Best Seafood in Utah

Best Seafood in Utah
Revised 15 May 2018

At the bottom of this list: Top 9 Fish and Chips places in Utah. For the full list see our site, "Best Fish and Chips in Utah:" http://tastetestersclub.blogspot.com/2011/04/best-fish-and-chips-in-utah.html

Also at the bottom is "Best Catfish in Utah" (9 worth getting)

Also see our separate site, "Best Fish Sandwiches in Utah"

Below, places are in alphabetical order for decent seafood:

(where a question mark below, we have to double-check our original notes)

Archibald's, South Jordan
a. breaded tilapia. B+

Bistro 412, Park City, Chef: Adam Ross
a. trout, lime-dusted, with cummin, etc. (best trout in state) A+
b. scallops with bacon B+

Bona Vita, Lehi
a. salmon B-/B but the fettucini, etc with it brings the grade up a bit to B/B+, worth considering. Needs more seasoning.

Boudreaux's Bistro, Payson:
a. crawfish etoufee A-
b. smothered catfish A-

Black Sheep, Provo
a. Fire Shrimp and Polenta. A

Blue Boar Inn, Midway
a. shrimp and creamy polenta and soft-boiled, breaded egg. A

Butcher's Chop House, Park City
a. shrimp and grits (C grade grits, A- shrimp:with cajun spice)

Cafe Terigo, Park City
a. TIED FOR #1 TROUT IN UTAH (with Bistro 412): trout with hollandaise sauce A+
b. trout alone, very lightly breaded: A-/A
c. hollandaise sauce alone: A-

Carrabba's Grill, national chain
a.herb-crusted tilapia, B alone. with cream sauce: B/B+
b.tilapia with red pepper,olives,and green basil lentils B+
c. tilapia chargrilled with tomato and basil B++

Chiles, national chain
a. tilapia with mango sauce (less calories, choleterol, and fat of the 2) B+
b. tilapia, parmesan crusted B++

Farms at The Canyons, Park City
a. sturgeon (a bottom-dweller, like catfish, but tastes like a cross between catfish and trout). Grade A-

Harvest, Thanksgiving Point
a. salmon sandwich. A

La dolce vita, Provo
a. breaded, Italian seasoned orange roughy. A-/A
b. breaded, Italian seasoned halibut (best halibut in state we've had). A - -

MacCool's, SLC, Layton, Bountiful
a. red trout (with very good pesto sauce on top) B+

Madison Gastropub, Provo
a. blackened salmon sandwich A+
b. blackened, broiled salmon. B
c. chargrilled salmon. A
d. tied for #1 best fish and chips in Utah (see bottom of this list)

Maria Bonita, Orem
a. cedar plank salmon (overcooked but very nice grill flavor) B-

Mimi's Cafe, regional chain
a. sole meuniere B+/A-

O'Hana's, Springville
a. panko crusted, fried, breaded swai. B/B+ 

Olive Garden, national chain
a. breaded tilapia, Italian seasoned. B/B+

P.F. Chang, chain
a. Chilean sea bass (worst Chilean sea bass in Utah, but as our favorite fish it's hard to ruin completely). B/B+
b. hot fish, cod, breaded B/B+

Pago, Salt Lake City
a. Sable fish A-

Park City Chinese and Thai, Park City
a. walnut shrimp A
b. walnut sauce with it: C

Purple Sage, Park City
a. corn-battered trout B-


Rinco Peru, Orem (serving fish again in about late Nov 2014)
a. steamed swai in Peruvian herbed broth. Grade B

Note that most ethnic cafes serve tilapia, and usually overcooked. This place serives a better, though less expensive fish - swai, a sweet, buttery fish that is in our opinion the best undiscovered fish for most people - and is comparatively cheap. 

