Nick's Fishmarket

We ate here on December 9th. I hadn't been here since 1993, on an interview in college ... at the time I'm pretty sure it was the nicest place I'd ever been. Partly out of nostalgia, partly out of curiosity, I took my girlfriend to check out this institution.

Now you don't have to.

The bar upstairs was so smoky I had to wait outside because it was making my eyes burn. I'm a former smoker, and I lived in NYC pre-ban, so I'm not a lightweight in this area; it was just bad.

To be succinct, the prices were high, the food was mediocre, the decor is tourist-cafeteria, and the service was downright bad. We were brought the wrong wine (not that cost matters, but we had ordered the most expensive chard on the menu and were brought probably the cheapest -- I think the server just guessed), one of the servers kept reaching over my girlfriend's plate, and everyone who came to the table didn't really seem to know much about food or wine. My shrimp scampi app was decent; I can't even remember what my girlfriend's was. My dover sole was ok; her lobster tail was subpar to say the least. Desert was tasteless ... it literally looked and tasted like it came from one of those rotating plate diner fridges by the cash register.

$380.32 for two, is what my credit card bill says. Never again.

Interesting. I went several years ago with business associates -- they were paying -- and while at the time the service was so good (people appearing out of nowhere the second you even thought you needed a waiter, a lighter out for my dining companion's cigarette even before it was out of the package -- that kind of over-the-top service), the food was still incredibly expensive but really mediocre. I think my business associate liked it because she could chain smoke without drawing any attention to herself.

Anyway, I wasn't remotely interested in returning even when the service was good. Knowing the service has tanked makes me determined to stay away, even if someone else is paying. There are just too many good restaurants in this town.

Sorry, however, to hear that your meal was so unpleasant and so costly.

I've been wondering about this place. I've been to the Nick's down in Boca (where the actual Nick can normally be found), and it has always been excellent. You never hear anything about the one here, and I guess there's a reason why. Nick, by the way, is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

basis wrote:$380.32 for two, is what my credit card bill says. Never again.

Good Lord .. you could go to any place in the city for that amt of coin.

jesteinf wrote:I've been wondering about this place. I've been to the Nick's down in Boca

Jesteinf,

I do believe the Boca Raton Nick's, which was located in the Boca Raton Resort and Club, is no longer in operation. I had dinner at the Homestead Steak House, also located in the Boca Raton Resort and Club, though not in the same space where Nick's was, just last month.

I was quite enthused about the Homestead, the New York original is, from what I hear, a real classic, and, though I enjoyed the Boca Homestead, it was not quite what I expected. After a (very) minor letdown I did a little Internet and phone legwork and discovered that the Original Homestead from New York had, after just a few months of operation, sold the restaurant to The Glazier Group which owns The Strip steak houses, Monkey Bar and Michael Jordan's Steak house, among others.

Incredibly enough the manager said the Boca Homestead gets the steaks, he was unclear as to wet/dry age, in preportioned cryovac packaging.

Back to Nick's in Chicago, It's been quite a while since I've been and, though I liked the food and service, consider it more corporate expense account type place than one which I would choose to spend personal dining dollars.

Enjoy,
Gary

Hey Gary,

I thought that Nick's at the Boca Raton Resort had closed. I'm pretty sure that he has either opened up elsewhere in Boca (or nearby) or is close to opening a new restaurant. There has been some pretty major upheaval at the resort since it was sold. There is a rumor that Morimoto will be opening up a sushi bar in the lobby. I'll believe that when I see it.

jesteinf wrote:There is a rumor that Morimoto will be opening up a sushi bar in the lobby. I'll believe that when I see it.

Jesteinf,

I'll eat there when I see it.

Enjoy,
Gary

I am in complete agreement that Nick's for dinner is a bad, bad idea.

