If you’re not looking for Grill Fish Café, you might miss it. And that is part of its charm.
The cozy little West Philadelphia/University City restaurant, 814 S. 47th St., specializes in Vietnamese/Pan-Asian seafood dishes and an understated atmosphere. From what we saw, the restaurant attracts a decidedly grown-up clientele that seems to enjoy a nice, quiet dinner.
The dishes we tried were uncomplicated and well-executed. The fried calamari ($10) was as good as any you’ll find in the city, but the Grill Fish’s ace in the hole is the spicy lime sauce that accompanies it. The sauce’s spicy citrus kick was unique and amazing. We wanted a bottle of the stuff to take home and drizzle over everything. The garlic shrimp ($12) was a delight too, perfectly grilled and saucy with the right combination of spices.
When it came to the entrées, there were some non-seafood dishes on the menu like lamb and chicken. All of the entrées at Grill Fish are reasonably priced (all well under $20) and, for the most part, follow the template of some kind of protein with some form of sauce or garnish and vegetables.
If the pan-fried fluke was any indication, that formula works. Our fish was perfection: tender, crisp and flaky with a hint of a spicy ginger sauce and scallion oil. It was just enough that it didn’t affect the crispiness of the breading on the fish (which we appreciated). The bed of spinach the fish rested on and the jasmine rice that came on the side were also excellent and indispensable.
The dessert menu at Grill Fish changes often, with the day’s selection written on a chalkboard. We tried the iced lemon cake ($7), which, while decent, seemed to be incongruous with the rest of the meal. The cake was pleasantly dense and moist, but the rich sweetness, which was bold and almost too much, and its large portion seemed kind of obnoxious compared to the rest of the meal. We would have relished something that was more exotic in the flavor department.
Still, that was the only hiccup in what otherwise was a flawless meal.
If you’re looking for a reasonably priced seafood experience with a lot of heart and soul, you definitely need to seek out Grill Fish Café.