Riverhorse, Park City
a. sea bass A+

Romano's Macaroni Grill, national chain
a. parmasan crusted sole, with lemon butter, capers (has heavy crust). B/B+
b. Mediterranean Branzino (cheap sea bass - NOT Chilean sea bass, which is our favorite fish! - but this is not it), with lemon chardonnay sauce B

Ruth's Diner, SLC
a. grilled salmon, overcooked, frozen C
b. salmon with red papper sauce B+
salmon sauce alone: B+/A-

Sammy's Bistro, Park city
a. mahi sandwich (best fish sandwich in state, followed by Madison's, Provo and Harvest, Thanksgiving Point)

Sea Bass, Ogden
a. best catfish in Utah: A
b. best tilapia in Utah: A-
(the cod and halibut are mediocre: C)

Se lama Peru, Provo
a. fried seafood plate. (overall: B)
(consisting of fried shrimp B+, fried oysters D+, fried tilapia fish B, calamari D, assorted sea urchins deep fried, ranging from C- to B)

Shabu, Park City
a. black cod B+/A-
b. (above served over egg foo young, alone graded: C+/B-)
c. sea bass, boiled in Asian broth. B+
d. corn bread and sauce A-

Sizzler, national chain

a. ONLY GOOD ENTREE at this restaurant:: Cedar Plank Salmon, soy glazed B+

Slate, Provo
a. cedar plank trout. C+, with skin B/B+

Slapfish, Lehi
a. clobster sandwich (too much mayo-like sauce on half of it, lowering it to B-; the other half had less sauce for B-/B)

Summerhays Halibut and Chips, SLC
2011 grades (higher than in 2012):
a. halibut fish and chips B (in 2012 dropped to a B)
b. swai A- (in 2012 stopped serving)
c. grilled halibut B-
d. grilled lemon pepper halibut, when overcooked C-, when not C+
e. grilled herb crushed halibut (crust is dull and thick) C-
f. griled halibut parmesan B
g. crab cake D
h. lemon pepper swai B+
i. sweet potato (needs seasoning) B-
j. sweet potato fries A-
k. clam chowder B+
new in 2012:
l. battered haddock C+

Talkisker, Park City
a. Trout (the corn and veges underneath it are amazing; the yougurt topping makes it a B/B+) B

Tiburon, Sandy
a. chilean sea bass B+

The Tropical, Provo
a. fish and chips, see below: B+
b. garlic sauce and swai fish B/B+?
c. coconut sauce and swai fish B+?
d. coconut sauced swai. B+ 
(see our Fish and Chips list - their battered fish is great)

Wild Mustang, Orem
a. parmesan cod. B-
b. trout with lemon butter sauce from scratch. B-
c. stuffed salmon. B-

Whole Foods Market, SLC 
a. (best place to buy salmon we've found, uncooked)


This list will be merged to the above list:
Best Seafood in Park City (not including trout)
1. Only catish: Spur Bar and Grill. (works also as fish and chips). B/B+ 
2. Only sturgeon: The Farm at the Canyons A
3. #1 tie for Best sea bass, Riverhorse. A+
4. #1 tie for Best sea bass, Bangkok Thai. A+
5. #3 best sea bass: Shabu B+ (stewed in Asian broth)
6. #1 best black cod (sable fish) (chargrilled with herbs on top), Wahson Asian Grill, A+
7. #2 best black cod (in miso sauce). Yaki Yami. A
8. #3 best black cod: Shabu B+
9. Best scallops: Bistro 412 B+/A-
10. #1 Best fish and chips: O'Shucks (east side: Main St. has no Fish and Chips). B+
11.. #2 Best fish and chips: Wasatch Brew and Pub: B/B+ (great batter)

NOT GREAT: :
Bandits, Park City
a. trout, with "lemon butter sauce" - not a cream sauce like Wild Mustang, but salsa and some tart lemon sauce on top. 
b. salmon, with mango salsa. A good bbq style rub is on the fish.

Bird and Barley, Park City
a. crab cake po boy sandwich: C- (tomato saves it).
b . crab cake alone: D

Note that of the three main  chains in Utah the "fresh" fish at Red Lobster is okay, but not in the same league as the above offerings. Nothing struck our fancy at Joe's Crabshack or McGrath's Fish House (a regional western U.S. chain), which used to have the best fried oysters till they changed their recipe several years ago. 

If  you want to call a fourth chain a "seafood place" - Skippers - we slide that far into last place of the chains, but it is fast food.

Several restaurants in Park City and Midway offer trout and sea bass that look promising, especially if cooked with a sauce, as a number of those places have trained executive chefs who know what they're doing.


