Someone said never to eat half price seafood..

Seattle.. such a beautifully cold and damp city in the late winter, colder than Vancouver on that night in fact. My father and I had high hopes knowing Seattle's affinity for fresh seafood, we weren't going to give up our hunt for the sea fare until we found something acceptable, but at 9p on a Sunday night, it was slim pickings.

We walked for blocks around Pike Place Market, then down towards the waterfront boardwalk.. finally we asked a smoking Red Robin employee (ciggies, not smoking hot) who tried to convince us to eat there. His friend had the good sense to direct us towards Ivan's, one of the only open eateries, but a long standing one (since 1938).

Seeking warmth, a loo and a drink, we nearly ran in. As if she was whispering messages from the heavens, an angel informed us that it was half price happy hour in the bar area for food AND drinks. Huh?All we heard was half price and we jumped on board. It took us 1.3 minutes to pick a drink, then we reveled at the small and varied bar menu, incredibly, all available at half price. What had we eaten that day? Coffee, more coffee, a nut bar, maybe an orange, and Taco Time some seven hours prior. We were hungry.

Here's a couple shots of the bar menu.
What did we have other than beer & wine?
My dad's order..
Alaskan Seafood Chowder: Alaskan halibut, wild salmon, prawns and hardwood smoked bacon, by far the best chowder my dad said he's ever had, that's some fifty odd years!
and also Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad:
I opted for something a little zanier...
Roasted Red & Yellow Beet Salad:
I don't know what it is about beets, it certainly isn't Dwight from the Office who's help them become more popular, but I'm really into beets these days. This salad of well cooked and cooled beet slices topped with organic arugula, a tangy sweet pomegranate vinaigrette and Gorgonzola crouton (essentially a homemade crostada with cheese) was divine. If I knew, I would have ordered three of these instead of adding an entrée.
Blackened True Cod Tacos:
Lime cilantro creme fraiche, shredded napa cabbage, avocado and roasted tomato salsa.
Since they were my first fish tacos, I have nothing to compare this dish to. On it's own, the cod was alright, but I didn't appreciate a smothering amount of creme fraiche, it didn't jive well with the whole taco vibe. The tomato salsa was missing, and I couldn't figure out if the pom. vinaigrette was for the chips or the tacos. Nonetheless, it was the only thing with much taste on the plate, so I used it for both. I guess I expect tacos to have a real flavorful spice to them. Maybe they thought it would overwhelm the cod, but in any case, the blackening was simply not enough. Just because you can wrap it in a tortilla, doesn't mean you can call it a taco... right?
I can't blame them for the poor conception of my dish, I kind of always knew that I would never be into fish tacos at all, no matter what kind of dressing it was tossed in.

Overall, even if I thought the tacos could use a few pointers, we were both pleased enough that we would have left Ivar's happy had we had to pay full price. I can only imagine the high scores on the tasty scale of their full menu.