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If you need a quick fish and chips fix, this is a great place to go. Their fried food is greasy deliciousness. One of my favorite things to get there actually is their fried mushrooms. That, and a piece of fish and I'm one happy camper. The food is not over battered which is one of my pet peeves, and the fish is flaky and moist.
It's definitely not an everyday kind of thing. More like once every few months just because it's all fried, but if your in that mood for it, you'll be very satisfied.
I definitely found this place because of yelp and i am so surprised i didnt hear about it earlier. I came in around dinner time and there were a few others waiting ahead of me. The wait time was a bit long but considering its made to order, I dont mind waiting.
The service was great. They were super friendly and I was surprised on the amount they give you. I ordered the fish and clams. The pieces of fish are surprisingly big and crunchy and the prices are very fair. The only downside is the fries are very bland but i will definitely be back to try the other things on the menu.
Yet another place I would not have found without Yelp. It's in the Sports Authority plaza, but had never noticed it before. I got the fish and oysters which happened to be the special of the day for $5.99 (reg. $6.99) and my girlfriend got the fish and calamari for $6.99. The multitalented cashier/cook/waiter brought out 3 bottles of sauces (ketchup, tartar sauce, and cocktail) before he gave us our food.
The fish was loooong! It spanned the length of the basket we received. Looked and tasted very fresh. Only got 3 fried oysters, but they were perfecto. Like the Pacific in my mouth, but in a good way. The calamari was overpowered by the breading, unfortunately, and the chips were underwhelming.
This is a great place to satisfy your fried sea creature craving!
Summary: 3.5/5 stars rounded up
+Crispy, fresh, piping hot food
+Love the tartar sauce
+Fast, friendly service
-Not too many seats
-Wish they gave more fried oysters
1st thing- I don't like fish! but I do love shrimp and other shellfish. I like the fact that this place does not smell like fish (at least not the strong fish gone bad smell that some places have). I really enjoy the shrimp and chips as well as the decent sauces for them. light batter for the shrimp, maybe a little overcooked, but better than raw and worth the crispy outside. The chips are great.
Customer service is friendly and very inviting, they also are rather quick with getting orders out. Prices are spot on for the dishes. Who knows maybe some day I might even try some fish (doubt it).
The fish was very good.
Everything else that I had here was disappointing (fries, crab cakes, hush puppies, fried oysters).
Given I was raised in the Race St. Fish & Poultry family, I am very picky when it comes to good fish....period! I was spoiled my entire life having the freshest and most high quality fish there is. Not to mention my husband is a recreational fisherman and catches fresh fish all the time from the Bay.
My husband and step-daughter wanted to try Tugboat one night, so we went. There were only 2 open tables in the restaurant, but then again, it only has about 12 tables total.
I had fish & prawns, my step-daughter had fish & oysters and my husband had just fish. We all agree that they fish was really good. I assume it was some sort of cod, as that is what is in most fish and chips. The prawns were also really good, but my step-daughter did not care for the oysters and after I tasted them, neither did I. Everything was cooked perfectly and the fries crispy. The fish was NOT clogged with oil which was a huge plus. Tarter and cocktail sauces were good as well.
If you haven't tried it, but have wanted to....go for it. We will definitely go back.
I really love the special of the day stuff for 5.99 ^___^ and it changes everyday until other places...
I get the clams and they're decent :D i would switch up my food :D
The pieces of fish are pretty damn big for the price too ^___^ not small mini fish size that makes you go wtf.
I love how theres the 3 bottles of sauces of ketchup, cocktail, tartart sauce and they have malt vingear on the side ,
I wanted to try this place out because I always saw that it was packed whenever I went to Shin's Sushi next door. The first time I came here the food was awesome and people were waiting for tables.
I most recently ate here last month in July, and let me tell you the quality and flavor of the food has totally gone down the toilet. I think there is a new owner now, some asian guy. Being asian myself, I can tell you we know nothing about cooking fish and chips.
