Underrated Neighbourhood Gem: This Fishmonger I Go To Twice a Week For Lunch

You know when you move to a new neighbourhood and even decades-old institutions feel brand new? Like you personally discovered them? Like you’re Captain Vancouver, rolling up onto Coast Salish territory and going “Hey, the Queen, lookie what I found!” and all the First Nations people who already were living here and had created a beautiful and sustainable life here for centuries were like… “Uhhhh, hello?”

Okay, this metaphor is off to a bad start. But what I’m trying to say is: I acknowledge what I am about to say is not news to the good people of Kitsilano. I am not an “explorer.” They may even be mad at me that I’m telling you about this! But I feel like it is my public duty to tell you I am obsessed with our local fishmonger, F.I.S.H. (An acronym for “Fresh Ideas Start Here,” which is an incredibly awkward jumble of words to put in one’s mouth, even if one’s mouth is not full of the shop’s excellent Thai coconut cod chowder.) 

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Is this possibly the vaguest and most un-Google-able name one could name their business? Yes. But more importantly, they have underpriced their poke bowls by like $5 and I can’t see how this is sustainable long-term, so it is really important to me that you please come patronize the establishment so they don’t close from poor business practices.

That being said: F.I.S.H has been around in the ‘hood since 2008 and seems to be doing pretty well without my help. It provides a gaggle of local restaurants with traceable, Oceanwise seafood and seems to sell out of its delightful housemade onagri (think cooked wild tuna and sweet smoked wild salmon) on the daily. The miso-sake black cod has become our go-to for dinner parties, and I’m sure wiser locals are doing the same, given the turnover of the display case.

But back to the poke bowl. A surprisingly robust “snack size” is $8 and it is the tastiest little bowl of fish I have ever had the pleasure of inhaling between Zoom meetings. Customize it with the seafood and toppings that your little pescetarian heart desires, and tuck into the best value, most nutritious lunch in this city. I’m there once a week. At least. I can’t afford not to be.

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You know what? Maybe instead of feeling stupid for pointing out this 13-year-old Kits gem, I should feel mad at all of my new neighbours for not steering me there the day I moved in. How dare you try to keep this to yourself, Tall Greeter Woman at Parthenon? Did I do something to offend you, Man Who Screams at the Garbage Can in Front of the Tim Hortons?  

If you need me, I’ll be drowning my sorrows in a heady combo of pickled onions, seaweed salad and wild salmon. Hopefully the omega-3s will make me smart enough to suss out what else my Kits compadres are hiding from me.

Fresh Ideas Start Here
2959 W Broadway
eatfish.ca