Yes :-) Serena's review (May 7th 2006)

Although we were there on a night that the front window was smashed in, we really enjoyed ourselves. Great food, great atmosphere, good service.

Yes :-) Collin's review (May 27th 2006)

the food was pretty good but I must ask the question: Why make a burger with Kobe Beef? it seems like a waste of very good tasty beef, being as a burger the fat cooks out and its ground beef so you miss on the tasty marbleized fat that makes Kobe Beef Legendary. Other than that Saty was good, POG Martini was good and smooth, couldnt taste the Vodka but could feel it.

Yes :-) Paul's review (Jun 1st 2006)

File under “The New Blue Review”

Bluefish is a distinctly Spokane version of a martini bar: at once possessing both out-of-place urbanity and a good dose of pretentious posturing, Ian’s typical modus operandi. For example, take an objective look at how incongruous the nice metalwork around the outside entry and porthole door is compared to the rest of the building; now that took some “moxie” all right. Inside, the kitchen retains the open pride-of-place locale established first by Kyle Tanzi with Quinn’s and held over by the Joco-Brazil’s owners. The campy Travo’s era lounge has been supplanted by a sparse modern sofa lounge, or as our hostess proudly corrected “soft seating area.” The hostess was pressed for a personality, exhibiting both a scowl and rather obvious displeasure both for her presence on the job and at the refusal of her invitation to sit next to the front door. However, once seated in the “soft seating area” our assigned server was sweet and efficient.

Road weary and spent, we didn’t know quite where to start on the menu, so we opted to sample a variety of small plates and sushi, along with some gin martinis. Gin pairs exceptionally well with sushi and Asian flavors. We were delighted by the enormous sea scallops, which were tender and perfect prepared: seared but still a wee bit pink in the middle with nary a trace of rubberiness. The dipping sauce also exceeded expectations. But $10 for 2 scallops might be pushing it in value-concious Spokane. I was less enthusiastic about the sushi, which was not particularly authentic; edible, yes, but Sriracha does not belong dotted on a roll that contains Unagi. Period. A Tobiko roll was fair, but I prefer a traditional presentation in a nori-wrapped roll. The tempura tofu was also good but not as you would find in a real sushi place: tender and silky on the inside, steaming hot and crisp on the outside, in fact it was a bit on the chewy side. The martinis were quite good, served good and cold and the prices very fair. Do try a “Beefeater Wet” martini on your next visit. This subtle pear infused modern gin is very soft on the botanicals and lighter in ABV (at 70 proof) which makes it a superb paring with any of the Bluefish small plates and sushi. We spent about $100 for four drinks and a few small plates and tip, which is pretty reasonable by bigger city standards. It remains whether Spokane will support this level of indulgence on a longer term basis.

Unlike seemingly everyone else that posts here, I am not a fan of Chef Ian Wingate; and for several reasons. However, I give him props for the courage to open this kind of place in Spokane. He has succeeded in delivering a new destination where others might have failed. The atmosphere is lively and fun, the menu appears adventurous, and the food is good, at least as measured by the “good for Spokane” standard. Recommended, particularly if you have deep pockets for a fun night out and rarely eat in Seattle or Vancouver, and even if you do, you still might find some welcome respite in the cool hue of Spokane’s new Blue . . .

Yes :-) Cassidy's review (Jan 22nd 2007)

Very good but not as good as Moxie. Bluefish has smaller portions. Great desserts too.

No :-( kara's review (Jul 9th 2007)

Not the best, I must say. The service was great as was the ambiance fairly decent, but when it comes to sushi, it should never, I repeat never, taste “fishy.”

Yes :-) Mary S's review (Nov 23rd 2007)

I have dined there several times and it has been fabulous every time. Last weekend I had the “sea bass”. Two thick chucks of delectable white fish on a mixed potato (can’t remember exactly what) with a baby bok choy on the side. It had an Asian finish sauce that was very tasty. Very unique.

No :-( Andrea's review (Apr 24th 2008)

We went to Bluefish for what we thought was going to be Happy Hour, but were informed by the hostess that Happy Hour had ended at 5 PM. We were 15 minutes late, even though their website says Happy Hour goes until 6 PM. The hostess was unapologetic and said “I know it’s like false advertisement or whatever, but the website is old so we can’t honor what it says.” OK?? This was the first in a string of disappointments we encountered at the restaurant.

We were seated and given one drink menu to share amongst the four of us at the table and one of the entree menus was missing an entire section. After waiting 10 minutes for the server to return to take our order, she said management would honor the happy hour pricing after all. That was the one bright spot.

Service was VERY slow for no obvious reason. We waited 20-25 minutes for an order of fries and 3 rolls of sushi. Finally at 6:15 the server came back and we ordered one additional roll of sushi. As of 6:40 we still hadn’t received the one roll of sushi, so we had to ask the server to box it up because the concert we were attending was starting at 7. 5 minutes went by before she came out with the boxed sushi. When all was said and done we were at the restaurant for well over an hour and the majority of that time was spent waiting for our food.

Slow service, a website that is poorly constructed AND misleading, a happy hour that does not include drink specials, and sushi rolls that are teeny-tiny compared to Okane or Raw. We definitely won’t be back.