Finest at Sea Food Cart
27 Erie Street
James Bay
Victoria, BC
(250) 383-7760

E: Lately, I’ve been on a fish n’ chip fetish, and in my craving to find good ling cod, I thought just maybe I can bait my buddy James into a visit down near Fisherman’s Wharf. After a lacklustre serving at what barely passes as properly rolled maki rolls at Sushi Plus (it was James’ treat since he asked to meet him there), well … I needed to swab the decks (my tongue) as it were.

J: Ed’s is attempting to sneak a review within a review of Sushi Plus. He technically can’t say much because I picked up the tab at their establishment. But yes, after filling myself up on a beef bowl at Sushi Plus my body still felt weak and needed an iron boost. Ed drove us to the Wharf. I was in all my glory feeling pretty cool as I bopped my head to Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” as it played on the radio. Ed was rolling his eyes, I didn’t need to look at him to know. After almost 25 years, we know each other’s habits. Where he did park was directly across from the Wharf on Erie Street. Our stop was the Finest At Sea food truck.

E: Usually, most fishmongers don’t deliver on a Sunday or Monday, but I had to stop by because I was curious if they had any sea urchin. And to visit this operation’s food truck or visit the wharf proper had James drooling over the opportunities their blue and white truck presented. For a moment, I could not decide between the fish tacos or fish n’ chips.

J: I knew exactly what I wanted, the halibut and chips but I gave in and decided to match Ed’s order. Feeling like Wimpy from Popeye, I resorted to the routine of “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a fish & chips today.” Okay, it wasn’t a hamburger but it still came with a side of fries. I would count that as being in the same food group.

E: If only operations knew how to make a perfect fry, then I’d be very happy. But in this operation, I should’ve passed on the fries and stuck to the fish. Finest at Sea certainly offers fresh fish. I could taste it in the nicely cooked up ling cod. The batter took getting used to. It was crispy and had the right crunchiness to it. But that’s only good if you like a lot of peppercorns.

J: The ling cod was nice and fresh but I was disappointed with the batter. I don’t understand their reasoning for adding black peppercorns to the batter. If you are going to make a tasty batter, almost 100% of your customers could enjoy it but if you’re going to make a spicy batter, that cuts out up to 50% of your customer base.

If I took my family here, four out of the five of them couldn’t eat the fish and the fifth (me) can barely tolerate it. I had throat irritation after consuming the batter. Maybe in the future, they should have the option of leaving the peppercorns out.

E: At least they were not as prominent in the huge deep-fried oysters we sampled. The size is right, but the taste was a bit off. I suspect the problem is that they were not as fresh as the fish.

J: I expected salt water as I bit into the oysters but all that was tasted was a liquid that made me think of waste water. It was very unpleasant. Monday is a bad day to come here, the fish, the oysters and the fries made for three strikes. I was out.

E: I’m willing to try this place on another day, like Tuesday as James said. But in the meantime, I’ll be patiently waiting for the next delivery of sea urchin. At least you can’t go wrong with those salt watery delights!

2½ Blokes out of 5