I ordered the scallops and fish, and first off there was more batter on the scallops than the size of the scallop itself. Secondly, there was no flavor in the fish. It just tasted bland. Finally, the tartar sauce was watered down! How can you water down tartar sauce, that's one of the best parts about having fish and chips.
Maybe I was here when the cook was having an off day. But when I passed by the place today on my way to Shin's it was packed. So maybe the quality has improved, but I still won't be coming back any time soon.
My husband and I went here tonight for dinner and had a great meal. We ordered catfish, calamari and cod with chips. I loved the cod and calamari and the chip, however i was not as much in love with the catfish. Though the fish had a good taste to it the breading itself was not as appetizing. How ever the employees were sweet and answered every question we had. I would very much recommend anyone to this establishment. It has a small town feel and reasonable prices.
HEADLINE: I swear to God, I will not put myself, nor another California "fish and chips" restaurant, through this hell again.
As you know, I'm in search of a decent whole belly fried clam here in Cali, having been raised in New England .... without ANY success.
I had heard a bunch of good things about Tugboat here from fellow Yelpers, but admittedly, it was principally about the 'fish and chips' ... not the clams.
AND, I knew going in, it was to be about the dreaded fried clam STRIPS, not the Ipswich whole-belly clam us Easterners adore .... in fact, I'm heading back East mid-June just to see me Mum and orgy on about 12 clam shacks and lobster roll joints in CT and RI over the course of four days ... breakfast, lunch and dinner ... it's that bad of an addiction.
This little place tries so hard .... a little fishing net with porcelain crustaceans and sea gulls up on one wall, a photo mosaic of all the "Tugboats" franchises out there ... apparently they have more than half a dozen and are spread God knows where .... there's a flat screen TV with a baseball game on it above the entry door .... but really, this place seats MAYBE 20 or so people .... and the disturbing thing is the half a dozen two person tables are situated down this claustrophobic narrow space on the way to the rest rooms. It's a very small space.
There is no outdoor seating per se, though there are benches with no tables ... I guess that counts.
I walk in and the menu is rather obvious ... it IS all about fish and chips ... my Spidey Yelper senses ought to be on alert, but, alas, I'm in Twilight mode and need a vampire fix for clams.
I order a side of clam strips, a side of O-Rings and a small side of cole slaw with a medium soda .... this place is NOT expensive ... the lunch above runs me less than a Hamilton.
I wait, and wait, and wait, in my little two-seat table down the claustrophobic hallway and my order finally comes to me about twenty minutes later, accompanied by a vessel of Tartar Sauce and a vessel of Ketchup. A full bottle of California malt vinegar already precedes me to the table, as does a full napkin container and S&P shakers.
First, from a New Englander's standpoint, tartar sauce with fried seafood is especially important ... this version, while good, in terms of the amount of condiments and seasonings they've incorporated into the mixture, BUT, there's none of the requisite pickle relish incorporated into it, nor is there any 'over the top' incorporation of capers as some more exotic recipes call for.
Oh well, it's OK.
BUT, the portion I receive of my beloved clams is simply not up to snuff ... there are probably eight to ten legitimate strips, only measuring an inch to an inch and a half, and overly-battered .. the rest of the basket is filled with batter bits ... and, there is no flavor whatsoever of a clam in the entire basket.
The onion rings, while arriving in a basket looking extraordinarily fried to perfection, turn out to be egregiously over-battered as well. After the third one, an epiphany strikes me and I start de-crusting the suckers by a full 75% to actually get any onion flavor.
The cole slaw is VERY fresh ... kudos ... usually I'm faced with a limp, flavorless gob of white cabbage. This little place has the foresight to mix a little carrot into the mix and keep the accompanying sauce VERY light ... it may have only been oil and a little white vinegar ... but it fought back nicely against the jaw ... very good and fresh. Please, think about just throwing a little celery seed into the mix ... it's a wonderful New England tradition. Also, a little red cabbage is so good for you and brightens the color of the slaw dramatically.
Disappointing overall, though I have to understand that this is NOT New England ... so I just need to stop frequenting these places in search of a decent fried clam.
In campaigning for the 'useful' vote:
Open Monday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 8:30 PM
Open Sunday 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM
Credit and Debit cards are accepted
They do serve beer ... $2.50 for Bud and Bud Light bottles, $3.00 for a bottle of Heineken
Fountain soda service ... medium and large (which is REALLY large) ... free re-fills
They run specials throughout the week:
Mondays & Tuesday: Fried prawns
Wednesday: Fried oysters
Thursdays: Fried chicken
Fridays & Saturday ... (can't ya' guess?): Fried clams.
I'm just looking forward to my trip to New England ... I'm not going to try to replicate that experience here in the Bay Area any more.
Sorry, Tugboat ...
Have to say usually your average fish and chips joint in California doesn't have near the variety or good tastes as this spot. And glad that coming by here earlier tonight, the place was actually open--had tried to come here over a year ago, and that effort failed as Tugboat was closed then. Very attentive service when I walked in with a friend for a bite earlier. My friend had a fish sandwich which included the chips; I had the sampler which had shrimp, oysters, scallops, and fish (cod I think?). The fish sandwich was pretty much demolished by my friend, so no complaints there. Great size too, considering not only the sandwich itself but the large basket of chips as well, all for around $6. I'm not the greatest fan of oysters, but those were very nice, and the best breaded of all the items; the scallops get 2nd billing on that, and the shrimp were pretty on par as well. I expected more out of the fish--a bit too much batter. Otherwise, really spectacular on the flavor end for the batter. I truly appreciated the condiments--the sauces in the particular (tartar, cocktail, and ketchup) being brought out directly from the refrigerator, and not just having sat there all warm outside. Seems that some of the thinner-batter'd items (fish, shrimp etc.) had a beer-based batter considering the complex flavor profile? Or was I just hungry? Overall, great freshness, as the orders seem to come directly from the fryers to the table--crisp and not over/underdone at all. Oh yes, I'd totally come back here.
Every Thursday we visit my grandparents before going to ballroom dance class. Since my grandparents don't eat dinner until 8pm, and we come around 5:30pm, we have to bring over "snack" foods, to trick them into eating with us. This generally has been consisting of finger foods.
Yesterday we decided on Fish and Chips. Originally we were going to go to Race Street Seafood, but it was kind of far from home, and I was worried the fish wouldn't stay crunchy if we were stuck in traffic coming back. I looked on yelp and found Tugboat right by our house.
The restaurant is pretty small, with an open kitchen. It is owned by Koreans. The prices are very reasonable. We got an order of 8 pieces of fish, 8 chicken strips, and 2 basket of fries for $30.
The fish was HUGE. Nobody in the family was able to finish more than one piece. It wasn't that it was really a lot of fish though. They actually just flatten the fish out, and then give it a lot of batter, so it filled you up, along with the grease.
The chicken strips weren't great. They had a grainy outside to them, like shake and bake style. The fries were bland, and felt a little stale.
We also ordered fried scallops, clams, and prawns, but they forgot to pack it up for us in our togo order, so we didn't realize we didn't have them until we got to my grandparents. :( We called back and they told us to come back to get it, but my grandparents live about 10 minutes away, so we opted for store credit next time we come.
I would say if you DO go eat here, you should eat at the restaurant, and not order it togo. Since it's close to the house, if we were craving fish and chips, we might come back. But for having "fish and chips" in the name of the store, it just wasn't really THAT great.
