Tugboat Fish and Chips

My lady and I came here for lunch the other day. She’s been there before, I haven’t. IT’S SO YUMMY. It’s a small place. It’s clean and for frying food all day it smells good in there. I’d go back for sure. Pretty good prices too.

Came here spontaneously and the food was great. Everything was so fresh and cooked fresh as well. The best part of it all was the service, they have excellent customer service and bring your food to you along with a ton of dipping sauces!!! :) we had the sampler which was really good!!! Def will be back again.

Service was great, they even have my toddler baby a free bottled water! Larger menu selection than I expected! Food was great and would recommend you try this place out of your in the mood for fish and chips!

Literally my favorite fish and chips place! We always get the 2 piece fish and chips with fried zucchini instead of french fries and it’s enough for two people! It’s soo good! Not too greasy and not too much batter! It’s just right!

A cute little restaurant in a huge shopping plaza in south San Jose. A nautical themed restaurant that serves up fish and chips and other seafood.
I ordered a regular fish and chips and thought that the fish was good. Nice and flaky with the perfect biting texture. The tartar sauce and ranch sauces they have are seriously the best! The tartar sauce had that sweet relish flavor that many places seem to miss, but I would go back just for that. The chips were ok — nothing spectacular.
I also got the prawns and chips. The prawns were on point! Very tasty and perfect. The only thing wrong with it (in my eyes) was that they didn’t seem big enough to be classified as prawn. They were quite small, although to be fair, they tasted amazing so what they lack in size they make up in deliciousness. They are butterflied and fried. Chips, again, very plain. A teensy burnt, some were soggy. Noooooo… The best part of f&c is the chips right?
It seems they only specialize in one thing, which is to fry everything. They don’t have anything not fried here so it makes me wonder why that is?
Prices are fair, and you will see that 1 piece of fish is really big. Not the healthiest but who eats fish and chips for health (me, sometimes, but you’d have to rack my brain on my justifications…). Pretty nice joint. Smallish. Friendly staff. Location isn’t ideal, but for those who live around here, something different.

Great food, Always friendly, but the reason why i’ve deducted a star is because the wait time is long. So if you go here you might wanna call your order in a little earlier.

Best fish and chips I’ve ever had plus the prawns were a great surprise! Not from the San Jose area and just in town for a visit, I can’t wait until my next trip — definitely making another stop. Located in a very small space, Tugboat makes up for it with great and speedy service. What a great hidden gem for the area and seafood lovers alike!

Seriously delicious fish and chips! The fish is fresh and not over-​battered. It’s fried fresh when you order because it’s steaming hot when you get it. Definitely a great little place.

The fish and zucchini were pretty good. I was not too impressed with the mushrooms or oysters.

First time here, had good customer service from the lady at the register very polite and friendly. It’s a pretty decent space seemed clean and the prawns were good didn’t care too much about the fish but over all the meal was okay. I enjoyed the French fries very hot and fresh!

Ordered the prawns and fish. Batter is crispy and not too thick. Fish was flaky and very tasty. Enjoyed the prawns, but could have used a small bowl for dipping in the cocktail sauce as I do t like it on my chips. Husband had the special, clam and fish. He enjoyed it. Price was super reasonable. His special was under $ 8. Go for the good fish, but don’t expect atmosphere.

Sooooo this place is known for fish and chips so that is what I got. Pretty go off as far as battered and deep frying goes. However let me tell you, the photos does not do it justice, the portion is hugeeeeeee and they are so generous. I got the 3 piece and chips, and they gave me 3 and a half piece of fish. The whole piece is almost like 10 inches long, hugeeee. I was full after 1.5 pieces. Wasn’t greasy. Next time I visit I would just skip the fries and get 2 piece of the fish or something. Fries weren’t memorable, just a filler, but don’t know why you need it with their portions.
The service is really friendly, not enough seating, but most do take outs it looks like. And fish and chips isn’t a long meal so people are done within 20 – 30 minutes and then leave. I came at 8 and they close at 8:30 and they were still very helpful and did not rush me at all. Fish came out in about 10 minutes. Would come again if my craving for fish and chips pops up again, but that’s pretty seldom. I think I satisfied it for a while.

Fish and chips places have three things they need to do right: fish, chips, and tartar sauce. The fish itself was alright, but being a very mild fish, it was completely overpowered by the greasy breading. The fries had an odd, stale taste to them, like they were frozen and cooked in some non-​standard oil. The tartar sauce was really thin and basically just tasted like plain mayo. They get two stars for being cheap, my husband and I shared a 4 piece platter for around $ 13. I’d rather pay more for better quality, so I won’t be returning.

