Fresh Off The Hook

We liked this little restaurant enough that we arranged to stop over in Boise a second time to go again. We travel with our collie, so we asked if we could sit outside even though it was a warm evening. The staff were very accommodating and even brought her a bowl of water.
The calimari was perfectly fine both times we ate there, tender, and the coating was dry and stayed attached to the meat. My companion had salmon and found it also perfectly prepared.

By far the best hole-​in-​the-​wall for fresh seafood, by far.
I would suggest you visit this local gem.
Their salmon is so flavorful. Very high quality
It is small so not a lot of elbow room, but the food tasting so well one would be able to overlook that.
Draft beer. Good, not great local selection.

Jennifer was absolutely wonderful. Made our visit. Super attentive and very friendly. We will come back only because of her (she wasn’t even our original waitress, but when she saw our waitress wasn’t even attentive at all, she came to our rescue)

Cute little place. The service was good, food was fresh and tasty. They had lots of seafood choices. I had the shrimp tacos. I would come back and eat here again when I’m in Boise.

«Best Seafood» in Boise always implies a question mark for me, unless they’re referring to something pulled out of one of the local rivers and lakes. There may be some, but the majority of the menu is not and it’s a bit doubtful they meant that by having «sea» as in seafood on the various placards and signs on the wall. Inside is very charming, but very clearly nautically themed, which killed most of the idea I had of fresh fish.
This visit was one of those rare nights I opted for a salad; more on that shortly. Firstly, they were missing a major component of appetizers, namely calamari. I went for the fried green beans, which were pretty pedestrian and something I would describe more as «there». This also applies to the complimentary iced-​over sherbet at the end, though it was a nice touch to offer it nonetheless.
As to that salad, it was a warm seafood salad with scallops, bay (tiny) shrimp and some of the smallest «tiger» prawns I’ve seen. To the good, I couldn’t find any iceberg in it and the accompanying sourdough was done in a clever way, with a wrapped butter pat stuffed into one of the hot slices, which pre-​melted it. It also came pre-​dressed and while the flavor wasn’t offensive, it was a bit on the mild side, which ultimately resulted in it being unbalanced and tiring. What it needed was crab chunks and something salty, like a good prosciutto or maybe a pepper bacon. They have a bacon-​wrapped crab-​stuffed jalapeño appetizer that seems like it could be functional for both there by being sliced into it. I also would have liked the scallops a bit more seared, but they were cooked petty well overall. I also would have really liked some chopped hard-​boiled egg chunks in there as well.
Service was pretty decent, though seating was kind of odd. Overall, for all the hype of this place, the actual experience was a bit underwhelming and perhaps it’s my own fault, anticipating to be dazzled, but it seemed overly pedestrian, making me suspect it may have won all those prestigious titles due more to a lack of competition rather than actual performance, but I’m reserving that judgment for subsequent visits. It was strong enough overall for a repeat visit…

Uuugh. We won’t be going back. The French fries, green bean fries and clams were good. All of the fried fish was soggy.

Good food and very relaxing atmosphere… my shrimps pasta was enjoyable and fresh. Will be back when I visit Boise again.

This place place has amazing food. I’ve never had one bad thing here. The cod fish and chips are so fresh and delicious. The calamari strips are to die for. They aren’t chewy and seasoned just right. Their crab cakes are fantastic.
The staff is always nice and pleasent.
I always get their free sherbert! Can’t go wrong when eatting here

This was our third time eating at Milwaukee St.‘s Fresh Off the Hook. I guess that old saying about «the third time’s the charm» is valid. In this case, after two GREAT meals (our two previous meals there), we bottomed out with a terrible meal on 5−3−16. Spousal unit’s clam chowder was watery (milky) and not flavorful, unlike his previous bowls of such (at those two previous meals there). My crab cakes were simply awful: salty, had way too much soy-​based sauce drizzled over them (probably contributed to the over-​salted taste), runny (appeared to be lots of cheese), contained just a whisper of crab, AND slightly cold in the center but burnt on the outside. The coconut shrimps were OK but the dipping sauce was too mustardy (I don’t remember a mustard-​based dipping sauce for coconut shrimp on previous visits there). The regular french fries were the only CONSISTENT and DELICIOUS food – the best fries in Boise! Either Fresh Off the Hook’s menu has changed or the cook last evening was a novice who put out second-​rate food… we were not impressed nor did we enjoy our less-​than-​delicious meals. I doubt that we’ll return to this establishment again, unfortunately!

