The Cantankerous Fish

Good for: A business dinner or a girl's night out

Bad for: Budget conscious people on a diet

Cost: $80 for 2 people with tax and tip (inclu. 2 alcoholic beverages)

We went to Cantankerous Fish for date night and came away with a different impression than we walked in with. The atmosphere seems perfect for a date night when you first enter. Clean modern styled furniture, low lighting, etc. A closer look shows that it might be aimed at a more business oriented crowd. The partially dressed hostess escorted us to a table for four which brought to mind the dining room scene from the 1989 Batman movie.

The menu on the other hand was wonderful. Everything looked delicious, there were a wide range cocktails as well as a good tap list. We started with a baked brie bruschetta that was delicious. It was build your own bruschetta with a wedge of baked brie in phyllo dough, three spread options, and some toasted french bread. All in all a nice dish.

For main courses Meg ordered the Halibut and I ordered the Jambalaya. The Jambalaya was delicious and spicy. It could have used a few more shrimp but otherwise it was a solid dish. Meg's halibut was almost an A+. The halibut was perfectly cooked but over salted. This was in part to counter the richness of the butternut-squash rissoto and cream sauce it was served with. Meg felt that these came off as too rich but I thought they were fantastic. Admittedly I only had a few bites so maybe a whole plate of it was too much.

All in all I was pretty happy with the meal. I would go back again with friends or colleagues for a nice dinner. I think we will choose someplace else next time for a date.