RELOCATED- Fish Skillet- Now Dat is Something Ya Don't See Everyday

Restaurant- Fish Skillet
Original Address: 19221 West Little York Road, Katy, Texas 77449
Buffet or A-la-Carte: A-la-Carte
Date of Visit: 7/9/2013

=======================================================================

UPDATE 8/10/15: They're now open on W Houston Center Boulevard and Richmond Avenue! Everything is halal. I got the chicken, beef sausage and shrimp gumbo, garlic bread, blackened chicken, jambalaya rice, a sauce, and hush puppies. The garlic bread, gumbo, and jambalaya rice were really good. The sauce and the chicken tasted great together, considering the fact that the chicken barely had flavor. The hush pupped were overcooked.
The service was excellent. The people were very nice and helpful. They always had a smile on their faces.

Top left: garlic bread. Top right: gumbo. Bottom: hush puppies, blackened chicken, sauce, jambalaya rice with no meat, garlic bread.

New Grading:
Service: 9/10
Food: 7.5/10
Total: 16.5/20 = 82.5% (B)

New Restaurant Information:

Fish Skillet
12289 W Houston Center Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77082
Phone: (281) 741-7165
Website: http://www.fishskillethouston.com/
Timings --> Mon-Sat: 10:30 AM - 9 PM; Sun: 11 AM - 8 PM
Delivery available

========================================================================


UPDATE 4/4/2014: This place has closed down. Sad to see it go. Gonna be a long wait to find a place that serves some halal jambalaya and gumbo 


========================================================================

**ORIGINAL POST**

WARNING: THIS POST MAY CAUSE A FEELING OF HUNGER WHILE FASTING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Background:

Salam/Hello guys! Ramadan Kareem to all who follow it! Today's review is something that is unique. Yes today's review is Fish Skillet. What makes this unique you ask? The answer: Cajun food! For those who don't know what it is, Cajun food is the food from the Francophone (French speaking) region of Acadiana in Louisiana. Because of its proximity to Houston, Cajun food is very popular and can be found in many restaurants. There are even frozen Cajun meals that are available for purchase at the grocery stores. The big problem with Cajun food is that pork is very popular with Cajun cuisine. For example, dirty rice has pork pieces, and so does jambalaya and gumbo in other restaurants. Not in this place though! This restaurant has been open for only a month now, so I am assuming this is the first full review for this restaurant.
I had my summer school physics final in a few hours at the local community college and decided to fill up before I took it. I wasn't craving for the usual chicken from KFC or a gyro from Fatoush. I was in the mood of something that was different from the norm. Then I discovered this place, which was only 15 minutes from the community college. After packing up and reading the last of my notes, I went to the restaurant.

Let The Experience Begin:

Fish Skillet is located at the intersection of West Little York and Greenhouse Road. It is located in one of the many strip malls that are present in Houston. The ambiance was like a typical diner. You have tables with chairs and there is a TV. The TV was showing CNN's nonstop coverage of the Trayvon Martin trial. The owner was at the cashier and welcomed me to the restaurant. To be sure, I asked whether the restaurant was halal, and it was. Then came one of my friends from UH. It turned out that his uncle owns the place. Quite interesting. The menu was located on the wall, so I decided to order from there.

Let's Eat!

There were so many options on the menu that it took me a couple of minutes to actually decide what to take. I ended up taking the chicken & seafood gumbo along with the chicken jambalaya rice. Gumbo is a special soup that is very popular in Cajun cuisine. To drink, I chose water as I prefer not to drink Coke products. The price was really good: $8.65 (tax included). While waiting for the food, I sat down and chatted with my friend. He wanted to know what classes he should take for his petroleum engineering major and also inquired about the physics class I was taking at the local community college. He also explained to me that the goal of the restaurant is to provide a halal alternative to a popular cuisine, and that it is difficult to get South Asian families to eat at the restaurant as they would prefer eating at the nearest South Asian restaurant, Khan BBQ and Grill. The wait was decent, 5 minutes and 21 seconds.

Menu: The menu can be found here. PDF required to view -->http://fishskilletseafood.com/menu

Gumbo and Jambalaya with garlic bread.

The Verdict:

Frankly saying, this was an adequate meal. The garlic bread was good, and the Gumbo was gratifying. The gumbo included crab meat, shrimp, chicken, and beef sausage. The broth was cooked perfectly and there was a lot of flavor in the seafood and the chicken. The Jambalaya was a completely different story. Firstly, THERE WAS NO CHICKEN IN THE JAMBALAYA. I understand that this is a new business, but it is important that the order should not mess up because the customers would be dissatisfied. Secondly, the jambalaya was too spicy. I found it very difficult to chew and swallow it down. The spices were so pungent that I had to take deep breaths in order to take bites. Both were washed down with a nice, cold bottle of water.

Conclusion:

Despite the good prices, Fish Skillet has some work to do. First, they should learn to not mess up orders otherwise their business would suffer. Second, MAKE THE JAMBALAYA LESS SPICY. You could do so by putting less pepper or adding more rice. This lapse was made up by the really tasty gumbo. Make the gumbo exactly how I had it, and customers would be pleased. I will give this restaurant a break because it is still in the process of establishing, and is also hiring. I will definitely come back and try the other food again though, and I hope the order would not mess up.

Grading:

Service: 9/10 (only problem was the botched order)

Food: 8.5/10 (gumbo was excellent but jambalaya was too spicy)

Waiting time: 10/10 (5 minutes and 21 seconds = efficient)

Total 27.5/30 = 91.6% (A)

Pricing: $ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information:

Fish Skillet
19221 West Little York Road, Katy, Texas 77449
Phone: (281) 912-7323
Website: http://fishskilletseafood.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fish-Skillet-Seafood/548687161814572
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FishSkillet
Timings --> Sun-Thu: 11 AM - 10 PM; Fri-Sat: 11 AM - 11 PM
Caters: Yes
Delivery also available

Feel Free To Comment Below!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed