Last night I finally got a chance to visit the newly
renovated Fishmen Lobster Clubhouse Restaurant on Silver Star Blvd in Scarborough.
This restaurant boasts some of the best seafood in Scarborough and with
their wall to wall display of eel, Alaskan crabs and lobsters swimming in their tanks, it’s highly
doubtful that these guys would not know their own specialty. We had made
reservations for the evening for about the 10 of us and if there was one thing
I liked about these guys was that they were very prompt with their reservation
times and because they only have reservations for their 6 and 8 pm time slot, they make sure that they start you at 6 and get rid of you by 8.
We scanned their extensive menu which contained many different seafood combinations to choose from. With ten people, we
wanted to make sure we had a bit of everything so for the night we went with
their Spicy Stir Fried Style 6 lb Alaskan Crab, 6lb Deep Fried American Lobster
with Dry Garlic, Fried Rice with Lobster Tamale, Choi Sum Vegetables, Eel with Black Bean Sauce and Steamed Bass. There was also the soup of the day and Black
Sesame Soup for Dessert that came with our meal.
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| Deep Fried American Lobster with Dry Garlic |
Our lobster was just a shade over the 6lb mark. As it clearly states on their menu, any
lobster that is over their 6lb limit is subject to an additional $16.99/lb added
to their lobster cost. For us, it was an extra $7.99. When they brought
it out, the lobster was stacked about a foot high from the bottom up. As impressive as the presentation was, taste
of course was the most important thing. Although
there were several ways of making this dish, we decided to go with their dry garlic
style this time around. I had to admit the
lobster was a little dry and the dry garlic didn’t quite get completely into
the lobster. The lobster of course was
fresh however one could not really “taste” the importance of the dry
garlic. If they had made the lobster
without the dry garlic, truthfully it probably would have tasted about the
same.
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| Eel with Black Bean Sauce |
The Alaskan crab however was made differently than the
lobster. Like the lobster, had the crab gone over the 6lb limit, then it would be subject to an additional $42/pound. Luckily we were within it. We went with their Spicy Stir Fry Style which incidentally
cost a little more as they used fried silver ray fish to blend itself with the
crab. I personally like this dish more
than the lobster because at least one could taste the extra spiciness embedded
into the crab which really enhanced the overall taste of the crab meat. The crab was exposed and de-shelled just
perfectly so that there was just a little bit of shell left on the meat and
one did not have to use considerable effort to consume the meal. My
understanding was that the spicy stir fry style could also be applied to the lobster
and not just to the crab alone.
 |
| Steamed Bass |
For those not complete enamored with the fried seafood
perhaps an eel rice with black bean curd would be enticing for some. The difficulty with this dish is of course
the amount of small little bones inside the eel. Taste wise, these guys knew how to make it
very, very good. The eel meat was juicy
and tender and it absorbed the bean curd sauce really well. Everyone liked this dish and yours truly certain did as well.
The steamed bass was nicely done as well. All that was added were some green onions and
a hot cup of sweet soya sauce to it. I found it
interesting that the hot soya sauce was served in a wine glass where patrons
were asked to pour the sauce themselves but then the waiter afterwards would
come by and slice open the fish for you.
The meat, like the eel, was very soft and juicy and actually worked well
with the rice which I will talk next.
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| Choi Sum Vegetables |
The fried rice with lobster tamale arrived last and was
rather dry and almost tasteless despite the amount of the lobster
tamale in it. Although there was plenty of the
lobster membrane mixed with the rice, there was little to no taste to it which
I found it a little disappointing. One needed
some eel or fish sauce to actually kick this dish up a notch. Although it was a nice filler to have at the
end, additional spices or ingredients would have been nice to really turn it
into an A-list rice to have.
 |
| Spicy Stir Fried Style Alaskan Crab |
The vegetable was a Choy Sum mixed with a simple
broth. There wasn’t anything spectacular
with this dish as we just needed a vegetable to contrast all the fry foods we
were having for the evening. All I can say was that it
was nicely done and served its purpose well.
The black sesame soup arrived last and it was nice and warm
when it was set on our table. It was sweet
but not overly sweet and the sesame was pureed smoothly It was a good dessert to have and a great
alternative to the usual red bean soup.
 |
| Fried Rice with Lobster Tamale |
Overall it was decent night however both lobster dishes were
satisfactory at the most. The spicy crab,
the eel and even the fish were superbly done and I would highly recommend any
one of these three dishes. The good
thing about the lobster dish was that the style could be changed so the next
time I am there, I will certainly avoid the dry garlic style and try another alternative. As for price, it was difficult to gauge as
the lobster and crab were based on a pre-set menu. If the crab and/or the lobster were over 6lbs, there would be additional charges added to your bill. The crab, the lobster and its rice, the bass, the Choy Sum,
the soup and the dessert were a set price of about $339.00. The eel was an
additional $20.00. The total cost was
slightly over $400.00 plus tips. We were
able to finish the night with about 5 minutes to spare as they were
already starting to push us out the door so that the 8:00 people could start
coming in. At O Mei, one of the other restaurants that I had blogged previously which served similar styled foods, their Alaskan Crabs
and King size lobsters were about $5/pound more however each dish was made into
four different ways where as this place , the lobster only had 2. These guys here were good however I believe
their competitors at O Mei still have a slight edge on the overall quality of their
food and their service. Overall I give
it a 4 out of 5.
Fishmen Lobster Seafood Restaurant
680 Silver Star Blvd
Toronto Ontario
416 321-0250
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