The Fisherman is Catch From Old Days
EXECUTIVE DINING
by Fifi Chao
Orange County counts many good seafood restaurants now. Many of them are in impressive looking buildings and/or have their name out there via ads, or just because their attention to good food and service gets them the relished word-of-mouth advertising from customer to potential customer.
Then there are those seafood houses that go unpretentiously about their business and casually feed us well enough whenever we’re too tired to cook, or in our jogging clothes perhaps.
It was just such a night that got us back recently to The Fisherman, nestled on the San Clemente Pier. We had guests visiting from France,the renowned artist from the Loire Valley, Jonathan Robinson, and another French friend who was here to investigate American restaurants and wine as Jonathan courted clients of his art and those who might become collectors.
We’d already taken them to several upscale restaurants to dine, not the least of which was Bistango, a restaurant that fascinated them no end with its seamless sophistication of art and food complementing each other. The night came, of course, when everyone was in the mood to just hang out and keep things very simple.
That’s when The Fisherman came to mind. I’ve always found the attitude of the staff to be cheerful and the place overall is certainly unassuming. Yet, the menu boasts a full page of fresh seafood,plus a burger, a bit of chicken and a few steaks. Just being at the pier above the lapping waves is relaxing.
The wooden chairs and tables and the plain square room with its walls of glass are as down to earth as can be. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating (under heat lamps in the cooler weather). We had our cocktails outside, but it was too cold, even with the added heat, to stay there for a full meal, so we moved inside when a table became available.
They do not take reservations so you might have a short wait.
As for the food, it’s more comprehensive than you might imagine. Much of the seafood is simply broiled and served with a nice sauce of some sort. But there are other preparations to consider too. All of the entr & #233;es come with choice of chowder or salad and potatoes or rice (and dinners also come with vegetables). To start things off, they serve a loaf of sourdough bread straight from the oven. It’s a very respectable sourdough that always finds us eating far too many slices slathered with butter.
I had not had Oysters Rockefeller for such a long time. Apparently neither had anyone else at the table, including the additional couple we invited to join the four of us. They all tasted mine and so I reordered. Half a dozen fresh bivalves baked on half-shells nestle on a bed of salt. They rest on the requisite layer of fresh spinach and are topped by rich hollandaise sauce, all brown and bubbly from being parked briefly under the broiler. Oysters on the half-shell, from Long Island and the Pacific Northwest, were freshly shucked and bright in taste. Scampi were quite true to the Italian classic in their buttery garlic sauce.
In the entr & #233;e category, ahi tuna is seared rare, but carries they jaunty taste of Cajun spices on its exterior. I recommend you try the clean-tasting broiled Wild Striped Sea Bass since it’s such an agreeable fish that’s not available everywhere.
Cioppino here is a seafood stew served over linguine. It’s but one of a dozen pasta dishes. Clams, mussels and even smoked salmon come in their own pasta orientations. Poor man’s abalone is calamari steak and there’s nothing wrong with this version that’s saut & #233;ed and topped with bits of fresh garlic and capers.
Local lobster, King crab and Dungeness crab are on the menu as is the meaty white fish called Escolar, which is one of my favorite swimmers. A few fish are brushed with a teriyaki glaze while cooking, but I think the best are cooked unadorned. That would include the broiled sea scallops whose tender texture on the inside gives way to an almost caramelized exterior with no added enhancement needed.
For the most casual pleasure of all, the fish and chips sport big, chunky pieces of tender fish and piles of steak fries and very good cole slaw. There’s a lot more to the menu than what I’ve mentioned and the whole thing is printed daily to reflect what seafood comes fresh from the purveyors. There’s also a nice little wine list with some well-chosen labels.
Taken for what it is, The Fisherman is casual fun in a fast-disappearing setting. Piers are being destroyed by the massive waves wrought by el ni & #324;os and cities are balking at restaurants that impinge on their piers in any way. This restaurant is like a beacon of what old California was like. It refuses to dance to a trendy theme. It simply keeps on doing what it does best: serving fresh seafood in the most uncomplicated atmosphere with views of the Pacific that are priceless.
