REVIEW | Walker's Fishmarket - fresh seafood without going to the sea

For my birthday I decided to try out a new restaurant, one that I've passed by multiple times in Mississauga but never actually ended up going. We decided to head over to Walker's Fish Market for lunch.

 They open at 11:30 and we made a reservation for 12pm. Not necessary at all because it was completely empty when we got there.

The inside of the restaurant is quite spacious and very well set out. The decor of the restaurant was quite modern and sitting in the restaurant made me feel like I was sitting near the harbour even though there was no water in sight.

To start, I went with the Nova Scotia Clam Chowder ($7.95). You can either order it in the cup or a bowl. The bowl was a decent serving. I loved that the chowder had a lot of ingredients in it and you really tasted all the seafood in every bite. It was a bit on the salty side for me and I think it would have been better with some bread to offset that saltiness. It was a good thing I shared the soup because otherwise I would have been too full for my other course!

We also ordered the Escargot Stuffed Mushroom ($11.95) . Escargot is such an underrated dish in Toronto, mainly because of what it is but when you consider the taste of it you`ll soon forget what you`re eating! Adding the mushroom was a nice twist to the classic escargot and the mushroom really counters the chewiness of the escargot. It was very buttery and delightful.

You can enjoy either the brunch or lunch menu on the weekends. This was the Banana French Toast ($12.95). This is an easy dish to make at home but it tastes so much better when it just comes out prepared for you, especially on a Saturday early afternoon. The french toast was very fragrant and when paired with the light whipped cream and fruit it just melted in your mouth.

Fish and Chips is a must for me if I'm eating at a seafood restaurant. We ordered the Curried Fish and Chips ($17.95) to try something new. The curry was surprisingly flavourful and aromatic. The batter on the fish was a bit on the heavy side for my personal liking. The curry was definitely a welcome change to the usual ketchup and tatar sauce.

One plate of fish and chips is never enough so we also ordered the classic Halibut Walker's Fish Fry ($24.95). Usually fish and chips is made with cod but you can also opt for halibut instead. Again, I thought the batter was a bit too heavy but the fish tasted very fresh and very moist. It was not greasy at all for a deep fried dish. I would definitely order this again!

Another selection from their brunch menu was the Lobster Florentine Omelette ($16.95). Walker's definitely knows how to keep brunch interesting! A lot of regular brunch menu items are kicked up a notch by adding seafood that you would normally not eat for breakfast and the lobster Florentine was no exception.

We also ordered the Fish Tacos ($12.95). You can choose between fish or shrimp but fish seemed the way to go. These fish tacos were huge and came with breaded fish with veggies and sauce.  It was a bit dry so we added the clam chowder for an extra kick and it made a huge difference!

Overall, the food was very tasty and I would definitely consider coming back to try other items on the menu. The only thing that could have been better was the wait time. We were the only table there and we had to wait a very long time for the food to come. I would advise against going there right when it's open because the chefs are probably still preparing everything in the kitchen and you'll end up waiting a long time.