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Big Fish
Categories: Food Specialty Food Seafood Markets Restaurants Seafood Restaurants Gluten-Free Seafood Markets, Seafood, Gluten-Free [Edit]
1112 Edmonton Trl NECalgary, AB T2E 3K4
(403) 277-3403
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 10 pm
Fri 11:30 am - 11 pm
Sat 10 am - 11 pm
Sun 10 am - 2 pm
Sun 5 pm - 10 pm
- Parking:
- Street
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
18 reviews for Big Fish
18 reviews in English
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Review from Alyssa G.
Toronto, ON
6/10/2011
Our craving for fresh oysters brought us to Big FIsh. We decided to go on a Wednesday night, for bring your own wine with free corkage, and my sister's fiance selected a perfect pairing for our meal.
To start off we ordered a half dozen of oysters. There were 6 different varieties from east and west coast, so we decided to get a a mix. Each one more delicious than the last.
Next, we got the open face fish tacos appetizer. The fish was fresh, the tortilla was fresh. And nothing was left on our plates.
The grilled tuna salad on soba noodles was up next. I love salad, but I don't usually like ordering salad out because it sometimes seems like a waste. The freshness and flavors in this salad made it anything but ordinary.
If that wasn't enough food, we still had the special of the day that came with fresh sword fish, asparagus and mashed potatoes.
Then as a fabulous way to end the meal we shared the orange creme caramel.
Big Fish is highly recommended as some of the best seafood in Calgary. -
Review from Katie M.
Calgary, AB
5/7/2012
Big Fish serves surprisingly good breakfast, and is one of the few places along Edmonton Trail that isn't lined up out the door on a weekend morning - yay!
As far as dinner goes, the oysters are GREAT (tried the east coast variety), though the rest leaves something to be desired. We tried the paella special on a Sunday, and while I was a LOT of food, is was mostly rice. The 'fixins' in the paella were paltry, and for the price there certainly could have been more to it. We also tried the frog legs, which I can now check off my culinary bucket list, but likely won't order again from here.
We'll likely go back - definitely for breakfast as well as oysters, but might stop there. -
Review from Mike M.
5/18/2011 ROTD 4/10/2012
The food here is delicious. The ambiance is comfortable and relaxed. I began my sojourn under the sea with an oyster that was quite small, Im sure that had I ever finished my degree in Oyster anthropology I would have known that the type I ordered was supposed to be small. He was jam packed with slimy goodness so his sacrifice was not in vain. I continued my purge of the sea with some frog legs, much like chicken wings but with a thigh and a calf muscle, followed closely by Manitoba Walleye on some mashed potatoes.
All in all, my protein levels, omega 3 fatty acids and blood mercury content went through the roof....so did my visa bill.
Big fish is highly recommended for service, food and ambiance....Warning that I paid 150 for 2 of us. -
Review from Angelo T.
3/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
We decided to try Big Fish on a Friday on a friend's insistance, fair request, considering he played the "B-day card" overriding any protests made against going somewhere else. Had I actually gone here before, I would have protested, instead I happily went along.
I decided to splurge and ordered the 30 dollar dozen oyster special. They had six different varieties that came from both the east and west coasts. It also came with three different sauces and the mandatory lemon wedges. The oysters were fresh and I didn't suffer any post-oyster "repercussions". I did try the sauces on the side and they were ok, the aoli was the most memorable out of the three, but refrained from eating them with the oysters. I had chilled Sho Chiku Bai sake to go along with the oysters, which I thought was sub-par.
I followed up the meal with the grilled red chilli yuzu scented tuna skewer on soba noodle salad with lime and miso dressing. I liked the soba noodle and dressing, but didn't find the "red chilli yuzu scented" part of the tuna. The tuna skewer wasn't that impressive, it deserved the "THATS IT!?" reaction our table gave
The service was ok. However, the server seemed to have trouble hearing me even though the decibel level of my voice was adequate enough for the 1st-date couple beside our table to scowl at my inappropriate remarks. One of my friend's didn't like her at all, it seemed a mix of what he thought was bad service and plain chemistry, which paved way for hilarious "sexual tension" jokes.
I believe that three stars is fair for this place. I wasn't impressed by big fish at all and would consider going to other great restaurants along Edmonton Trail. -
Review from Andrew D.
Calgary, AB
3/8/2011
Our quest for a quality seafood restaurant in Calgary brought us to Big Fish on Friday and I must say the best description for this place is "meh".
This place as an oyster bar is great since they were the best thing about it. The Leslie Hardy P.E.I. oysters were fresh and delish making me eager to sample the 5 other varieties. However the rest did not match its price tag.
