this because it was hard for him to part with too many spoonfuls.

As much as my Dad enjoys clam chowder, my Mom loves fish and chips equally. The Fish and Chips ($9.00) here at Slapfish made her happy. The fish here is not overly greasy but does not sacrifice flavor. The breading was crunchy but not excessively thick, making this a lighter-than-usual fish and chips plate. The fish inside was flaky and flavorful, while the fries were also to her liking. I would not hesitate to get this again on future visits here.

Katie and my Dad got the Ultimate Fish Taco ($5.50), which helped reduce my writing in this review. Thanks guys. At Slapfish, they offer this taco with either seared or fried fish. Both of them got this seared. After trying the fish and chips, I would have gotten this breaded. I always like a little crunch to my fish tacos. The fish here was done nicely, with just a hint of spice. They were generous with the fish they placed in the corn tortilla. Joining the fish inside the tortilla was cabbage, radish, a little cilantro, pickled onion, a light amount of avocado spread, and the requisite white sauce. All of these worked very well with each other, making this one of the best fish tacos either of them has had.

When I checked out the menu at Slapfish, one thing really jumped out at me, the Lobster Dog ($12.00). Yes, you read that correctly, lobster dog. When I ordered this, I did not know what to expect. Maybe they would place lobster on top of a hot dog or sausage, but no, this was a bratwurst made out of lobster. Very unique. This bratwurst was topped with onions, peppers, and their awesome chipotle aioli sauce. The lobster did get a little lost here. I am more of a purist when it comes to lobster; just give me melted butter, and I will be a happy boy. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this though. It was rich, with the majority of the flavor coming from the toppings on this. I would probably get their shrimp and lobster grinder on my next visit here.

I am looking forward to the expansion of Slapfish because they are always showing off their specials on Facebook. Almost every time I open Facebook, I come face to face with another special they are running. They offered these Surf and Turf Nachos ($12.00) as their day special during our visit. I am always a fan of nachos, and when I heard that these had pork and lobster, I was in. There was a cilantro lime cream, pickled habaneros, and lobster sauce along with the pork and lobster. These were so good. The pork was done right for a place specializing in seafood; the lobster was more plentiful than I would have thought, and the sauces and textures came together nicely. I would have liked a few extra chips on the side, but other than that, I could find no fault with these nachos.

Our second trip to Slapfish was even better than our first. My parents really ended up enjoying this restaurant as well. We saw them for our customary Monday night dinner the next day, and they both brought up how much they enjoyed Slapfish. Whenever someone asks me about seafood in OC, I ask if they have been to Slapfish. I tell them they must get there as soon as possible if they still need to. I like that they change their menu depending on what's available, so you always know you are getting the freshest stuff. Some may scoff at paying five dollars per taco, but these differ from chain-fish place tacos. These will fill you up, and you know you are getting good seafood done right. Glad we had the opportunity to revisit Slapfish. Now, we are just waiting for their OC expansion to begin and hoping that they pop up closer to us.

Out of five sugar beets (because Slapfish is located in the Newland Shopping Center, which used to be part of the Newland Ranch, which grew sugar beets, among other things, in the early 1900s), five being best and zero being worst, Slapfish gets 3.5 sugar beets.

For more information about Slapfish, go to their website here: http://www.slapfishrestaurant.com/

SlapFish Has Got Us, Hook, Line and Sinker - CLOSED

SlapFish - A Modern Seafood Shack

19696 Beach Blvd. 

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

I am one of the last OC food bloggers to make it to SlapFish. Not that I haven't wanted to go before now. I have heard good, no make-that-great things about them. We have not been able to make it up to HB to see the big deal. So we finally had a free Sunday to drive up to try them.

Casual fish restaurants are opening up all over. Spike's Fish House, California Fish Grill, Boneheads, and SlapFish have all sprung up recently. This is a trend that I can really get behind. It used to be that seafood had to be served in fancy restaurants with great ocean views and big price tags attached to the meals to help pay for that view. I can only ever recall having fish from H. Salt or in TV dinners when we were growing up. I always thought more people would like fish if exposed to it early. These restaurants are trying to encourage this by making fish more readily available to everyone, which is good for all of us.

