Monday, October 12, 2009

Awesome Road Stop


Saturday myself and a few friends ventured on down to the utterly disappointing fleet week in San Francisco. Although the Blue Angels were canceled due to fog and clouds we had a delightful time out on the bay and dropped anchor between Alcatraz and Pier 39. After a long day of boating, we stopped at The Dead Fish. Now if you are familiar with the bay area you know that you only stop in Martinez to either go to a board of adjustment for the Teamsters or to hit the last possible ATM for the Carquinez Bridge toll. Now, I have gone over the bridge a gazillion times and never once did I know that the place to the right of the bridge is considered a town of its own right. Who knew that when the sign said Crockett it actually meant a town and not a street? So anyway, the traffic was abysmal (as usual and to be expected) and we stopped for drinks and a couple of appetizers on our way home. We were delightfully surprised to see how wonderful the view was from their patio. We enjoyed a wonderful sunset that actually laid a nice light on the city of Vallejo (hard to believe I know). Aside from the beautiful location, our server left a lot to be desired and their kitchen was severely lacking in a few areas. The appetizers (asparagus with bleu cheese, deep fried artichoke hearts, calamari, garlic fries) were OK/good except that they brought us the asparagus (which I could have made easily at home) about 10-15 minutes before the others. And yes, if you are reading the ordered artichokes and thinking that it looks like a lot of fried carbs then you are correct, one of our friends is on the Atkins Diet and was using Saturday as a cheat day. Overall I would give The Dead Fish another shot, I wouldn't let this one mediocre experience ruin it for another time. So the long and short of it is that if you are in traffic and desperate need of a cocktail head on over to the Dead Fish and dine on a Bloody Shark or some other creative name for a normal cocktail.