James A.
Yelp
A Seattle (Puget Sound) institution, this instance of Ivar's Seafood Bar in Bellevue is a good place to get inexpensive fried seafood in a fast casual environment.
Ivar's is famous in the Seattle area, serving up their famous clam chowder and fish'n'chips from a variety of locations. It was founded at Pier 54 Seattle (now a popular tourist attraction) in 1946 as Ivar's Acres of Clams and there continues to be two additional full service restaurants. Where most people know Ivar's is through their clam chowder (sold and/or served in many, many places throughout Puget Sound area including the Delta SkyClub lounge at SeaTac which I frequently frequent) and their Seafood Bar, whose 18 locations serve up various seafood items, sourced from both East and West Coasts.
I visited Ivar's during our first reconnaissance visit to Seattle 3 winters ago (and remember really liking it), so wanted to try their seafood again on this current visit in '24. So on a chilly night near the last days of '24, took a walk for carry-out. It's a fast food set-up, with one line: you look up to figure out what you like, place your order and pay. You can then wait around the register (if carry-out) or be seated if dining-in (where the food will be delivered to you once ready). Got the famous fish'n'chips (5 pieces $15.99) and oysters 'n chips ($12.79).
The food was served in disposable paper food trays, one upside down to keep everything together, and both dishes fit in a small paper bag. Both were still hot when we got home.
One really important thing about Ivar's is that they still use cod in their fish'n'chips, which is the perfect fish for English style. These were served 'finger' style, and were mostly fish with a very thin layer of bedding. All prereqs for a very good dish as I remembered....unfortunately this batch of cod wasn't great...the fish was extremely dense, to the point of it being dry. Maybe it wasn't the loin, but a different part of the fish? It was saved a bit with the tartar sauce, but once I finished, the best description I could think of was that it was food services grade...something you would expect at any cafeteria or outlet that sources their fish from an efficient food distributor. It came with batter dipped shoestring fries, which are my least favorite...you taste so much of the batter instead of the potato. But it did come with a good cocktail sauce: eating fries dipped in cocktail sauce reminds me of my younger days when Long John Silver was what I considered to be a good seafood restaurant. I did enjoy my fried oysters, much of it retaining the real brininess of the sea that I really like. But oysters tend to really soak up the frying oil (as it doesn't keep its shape well and the batter/breading will slide off)...hard to eat enough to satisfy a meal without being overloaded with grease.
Yes, I think the food would have been a bit better if I ate it on-site, but not enough to make it equal to what I had before. I just don't think the sourced quality is as good, and with something as simple as fish'n'chips, you can't really fix that with a better cooking method. But the prices here are good for seafood, the fried oysters are worth eating if you like them, and the clam chowder (though not eaten on this visit) is consistent and filling (and delicious).