WE WISH WE HAD ONE OF THESE IN SOUTHERN CALI!!!!!!!!! We went there on the suggestion of my brother and we were really surprised. Hungry from our 5hr drive from LA to San Jose, we stopped by here on friday night for some dinner. It is a small shop but it was pretty full, we managed to find a table for two.
when we arrived we had thought that the fish was pretty small from looking at what others had on their plate, but DAMN we were wrong. i think the people thought we were pigs, because we ordered a large meal, i think it was the tug boat special and a side of hush puppies for both of us.
when the order reached our table we were SO wrong. the lady gave us a togo bag to hide our shame of ordering tooooo much food. the fish and chips we had were really good, especially for the price and the amount of food given. being from england, i was surprised that the taste was good, compared to other places that i've tried in LA. the batter was crispy and they had large meaty fries. another good thing about tug boat is the free refills.
we had a great time eating all that we could and had enough to bring home for another 2 people. come here to get great value for money, trust us, you will leave full and satisfied. really nice people too!!
BTW have to post a recent "chat" with Ned H ( who hated this place )
I wrote:
Reviewing Fried clams at a fish and chips joint is like reviewing spaghetti and a Pizza shop. Lame!
He responded:
Who asked you, Fuckface?
And "Lame!" is sending a message without reading/editing it first ... it's at A Pizza shop not AND, dickwad.
Keep the Pho and Mongolian beef reviews coming ... you and a million other ricers in the Bay Area ... where's the fro yo review?????????
Cheers!
My 2 cents: Yet another racist little shit from back east who should go back and drink another beer with his racist red neck buddies back home.
Decent fish and chips. My son loves the chicken strips. Excellent Onion Rings not too expensive.… Read more »
Growing up with off the boat Irish parents, fish and chips were a staple of Friday night meals. These aren't as traditional as you might find in England or Ireland but they are still really good!
Tugboat does really good food. None of the food is sitting under heat lamps, the person at the counter was super friendly and helped me in deciding my order. I would recommend Tugboat for fish and chips they were yummy!
I've eaten here numerous times and have always been satisfied. I even brought my parents here when they came to visit from out of state.
It's so great they don't use heavy breading, because that would detract from the taste. Love the fried oysters and scallops. My fries have always been tasty too. The prices were very decent and parking has never been a problem.
Best fish'n'chips I've had in the valley, and that's speaking as a Race Street Fish & Poultry snob. The breading (batter?) they use is exquisite and tastes great on fish, onion rings, calamari, you name it.
I have no illusions that this is the best f'n'c *period; at the end of the day it's still just a cheap suburban strip mall place, but man is it good for what it is. Highly recommended!
WOW. That is one big fish. Don't worry about not ordering enough, a 2 piece is already a meal pleaser. All the reviews here pretty much have it, the ratio of fish to chips is larger than anywhere I've ever been. This is not you're typical strip of fish, it looks like they actually fry the whole fish and toss it on to your plate. It also seems like most of the customers here are regulars, which is pretty cool.
To be honest, I'm still looking for the best fish and chips out there. Although the fish was a little bit on the greasy side and I prefer a tart-er tarter sauce, Tugboat's delivers a pretty decent fish and chips worth checking out.
Swang by here after work to pick up my hubby dinner. He didn't want the "chips", aka french fries, so I ordered off the sides menu, which ended up being more expensive, but whatever.
Customer service was great as usual and service was quick. I think my favorite thing off their menu is the fried clams. I could probably eat 1lb of that stuff!
I was sad though that the cute Japanese boy that works there wasn't behind the fryer this time!
Came here tonight for dinner and as usual, the fish and everything fried was fresh and tasty. Our… Read more »
really good fish/chips for the price value. i highly recommend this place to anyone. everything was cooked just right and the sauce were also the right flavor.
I would have given this place 5 stars; however the asian guy & hispanic guy that work there creep the hell out of me. They stare sooo hard that it's extremely difficult for me to enjoy my food.
I usually get the chicken & fish combo. Super flavorful & moist. The ranch is what keeps me coming back though.
Nice to know there is another place to get fish and chips in san jose other than on race st. This place as good...you can see and taste the fish because there isnt an overwhelming amount of breading on it. The tartar sauce is delicious..I have never had anything like it..and they serve it freezing cold which is nice on the piping hot fish...I dont care for the fries...cute decor i would recommend this place if you are in the mood for fish..oh and they dont served steamed fish..I asked..the employee said "everything in here is fried!"
