Woodhouse Fish Co > first time

[brian j]

Decided to give Woodhouse Fish Co a try last night. Walked in around 7pm and the place was a bit busy, maybe half filled. Studied the menu for a while and decided to give the Crab Louie Roll a try. Figured since it's just the dawn of the crab season, it was the best bet, and a good deal at $12. Got a nice seat right by the window and patiently people watched while they took care of my order. Not a big fan of the xmas music playing, but overall the place has a bit of a New England feel to it.

Crab roll arrived and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of chunky crab meat which was adorning the nicely grilled split top hot dog bun. For a second I thought that they had given me a lobster roll my mistake because the Dungeness crab just looked so pretty. Thankfully the crab meat was only very very lightly dressed with Louie sauce. I was a bit concerned that it might be overdressed and I wouldn't be able to taste the crab. However, the crab tasted really clean, fresh & sweet. My only disappointment was with the garnish of shredded iceberg lettuce which had been placed underneath the crab. The bitterness and wateriness of the lettuce took more away from the crab then it added. I ended up picking out as much of it as possible. I would definitely ask for no iceberg lettuce next time around...

Underneath the roll was a heaping portion of perfectly fried shoestring fries. Absolutely delicious.

I'll definitely have to get back soon to give the Lobster roll a try.

[brian j]

The Louie sauce on my crab roll didn't really do anything for the sandwich either. Next time I might just ask for it naked with no sauce or lettuce. Maybe get the sauce on the side.

[rdean]

I had a lobster roll there a few months ago and was extremely disappointed. The lobster was overcooked and it came on a huge roll which took a lot away from the the taste of the lobster. I ended up eating lobster and leaving most of the roll. The sauce/dressing had very little taste and didn't do much for the overall experience.

I haven't been back or tried anything else on the menu.

[yummer]

They have changed the lobster roll recently. They are using a top-loading hot dog bun which is more traditional.

[adroit_minx]

Glad to hear you had a good experience there, as ours was pretty lackluster when we went for dinner the night before Thanksgiving. I ordered 4 oysters (I believe they were Hog Islands) and one of them was bad, I mean really bad where you can tell by smelling it. I then had the whole cracked crab, I think it was somewhere around $16, and it was just OK, kind of on the small side compared to ones I've seen so far this season. My husband got the Anchor Steam Battered Fish-n-Chips, which was the one good dish worth mentioning... the fish was moist, flaky, fresh tasting, and the consistency of the coating was perfect, not at all greasy, sticky, or soggy. He also got the clam chowder which he pronounced as "meh." Service was friendly and efficient, but it didn't really make up for the mediocre meal.

I really wanted to like this place but our experience left me with little incentive to return.... maybe we'll give it another shot thanks to your report.

[Atomica]

Did you point out the bad oyster to them?

[adroit_minx]

Oh absolutely, and they apologized and took it off the bill (the 1 oyster). I just feel that any shucker who knows what they're doing would immediately recognize an off oyster, and they weren't even busy that night, rather empty as a matter of fact.