A coworker of mine was craving fish and chips and recommended this place. I went here not really having any expectations since I’m not big on fish and chips to begin with. Since they specialize in fish and chips, I decided to go with the two piece Alaskan Pollock fish and chips meal. We sat inside and were given three bottles (malt vinegar, tartar sauce, and ketchup). The fish was pretty good but the fries left much to be desired. The tartar sauce was kinda mushy and didn’t have the typical tartar taste or consistency I’ve had at other restaurants.

Pretty tasty, and the fish portions were HUGE. Fries were ok. All manners of sauce were available. I probably will only come here once in a while because everything is fried, but if that’s what you want Tugboat is a good choice.

I paid 11 $ for a 3 piece fish and chips; I got 4 huge slices! Fries were alright, served fast; food was amazing! Definitely returning to try the clam chowder and prawns! Also they bring you cold ketchup and tatar sauce from the fridge; so it’s not all warm and flat.
Definitely recommend! Owner is very nice, I am coming back soon!

My Order To Go Experience:
If you want some local, fast, greasy fish n chip goodness this is the place for you!
I got the sampler and instead of oysters doubled up on prawns, also got the side of calamari and coleslaw just to try it out.
The fish was the best pick (crispy, juicy, moist) all the other options were extra greasy and too much fried bread. The chips aka fries are okay I just don’t like soggy fries and had to sift through them to get the crispy ones. Coleslaw was bland so I added some sugar and mayo to mine for a sweet taste and it complimented all the fried foods well. The tarter and cocktail sauces were good too.
The food was ready in about 10 minutes and was ready when I got there. I ordered the small coleslaw but guy helping me said they messed up and gave me large so he didn’t charge me (I would hope not).
I’ll go back when I crave fish n chips which isn’t too often probably a really good thing I don’t

Clean place.
Fish/​seafood is crisp, fresh, and delicious. Reminds me of London, only difference is in the UK they pride themselves on the chips just as great as the chips. Like other reviews stated the chips are decent, and the fish definitely makes up for it.
Add a little spice to the chips and the review will earn 5 starts (; I’ll definitely come back

Me and my kids just happened to be in the area at Sports Authority and we needed to eat lunch after so I thought we’d try out this place. It is SUPER hot and muggy in there so be prepared to be in a stuffy restaurant. But it could also be because it was a hot day the day we went. So maybe it would be different during colder weather. The prices there are pretty descent, not over priced I think in my opinion. I ordered fish and chips and they were pretty good. A little bland but the batter wasn’t too overly thick and bready. The kids had chicken fingers and fries and they enjoyed them. The portions are pretty good and the customer service was pretty good. I would definitely go back again. There’s not too much seating in there and it looked like it can be pretty busy.

Tugboat Fish & Chips (TFC) is a nice little Fish & Chips shop located in the Sunrise Plaza at the corner of Blossom Hill Rd & Cahalan Ave. The store itself is very small and can comfortably seat about 15 people. I’ve only eaten in once and the rest of the time I get it to-​go. This place serves up all the standard (and a few not-​so standard) items and do it all fairly well. My favorite thing about TFC is the fact that they make everything fresh to order and nothing is precooked; they don’t even batter the seafood until moments before sticking it in the fryer. Here is a rundown:
Fish– TFC uses wild-​caught Alaskan Pollock which is probably the best fish to use for this application and it’s a sustainable fish supply; in fact Alaskan Pollock is considered to be one of the best managed fisheries in the world by NOAA. The taste is pretty standard. I wish their batter had more flavor, but nothing a little vinegar and tartar sauce can’t fix. 3.5*
Chips (aka Fries) — Pretty standard fries; not great but not terrible. Again, freshness is the key ingredient here. 3*
Scallops– This might be my favorite thing they do here at TFC. They cook their Scallops to a juicy perfection and the crunch from the batter just adds to it. 5*
Prawns– They do a pretty-​good job cooking the Prawns. I don’t think it’s anything special but my wife digs it. 4*
Clam Chowder– Standard run-​of-​the-​mill Clam Chowder. The broth was a little too watery for me and the overall flavor is just OK. 2.5*
Lumpia– Pretty unique item to have at a Fish & Chip shop (especially considering the owners are Korean), but they actually do a really good job with them. I like them quite a bit and actually order them fairly regularly. I also dig the Sweet Chili (Mae Ploy?) sauce they give you with it. 4*
Crab Cakes– I was not impressed with these at all. The interior texture was all wrong and they had no crab flavor. They give you two with an order and I could barely finish one; not quite sure why I even bothered. 1*
Service & Ambiance– The store is decorated very nicely with lots of oceanic-​type pics and the staff is very friendly and works hard. My only qualm is with the size of the place, but they can’t help that. 4.5*
I like TFC a lot but I’d probably rate it at 3.5-stars because –quite frankly– I’m just not a big fish and chips guy, but my wife and son adore this place so I’ll give it the 4-​star bump. Plus, the owners are really nice and the food is always fresh so that deserves some bonus points as well.