Fish Tacos - Surf Shack

I was going to hit a place that I know very well for their delicious Fish Tacos - Z Grille in St. Pete.  I had a meeting to attend with Nicole at World of Beer in Westchase and I told her that I needed to hit St. Pete for that particular stop for some swimmy-creature research.  Her reply - "you have to hit Surf Shack if you love Fish Tacos."  The good news is that it is right around the corner from WOB so you can't argue with the geography.  Add to that, it was pouring rain so for the sake of safety, I figured I would take her word for it.

Big ups to Nicole.

This place was cool.  When I walked in, it was clear that the name was taken from front to back decor-wise and the vibe made me feel like I was sitting in Santa Monica instead of Tampa.  Even the music made me feel like I was on-set at The Mellow Show on Saturday Night Live (and that ain't a bad thing) http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi809501977/
By the way - The above video is the funniest thing in the history of television**

Long story short, the vibe convinced me that these Fish Tacos have to be good.

Surf Shack has two varieties of Fish Tacos.  I ordered the Longboard Fish Tacos - Beer battered Cod, Chipolte Sour Cream, Surf Slaw and Pico de Gallo in soft flour shell.  The other is the Pipeline Fish Tacos - Grilled Cod, Thin Sliced Cabbage, Pickled Red Onions, Cilantro and Chile-Tomatillo Salsa in two corn tortillas.  Both at a cost of 6.95, the price is certainly right.

My server brought me a Diet Coke, a great basket of chips and salsa, and I ordered a bowl of edamame.  The edamame was awesome with a massive amounts of seasoning that threw some southwestern spice and certainly complemented these little tasties.

On to the tacos.  As I stated earlier, I ordered the Longboard Fish Tacos, which have soft flour tortillas and Fried fish.  Now these are some refreshing tacos!  The surf slaw and the chipolte sour cream make for a light and clean mix of flavors and pair very well with the fried cod.   As in life, the secret to a great Fish Taco is balance.  This one has it.  Although I generally prefer grilled fish, the fried fish definitely is a better choice in this mix and it shows that you can't just take your favorite aspects of the dish and put them together.  As Herb Brooks said to Craig Patrick, "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right ones."  The right player in this hockey taca is the fried cod-a, bra-da.

As with the Fish Tacos at Dunedin Brewery, I'm finding that the icing on the cake is becoming ever-important to my Fish Taco Quest.  That icing is a great appetizer.  At Dunedin Brewery, it's the Cheese Curds, at Surf Shack, the edamame.  This is going to have to be a continuing theme in my quest for the best and I hope the rest can keep up.  Cheers!