The Atlanta Fish Market

For my birthday, my wife treated me to dinner at the Atlanta Fish Market. Part of the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group, the Fish Market has some of the freshest fish I've ever had, including my honeymoon in Boston and a vacation in Wilmington, NC last year.

We started with the Smoked Salmon Quesadilla, four small wedges of fresh tortilla stuffed with salmon and smoked cheddar, drizzled with some sort of sour cream-based sauce. A fresh tomato salsa was served on the side. Yummy, though the smoke was a bit overpowering.

My bride had the potato-crusted cod, a generous fillet, perhaps a bit overdone -- the crust was almost too hot and crispy -- served with mashed potatoes and some sort of roasted red pepper compote.

I chose the combination plate -- Chilean sea bass and Atlantic salmon -- steamed Hong Kong style. This preparation is served on a bed of stir-fried spinach and ginger, with a sherry and soy sauce. The salmon loved the sauce, though the bass didn't soak it up much, and maybe this is just bass, but it didn't have much flavor on its own either. They brought chopsticks and a small bowl of glutinous rice as a standard accompaniment.

I've found as I get older that I like fish more and more. When I was a kid, I hated it; now I love fresh fish, especially sushi. Fish bones still give me the willies, though.

Recommended.