Fish and chips excellence...

Fish and chips excellence...  We needed to go to Ogden yesterday.  If you're not familiar with Ogden, it's a fair-sized city about 30 miles north of Salt Lake City, and about 30 miles south of us.  As we were there in the early afternoon, we decided to try a restaurant we'd not been to before.  We used Yelp to pick it: the best-rated place in Ogden that was open on Monday (most restaurants here close Sundays and Mondays).  The place we chose is called Sea Bears Ogden Fish House.  All we knew when we walked in is that Yelpers liked the place.  We had no idea what a treat we were in for!

The inside is clean and homey, with inviting decor and low lighting.  We were greeted by the male half of the couple who owns the place, fully outfitted in traditional Scottish costume, including a kilt.  Within a few minutes of conversation we discovered that his whole family works there, they're politically very compatible with us, and his wife (the cook and waitress) usually is packing heat (open carry), though she wasn't yesterday – and if you don't like that, they'll gladly tell you about some other places you can get a good meal.  Their sons also work there, though we didn't see them and I don't know what they do.

We ordered cod (they also have halibut, albeit at a higher price), and I asked for sweet potato fries instead of traditional chips.  I also ordered a crab cake (at $3 I could hardly resist!), and raspberry lemonade.  When our orders arrived, they also had cole slaw, which I didn't even realize was included.

How was it, you ask?  The fish was top notch, one of the five or six best I've ever had (and that includes memorable fish-and-chip experiences in England, Scotland, and Singapore).  Next time I'm going to try the halibut. The sweet potato fries were excellent, not oily at all.  The cole slaw was superb – the perfect blend of sweet and sour, and made with fresh Napa cabbage and carrots that had the dressing applied just before it was served.  The crab cake was ok; nowhere near the best I've had, but certainly edible (and $3!).  The lemonade was real, made right there with fresh lemons and raspberries – awesome!

After polishing off that treat, we joked with the owner that we'd love to have him open a branch in Logan.  To our surprise, he reacted by telling us it was already something they were considering.  It turns out that he and his wife grew up in Logan, and that they're doing well in Ogden and are looking to expand.  Holy cow!  So we've been enlisted to keep our eyes open for an opportunity – especially a disused restaurant that they might be able to lease complete with a kitchen.

Oh, that would be great if they were to open up here!  As things are now, though, they've just added one more reason for us to venture out of Cache Valley now and again...