The steamed mussels in wine sauce were nothing special except for the specially dead one at the bottom of the bowl. Which prompted a blank stare from our server when brought to her attention. I tend to be really generous when judging server performance but this lady takes the cake. She did nothing about our dead mussels and when asked to describe a particular main course she just said "It's delicious" with a snooty smile. I mean this could just be an isolated incident but experience is a big factor in the enjoyment of a restaurant.
Anyway moving on lol.
The main I had was the blackened sirloin steak w/ blue crab cake and roast pepper jelly. Again not worth it's price. The steak was a tad dry and you can find an equally tasty crab cake in you local frozen food aisle.
In terms of service, other than that passive aggressive banshy, the rest were pretty pleasant and helpful. And the setup is rather comfy but a gigantic mirror behind your table is pretty distracting especially for a vain person such as myself.
I know I may have come off as a food snob here, but when ones bill comes to $80, one earns the right to snob it up! lol.
For now the quest continues....but until then I recommend hitting up T&T market, grab yourself some live crabs, mussels and lobsters steam them up and you've got yourself a seafood feast that can not be matched for half the price. Well in Calgary at least.
HAPPY EATING! -
Review from Will v.
Calgary, AB
2/23/2011
I frequent this great little place with customers for lunch and have yet to be disapointed. The food is great, trout burger, soft shell, crab sandwich, and on, all with wonderful tasting sauces and sides. The oysters are great and yes they have my fav, Wild Rose Brown on tap. Service is always good and friendly. Customers often comment on waht a great choice. Have yet to check it out for dinner. In the summer a nice little patio to enjoy a cold WRB :)
Worth a visit, for some of the best seafood in Calgary. -
Review from Janna L.
8/28/2011
New to Calgary, for sure new to Big Fish. We live very close by to this eatery and some friends suggested that we go there this evening. Our friends are Calgarians and it was also their first time at Big Fish!
We all ordered drinks, had fantastic food and many laughs.
Service while sluggish at times, was good, the overall feel and dress, casual. No pretentiousness here. The restaurant was clean but HOT, no A/C and tonight, it needed it. The place was busy - reservations advised.
Our party of 4 ordered as mains;
Mussels
Arctic Char
Halibut
Pot Au Feu
Our party also devoured 3 desserts - ours was the only one we focused on, the key lime pie. Not bad, I have had better. Overall there were no real complaints about our meals and they were served in a timely enough fashion. My halibut was cooked very nicely - if I could make one comment it would be that my mashed potatoes could have been warmer. I would order it again in a heartbeat.The men had beer and us gals were able to choose from a wide variety of martinis.
We had a very enjoyable evening and was not hard at all on the wallets. $88 for 2 people (our bill) that included 2 drinks each, an entree and shared dessert.YUMMY!
We shall return! Thanks Big Fish!!!! -
Review from Stephanie C.
Calgary, AB
4/24/2011 1 Check-in Here
I love Big Fish, the first time I ever went was for lunch and I was drawn to the deep fried soft shell crab sandwich with Boar Bacon, over time I learned to ask for less sauce. But My O My. So delicious!
I've also had the seafood pot au feu, brunch and the only available at lunch fish and chips.
I went with a girlfriend of mine for the Monday night 2 for 1 Oyster night. Where we each got a dozen, since I'm still letting Oysters "grow on me" I was willing to try all the varieties they had in that day. Not gonna lie, there were some that just didn't work for me, too salty, briny etc but then there's just one that taste just right.
We shared the sablefish hot pot with ponzu reduction. The rice and parsnips were alright but nothing special. The sablefish is truly the star of the show, perfectly done and presented in a heated cast iron dish, the fish was excellent.
Then followed that up with two desserts. The key lime tart and a orange creme caramel. Fantastic end to a meal.
The best part about this place and what makes me go back is the quality of seafood and the laid back awesomeness that is Big Fish. -
Review from Sarah B.
7/19/2010
Big Fish for dinner - The menu says the owner likes cocktails, and I don't think the menu is lying. The list of cocktails is well-thought through and uses a lot of fresh ingredients. They have a great wine list as well.
The food is...mostly seafood! I bet you aren't surprised by this. A good selection of dishes, nothing too heavy and I'm always impressed by a restaurant that can do all kinds of seafood well when it is located very far from water.
Big Fish for brunch - This has been my go-to for weekend brunch for over two years now. A number of the brunch options include seafood, but you can get some other items as well (just in case you don't feel like smoked fish in the mornings...but trust me IT'S GOOD). The important things to note:
*It's more expensive than Denny's, but it is also that much more delicious.
