FISH - West Village - 6 Blue Point Oyster Special & Seafood Gumbo

FISH has been one of my favorite NYC restaurants for about a year now.  I wandered in randomly last May and had one of the best blackened catfish poboys of my life.  I grew up in a small town in Florida  on the Gulf, so seafood is one of my favorite food categories.  I'm not talking fancy-schmancy seafood. FISH has GREAT, old-fashioned, seafood shanty cooking.  One step into this restaurant and you no longer feel like you are in NYC.

While the whole menu is great, what gets a lot of people in here is their deal on oysters.  They offer an amazing deal, 6 Blue Point Oysters plus a glass of wine or a PBR for eight dollars.  With that price you will see many people walk in here and get several rounds.  Considering beer & wine is rarely seen for less than six dollars, everyone walks away happy.  The dish comes very simply presented with some lemon, aioli, and a tartar sauce.  However, MY favorite way to eat an oyster, is with a little dab of Tabasco.  (Yes, two blogs in a row where I proved my manliness by eating spicy food)  The point is, Oysters + drinks = cheap good meal (and a good time).  Nothing more to say about that deal.

I, however, cannot survive on oysters alone.  I decided to get a bowl of seafood gumbo (not pictured) because I can rarely pass up a good bowl of gumbo.

Let's take a second to talk about my standards for a good gumbo:

1. It needs a suitable amount of fish, shrimp, mussels and whatever other seafood that is included. Come on, it's SEAFOOD gumbo.
2. Okra, onion, celery, and bell peppers are a necessity. Anything else can be deemed overkill.
3. It's gotta have a little kick to it.  (Thrice now)
4. GIVE ME RICE

FISH's gumbo has almost everything I could ask for, and it tastes fantastic.  However, it's missing that key fourth need, rice.  While rice brings nothing to the table flavor-wise, it does bring the most important thing to me, texture.  Without rice, seafood gumbo, to me, is just a heavy soup or a light stew.  FISH also happens to be the only restaurant in the city that doesn't carry white rice, so I couldn't even get it on the side.

Anyways, rice-less qualities aside, FISH is a great spot.  If you're in the West Village on Bleecker, and you are looking for a seafood fix, this is your place.

UPDATE: I found a picture on my phone of the amazing catfish po-boy!