It’s been a long time coming, but I finally got to Fish at 30 Lake for a real meal. After opening this past summer, I have been asked over and over again about this place, and I have never truly been able to offer my opinion… until now.
For starters, I have to address the elephant in the room. While Fish at 30 Lake is a FISH-focused restaurant, their menu is relatively limited. When I took a look at it for the first time back in June, for a moment I was a little surprised. But when you really think about it, you can’t expect ANY restaurant to have 100 options for fish. That would just be wasteful.
The relatively limited selection on the menu is a good one, with specials every night adding on at least one or two additional fish options. They also have a pretty extensive raw bar selection, which no one else in Saratoga can offer at this time.
The one item on the menu I have had before (at the bar) is the Ahi Tuna Nachos. I don’t know what it is with me, but I just have a thing for nachos.
And how could you not after looking at these? Between the crispy fried wonton chips and the fresh ahi tuna, avocado, and tomatoes, I could have eaten this entire plate as my entree. But wait… there’s more. They drizzle the damn nachos with a sriracha aioli and sweet soy glaze. (insert drool face here)
It’s a miracle I didn’t shove everyone over and eat the whole thing.
Moving on to my entree. The waitress did explain that she recommends the halibut dish to everyone because she said it’s their best entree (in her opinion), but they unfortunately didn’t have any halibut that evening. Instead, it was substituted for a striped bass.
I decided what the hell, why not try some striped bass instead of halibut.
The bass was on top of a kabocha pumpkin puree, wilted rainbow chard, and a brown butter & sage emulsion.
The waitress wasn’t lying… this dish was pretty great. The fish was seared with a nice crust on the top, the puree reminded me of Thanksgiving, and the rainbow chard added a little green veggie love to the dish that balanced it out nicely.
Real talk – I was impressed. I’m not saying that I went into the situation with totally negative expectations, but I haven’t ordered fish out in a while, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. This was a really good meal.
While the price of this dish is typically $32, last night it was only $28 because of the fish substitution.
Honestly, I didn’t even miss the halibut. The bass was beautiful, light, cooked perfectly, and the perfect portion.
I cleaned my plate and sipped my wine and felt really satisfied by the end of the meal.
If you haven’t been to Fish at 30 Lake since it changed over from Mingle OR if you haven’t ever been in there at all… now is the time to go! I give them my stamp of approval – and please for the love of fried food, if you go get the ahi tuna nachos.
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