Fisherman's Market & Grill

Since having sea bass on a cruise 2 years ago, my dad has been craving that buttery, melt-in-your-mouth fish. It's not commonly found in Vancouver so when I saw it on menus in California, I took the chance to bring my parents in hopes of finding good sea bass. Sorry to ruin the ending for you, but we didn't find what we were looking for.

Where to order or purchase seafood

Fresh seafood can be purchased on the left side and ordering cooked food is right beside. Hence market + grill. Reminiscent of the seafood markets in Hawaii where I also bought poke, yummm~
 
There are several Fisherman's Market & Grill locations in the Palm Springs area, one of which was across the bridge from where we were staying. Funny fact of the day: this bridge crosses a river. But I'm almost 100% sure that river has been dry for, like, ever. We came for a lunch on a very hot August day. There is outdoor seating which would be a wonderful place to enjoy some casual seafood, but the heat was just too much to bear. If the mist-sprays had been turned on earlier, it would've been okay to sit outside.

Fisherman's Market & Grill Menu

When we arrived, we didn't quite know what to do. It isn't table service, and it isn't counter service either. A waiter asked us if it was our first time at Fisherman's and we replied yes. He handed us a few paper menus and informed us that we placed our orders at the cashier, then he will find us a seat indoors. The paper menus he handed us were rather useless, as the whole regular menu is written on a massive blackboard and included the prices (with the paper version did not). 

I can't say the waiter was super courteous while treating us unfamiliar customers. The tone of his voice was a bit stern and frustrated. I get that we starred at the menu for a really long time, and began sitting at an open table supposedly meant for another group, but we're new and should be aware of that. 

We got into a bit of an ordering mishap as the cashier charged us for the wrong fish tacos. On Tuesdays, they have a $5 fish taco special (taco Tuesdays!). There is also a lunch special of the same dish that is $7.99, but happens everyday. And then there's the regular fish tacos written on the blackboard which costs $8.95. Keep in mind all of these are exactly the same dish. My mom didn't notice the mistake on the receipt until we were seated at a table. Thankfully our server fixed that for us and brought us back change. Lesson of this post: make sure the cashier punches in the right order before you pay!

While we were waiting for our food, I went to fill up our water cups with cold water from the soda machine and also added some lemon or lime from the condiments section. There is a variety of salad dresses, sauces (like tartar sauce), and salsa available to go with the food. 

Sea Bass Sandwich ($12.95)

Our orders swiftly arrived and we anticipated the sea bass burger the most. It was a disappointment and resembled nothing like the buttery Chilean sea bass we had long ago. This is because it isn't the same species of sea bass. I mean for under $15, we shouldn't have expected it to be Chilean. The Barramundi sea bass is the more common type found during my visit in California, and is probably what this was. The fish was cooked all the way through and the texture was flaky like a 'normal' white fish. It wasn't exciting at all and the burger was crumbly and fell apart easily. I would not recommend the sea bass burger sandwich. The coleslaw and rice pilaf sides were rather good though.

3 for $5 Fish Tacos

Here we have the Tuesday tacos! (Or just the Baja fish tacos in other words) On the poster advertising taco Tuesday next to the cashier, I noticed some famous food network stars came and voted this as the 'best fish tacos'. Now, I've never had a fish taco before, but I can definitely conclude that these were amaze-balls. Every element of this dish was fanta-bulous. Absolutely enlightening. To begin, the fish was fried to perfection, and I usually don't fancy fried foods at all. It was crispy yet not greasy and the fish was meaty and moist. Next, the corn tortillas were charred and thoroughly heated up on the grill, making it bendy and more flavourful. I have no idea how the tortillas didn't start breaking halfway through, but it was wonderful. The slaw looked plain, but was very lightly dressed, adding the necessary flavour but not over powering the fish and corn tortilla. A little squeeze of lime (okay, I put a lot...) and maybe a spoonful of salsa from the condiment bar made this dish the ultimate meal deal. Did I mention that these three tacos were each huge?! These tacos are must. get. Tuesday or not. I'm estimating that 25% of the customers at the restaurant were munching on these tacos. (My family ordered two) The table next to us, the table behind us, everyone was aware of the amazing taco deal on Tuesdays. I loved this so much, I am inspired to re-create it at home. So far, no luck, but I'll continue to dream about these fish tacos~

Ahi Tuna Sandwich ($12.95)

The dish I chose to order was the Ahi tuna sandwich. I had some pretty darn amazing Ahi in Hawaii and wanted to make a comparison. This wasn't bad; the fish was grilled to a perfect rare. The flavours in the sandwich were not overwhelming, but it was a good balance of fresh vegetables, creamy sauce, and bounce-y fish. I chose coleslaw and potato wedges as my sides. The potato wedges are reaaaally good too! Crispy on the outside and well seasoned; had to prevent myself from gobbling them all up. It was a good sandwich (I swear it looks like a burger!), but it's nothing I'd purposely go back for.