*The coffee is strong. Exactly what you want for brunch, none of that brown water you get with a diner-brunch
*Some of the staff is really friendly, some are a bit eccentric. Roll with it.
*The owners own Urban Baker (and a list of other restos in town) so I hear the bread is good - they also have great potatoes (which I can eat) that are buttery delicious and pair perfectly with the Bajan hot sauce they have on hand.
* Big Fish does fantastic morning booze. If that doesn't sell you on the place, we probably won't see eye-to-eye on anything and you probably shouldn't read any more of my reviews.Listed in: Brunch in Calgary, yo!
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Review from Kenny M.
3/8/2011 1 Check-in Here
Oh how I hate it when a place fails to meet high expectations. Before we went here I was telling myself things like " finally, a real seafood place in calgary!" let's just say I have heard some really good things about big fish, but what I experienced was a 180 degree flip from what I was expecting!
Now before I proceed with a recount of my experience let me say: Calgary,because of it's location should not be expected to have good seafood restaurants. So take in this review with that mind.In our city one should never expect to recreate a seaside eating experience, because the best ingredient in any fish recipe is the freshness, the less you do with fresh fish the better!
So me and my good pal Andy ( birthday boy!) got to big fish right on time and were extremely exited to check this place out. They sat us down and right away made us dump our Starbucks coffee into proper cups ( I had a feeling because of this occurrence they labeled us and turned up their nose from this point). All was well.As we were waiting for a few more of our friends to arrive we wanted to order some oysters. We waited, waited some more and for like 15 mins and no offer for drinks or any appetizers so I flagged down one of the waiters and he went to get our waitress and we finally got to order our P.E.I oysters. The waitress was cold and uninspired and seemed pissed???? Huh?? did we do anything wrong??? basically gave me the impression she didn't give a crap. She brought the oysters with no explanation and we proceeded to eat them and they were great! However the 3 sauces they provided were absolutely useless. The minonette was way to salty, the aioli was blah so I didn't even bother trying the other one . This was the 3rd cue that something was out of phase at big fish, the waves were just not lined up.
So our other friends arrived and I was trying to stay positive and still exited to have some good seafood. We ordered some more apps, the mussels and the crab with shrimp cakes both fine. When we started to eat the mussels I noticed that their was a dead mussel in the bunch.Normally at any place that serves seafood the person who cooks the mussels is supposed to make sure that they all opened (indicating they were all alive prior to cooking) it can actually be very dangerous and pose a serious risk for food poisining it you eat an Unopened mussel because you don't know how long they have been dead for. So I told our waitress and she simply did not respond and gave me a sarcastic smile. Ok now cue 4 ,no simple "sorry" or small compensation??? At a seafood place that promotes itself as high quality and upper scale?? Huh???
So i let the mussel debacle go and we ordered the entree. I got the pork chop( steering clear of seafood at this point) with a wild rice and bean mix and some veg. I asked for medium, I got overcooked,cue 5 the beans and wild rice were terrible, it would have been fine if some of the beans were not undercooked, (cue 6 now!) the person cooking was either having a bad night or should not be cooking in a place with 30 dollar entrees, come on these are amateur mistakes!
So at this point I am just laughing it off! And I wanna be clear here, I REALLY wanted to like this place but due to the service and the food I simply could not. Ending the night with a 80 dollar tab was a hard pill to swallow thinking back to what I just experienced but oh well lesson learned!
Ohhh one other thing! To end on a positive note, the pecan Pie was actually quite good! And yes the mussels were great! ( thanks P.E.I!) just stay clear of the sauce bar, taste the pure flavour !
Either way! believe who you will and maybe give this place a chance, it is quite possible I am just a customer who had bad luck and got all the misses of the night! I just can't reccomend it in good conscience though, they lost themselves a customer for life. -
Review from dinah g.
Calgary, AB
3/1/2010 4 photos
When I woke up this morning I was in the mood for lobster, and sick and tired of Red Lobster I thought I should Yelp search engine it. I found many good reviews about Big Fish so I went and checked it out. It was an easy location to find and there is adequate free parking in the back of the restaurant. The exterior is kind of kitschy and once inside it reflected the exterior, but I kind of liked it.
The waiter was pleasant and sat me at a sunny table quickly with a menu of food choices and a bar menu which was presented on an old nautical board, nice touch! I ordered two orders of lobster tail at $13 each, I was prepared to pay around $25 dollars so I thought why not go for it. I had a choice between wild rice and mashed potatoes so I ordered the taters.
