Live from Peoria, Illinois, it’s Saturday Night starring this week’s host, The Fish House with special guest stars, Katie, Paul, Justin and The Holiday Drink Judges, Tom and Marty. Now please welcome this week’s host, The Fish House!
Here we are at The Fish House, one of my favorite Peoria restaurants. Let’s go in and get out of this chilly-ass winter evening and let our Saturday night festivities begin!
We’ll get pictures of the dining room later, but for now let’s head in to the place I like the best in here, The Fish House Lounge that has one of the darkest bars in town. I love it in here!
Right on cue Katie and Paul appear behind the bar and Paul is armed with a bottle of Budweiser to start the night off. It’s getting near the end of the evening in here, so I placed my dinner order and we agreed the contest would start after I was done eating. Now let’s take a few photos in here while the Saturday night dinner is being prepared.
There’s a lit-up wreath hanging back in the bar area above the trio of beers on tap.
Here’s two shots of the lounge area behind the bar. There’s a window that looks into the dining room and there’s still some people dining in there, so I’ll wait for a little bit to take a couple photos in there.
Meanwhile, back at the bar, it looks like it’s just about dinner time!
I was right and here’s Katie delivering the aforementioned Saturday night dinner!
I got the crab-stuffed mushrooms and the seared tuna appetizer and they both look fantastic! Let’s dig in!
The mushrooms are stuffed with a creamy crab filling and they’re topped off with a layer of rich melted cheddar cheese. They are so tasty and borderline decadent! The seared tuna appetizer is sliced tuna that’s been marinated in a ginger sauce and rolled in Caribbean spices and sesame seeds and pan-seared. It is so delicious and tasty, it also comes as a dinner entree if you want a larger portion. What a delicious dinner!
After I was done eating it was getting near closing time so I went in and took a few photos of the dining room and the lit-up Christmas tree. I love the dark and wooden-rustic atmosphere in The Fish House. Okay, I think the time has come for...
it’s time to begin the Fourth Annual Holiday Drink Contest here at The Fish House. Veteran Fish House bartender, Paul has been a contestant in all four contests and this is Katie’s first time in this holiday drink competition. Since it’s Katie’s first time, we decided to let her start it off and here we go!
Katie
Katie said she’s going to make an adult hot chocolate drink and that sounds good to me on this wintry evening!
The base of the drink is hot chocolate and she’s added a variety of liquors and spices to it and topped it off with whipped cream and peppermint sprinkles.
Wow, that looks so good! Paul definitely is going to have to work hard to beat this drink! Oh Paul...
Paul
Before Paul starts mixing his holiday spirits, let’s take a moment to look at his Christmas tie, it’s Santa with sunglasses on which makes me wonder what Santa is smoking in that pipe of his! I bet his eyes match Rudolph’s nose! Okay, time to make your drink Paul!
Paul said the name of his holiday concoction was a “Drunken Jack Frost.” It’s got a lot of elements including champagne and Blue Curaçao. He then topped it off with berries and an orange slice and attached a Christmas ornament to it.
Wow, it looks fantastic. I love the color of it! Now it’s judgement time!
The Judges
Tom is a regular here at The Fish House Lounge and he agreed to sample the drinks with me and help me pick a winner. After trying them both, it wasn’t easy to choose but after comparing notes we finally did...
Katie’s Adult Hot Chocolate won! She won a bag of Peppermint Tree Bark and a Santa hat. The drink’s not officially on the menu, but Katie said if you come in during her shift and ask nicely, she might just make you one and I suggest you do this, it is a delicious drink! Congratulations, Katie!
For his second place prize Paul got a smaller bag of the Peppermint Tree Bark and then the owner of The Fish House, Justin came out and we all enjoyed a final nightcap!
Thanks to Tom for helping to judge and to Katie and Paul for making such wonderful holiday drinks! To see the past holiday Fish House competitions click here, here and here. We’ll see you all tomorrow!
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4919 N. University Street
Peoria
309-691-9358
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Related Posts: Saturday Night @ Jim’s Steakhouse, Lou’s Drive-In East Peoria and Davis Bros. Pizza.