There aren't too many restaurant choices in Palm Dessert/La Quinta, so Fisherman's Market & Grill is a great place to go for lunch. Take a look at the $7.99 lunch specials on their website; there are some great deals there too like clam chowder and salad. If you're near a Fisherman's location on a Tuesday, pop in for some super delicious fish tacos that are easy on the bank account and an indulgence for the taste buds. Life changing. 

Reviews on Yelp

Palm Springs on Dwellable

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Shield's Date Gardens

A date garden, why can't I have one in my backyard? I would spend all summer snacking on sticky, toffee-like, caramel-y dates all day and everyday. -drools- No joke, residents of Palm Springs/Palm Desert/La Quinta/Indo etc have date trees in their yards and date trees lining the streets and parks. Not. Fair.

Shield's Date Gardens, really, don't miss it!

Right after I took this photo, I immediately ran to the air-conditioned car. That is a forced smile you see, partially at least. The only genuine-ity coming from the fact I bought a bunch of dates.

Just around the corner from our hotel in La Quinta, California, lies the largest date retail store in Palm Springs. -insert angelic voices here- Also the more popular date garden compared to Oasis Date Gardens. Aka the highlight of my side trip number two. This massive sign with a medieval soldier pointing to the store can be seen from a mile away, I think.

If Peanut Crumpet got to go to taunt me with Coconut Glen's then I get payback with the date capital of the world. Mwahahaha!

Size Comparison

What I love about Shield's Date Garden is being able to sample every single possibly variety of date, maybe twice, before deciding on which boxes to purchase and haul home (by hand carry!) 12+ kinds of dates can kind of be overwhelming for a date newbie like me. Nomnomnomnom, Coconut Crumpet just chows down enough dates to keep a sugar rush going for the next three days. Sugar makes you fat? Not of my concern at the moment. -keeps eating more dates-

Khadrawi Dates from Shield's Date Gardens

Oasis Date Gardens

My only goal in Palm Springs was to visit a date garden. Or maybe two.

With only one full day to spend in the Palm Springs-ish area, we wanted to make the most out of it. I knew I wanted to visit Shield's Date Garden, which was pretty much around the corner from our awesome hotel (Homewood Suites in La Quinta!), but my dad found a brochure for Oasis Date Gardens a little further away in Thermal. So we went there first.

Date Shake

I've heard rave reviews about the date shakes at both Oasis Date Gardens and Shields Date Gardens. The name 'date shake' made me think it was a date-flavoured milk shake. But it's not. Soft serve ice cream blended with date crystals. We got this half-cup size for free because we had a coupon for a free date shake with a purchase of like $10. Contrary to all the rave reviews, I didn't find this date shake anything close to amazing. It was good ice cream, but it didn't deliver with the date flavour. Vanilla soft soft ice cream is what I tasted. The full-size version of this is really large, an stuffed cup full of date shake for around $4. However this sample size was more than enough for the four of us because it wasn't that exciting. After trying Oasis' date shake, I was no longer interested in Shield's version as I believe it's the same thing.

Medjool Dates from Oasis Date Gardens

The store portion of Oasis Date Gardens is pretty small. And there were no other customers when we arrived at 10am, which made it rather awkward to browse around. The shelves were a bit empty and the gift sets looked like they had been sitting there for a while. (I'm just guessing by the slightly drier-looking appearance of the medjool dates) We tried a few samples, and bought a pound of medjool dates from the bulk area. We just wanted to buy something, try a date shake, and get out of there. 

I actually didn't have much expectation for these medjools, because who knows how long they've been there? However, I am extremely impressed with these. Perhaps their bulk and wholesale boxes sell a lot quicker than the gift boxes. These medjools are meaty, moist, and super caramel-y. I would describe them as nature's caramels. In fact, these are better than caramels! I crave them every single day.

So, would is it worth going to Oasis Date Gardens? Hmm... Since Shield's is closer and they have medjools just as juicy and caramelly, I'd say it isn't necessary to drive the extra distance. 

And a tip for those that often use a GPS to navigate around, Grapefruit Blvd is actually Highway 111. Our GPS didn't have Grapefruit Blvd as a choice so we looked at a physical map and saw Highway 111 ends and then turns into Grapefruit Blvd. Why don't we get cool street names like that in Vancouver? I wanna live on Blackberry Street or Blueberry Lane...

Oasis Date Garden
59-111 Grapefruit Blvd, Thermal CA 

Reviews on Yelp

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