What brought me to Benkovitz is the fact that they're a seafood place that sells fresh fish, and they happen to be right down the street from Penn Ave Fish Company. On paper they seem nearly identical, so I knew I had to try it out.
I walked in and asked the guy behind the counter what to get if it was my first time. Hands down he said "Fish Sandwich". But of course, it's called the "Original" Fish Sandwich. Less than four minutes later I was seated at a table and my sandwich was inhaled. At first glance, the sandwich doesn't seem that big. You get two large pieces of fried fish sandwiched in soft white buns. Nothing else. Pure simplicity. I added tartar sauce to half the sandwich and had the other half sans-condiment to see the taste of the fish by itself. To be honest, I liked it better w/ the tartar sauce since the amount of fried fish + white bread worked to start drying out the mouth and the tartar sauce worked to keep it moist.
While I was waiting for my friend to finish his sandwich, I hopped around looking for their soups. I sampled both soups they had on hand and I should have stopped right there. It was my main goal to try the soups, but my gluttonous side couldn't resist a cup of their creamy scallop soup, which drank like a chowder.
As a testament to how good the food is, I had my camera but completely forgot to snap pictures during my feeding frenzy.
So how do Penn Ave Fish Co. and Benkovitz co-exist? Benkovitz seems to have an old-school vibe with their brick walls and worn wooden floors and almost everything is fried. Penn Ave seems more "hip" with brighter colors and focuses more on grilling and broiling. Is one better than the other? That's like asking what's better between Coke and Mountain Dew; they're just different.