Pretty good fried catfish. They don't go overboard with the breading here. The BF picked up a sampler platter on his way home one day, which came with two pieces of fried catfish, fried shrimp, fried scallops, fried oysters, and a bunch of fries. Fries were boring, but whatever. I didn't try the fried oysters because I don't care for oysters. I almost barfed though watching my BF eat his because I saw the juice burst out of it. Bleh.
Came here for lunch, but stopped by a couple of months ago for dinner. It's a great place for fresh fish & chips. The people who work there are very pleasant. I got the two piece fish. Those are some good long strips of fish. Very crispy and the fish was nice and tender. There's not too much taste, but that's fine. The tartar sauce added some onion flavor. I've had fish that is way too salty. I liked it this way. The fries were your run-of-the-mill kind.
A little small. Can take a group of 4, but beyond that...
If you have a craving for deep fried food, here you go.
Love it. They have a good ratio of batter to fish.
One of my favorite thing here is the fried zucchini reminds me of when I was a kid and got fried zucchini with my mom. It's always clean and good costumer service.
This place is freaking yummy!!
--like other yelpers, I've been to a few other fish and chips places and they don't compare to this establishment
--for one, although everything is obviously deep fried, it seems to taste fresher and less oily..I think it has to do with the cooks using fresh oil..you can tell when a place reuses oil b/c the tint of your fries or fish is a bit on the darker/older looking side..the items here are golden brown!
--service is very good...granted i've only been there once but i'm craving to go back again...I had the shrimp and chips..my g/f had the fish and chips..equally yummy
I've tried fish and chips from many, many places. This place is at the top of my list along with Race Street and H. Salt. I used to go to the H. Salt in the Almaden Plaza (same plaza as Costco but it's located on the other side by Happi House) but they had some weird hours.
Tugboat is located further down Blossom Hill in the same plaza as Sports Authority (aka Sportmart). They have similar tasting fish and chips to H. Salt, maybe a little better and they have great customer service and consistent hours.
Obviously this is not a place you can eat at every week since everything is fried, but if you are craving fish and chips, definitely come here.
They are closed on Sundays.
Hands down the best fish and chips I have ever had. I get fish and chips a lot and can honestlysay no one compares.
I've only had the fish so I cannot comment on anything else. Everyone I go with loves it. The price is right on too. A lot of food for the money.
Service is top notch. Incredibly friendly staff. I ordered a large order to go and it was packed so nice and convenient. All in a nice box with utensils, plates, napkins sauces everything.
Oh even the tarter sauce is homemade and it is really good
I highly recommend this place. It is one of my favorites.
Just ate here for lunch. The fish was pretty good, not too oily. The shimp was ok and the fried oysters you can eat by themselves with no sauce. The fries are just ok, even with malt vinegar they were just somewhat blah.
This newly opened restaurant is located in the same shopping plaza as Shin Sushi and Marie Callendar's in South San Jose, not too far south of Oakridge Mall. I went there recently with my husband as we were going to eat at Shin Sushi for dinner. We saw this place, two doors down from Shin and decided to try it out.
If you like deep fried foods, this is the place for you. Each item is freshly made unlike other fish and chips place so expect a wait for your order. I would suggest if you're getting it to go, to call ahead to cut the wait time. For example, we ordered the fried zucchini and we saw the guy take a fresh zuccini out of the refrigerator and cut it up, then did the dip and drege with the egg wash and flour then off to the deep fry.
It is very well decorated in a seafaring manner but light and bright. The tables are spread out and clean overall. There is no smelly fish or deep fried smell hanging in the air which in my books is a real plus! There are other locations (Carmichael, CA-Sacramento area) but this is the only one is the South Bay are.
Give this place a try and you will enjoy it. My only complaint is on the coleslaw....we ordered the large and the portion appeared good for one person. Otherwise, its all good!