The upstairs bar serves a decent lunch, though. There is no smoking there before 4 p.m. The lunch menu includes a selection of basic fish -- salmon, tuna, mahi mahi, and something else, I think -- grilled and served with a few vegetables. It makes for a small, tasty lunch for around $12, I think.

jesteinf wrote:I've been wondering about this place. I've been to the Nick's down in Boca (where the actual Nick can normally be found), and it has always been excellent. You never hear anything about the one here, and I guess there's a reason why. Nick, by the way, is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

There is also a Nick's Fishmarket in Maui (at the Fairmont near Wailea). That place has outstanding food (some of the best fish I've ever had) and very good service. Of course, the ownership is different (basically they rent the name). Due to the Maui experience, I have thought about trying the Chicago version. Thanks for saving me the expense.

On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

To all posters with anything negative to say about Nick's: Keep your opinions turned down if you go there and Nick is close by. Back in the day he was infamous for throwing out food critics that he recognized. Or, on the other hand, eat your fill and complain afterwards

DML wrote:On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

The Cape Cod Room, though costly, is usually good. Their Bookbinder's soup is a classic.

Cynthia wrote:

DML wrote:On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

The Cape Cod Room, though costly, is usually good. Their Bookbinder's soup is a classic.

At risk of looking like a tourist from Des Moines (not that there is anything wrong with that): Is the Cape Cod Room the bar/restaurant on the lower level of The Drake?

I know I've been to the bar, where I've had the Bookbinder, which I enjoy. Anyone had any "real" fish dishes there?

DML wrote:On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

Does Evanston count? Oceanique is a wonderful sole-proprietor restaurant specializing in seafood. Their soups and desserts are also outstanding. You'll find Mark Grosz there most nights.

But you're correct, many of the very best restaurants here that specialize in seafood are parts of chains, some with just a few locations, others with more - including McCormick and Schmick's (Chicago), Mitchell's Fish Market (Glenview), Shaw's Crab House (Chicago, Schaumburg), Parker's Ocean Grill (Downer's Grove), Hugo's Frog Bar (Chicago), Bonefish Grill (Skokie), Davis Street Fishmarket (Evanston), etc.

DML wrote:Is the Cape Cod Room the bar/restaurant on the lower level of The Drake?

Yes.

DML wrote:On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

Seafood in Chicago is never going to be fresh, which is a major impediment to great-tasting fish dishes. However, the fish dishes at Spring are quite good. Also, the almond crusted halibut at Cafe 28 is very good.

-Dan

DanInLakeview wrote:Seafood in Chicago is never going to be fresh

You can get fresh seafood in any major city in the country. It's flown in...

nsxtasy wrote:

DanInLakeview wrote:Seafood in Chicago is never going to be fresh

You can get fresh seafood in any major city in the country. It's flown in...

It is fresh with a pause and nothing like fresh off the dock. However it is still a heck of a lot better than when I was a child. I remember watching Julia Child evaluate a fish with cautions not to buy anything with sunken eyes and fishy smelling. Totally laughable to my experience when that was the typical fish in the market.

While fresh fish transportation has improved, it just is fresh with a bit of a pause!

Regards,

nsxtasy wrote:

DanInLakeview wrote:Seafood in Chicago is never going to be fresh

You can get fresh seafood in any major city in the country. It's flown in...

Have you ever tried seafood in a coastal city or town? One where fish is often served within hours of the time it was caught? Or, one where the fish was, at least, spared the abuse of flight? There is often a remarkable difference.

To answer DML's question, I would suggest Scylla.

E.M.

DML wrote:At risk of looking like a tourist from Des Moines (not that there is anything wrong with that): Is the Cape Cod Room the bar/restaurant on the lower level of The Drake?

I know I've been to the bar, where I've had the Bookbinder, which I enjoy. Anyone had any "real" fish dishes there?

Yep -- that's the one. And it occurred to me after I wrote the note that it hardly seems necessary to mention that the Cape Cod Room is pricy in a thread about Nick's Fish Market.

And it has been a few years, but when I have had fish there, or other seafood, it has always been excellent.

Of course, the place in the area (though not in the city) that has the freshest fish is Bob Chinn's in Wheeling. Despite it's short comings, it flies in tons of fish fresh every day (new menu daily) -- and much of it comes in live, in giant tanks, and the fish are kept alive on site until it's time to consume them. So you CAN get really fresh fish in Chicago. Of course, you don't have the myriad, subtle options for preparation, but if all you want is a simply prepared, extremely fresh fish, Chinn's is the freshest. But thanks to O'Hare, there are a ton of places where fish are only a few hours older than they are on the coast -- because face it, even on the coast, most big restaurants aren't buying fish within hours of their being caught -- that's pretty much little pier-side shanties that are doing that.