BEST CATFISH IN UTAH

- revised 16 Dec 2015

9 worth trying:

1. Sea Bass, Ogden. Comes battered like fish and chips. A

2. Bucket O' Crawfish. West Valley at about 1850 west 3500 south. Get the catffish and see if they'll let you have the garlic sauce that they normally serve with their crawfish. (The crawfish is decent, the catfish is very good.) A- with garlic sauce

3. Cracker Barrel in Springville off I-15 and other locations (plus nationwide). My best friend from high school, fellow southern buddy Hugh O. whom I went to school with in Alabama, loves the place. B.

4. OUT OF BUSINESS: Boudreaux's Bistro, Payson. Get it "smothered" with their amazing sauce over the catfish and rice. While there, check out their crawfish Etouffee. Their burger is great as well. (See our Best Burgers in Utah.) Not crazy about the other offerings we tried - about 9 total on the menu, including the fried gator.

5. Spur Bar and Grill, Park City. Fried. B

6. Mama's Southern Plantation, Sandy. Go to Fort Union Blvd and 1300 East and turn south, go a half mile or so to Warl-mart, turn left into their parking lot and look for a strip mall place in their parking lot. Why would I bother with directions? They've moved several times over the years and on the web it took me an hour and several attempts to find the latest location and current phone number. This was the best of the Southern Plantation places when it was on about 90th South State in SLC, run by the original Mama K from Indiana, but she had the soul food recipes down pat. Her daughter has continued the legacy. Order the catfish and whiting, and the most amazing yams and peach cobbler I've ever had! (The slaw, beans, hopping john, and cornbread are good too; I've had everything on their menu, but these listed are by far the best.)

7. Famous Dave's, Sandy (national chain): (their marmalade fish sauce: A-, and their cream sauce: B+) fish alone: B

8. Texas Roadhouse (national chain): B

9. Chubby's, Pleasant Grove: THURSDAYS ONLY. The FRESH fish itself is an A, and so is the homemade shrimp sauce served with it - the best we ever had!). They fly it in fresh on Thursdays - THE ONLY DAY THEY SERVE IT  - but we don't love the batter.  In 2011 we had it and the batter was good - in 2013 we didn't care for it - tried it two different weeks. But the fish is great.

Historical Note:
BLAST IT - THIS PLACE IS GONE NOW. IT WAS NUMERO UNO: Soul and Bones, Ogden. Best fried catfish I ever had outside the country diners which specialized in catfish in Alabama - and that's saying a lot for a southern kid who used to hit those places out in the country - places that knew how to make it right! Bar none, this was the best in Utah. They flew it in fresh from Louisiana, so it was "sorta fresh," but the way they prepared it was primo. 

Best Fish Sauces:
See best seafood in Utah: http://tastetestersclub.blogspot.com/2014/06/best-seafood-in-utah.html

1. cream sauce for sturgeon at Farm at the Canyons, Park City: A
1. tie: 2 sauces with trout at Bistro 412, Park City. A
2. Marmalade sauce for catfish: Famous Dave's: A-
3. Cream sauce for catfish: Famous Dave's: B+
4. sauce for cod at Wild Mustang, Orem.
5. sauce for salmon - ditto
6. sauce for trout - ditto
While we're on fish sauces:
7.Tartar sauce: #1 Red Lobster, #2 Chubby's
8. Shrimp sauce: #1 Chubby's homemade, #2 Red Lobster


Best Shrimp Po-Boy Sandwiches
1. Chubby's, Pleasant Grove
2. Madison's, Provo (a virtual tie - we need to compare them side by side)



Fish and Chips
(These are the Top 9. The full list is repeated at "Best Fish and Chips in Utah)

THE TOP 4

1 (tie). Cafe 300 in Provo at 300 South and 279 East. SERVED FRIDAYS ONLY. Grade: B+ (a grade lower than L.A.'s best F&C places. (See our reviews for Best Fish and Chips in Los Angeles. To get the best fish and chips anywhere, you have to get it freshly caught PLUS they have to have a great batter. (Besides being tied for numero uno in F & C, Cafe 300 does have one of the best clam chowders in the state, in our opinion. See our Ratings for "Best Clam Chowders in Utah.") Grade: B+
Notes about them: Opened December 2012. They experimented with the batter recipe for two weeks, and it paid off. The thick cod pieces are not overcooked like most places are, and the delectibly battered fish melts in your mouth. Their plan was to serve it only for Lent, but bingo - it was a hit and they're featuring it every Friday. (P.S. Their french toast and omelletes are tied for our favorites as well.) They're open Tuesday - Sunday 7 A.M till 3 P.M. But Friday is fish day, starting 5:30 PM. 