Lunch was great. Halibut nuggets were awesome… tarter was among the best I’ve had. Cod tacos were excellent as well.

Always great! We try to eat here when traveling! Halibut: YUM! Tacos: YUM! Appetizers: YUM!
Would’ve given 5 stars, but place has such crowded seating.

Incredible clam chowder bread bowl. They also baked the removed bread (from the bread bowl) with cheese. Perfect. Appetizers were a Good choice as well.

Looking for a restaurant and happened to walk by. Tried this place despite the live entertainment next door. Probably should have tried the restaurant next door instead.
The waiter was friendly with a good sense of humour — maybe the owner? Anyway, we all ordered clam chowder. Later, the waiter came by saying the soup was being cooked, so there there would be a delay. That was correct — when we finally got the soup, it was undercooked. The vegetables were on the raw side and the broth thin and watery. We had to ask for oyster crackers. The noodles (alfredo) were sparse and the sauce not creamy. We were told the seafood was fresh with restaurant made batter, but it tasted no better than premade frozen seafood, the the portions were small. A fast food fish and chips store would have tasted the same and been cheaper with a better variety of sauce. Go somewhere else instead.
The restrooms are shared too, requiring going outside the restaurant to access.

Excellent fish! Great service and prices. Nice and quiet hideaway from a busy day shopping near the Boise Town Square Mall.
The Tacos, Fish N Chips and Chowder were all delicious!

Who doesn’t love greasy fish and chips ?! I really wanted to love this place. Three stars is all I can give. The food was decent. Annie was great!

Very tasty and FRESH! Hard to find fresh today. Romantic setting and attentive staff. Will be back for sure

My husband finds the fish and chips the best in town. I love the fish tacos! We have tried half the items on the menu and never had anything but great food.

Fish and chips are fabulous! Batter wasn’t too much, the grease fried in was not the icky greasy kind. Very refreshing! Excellent fish tacos — light and flavorful.
Customer service was great and free sherbet yummm

I have been here a few times with various friends and family. Overall, it’s not too bad. The food is decent, the service is alright, and the prices are okay.
Honestly, my absolute favourite item here would have to be the crab muffin sandwich. There’s something about a hot seafood sandwich that’s satisfying.
Overall, Fresh off the hook is not a destination I frequent, but… If I’m in the area and seafood sounds good, I’ll pop in for a meal.

I want to love this place so bad… «Best of Boise» for almost a decade straight?! How could it not be worthy of 5 stars??? Well… Consider the competition I guess.
It’s crowded with tables allowing just one person (small or «sucked in big») between them. Two service people serving roughly 50 people, and no bussers means they are clearing tables too. Add to that there are no trays/​carts means two trips per clearing. This means very slow service. They are nice, they do their best, clearly… Just bad management of the staff and the tools to do their job effectively.
We only had water, but I’m looking around at people being served soda IN A CAN. It has been 25 minutes since we ordered. Finally the food started coming.
The food is average really. We started with Clam Chowder and liked it but it’s nothing compared to coastal chowder like «Moe’s» in Depot Bay, OR… Not sure that’s fair, but it’s true. I’ve had chowder this good made at home at my sisters place. But it’s good. Not super creamy… Cream with water resulting in a grainy texture look and a bland-​ish taste.
10 more minutes waiting.
The shrimp cocktail was quite disappointing. 5 «30−35 shrimp» as I call them (you can get 30 – 35, frozen per pound — not big at all) in a glass on limp wilted lettuce served with decent cocktail sauce… Think Heinz cocktail with a bit of pace picante… Seriously, I think that might be what it was.
20+ minutes. Seriously. This is ridiculous. Not that it matters, but I’ll talk about the entrees anyway, just to complete the review, and I will be fair… Wait! It gets better!
Our server just informed me… Almost an HOUR AFTER I ORDERED that they ARE ALL OUT OF WHAT I ORDERED!!! The Halibut and chips my wife ordered were good. The Halibut was thin, but very tasty. The sauce to dip the halibut was a nice compliment to a perfect batter. Fries were great, perfectly fried. We shared it, cause I am soooo very hungry.
Off to Carl’s Jr where I will get decent food incredibly fast at a fair price.
Damn it, I wanted to love this place. Never to return.