For those of you who have yet to learn about SlapFish, they started as a food truck, and earlier this year, they set up shop in a Huntington Beach shopping center about a mile away from the ocean. SlapFish is run by two guys who genuinely love the sea. Chef Andrew Gruel and Jethro Naude want to serve fish responsibly, so they are committed to sourcing only Eco-friendly and well-managed seafood. They work closely with the Aquarium of the Pacific and other agencies to prevent overfishing and harmful fishing practices. They believe sustainable fish taste better, so I was excited to see if this was true.

We got to SlapFish at about 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon. The ten-table restaurant was packed with people just finishing up their meals. Ordering is done at the counter, and the menu is posted on large chalkboards above the register. The menu rotates based on what is available at a specific time. They update their menu every month or so. Food is then brought out to your table by the staff. Enough talk; let's get to it!

Right after ordering, I made a beeline for their condiment bar. This is where they have their tarter sauce, hot sauces, and the sauce on the right, the "Awesome Sauce." We had ordered some items that already came with these sauces, but I like adding a little extra sauce to everything, so we got more. The awesome sauce was very good. It was like a Thousand Islands dressing in color but very subtle. I really liked it.

I needed to post two pictures of this Major Crunchy Fish Sandwich ($8.95) because I could not get the whole thing in the picture. This thing was massive. I really enjoyed this sandwich. It's one of the best fish sandwiches I have had. This sandwich had fried golden hake, pickled onion, and their awesome sauce. Katie thought this was good but very rich. I liked the crunchiness of the outer portion of the fish. It had a great crunch without being overly greasy. The fish was very fresh and had an appealing flavor. The brioche-buttered bun is also worth noting here. Went very well with the sandwich, and it held up to this big hunk of fish admirably.

One of the most popular dishes on their menu when we were there was the Chowder Fries with Bacon ($5.95). This simple dish should be copied by more restaurants. They take their creamy clam chowder, pour it over French fries, and then add crumbled bacon. Surprisingly, the fries stayed somewhat crisp while we were eating this. The clam chowder was very creamy but did suffer from a lack of clams. I would definitely get this again.

We had a seat right near the register, and while we were there, I noticed almost all the orders included $1 Fish Tacos. Every day from 3pm to 5pm, they offer dollar tacos, and lots of people were taking advantage of this deal by ordering six at a time. I was reserved and only ordered one. They used the same golden hake in the tacos they used in Katie's fish sandwich. I was first amazed at how much fish they put on this. I am used to their minuscule amount at Rubio's and Wahoo's. I was also impressed with the attention to detail they used to put this dollar taco together. You can see it in the picture above. A light avocado spread, pickled red onion, and a lemon aioli accompany the fish in this taco. This fish taco had great, deep flavors. Really a good value for a buck.

We are suckers for crab cakes, so when we saw SlapFish's version, the Griddled Clobster Cake ($6.85), on the menu, we knew we would be ordering it. This cake was made of crab and lobster and served with a chipotle slaw and herb aioli. I liked the big hunks of meat on the cake; there was only a little filler here. The sauce was mellow, and the cake had a little citrus kick. The slaw was well made, and I could not stop eating it until it was gone.

We last tried the XL Firecracker Fish Burrito ($8.25). This burrito was stuffed with cod, avocado, black beans, cabbage, and rice. The burrito could have been wrapped better. I cut it in half to snap pictures of the inside, and it fell apart. This burrito was big and had many layers of flavor. I did not get the spiciness until I was halfway done with the burrito. This burrito needed a little more liquid, so I added more of the "Awesome Sauce" to it, which made it better.  I would skip the burrito on my next visit. This was not the best vehicle for the fish, and without eating this filling burrito, I would have more room to eat other things on the menu.

I guess you can tell that we really liked our trip to SlapFish. I might have liked this even better than Katie. The fish was very fresh, and its preparation really brought out big-time flavors. Be advised that the menu items here may only sometimes be available due to the time of year and availability. Still, if this visit was any indication, you can find something you like here. The girls behind the counter were charming, and even after we ordered, they ensured we got all our food and checked back on us to ensure everything was okay. SlapFish is a testament that seafood does not have to be expensive or served only in fancy restaurants. Thanks for bringing delicious seafood to the masses, SlapFish.

Out of five oil wells (because the city of Huntington Beach, where SlapFish is situated, was first known for the oil under the town, and thus, the teams from Huntington Beach High School are still called the Oilers), five being best to zero being worst, SlapFish gets a strong 3.5 oil wells.

For more information on SlapFish, click here: http://slapfishrestaurant.com/index.php