I know that by looking at the date you are probably thinking what an odd choice for St. Paddy’s Day, yes it was. However I had high hopes going into McCormick & Schmick’s. My family decided to do a night out and we had some gift cards from Christmas to use up and figured it would be nice to try something different for a change.
Starters
The table started with Shrimp Kisses and Coconut Shrimp. The Shrimp Kisses sounded fantastic as they were shrimp with pepper jack cheese wrapped in crispy bacon. Shrimp, good. Pepper Jack, good. Bacon, GOOD! As much as I would like to have the Shrimp Kisses again, the Coconut Shrimp stole the show on the two. I hate coconut, however, this dish surprised me and I wouldn’t mind getting it again. Now from here the night starts to dwindle. I received the Clam Chowder next, there wasn’t anything special about this. The clam chowder lacked a lot of flavor and wasn’t anything that I would ever order again. I had wanted to order the Maine Lobster Bisque but for $12.99 a bowl I wasn’t about to even think about ordering it.
Main Event
The Fish & Chips caught my attention because it was a special “Guinness” batter for the holiday. My 1/4 Irish heritage was intrigued. According to the menu the fish and chips usually have a Yuengling batter. I would’ve probably tried this item either way. Overall the fish and chips didn’t even come close to anything that I would like to try again, I found the fish greasy and lacking any seasoning. I finished all my fries but couldn’t even make myself eat 3 small pieces of fish on the plate. If the tartar sauce is homemade I would recommend a new recipe because it may have been one of the worst tasting tartar sauces I have used on fish.
Dessert
I decided to take dessert home and my eye was quickly drawn to the Upside Down Candied Walnut Apple Pie. This is supposed to be baked twice with a candied walnut crust, warm caramel sauce and served with cinnamon ice cream. Since I took it home I didn’t get the ice cream so hopefully that ice cream would normally make the dessert because the apple pie itself was average and the candied walnut crust tasted on the verge of being burnt.
I felt underwhelmed for the overall experience. Our server, while nice, wasn’t on his “A” game that evening. He came to our table to fill our glasses with water but never once asked us if we would like something other than the water to drink. I can’t even think about recommending McCormick & Schmick’s to anyone. The menu was very similar to The Fish Market at the Waterfront, I would recommend going there before trying McCormick & Schmick’s. I feel this chain is very overrated.
