Race Street Seafood Kitchen

247 Race St

San Jose, CA

95126

(408)287-6280

One of few institutions on San Jose, Race Street Seafood Kitchen is for lovers of the deep fried. Particularly if you love your seafood deep fried, then look no further. They are known for their fish and chips. Though to be honest, I'm not a big fan of their french fires. It could be a bit more crisp and seasoned a bit more. The fish on the other hand is first rate. The building looks like an old mom and pop restaurant and hides the incredible popularity of the food within. Next to the restaurant, it's their fish market. So in essence, you can eat lunch there and pick up something for dinner.

First a bit about fresh fish. Believe it or not, fresh fish does not taste fishy. Fishy is not a good taste to have. It should taste like the ocean or the waters that it comes from. There should be a bit of salty brine taste to the fish. The flesh should be flaky if cooked properly and not dry. If it's dry, then it was cooked too long.

On back to the Fish Kitchen. We arrive just before lunch time about 11:30, there was already a bit of a crowd and parking was a bit hard to find. The smell of fried fish hits you the second you enter the door. Fish kitchen is quite popular so plan to get there early, and preferably before lunch time. The line can be long, but moves quite fast. You put in your order at the cash registers and wait for your number to be called.

I ordered a shrimp etouffee jr, fish and chips, fried scallops, fried squid, small bowl of clam chowder and lastly a fillet mignon kabob. The shrimp etouffee was actually quite tasty. It had some fresh shrimp, with a spicy Louisiana style etouffee sauce. The spicy actually hits you as an after taste which is quite nice. The bowl of clam chowder, I must admit was not my favorite. It lack any clam taste and was a bit runny, and not thick. They have a sign that says it's an award winning clam chowder, I must have ordered it on the wrong day. The fried scallops, had the same heavy battered as the fish. It does not match well, it covered the taste of the scallops, they should have used a lighter batter, like the one they use for the fried squid. The fried squid had a lighter batter or coating and was seasoned lightly. It was pretty good, not over cooked. Most squids if you over cook it becomes rubbery and quite chewy. The fillet mignon kabob was actually pretty good. It was something new, so I gave it a try. It was tendered, and a sign says they have aged meats that are aged 21 days. They must have used those meats for their kabobs. The meat was tender, juicy and had a good beef flavor. All it needed was a bit more seasoning, perhaps an extra pinch of salt, and it would've been perfect.

But the main star of the show and the reason why people keep packing it in was the fresh fish.

Like I said early the batter is quite heavy, but the fish stands up well to the batter. It taste quite fresh, with a salty, briney, and a hit of fish taste. The meat flakes up and not overly dry.

They have a choice of tartar and ketchup as condiments, though I didn't use either. I wanted to taste the fish. The fries are place on the bottom of the basket, but I said before, I'm not a big fan of the fries. The fish are a decent size and one or two pieces will generally fill me.

You can have different types of fish and have it grilled instead of battered fried. But I like the old standby.

Final Words: I would have to say go for the fish, you can't go wrong.

Food: 3 1/2 star

Service: N/A (self service)

Price: Average

Overall: 3 1/2 Star.