No Fish, Go Fish
3962 SE Hawthorne Blvd
Date of Visit: Oct 27, 2009
Price for 2 (with tip) $16.50
The concept of No Fish, Go Fish is great. A lunch place that basically just serves soup and sandwiches. Ingenious really. For $6 you get a giant bowl of your choice of the 4 soups of the day and your choice of two sammies from the lengthy menu. I am sorry that I just referred them as “sammies,” but when you get a petite pressed sandwich shaped like a fish, I really feel like it’s the appropriate term. There are a also a few other items on the menu (fried stuff, pasta and noodle bowls) but honestly I didn’t have any inclination to order anything besides the lunch special.
Today I tried the Chicken Rosemary Stew, a thick, creamy soup that tasted like, well, chicken and rosemary. It was good though, I didn’t have to add salt or hot sauce (which is apparently self-serve) and it was flavorful. I wasn’t as excited about Jared’s choice, the vegetable barley, which was colorful and looked great, but was a bit bland for my taste. In addition to the soup, the special comes with your choice of two sandwiches. I went with Turkey and “Cheese” (which turned out to be American, and I sort of felt like I was 12 eating it) and a spinach and feta. Unfortunately the latter must have tried to swim out of the oven, as it didn’t arrive until I was basically finished with everything else, and was delivered not on a plate, but wrapped in a napkin. For Jared’s sandwiches he got a tomato mozzarela and one premium choice (50 cents extra) which was filled with curry vegetables. Somewhat ironically, the said the tomato mozzarella was actually more flavorful.
The food at No Fish, Go Fish isn’t anything amazing, in fact, the obviously frozen spinach inside my little fish was actually sort of unappealing (though it could have just been because I was already full.) But the kitsch and concept of this place make it definitely something special. And some days a hot bowl of soup and a sandwich is pretty much the perfect lunch.
Veggie options: menu is about half and half
Speed: I would call it “relaxed.” Not bad, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by how quick it was either.
