Good eats in Gig Harbor

As my mom’s surgery was of the outpatient variety with minimal anesthesia, we decided to go to lunch afterwards. Gig Harbor has become decidedly upscale since my high school days. The town proper has more shi-shi shops than before, and there seem to be far more private sailboats and motorboats now than fishing boats. The restaurants along the harbor are of the Anthony’s Home Port sort. On the east side of Highway 16, the new Franciscan medical and Multicare facilities have encouraged the spawning of mixed-use retail areas, including shops that definitely cater to the upper middle class consumer.

Part of me likes the shiny new development, which helps increase employment in an area that has a great disparity in wealth: in the Key Peninsula area, those who live there are either very, very rich, or very, very poor. Part of me is wistful for those little out-of-the-way, not-very-shiny places that serve good quality food at decent prices, but I am willing to let those go in favor of shiny places that help people make a living wage. However, the small restaurants that have something different and unique about them survive and thrive, as I soon found.

We at first thought we would go to Anthony’s Home Port, as it would obviously serve seafood, which my mother had a hankerin’ for, but it was closed for a private party. Our attention turned to a small restaurant right next door, the Marketplace Grille. My hopes rose upon entering, for even though the waiting area was but a low partition away from the kitchen, and the décor was not shiny, and the scents were rich and marvelous. Though we were the only ones waiting, the place was clearly busy. My mother and I were escorted past the kitchen to a back room, which had a gorgeous view of the harbor with Mount Rainier peeking above the evergreen tree-lined hill in the distance. Our server looked African American, but her accent told me she was from somewhere in the Caribbean Islands.

There was calamari on the menu, which my mother ordered, and I ordered the halibut fish and chips. Now, I don’t care for fish and chips much, as they are either the breaded kind that is overcooked, or the battered kind that has a soggy interior, where the thick fried batter exterior ends up sliding off onto the plate in a rather sad mess. But, for me, it is a test of a good seafood restaurant to see what the fish and chips are like, so I decided to try it. If attention is paid to the most common and least item on the menu, then chances are good that the other dishes are of quality, too.

Though it took a while to get the food, it was worth the wait. Halibut is not my favorite fish, as it tends to have a strong fishy aftertaste (yes, yes, I know, it’s a fish, therefore…), but one steaming hot bite convinced me that this was the best halibut fish and chips I’ve ever eaten. The lemon slice’s inner edge was dipped in what looked like ground chili powder or paprika (or other red spice), and once squeezed over the fish, deposited a light spray of mixed lemon juice and spice over it all. The fried batter crust was thin and crisp to the teeth, and beyond it was the soft halibut, with no soggy doughiness between crust and fish at all. It was a lovely contrast of crisp crunch and immediate fish goodness afterwards. The crust stayed firmly on the fish and never fell off into a mess, yet the fish inside was fully cooked and moist.

The chips—French fries—did not disappoint. They were cut thin and well cooked, again to a crunch on the outside to a brief softness of potato on the inside. No mushy thick bits here, nor tough over-cooked exterior, but crisp, lightly herb-brushed sticks. The flavor had a touch of chive and cheese, perhaps parmesan. They really did not need to be dipped in ketchup or tartar sauce, though these were available.

The traditional cole slaw was on the side, but even that was kicked up enough to notice, as the occasional bits of chopped dried cranberries gave the slaw sauce the delicate sweetness it needed, without either the overpowering sweetness or dull blandness you often find in a restaurant cole slaw.

Mom had the fried calamari, as I mentioned, and these, too, were different. They also seemed to have been cooked with the same thin crisp batter, but instead of being just plain, the batter in this case had a hint of spice in them as well. Again, the calamari was cooked to tenderness and not to rubberiness, and the crust was crisp. We expected the accompanying pink sauce to be the same-old same-old 1000 Island dressing that is usually served with seafood, but this sauce was not sweet, but had a tart and very slightly spicy taste. Delicious!

I asked our server about our meal, and she revealed that Chef Richard is from the Caribbeans, and that everything is made from scratch. Though I like a spicy dish, the spice added to the sauce and the fried crust on the calmari was not strong at all, but just light enough to support the basic flavors of fish and calamari--anything stronger would have overwhelmed the delicate calamari taste. The halibut was traditional fish and chips all right, but the subtle addition herbs and spices, plus the crisp thin batter crust, brought it way above the ordinary. Even if you are not a fan of spiciness, you will not object to the amount put on these seafood delights.

The price was decent, too. Lunch with iced tea and diet Coke added up to just a little more than $27, total, a touch more than $13 each.