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| - Fishman's is a strange restaurant, and fittingly has a strange and unnecessarily long name.
Eating here was like entering a time warp. The dated dining room is surrounded by fishtanks filled with very large lobsters and crabs. Higher end liquor is showcased in glass cases in the centre of the room, and faux crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings. This may have been a popular night club in the 1980's.
The service is good, but a bit chaotic. We were always attended to, but because there was no assigned server a few different staff members came by to see if we had ordered yet. Slight language barrier, but very practical for the Markham demographic. Not speaking english actually seemed more efficient with the majority of other diners.
The combos are expensive, but when you divide the cost by the number of people each order will feed, it becomes more reasonable. Our combo started with soup, fried oysters, deep fried king crab and lobster, fried rice, and cashew desert.
*Be warned: similarly to a butcher, you order a certain number of pounds of lobster/crab. When the lobster/crab come out of the tank, they sometimes are over the described weight on the menu. You are then given the option to pay the difference, or keep searching the tanks for more closely matching weighted crab or lobster. This overage added $50 to our bill quickly.
They do bring out the actual live crab and lobster so you can see or hold them with your family and take pictures, before eating them moments later. (please see my picture)
Oddly no shrimp is available at Fishman's.
Overall the food was average, but presentation was great. The quantities are big, designed to feed large hungry families. The experience was interesting, holding the live seafood first, then eating basically in a old aquarium store. Deep frying the seafood took away from the natural flavour. Beef and deep fried oyster were surprisingly great.
Worth a try if you're in Markham and have a hungry group craving seafood. Otherwise not for true seafood connoisseurs looking for a raw bar.
Had fun, but I'm not returning
Recommendations:
- deep fried oysters
- bbq beef
- ask for crackers to get the lobster and crab out easier
- order a smaller size combo than people you have, the quantities are large
- make reservations
Enjoy!
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