Good fish in Old Town tonight?

[lperry]

We have a friend in town for the evening, and when we asked where he would like to go, he said Old Town, and he wants a good fish place. I'm clueless, and Mr. lperry mentioned the Chart House. Surely we can do better than that, or even local? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[monavano]

We have a friend in town for the evening, and when we asked where he would like to go, he said Old Town, and he wants a good fish place. I'm clueless, and Mr. lperry mentioned the Chart House. Surely we can do better than that, or even local? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

My suggestion (sans reservations) would be to stroll lower King St. and check out the menus at The Warehouse (I've had perfected good fish there), The Wharf, The Fish Market, and Union St. Public House (nice raw bar too). Upper King Street, you have Hank's Oyster Bar which is a long-time favorite of mine. No reservations at Hank's, but I do believe you call call ahead to get on a list if any. The Majestic has a nice seafood selection too. I keep meaning to get there to try their scallops which a friend keeps raving about. In terms of quality, the upper King St. restos are solid, but I eat at the places by the water, too.

There's also McCormick and Schmick at the National Harbor, which has a large patio seating area and is right on the water.

[plunk]

Vermillion, too.

[Escoffier]

Vermillion, too.

I'd like to second this. Chef Tony Chittum has a special way with seafood that is just amazing. Some of the best fish we've eaten outside of Italy we've had a Vermilion.

[lperry]

Thanks everyone. We're going to tell him the possibilities and let him decide.

[DanielK]

Fish & chips at Eamonn's!

[lperry]

^ We'll let him know it's an option!

[lperry]

We ended up taking Monavano's suggestion to walk around King Street because our friend had been sitting in a conference all day and wanted to move a bit. Unfortunately, we walked maybe a little too far and passed all sorts of interesting looking menu placards to end up at Union Street pub. (I should have been pushier). Our guest, at the waiter's recommendation, got the lobster and crab cake instead of the swordfish, and he enjoyed it. I had a salad. Mr. lperry, paradoxically, changed his mind last minute and got the fish and chips. Toward the end of the meal, I realized he hadn't really eaten it, and when I asked him about it he said the fries were cold and soggy and the fish was greasy and not good. He had taken maybe two bites from one piece of fish and eaten a couple of fries. We had the inevitable conversation about sending stuff back (he didn't want to mess with it, especially after it took so long to get our food), and our waiter didn't seem to notice that the food had not been eaten so we let it slide. The drinks were good, we had a great conversation with our friend, and he was happy, so the mission was accomplished.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Next time I think my opinion will have more sway.