Anthony's Fish Grotto-La Mesa; Dinner with my Brother

mmm-yoso is not on vacation.  Cathy has something to talk about today, Kirk doesn't.

Hi.  Not long ago, my brother had to fly out to Pomona on a business trip for his Company, which located near Detroit (yes, the work he does is related to the Automotive Industry).  He left Detroit when it was 0­° out (yes, ZERO degrees...if you don't know the real definition of "bitter cold", you are very lucky). He decided to fly into San Diego and rent a car to drive to Pomona.  I picked him up at the airport, we went to the In-N-Out on Sports Arena Boulevard and then he got his rental car and went to work in  Pomona.   A few days later, he drove back down and stayed one extra day before flying out, which he, understandably, did not want to do.  Our Mom knew he would be out here and gave him some money so we could go out to dinner....Let's just say that Mom gave him enough money so that my first remark was "well. we can all get a beverage and not have to get water to drink with our meal"...and so, off to Anthony's Fish Grotto in La Mesa we went. Anthony's has been around since 1946 and is family owned, locally operated and has the freshest tasting fish, cooked in such a way that you taste the fish and not all the sauces or batters.  All of those compliment the seafood flavor.

The Mister and My Brother each got a beer and I got iced tea (I was driving you know) and then...*two* appetizers: The infamous fried calamari ($8.50)...light, delicate, crispy, flavorful, served with a  fresh, tomato based marinara sauce, still warm from being fresh cooked.

We also got the Smoked spread and seafood platter ($9.50) which easily, *easily* could have been a full meal (for me at least). Smoked salmon, halibut and tuna, fresh seafood spreads, home made tartar sauce, fresh baked and sliced white bread...the smoked fish was excellent. 

For his main course, The Mister could not decide and got Mama's Platter - a little bit of everything ($18.50) hand battered fish, calamari, shrimp, oysters, scallops, clam strips and lobsterettes.  he chose sides of Mama's famous cole slaw and a baked potato.

The fried fish here is so darn wonderful..a light batter, so crispy and with just enough flavor to compliment the seafood.  You can taste the sweetness of the shrimp and scallops and the freshness of the fish. 

My Brother, apparently on some sort of health kick, chose the char grilled halibut with an orange basil sauce (it was one of  the seasonal catches of the day) for $15.60 and got baked potato and salad (with the house dressing) as his sides.   This tasted wonderful.  Again, you could taste the fish, it was not overpowered by the sauce. 

Since, I know Mom is going to read this, I also was trying to eat a tad more healthily and got the Crab and Shrimp Louie Salad ($14.50).   

The crab meat and the shrimp were so fresh, sweet and flavorful- so much better than anywhere, really.  The Louie dressing is also made fresh in house and is excellent, just a touch of twangy heat.  It all goes so well together. 

A very nice, fancy, tasty dinner for us. Thanks, Mom!

Anthony's Fish Grotto North of I-8 at Severin (next to the Holiday Inn Express) (619)463-0368

Comments

[Kirk]

Hey Cathy - Your Mom reads this??? Makes me a tad nervous.....

[Cathy]

Oh, Mom is cool. Her most favorite post of mine was "Meat by the side of the road"...and then that pork rectum post of yours made her laugh...

[Ray]

Hi Kirk and Cathy,
This comment is not so much about this post (though the Grotto is on my ever-widening list of places to try because of your descriptions) so much as to praise your site in general. I lived in SD for 2 years before finding your site - think of all those wasted meal opportunities! So far I (any my missus!) have only gotten to a couple places on the long list, namely Lucky Pho at Lucky seafood, where we had the jumbo Pho (my first pho - beefily delicious) and the beef stew with bread (forgot the name), which was also great. Then this last weekend we went to Golden City, where the crab steamed with rice in lotus leaf was ridiculously delicious! ! ! We also got what was listed on specials as Golden City roast pork, and turned out to be that kind of roasted pork belly with crispy skin dish I have seen you write about from other places - this was also ridiculicious! A whole fish with garlic in hot pot was very good but to me, not as exciting.
We have only just begun to eat - thanks for your excellent site!

[Jenn]

Everything looks so YUM! I'm hungry.

