Seaward Fish 'n Chips is a tiny restaurant with lots of tables packed into a little space, an open kitchen, an outdoor area with "bar" seating and a couple of sidewalk tables. The walls are plastered with signed dollar bills from countless customers. A world map on the wall shows pinpoints of traveler's home towns. There are both menus and a chalkboard displaying the specials--the two don't necessarily match each other exactly, so keep an eye on both.
Our party of six (with a baby) arrived around noon for lunch. The restaurant was relatively empty at that time (but it was February after all) and as we sat more people arrived.
The menu covers all areas of fried foods from fish and chips to onion rings to fried zucchini. Fish seems to be their main fare but they also have hot dogs and hamburgers and even chicken fingers for those who see fish as foe rather than friend.
I ordered one of the specials which came with two large pieces of fried fish, chips (french fries), four pieces of fried shrimp and fried clams and a couple of onion rings. They had a variety of dipping sauces in squeeze bottles that they brought to your table with paper boats. All the fried food was served in baskets with paper liners.
I am usually not a fan of fried fish because the fish inside is always dry and tasteless. The fish inside this fried crust was very moist and almost watery, the flavor still wasn't there--but it never is for me. The dipping sauces really added something. The shrimp were huge and only lightly fried. The fries were normal--a little too soft for my liking. The whole reason I ordered this special though, was for the fried clams. Had I noticed on the chalkboard that you could get a meal entirely of clams and chips, I would have done it.
The fried clams tasted just like the ones they used to have at Bill Knapps, a family restaurant we went to when I was a kid. They were crispy fried and delicious. I think fried clams are the perfect seafood to give a child because you really can't tell they are fish at all, they just taste like fried bits. My parents obviously had the same opinions and weened me onto fish when I gave up fish sticks with the fried clams.
Two of the people I was with got something other than fried fish--one got the grilled seafood salad and the other got the clam chowder. The salad was chock full of seafood and overfilled with artichokes (likely the entire can). It looked pretty normal except for the large helping of fish. The clam chowder was rumored to have more potato than clam. I stay stick with the fried food and eat your healthy meal elsewhere.
The staff at the restaurant was really friendly and a lot of the people that came in while we were eating seemed to be regulars. The restaurant serves beer which probably compliments the crispy beer batter on all their fried foods.
There are a lot of restaurants on the little Ventura strip known as Seaward Village, but if you have a hankering for Fish 'n Chips, Seaward's is the place to stop.
Seaward Fish 'n Chips
1125 S Seaward Ave
Ventura, CA 93001
Map
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