1 (tie). Madison Gastropub, Provo, Chef Mike calls it Cajun Fish and Chips and uses fabulous mild spices and an abolutely perfect batter with decent cod. B+

1. (tie) Archibalds, South Jordan. Cod B+ (their halibut is rated only a C, farther down the list)

1. (tie) The Tropical, Provo. Using swai, and introduced 13 Dec 2014 to their menu, this will be a featured and likely best-selling item. Like only 2 other places in Utah (A Little Tasate of Britain and State Street Grill, below), they serve huge fillets like in the UK, but you have to ask for it that way, and it's less expensive than other places. Very, very good batter as well. B+

Note: Not a regular item. Franck's Restaurant, Holladay, uses trout and it rates high - a B+, in fact is in Top 5 in state, but is only served on special occasions - we've only seen it once - in winter 2014. 

THE NEXT-BEST 5:

5. A Little Taste of Britain. Layton, on Main Street. Grade: B+ This was a best-kept secret until KSL TV did a feature on them in July 2012, then they had lines out the doors for  weeks. Battered fish pieces are big, like England's. Cod is frozen, unfortunately, as nearly all places in Utah are except for a handful where noted below, but it's not chewy like most places that use frozen cod, and they don't overcook it like most do. We weren't crazy about the chips. The onion rings are OK. (On our last trip on 13 June 20 they had fixed an earlier concern we had - the tell-tall scent of fish being refrigerated too long at several visits the previous year, but on this trip the fish was excellent.) Very good batter as well. B/B+

6. Wasatch Brew Pub (kid-friendly), Park City. (The one at the airport may use the same recipe. Squatters downtown SLC has same ownership but different recipe, not as good. This place has the best beer batter in the state, using their own, producing great flavor and crunch. But cod pieces are frozen with a slight chewy texture (most places have a very chewy texture that serve it from frozen state (except Pago and State Street Grill, which are fresh, and Cafe 300, which cooks it to taste like fresh). However, the cod pieces at Wasatch are too thin for our liking. Still, it's worth getting. B/B+

7. Dalton's, Payson. B/B+

8. Joe's Crab Shack, Sandy and nationwide. As of November 2014, very nice batter, slightly chewy, typically frozen cod. B/B+

9. O'Shucks, Salt Lake City location only. nice tempura batter with a cayenne kick, but fish is too thin. Depending on who makes it, sometimes it's thicker but still thin, and sometimes with a great quality fish. You have to ask for "tempura fish" - not "fish and chips." The Park City west location had a great one, same batter but bigger fish pieces, but they changed to a beer batter in fall  2014 that we find mediocre and is further down this list. B/B+. 


For the full list of Fish and Chips places in Utah we've graded - most in the state - see our site: http://tastetestersclub.blogspot.com/2011/04/best-fish-and-chips-in-utah.html


Individual restaurants emphasizing Seafood:

McGrath's Fish House, Sandy, regional chain
a. halibut davini: linguini C+, fish B
b. marlin D
c. garlic trout A-
d. grilled catfish B-
e. wood fired salmon, topped with garlid basil butter C-
f. ribeye C+
g. baby back ribs C-
h. fried oysters (best in state); recipe changed, made worse, about 2010, but they could custom-make it the old way, with Japanese panco crumbs, etc, to make it an A
i. lemon caper sole (fish only C-) total B+
j. red snapper B-
k. southern fried catrish C
l. alderplank salmon B+
m. reg. wood fired salmon B+
n. citrus honey salmon B
o. teriyaki candy glaze salmon C
p. BBQ salmon D+