Islamorada Fish Company: Bass Pro Shop dining-yes, dining(!)

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food in all forms of acquiring, preparing, eating and the various ways we(Kirk, ed (from Yuma) and Cathy, as well as a few others) came about to have it happen.  A sort of diary that you get to read.    Enjoy.

Hi again.  Well, I had yet another fun adventure the other day.     We were driving North on the 15 .     

It was quite beautiful.  We stopped at the Victoria Gardens Mall, and on the outer ring saw it...

The new Bass Pro Shop. 

Of course, I get catalogs from both Bass Pro Shop as well as Cabela's and the two stores are kind of interchangeable inmy mind...both sell hunting, fishing and outdoor gear and all of their Brick and Mortar stores have a interesting,  themed restaurant serving excellent food inside (except for the next closes BPS in Las Vegas, which is attached to the Silverton Hotel, so does not offer food in the store).    Think Ikea, but more fun.

So, we walked in and there was a 90 minute wait for the restaurant. 

This was the day after Christmas, when most restaurants are not very crowded, on the ring road of a very popular mall, which has several pretty nice restaurants, as well as a King's Fish House, which has quite nice seafood.  We waited. {When we were leaving, the wait was still 90 minutes...}

 

We walked outside.

 

Checked out the boats in the parking lot, more of the view, the waterfall...and inside the plethora of items for sale... 

Including this delightful shotgun shell themed mailbox for only $99..which I kind of really wanted, thinking it might keep some door to door salesmen away...

Soon, the vibrating LED happy lighted coaster went off and we were seated, given beverages (The Mister had an excellent brewed iced tea ($2.19) I wanted water) and a loaf of hot fresh white bread... 

Which was hearty and a bit salty, yet topped with a granulated sugar crust, making me heretofore refer to it as "kettle bread" (you know, kettle corn...but bread...?  Oh nevermind)

 

We ordered the calamari appetizer ($6.95) which was the largest serving I have ever had.  This was perfectly fried squid rings and tentacles topped with shredded Parmesan and parsley and served with a warm marinara.

It really needed more than one lemon wedge to  squeeze juice over all of the calamari on this plate...

 

We also ordered the one pound (opposed to the 2 pound) appetizer of garlic steamed clams.

The resulting sauce on the bottom of this bowl was rich and hearty and went quite well with the cheesy toasted slice of sourdough served with it.

Fresh and substantial.

The Mister ordered the fried catfish plate($11.95).  Five fillets, lightly breaded with a flour/cornmeal mix, served on top of thick cut fries (which were topped with Old Bay© seasoning) and a side of coleslaw, which was very crispy and made with a pineapple juice sauce, and some house made tartar sauce, which I particularly enjoyed.

I got the Angler combination plate ($18.95): a crab cake that was 95% crab (no filler) and was lightly, crisply fried and had great flavor; five giant, juicy grilled shrimp and a large fillet of Mahi Mahi, which was barely(lightly) grilled and also tasted very fresh.  All were served on top of a very flavorful rice pilaf(there were some vegetables-carrot and celery at least-in the pilaf blend) and with a house made remoulade, the colslaw and house made potato chips, dusted with the same Old Bay© seasoning.  I added malt vinegar and salt to my chips.

Excellent food, great serving sizes and great service.  An extremely nice experience.

Islamorada Fish Company (inside the Bass Pro Shop, Ranch Cucamonga) 7777 Victoria Gardens Lane, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91735 (909)922-5500 website

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Comments

[sawyer]

hey cathy, that's pretty interesting that they have a restaurant...i've never been inside the place though. i love old bay seasoning....just had it the first time when i went to the east earlier this year on my crab and shrimp. delicious

[Judy Lee]

wow. i'm catching myself up since i have been out on vacation. what is that squirrel looking thing on your lua prabang post? are they live and cuddling or are they dead and for sale?

[Cathy]

Oh, BPS is a fun place, Sawyer. Really. Then there is food. It is perfect.
Much more perfect than Nordstrom, Nieman Marcus or Ikea, which are also stores with food.

Hi Judy- That was from one of the vacations Kirk took this year. I know nothing about eating roadkill. :)

[Carol]

Your meal looks wonderful! And kettle bread sounds absolutely wonderful, if it's anything like kettle corn (my favorite kind of popcorn!).

Happy New Year to you and The Mister!

[Kirk]

Hi Judy - That was squirrel.....dead and ready for "claening"....the forest rats were very, very, much alive! BTW, congrats on your new "son". Thanks for letting me know Cathy!

[Cathy]

Hey Carol- it was an excellent meal. I have no idea why they put sugar on the bread crust, but it was good...I like popcorn in many different ways (Mental note: post material). Happy 2009 to both of you also.
It is still roadkill, Kirk. I will eat just about anything for myself, and blog about it...but the line was drawn there. You win.

[Becky]

Hey just to let you know not all BPS have the big seafood resteraunt ours has a deli with wonerful fudge and good sanwiches just to let you know the variety out there.

[Cathy]

Hi Becky. Welcome to the blog. I completely did not mention the fudge shop. Each store seems to have one. I guess I didn't write it too clearly that each BPS has a different restaurant- I have been to the one in Springfield, MO (the BIG one) and the restaurants in there have high end meals as well as buffets. I am sad the Vegas one does not have food, but I suppose that has to do with being attached to the Silverton. Competition and all. Now I have an idea for some more posts...