Cynthia wrote:But thanks to O'Hare, there are a ton of places where fish are only a few hours older than they are on the coast -- because face it, even on the coast, most big restaurants aren't buying fish within hours of their being caught -- that's pretty much little pier-side shanties that are doing that.

Most aren't, you are right, but my point, at least, was hardly to outline the practices of most restaurants on the coasts. At any rate, run your opinion by David Pasternak at Esca in New York, Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin in New York, or Norman Van Aiken at Norman's in Coral Gables. See what they have to say about the additional hardships incurred in the freighting and shipping of seafood further inland. Oh, but don't trouble yourself to share what you learn with me. I already know what they will tell you.

E.M.

Erik M. wrote:Have you ever tried seafood in a coastal city or town? One where fish is often served within hours of the time it was caught? Or, one where the fish was, at least, spared the abuse of flight? There is often a remarkable difference.

Yes, yes, and yes. I grew up about an hour from the ocean, spent many summers at the beach, and often return there. Sometimes, there is a remarkable difference. Other times, there is no difference at all. It all depends on the shipping and storing practices of the suppliers and the restaurants. Some seafood I've had in the Midwest is as good as anything I've had near the ocean.

Cathy2 wrote:It is fresh with a pause and nothing like fresh off the dock. However it is still a heck of a lot better than when I was a child. I remember watching Julia Child evaluate a fish with cautions not to buy anything with sunken eyes and fishy smelling. Totally laughable to my experience when that was the typical fish in the market.

While fresh fish transportation has improved, it just is fresh with a bit of a pause!

Regards,

While I agree that fresh fish is better today than when we were children, but how fresh is fresh fish?

If the boat comes in to the seafood terminal tomorrow, in some cases, the fish was caught a week or two ago based on some of the discussions that I have had with seafood wholesalers over the years.

The handling on the boat is key.

However, add in a plane flight and a couple of truck rides to another destination ...

stewed coot wrote:To all posters with anything negative to say about Nick's: Keep your opinions turned down if you go there and Nick is close by. Back in the day he was infamous for throwing out food critics that he recognized. Or, on the other hand, eat your fill and complain afterwards

If he threw you out, he'd be doing you a favor, based on my last couple of visits.

Erik M. wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:

DanInLakeview wrote:Seafood in Chicago is never going to be fresh

You can get fresh seafood in any major city in the country. It's flown in...

Have you ever tried seafood in a coastal city or town? One where fish is often served within hours of the time it was caught? Or, one where the fish was, at least, spared the abuse of flight? There is often a remarkable difference.

* * *

E.M.

Right. There is a huge difference between the tuna served in Maui and the tuna served in Chicago. It almost seems like it is going to flop off your plate.

jlawrence01 wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:It is fresh with a pause and nothing like fresh off the dock. However it is still a heck of a lot better than when I was a child. I remember watching Julia Child evaluate a fish with cautions not to buy anything with sunken eyes and fishy smelling. Totally laughable to my experience when that was the typical fish in the market.

While fresh fish transportation has improved, it just is fresh with a bit of a pause!

Regards,

While I agree that fresh fish is better today than when we were children, but how fresh is fresh fish?

If the boat comes in to the seafood terminal tomorrow, in some cases, the fish was caught a week or two ago based on some of the discussions that I have had with seafood wholesalers over the years.

The handling on the boat is key.

However, add in a plane flight and a couple of truck rides to another destination ...

Hi,

Maybe I wasn't clear, I stated "fresh with a pause," because we get nothing like fresh fish available on the coast. While there is a best effort in most cases to get it to us as fresh as possible, that "pause" can vary greatly.

I'm still not the keenest fish eater from long experience in eating not so great fish. I generally prefer fresh frozen to fresh with a pause. The frozen skate purchased at H-Mart after Burt's recently was really very good.

