October 21st, 2010 by Brian Schwartz – Comments (8)
White River is the kind of place you hope to find when you visit an old East Coast seaport, and never do. It’s the kind of place you might have run into in 1940s New York, but probably wouldn’t. Bare, with stripped-down decor, and very crowded, it’s the kind of place that shouts “serious eating here!”
It’s a whole new game at White River. The place finally lives up to its potential. I used to stop by quite a lot in years gone by — it’s a Tulsa landmark after all — and was always disappointed. Drooping, dead, lackluster fish crammed into a dingy glass case. But those days are gone. Walk into White River now and the gleaming beauties that greet you (and I’m referring to the fish on display) behind the spiffy glass display case are worthy of the best fishmonger. Check it out.
As in any old, traditional eating establishment, there’s a procedure here. You inspect the fish, step up to the counter, and order your meal. They have just about anything you can think of that swims in the sea and isn’t a submarine. Tuna, halibut, swordfish, salmon, snapper, mahi mahi, shrimp, oysters, scallops, crab. Pick any one of those, and if you want, you can pick your fillet. You can have it broiled, grilled, or fried, and that’s it. No fancy frills or fripperies; no sesame-glazed ahi tuna with daikon coulis avaliable here. You also select two sides. If you’ve got even half a brain, one of those sides will be onion rings. They’re that good. Then you pick a table — if you can find one. The place is packed, even on a weekday night.
We were lucky and found an empty booth in the sea of long communal tables, next to a party of firemen from Inola and across from a raucous birthday party. It wasn’t that long a wait, considering how many orders were ahead of us. (About 80, I’d guess.) And then the waitress brought our food. Behold mine!
This is Broiled Whole Flounder ($15). Back in 2007, Gourmet Magazine did a two-page spread on White River. One page was text. The second page was a huge photo of that flounder. I had ordered flounder back in 2006; I remember a few juicy morsels and not much else. But today, every bit of that huge fish is as good as it looks in the photo. Firm, succulent, and very fresh; just what you want white fish meat to be. (Maybe a bit too much of that red seasoning salt, but the spicing wasn’t bad.) Lots of bones, though, but worth the extra effort to peel them off and discover a whole other layer of firm fish flesh underneath.) Gourmet Magazine said the flounder is “at the top of our must-eat list”. I do agree.
Betty got the broiled trout ($14.45).
That’s basically a whole fish there. Lovely firm flesh, the flavor different of course from the flounder, and maybe as good. Broiling seems the way to go here. Lots of bones, though. In the back of the photo you can just see the onion rings. They are, as I’ve said, divine. Perfect batter, and not too much of it. For my second side, by the way, I ordered gumbo. Yes, they make a fine gumbo, and it counts as two sides, but they let me have onion rings for only $1.75 extra. In former visits, the gumbo shone but last night the fish was so good I barely noticed it. And also, perhaps, in the intervening years I’d been to Chicory & Chives and Hebert’s. (Note that you can get gumbo to go for $3.75 a pint. I got a quart as we left.) Oh and I mustn’t forget the Hush Puppies, which come free with every order. They are just perfect fried cornmeal with a bit of jalapeno to spice it up. Talking of fried, Cathe got the Fried Catfish ($11.45).
That’s a fine choice too. It’s also available with fried shrimp for 50¢ extra. The cornmeal breading was nice and crunchy, and the fish was fresh. Still, I think the trout and flounder far outshone it. There are several places around where you can get catfish as good or better. But I can’t think of anything to compare with that flounder. Or with White River. Even if you were born within hailing distance of Fisherman’s Wharf or South Street Seaport, it’s worth a pilgrimage to the flatlands around Tulsa Airport to find a real old school fish house.
White River Fish Market and Restaurant of Tulsa
1708 N. Sheridan Road
835-1910
11 AM to 8 PM daily but closed Sunday
http://www.whiteriverfishmarket.com
Brian Schwartz:
Born in NYC, age 0, on my birthday. College in Oxford at age 16. Law School in New Haven, Conn. 6 years travel in Africa and Asia. Haven’t done much lately. Still, I’m the only Tulsa member of the little-known Omega Society. www.theomegasociety.com
I speak enough Chinese to order food not on any English menu. Spanish French Italian too (not fluently but food-ently) My favorite restaurant is Jean-Georges in New York. But those NYC chefs would sell their soul to get the produce available from the farms around Inola.
“A writer writes alone. His words tumble forth from a magical inner void that is mysterious even to himself, and that no one else can enter.” And yet, the most important thing to me the writer is YOU. Without you to hear them, my words are worth less than silence.
Tags: Seafood
8 responses so far ↓
Annie Oct 21, 2010 at 8:41 am
White River is a staple and the new owner has done an excellent job keeping w/ tradition but also stepping it up a bit.
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Tulsa Food Guy Oct 21, 2010 at 9:41 am
I haven’t been in a couple of years. After being somewhat disappointed in Bodean’s, I may have to go back.
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Brian Schwartz Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 10:25 am
You won’t believe how much better it is now than it was a couple of years ago.
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Johnny McClanahan Oct 21, 2010 at 10:25 pm
The onion rings are definitely the side to get. Like the baked potatoes also. I didn’t know about the Gourmet article and the flounder.
Thanks!
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Michael Douglas Oct 31, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I flew in to Tulsa after being gone for many years and decided to revisit some of my ole favorite places (most are long gone). But since my girlfriend lived only a block away, I thought what a perfect opportunity. I was wrong, not only was the food at the most average, but I also found it to be quite over priced for both the food and location. I had the fried shrimp and coleslaw, I was not impressed and wished that Pennington’s Drive-In was still open. I guess the ole days are what they are, gone…….
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Steve Loves to Eat Jan 21, 2011 at 3:52 pm
I have never been disappointed with a meal at the White River Fish Market. I usually have the Tuna Steak, Grilled, with Onion rings and cole slaw…Excellent taste, excellent value. When my Mom was alive, this was her Birthday place…each year for the lobster tail dinner. They also make a pretty good Gumbo if you want just a small meal.
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Rick Mar 17, 2011 at 2:31 pm
I didn’t know about White River until about 15 years ago, I was going to Red Robster for seafood.
You can’t go wrong here, if you want seafood White River is it.
My favorite is the Broiled Scallop Dinner, brown beans and baked potato. Don’t forget to dip your scallop into the melted butter.
Oh man!
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Jim Bob Jun 13, 2012 at 11:49 am
White River Fish Market has always been one of our family’s favorites. We hadn’t been there since Gary Cozby died in ’09 until Tuesday night when we joined our family there for our son-in-law’s birthday dinner.
Our first surprise was that were were almost the only customers there. There was no line so we ordered immediately.
Our next surprise was that it took forever to get our food, and the place will still almost empty when we were served.
By far the worst surprise was that the was food terrible. We all had fried food, and it was greasy, overcooked, dry, and hard. The fried clams were like gravel. The onion rings were swimming in grease. Some were onion skins, not rings, and about half had no breading. After we were served, however, the service was still excellent.
It looked as though the news of the terrible food had spread because they were still almost empty when we left. We were hugely disappointed and probably won’t go back.
Yesterday I checked with some friends who did work for and were friends with Cozby for decades before his death. Both said i was one of many who had told them that the food was terrible in the past year. How sad to see a long-time Tulsa icon go downhill.
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