Phil's Fish Market & Eatery // Moss Landing, CA

This past weekend was so much fun! Jarad's brother, Cody and his girlfriend, Megan came to visit us for a couple days. Trying to give them the best Monterey experience possible - we avoided most tourist attractions. We went to From Scratch in Carmel for breakfast. I wrote all about that place of deliciousness here.

After spending the day shopping and walking around, we met up with our roommates Beth and Evan and decided to go to Phil's for lunch. This place has been featured on the Food Network multiple times and has become quite popular over the years. There was a FAT line to get in, but the wait is soooo worth it.

friends to keep you company in line (lol)

Phil's is different than a regular sit down restaurant. You wait in a line, order at the counter, and then scour to find a table. There is just rows and rows of tables. They give you a number when you order and you place it on your table. Then a server will hunt you down and bring you your food. There was a lot of food on the floor, which creeped me out at first. Buuut it's obvious how busy everyone is and tables are never left empty for long. With 6 of us eating, we had a ton of food. All different kinds too!

crab cakes 

clam chowder

fried artichokes

For our appetizers, we had crab cakes. SO GOOD. They were pretty much crab patties - nothing but crab. (Does anyone else think Krabby Patties should've been made of crab?) Beth and Evan ordered the fried artichoke hearts. Delicious and locally grown of course. Jarad and I shared a bowl of clam chowder. Yum!! Perfect flavor. No grittiness. No flour taste. Perf!


Jarad ordered the fried oysters and fried calamari. He really liked it! (But I forgot to take a picture)

calamari and halibut

Cody ordered the fried calamari and fried halibut.

Evan ordered the blackened mahi mahi. A fish so nice, they named it twice! He decided the baked potato was weird, but liked everything else!

Beth ordered the calamari steak and said "It was pleasantly breaded and grilled to crispy satisfaction!"

this picture will not rotate!!! (lobster roll)

I ordered the Lobster Roll. It was fresh lobster, sauteed in butter on a bun - served with fries and coleslaw. So much better than I ever imagined. I thought all lobster rolls had mayo. This was just lobster. The fries were crispy and I ate every single one. Delish!

our table!

The prices are on the higher side - due to novelty, and the whole super fresh fish thing, I'm sure.

Overall, I would definitely eat there again. Especially since it's so close to our house. I went once when we rented a beach house for a week when I was younger. The strawberry shortcake was to die for. I didn't order it this time though. We were getting ice cream later that day.

Oh! I almost forgot. The back of the restaurant rests on the beach. After we ate, we took maybe 20 steps and got to enjoy the ocean.