Really, I don't know how to rate fish and chips. So here goes... the fish is fresh, the fried oysters are fresh, the scallops are juicy and even the fries are tasty. Price is very decent and the amount served is generous.
Reminds me of Long John Silver's but without the fast food chain feel.
Probably the best fish and chips place in the South Bay.
I tried this place for the first time and had the fish n chips to go.The restuarant was very clean although not very roomy with tiny tables and chairs,as it was around 6 pm thank goodness there were only 2 other people there.The wait for my food was not very long....however when the clerk gave me my order it felt like "here take your food and go"... no will there be anything else? no thank you please come again...and no ketchup! did I mention I ordered chips? I hate begging for ketchup when I clearly have french fries.... at least ask me even if I say no it shows that you care about your customers...at least it did in the in the old days. At the Taco bell I order 2 tacos they ask me if i want ketchup? Go figure?? Fish was tasty they could have put a few more fries in the basket.
overall, i've had a great experience here. the staff is friendly. the fish portions are generous. i suppose when you get "a la carte" items, it's not really worth the price. i usually share a 2 pc fish & chips combo w/fried zuchinni (my husband and i share) this is PLENTY for us. so far, there's no huge reason for me not coming back.
I came here with a couple of friends for lunch, simply because it looked like a fresh, new spot. We were told that although this is the first (and only) location in the South Bay, there are 21 locations total.
The guy behind the counter was friendly and offered his suggestions. We split an order of fried fish, fried mushrooms, and fried calamari. If you haven't already realized, just about everything on the menu is fried. The unfortunate thing, though not unexpected, is that all the foods come coated with a thick and heavy batter, to the point that the food is almost inedible, if you eat it straight-up. I found myself peeling off most of the batter by my second piece of fish, which actually is quite good. There are also bottles of tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, and ketchup on each table for your own dipping pleasure.
Although the portion sizes aren't very filling (fried mushrooms come with just four), you may just feel full if you eat all the batter. After awhile, we couldn't eat anymore of the calamari. Then the guy behind the counter brought us a basket of fried zucchini and fried onion rings on the house, which we certainly appreciated, but couldn't eat too much of.
Overall, it's an interesting choice if you want some quick and affordable seafood, but just know that if you're watching what you eat, you should select another restaurant.
I was excited to try this place, since it's close to my home. The place is small but clean and the people were very nice. I ordered the 2 piece fish n chips. The size of the fish was good, but the pieces were very thin and when coated with batter, you can hardly taste the fish. By the time I got to my second piece of fish the batter was soggy...not a good sign for good fish n chips. The fish was very fresh, just wish the pieces were thick like they're suppose to be and that the batter would stay crispy.
We've tried this place out a few times...I must say I think I have been spoiled by my boyfriend making me fresh fish n' chips at home with big (thick) strips of halibut, or sole...because if it weren't for him, I'm almost certain I would give this place 4 stars...they do cook to order, so I know it is fresh, but the pieces of fish are just too thin for me. I taste more batter than fish...so that's how they lost that 4th star. They do have wonderful service, and if you mention that you saw them in the pennysaver (yeah...I pick up the pennysaver once in a while when I'm waiting on my Chihuahuas to finish their "business" in the front yard) they'll throw in whatever extra item happens to be in the ad that week. We got extra prawns. So yeah, besides the fish, we've had the prawns, calamari, clam strips, zucchini, and mushrooms. The fries are not salted, so grab a packet, or extra ketchup. The service deserves 4 stars, the food 3 (sorry, I'm spoiled...what can I say?) that comes to 3.5, but if you read my reviews, you know I don't round up...can't be given' away free stars! So...3 stars it is! :)
San Jose, CA
Category: Seafood
San Jose, CA
Category: Seafood
San Jose, CA
Category: Japanese
San Jose, CA
Category: Italian
Milpitas, CA
Category: Sushi Bars
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
