The boy and I recovered nicely from our visits to
Stuzzi and Acacia, and headed to
Pescados on China Street. The original on Midlothian has been a favorite of mine since the first time I went there. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, I am generally loathe to try dishes I grew up with anywhere else, but at Pescados those dishes shine.
We drove up and parked and was immediately alerted that I had parked in a high risk of towing area by a man who identified himself as the owner. I left the boy and moved the car. On my return the boy was on a first name basis with the owner of Pescados.
We took a seat and waited for a table, all the time the staff where incredibly nice and pleasant (maybe cause the boy was tight with the owner). The restaurant was full with again a good mix, many older couples and groups of couples where finishing up dinner (around 8pm) and younger couples and groups where filtering in. Several women from my neighborhood came in and said hi.
Eventually we were seated and we ordered some appetizers, the conch fritters and some ceviche.
The ceviche was mixed, squid, scalop, shrimp and fish
It was served with Yucha chips. I love ceviche, I make it and have had it across the caribbean, and this was very good, but not the best I've ever had. The conch fritters were also very good.
A nice taste of the ocean without the sauce overwhelming them.
For entrees I went with the whole fried fish, which I will say, I never order without some trepidation. In PR I can get whole fried fish on the beach from a gazillion places, always fresh always perfect. In Richmond not so much... unless the place is called Pescados. I have had this three times, now at both locations and each time it has matched or exceeded my expectations.
Crispy in all the right places, garlicky and moist flesh. Perfect in my opinion.
The boy ordered the halibut with yucha
The fish was again perfectly cooked, the yucha in tomato sauce was outstanding. I don't know if it requires growing up eating these foods as comfort foods to appreciate how great they are, but trust me this yucha dish is as good as I have ever had.
for dessert the boy had the chocolate tart, which he liked,
I thought it was good but certainly not the highlight of my meal.
I ordered the avocado tart, which I had had before and liked
It is tangy, like a key lime pie, but creamier with the avocado.
We laughed it up during dinner, compared dishes and overall had a great time. As we were leaving we were met by a loud, "Hey Dante (the boy) how was dinner?" from the owner, the boy exclaimed his approval as the owner bade him (not me) goodnight. We had a great time excellent food in a very comfortable setting. I was very impressed with how comfortable they made us, especially the boy, who felt like a rockstar.