[Cathy]

Hi Ray- thank you for making such nice comments about our little blog. Actually ths month is the 2 year mark for Kirk starting to blog. You are just catching up. Kirk has far better descriptions of most of the Asian foods than I do. I kind of just talk about what I like.
I notice you are at UCSD, and so you might be a student and possibly have a limited budget. I did blog Anthony's Sea Grille on January 9 this year. It is the same food but not at all the nicer atmosphere of Anthony's, if you are looking for some slightly less expensive (but still wonderful) eats. Thank you so much for stopping to comment.
Hey Jenn- long time no hear! Thanks for liking the photography of the great food. I try.

[kingkong5]

Hi Cathy,

great post, and the photos look good enough to eat. We'll keep the Fish Grotto in mind if we ever make it down to La Mesa. Keep up the good work.

What is a lobsterette? fried shrimp?

[Cathy]

Ah, KK5- I was wondering if anyone would ask about the term 'lobsterette'...I'm never sure if people read or just look at the title, or just the pictures. Anthony's uses langostinos and calls them lobsterettes. They do taste similar to lobster, although The Mister recalls eating fried chunks of lobster tail when he grew up in Boston...so not quite the same. Photos were taken with my brother's camera. Methinks I need a new one...

[Ray]

Hi Cathy - Thanks for the tip, I will definitely opt for the Sea Grille! You were almost right, except that I am not a student at UCSD but rather an employee; similar situation, since they pay me peanuts I definitely opt for the cheap eats most of the time!

[nhbilly]

Geesh shrimp and crab salad health? ;-) I need to talk about to my Dr. about shrimp as being healthy per se Cathy ;-)

[Cathy]

Hi again, Ray...It is not how much money you make, but how you save and spend what you have.
Sure, Bill...then show your doc the blog :D
But really, the cholesterol in shrimp is the good kind, or so they say...and gosh, those chilled shrimp from Anthony's have such flavor....

[Cathy's Mom]

Hi Cathy, well, hell has froze over (on Good Friday no less)! I have read your blog thanking me for the dinner at Anthony's while using Wi-Fi at Panera Bread eating a tuna salad sandwich. Life in the 00's!

PS: You should have posted the other details about what happend with your car at the In-N-Out Burger. Are their fries really that good?

Mom

[Cathy]

First of all, DEAR BROTHER, I can read the IP address this came from, and you are not writing from a dial up. I have super secret ways of finding things out because I am one of the authors of this blog. :P
B) Unless you want me to tell Mom about your careless spilling of beverages on the table at In-N-Out, best remain silent. :P
iii. You *know* the fries are wonderful, mainly because they are made from fresh potatoes and you crave them. :)
4. Happy Easter. The card will be in the mail tomorrow...maybe. Say hi to Mom for me. Oh,I'll call her tonight. :D
e. How is that weather out in Detroit, anyhow? Heard it's gonna be a "White Easter", unlike the dull, warm Christmas you had. Right...global warming, huh?
VI. Did you really read it? It says you got a beer....with Mom's money...
ha! I win...again.

[Mom]

Actually, you can ask about the message on your call tonight. The message was attempted from Panera but would not go-two attempts. Thus a resend a little later was appropriate.

Snowing as I type. Wonderful.

I don't think the Beer was a big deal. I didn't even mention that I was within hobbling distance of the Hotel ;0

Oh, the other email site is down. Probably until Monday. Use Hotmail

[Cathy]

OMG! Talking to mom now and she really was with you at Panera on a Friday for lunch. Cool that you did the wi fi with her.

[EcamirG]

Surely this is the same Anthony's that runs the Fish Grotto in Seaport Village, right on the harbor? (Incidentally, what a location coup for a seafood restaurant!)

I'd been by that one a hundred times, but it wasn't until I was entertaining some guests from Alabama that I finally stopped in to try it. Other than the "California Roll" (which was not a California Roll at all, except inasmuch as everything with avocado in it seems to be a California Roll these days,) which was good but for the deep-fried batter around it.

That put me off a little bit, but I muscled through and was amazed. Truly, Anthony's is doing something right.

[Cathy]

Hi, EcamirG- (cool website, BTW). I am so glad you tried it. All the locations and various offspring are run by the same family and all have high standards. It is great seafood. Thanks for visiting and commenting.