Eatery - Slapfish (CA)
19696 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Seafood
www.slapfishsocal.com
Remember that post a loooooong time ago that I did on the inception of Grubwithus? Well I finally found a meal that was being hosted in Orange County so finally signed up. It was sort of held in conjunction with Gogobot (well Ash, the OC manager, created it) which meant that we got a tiny bit of too-adorable swag (buttons! with bears!). Anyhow, we got a whole slew of amazing food in the period of time we were there; it really was almost too much but boy was it delicious. I love Slapfish's philosophy and practice on sustainability. Must come back!
The first two appetizers that came out (well, they pretty much all came out simultaneously to be honest) were their freshly shucked oysters from Carlsbad and the buffalo fish. I'm definitely not an expert on oysters since I had only had my first ones in January but I liked these. They weren't too briney and the toppings gave it a nice, easy swallow. The buffalo fish were such in that they were just like buffalo chicken in terms of seasoning but were fish. I didn't think much of it only because it was just a different meat to the typical buffalo style.
The next two appetizers were my favorite of the four. The tower of wasabi tuna was very delightful but man does that wasabi kick you in the face! It slapped me with some nostril-clearing spice but oh so ninja-like. I mean, it seemed to be mixed in well enough into the sauce and overall meal that I didn't even spot it. The tuna was perfect, soft and flavorful. As for the chowder fries, wow. Whoever thought of smothering golden crisp fries in creamy clam chowder was a genius. The top-off with bacon perfected the whole dish. I need to come back for this.
In terms of entree, my friend got the SLAPfish and chips. What a huge portion! The fish came away bright white and flaky when I snagged a sample. Delish. My entree was the spicy lobster-shrimp grinder which I fell in love with. The creamy habanero sauce gave enough spiciness to let me know it was there but not so much that I wanted to cry into my napkin. The lobster was plentiful and meaty. The green apple addition to the entire mix lightened everything and helped balance the creamy spiciness with some tart crunchiness. Great touch there!
Lastly, they came out with desserts which I didn't even see on the normal menu. Was this just a Grubwithus special? I didn't care; I just wanted to eat. A carrot cake with some rich flavor was presented nicely in a large cupcake-like form. The star for me was the coffee stout chocolate cake. I love stouts, and this cake must have been loaded with it. I could smell it. I could taste it. I could even feel it (alcohol in my system!). Bravo on the dessert choices.
I came away with a great experience from Slapfish and having met new people. They even let us walk away with a free bottle of their sauces. I chose the Caribbean lime. Now to come up with something to do with it! Thanks to Grubwithus, Gogobot, and Slapfish!
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