Regards,

Cynthia wrote:Of course, the place in the area (though not in the city) that has the freshest fish is Bob Chinn's in Wheeling. Despite it's short comings, it flies in tons of fish fresh every day (new menu daily) -- and much of it comes in live, in giant tanks, and the fish are kept alive on site until it's time to consume them.

Cynthia,

I dont think that anybody can argue that Chinn's turns over more fresh fish than almost any other free standing restaurant in the country. Only the largest of convention hotels exceed Chinn's in quantity of covers.

But what you're saying is that when Chinn's kitchen gets an order for let's say, a grilled grouper fillet, a butcher reaches into the "giant fish tank" and grabs a live grouper, kills it, guts it, scales it, fillets it, removes the pin bones with his trusty needlenose pliers, portions the fish out, and then sends it over to the grill station to be cooked. And they do this with much of their fish?

I can safely say that these "giant tanks" exist only in your imagination.

To echo Erik's and Cathy's points, the vast majority of "fresh fish" in Seattle, New Orleans, Tampa, Des Moines and Boise is nothing of the sort. But very fresh fish is easy enough to find at high-end restaurants. However, for me, the magic happens not when you are dining at a 4-star place, but when you are dining at the humble spot that has its own boat or a close relationship with a day-boater (i.e., not a large commercial vessel with a flash-freezer on board that stays out several days or weeks at a time). That can and does only exist very near the water in places that have a special respect for seafood.

Otherwise, there are enough places in Chicago that have never frozen fin fish that have been out of the water for only a few days, and I don't think the flight really changes taste or texture much if at all. Indeed, I recently had the experts at Dirk's fillet for me an absolutely pristine, clear-eyed, true red snapper that smelled of nothing but the Atlantic, and I'd be hard pressed to find better in my Florida home town. But, yes, there is no substitute for the true day-boat operation where the fish is broken down that morning for the dinner rush.

PS, I think very highly of the Hugo's/Gibson's group's fish, even though I'm not a big fan of the flagship steakhouse's meat. I hosted an event at Hugo's and spent some time in the fish station, where I watched some very skilled people portioning whole ocean fish in the specialized fish room. Great stuff. Joe's Stone Crab does a fine job too.

Finally, while the "giant tank" is largely a fish tale, it certainly exists at the quirky Bern's in Tampa, which, despite its own proximity to some major fishing ports, maintains several massive tanks. The smaller fish are indeed pulled from the tanks and prepared to order. Take the kitchen tour, you'll see it. Of course, this also happens in any number of Chinatowns with carp and at the rare "live kill" sushi place. So it goes too far to preclude the possibility of cleaned-to-order fish. Chinn's could be such a place, but I don't know. I do think they do a swell job with simple preps of fine but often abused fish such as tuna and grouper.

On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

I think Chicago will never be a great seafood town. We have many good dining experiences but fish and seafood does not rank up there.

your best bet with fresh fish may be bass/trout up in Wisconsin... although I don't have any places in mind, I just imagine that there have to be places up north with freshly caught, local fish.

If you're expecting fresh crab or tuna here in Chicago - you may want to remember that we live on a freshwater lake!

.. and more so perch and walleye. WI and MI are good places to find fresh fish, just not from the ocean.

PS, I've also found that places serving truly fresh local fish tend also to do a much better job with frozen stuff from other places, because they understand fish. Thus, a perch place in the midwest is more likely to have a decent shrimp cocktail or blackened tuna and a grouper shack in FL more likely to do a decent job with salmon (despite the fact that one should still lean toward the local, fresh catch IME).

Cynthia wrote:

DML wrote:On a related note -- is there a really good non-chain fish place in Chicago? Unfortunately, I think McCormick and Schmidt is as good as it gets here.

The Cape Cod Room, though costly, is usually good. Their Bookbinder's soup is a classic.

I went there many years ago to get their highly touted boulliabase. We sat at a table right next to Jim Finks (former GM of the Bears and president of the Cubs) and his family. The boulliabase was extremely disappointing in that it was a rather bland broth that contained exactly one shrimp and one clam, and nothing else. I'm still pissed off.