The meal came out in a heaping helping, although there were two tails on my plate I found the lobster tails to be quite small but I figured for Calgary this is probably the appropriate portion I would find for that price.
I dug in and it was quite delicious, the lobster was cooked very well, it was fresh and tender and had just the right amount of herbs and spices. The mash came with a nice helping of red peppers, zucchini, carrots and I could taste the hints of rosemary and thyme in the mix. There was also a very nicely dribbled basil olive oil as a decor detail.
Other than the small lobster tails it was a very nice filling lunch. The service was perfect and I came out with a bill slightly under $30. If you are a lobster or seafood fan this place is the spot to swim to. -
Review from Trish L.
Calgary, AB
12/31/2008
If you like raw oysters this is the place to go! I've been there twice recently. The first time I went for lunch. We started off with some raw oysters. They were very fresh and delicious! For entrees both my dining companion and I had the wild rose ale battered walleye. Everything about the dish was delish, including the housemade ketchup for the fries and the gourmet coleslaw. The housemade ketchup was very addictive and normally I'm not even a ketchup fan.
The second time I went on a Monday night for their "Oysters by the dozen - 2 for 1 special". The oysters were absolutely amazing, especially for Calgary standards. That was such great value too, $30 for 2 dozen oysters. They were perfect with a glass of sauvignon blanc. We then finished off by sharing their appetizer platter of smoked oysters, cured salmon pate, trout jerky, smoked trout and smoked mackerel. It's been such a long time since I've been "wowed" by a restaurant in Calgary.
The service was excellent on both occasions. The server was knowledgeable and helpful. I'm looking forward to my next visit there. -
Review from Katie C.
Calgary, AB
10/30/2009 1 photo
I love Big Fish for everything - the seafood, the slightly nautical/antique feeling you have walking in, the staff, even the ever present draft that makes me recommend bringing a sweater. I always feel like I've stepped onto a pirate ship. The owners of the place also own Diner Deluxe and Open Range, and they bring the same sort of spin to Big Fish.
Lunches here are delicious. I definitely recommend the soft shell crab club sandwich. It is so delicious and very unusual... It took a little getting used to biting into the shell. The fish and chips are fried to perfection, and some of the best you'll find on this side of the Rockies.
For the brunch, their eggs beni with crab is an excellent choice. We always get a bucket'o'oysters and shrimp, which is ever-tasty. All of the garnishes are housemade, so any ketchup, mayo or jam is fresh and flavorful.
I find Big Fish a tad pricey-yet-informal for a fancy dinner, but it is perfect for a casual night out. My favourite meal there is the surf and turf, the lobster tail and the alberta steak. In my experience, it has always been cooked to perfection.
Every time I've been the service has been quite good and the food delicious. It is definitely one of Calgary's better seafood restaurants, and the fact that they only buy from sustainable fisheries helps me rest a little bit more at night. -
Review from E Y.
Calgary, AB
2/11/2011
Great little seafood restaurant, which is very difficult to find in Calgary.
Parking is a little tight, may have to go around the block a few times if spaces ran out at the back of the restaurant, but its all worth it.
The restaurant is cozy, and the waitress are friendly.
Food is always great, we've been there 4 times, and every time was good. I had a Manitoba Walleye dish last time and was delicious.
Highly recommended, especially with the limited choice of seafood restaurant in Calgary. -
Review from Michael L.
3/26/2011
I grabbed a soft shell crab sandwich with BACON! Say it again! BACON! Soft shell crab is a weird experience...it's good, don't get my wrong, but then you take a bite and you suddenly taste crude ocean, then the next bite is again euphoric. Either way, great service, great food, and I give this a touch myself rating.
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Review from Chun M.
Kelowna, BC
11/25/2009
Fantastic fresh seafood, love the fresh PEI import oysters. Staff very help if you are a first timer on the raw oysters. You will not be disappointed with this spot. Reservations for dinner is definitely recommended. This restaurant is relatively small, but it works.
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Review from Spencer C.
Calgary, AB
3/27/2010
Best seafood I've had in Calgary. A misunderstanding with my order didn't change the fact that the dishes are simple, well executed, and delicious. First, the green curry muscles were a great take on a classic steamed muscle appetizer. The seafood strudel was out of this world and the seared char on potato o gratin was great comfort food.
I'd go back here in an instant, especially on free corkage night when one can direct their $$$ towards the great food and still enjoy a bottle of wine. -
Review from Chantelle M.
Calgary, AB
3/23/2011
great place to eat & latte's are great. Super Brunch spot
