Fish.

Last night I was in Sausalito and went to my favorite restaurant. No, it's not overlooking the Bay (like Scoma's or Horizon's). It's not one of the best sushi restaurants in the Bay Area (Sushi Ran). It's tucked down a street that dead-ends in a parking lot, past the Mollie Stone's (directions on a cocktail napkin to the right).

This restaurant is very simple: think redwood picnic tables and drinks served in mason jars. They take cash only. Even the name is simple and to the point: Fish.

The seafood they serve though is a combination of comfort food (fish & chips, tuna melt) to haute cuisine (freshest fish prepared in inventive ways). They are very interested in sustainable farming, organic materials, overfishing issues, and focus on wild fish as opposed to farmed fish. The ingredients are always the freshest as possible and their specials are ever-changing.

Last night was typical. You order up at the counter, pay your cash and then find your own table. When it's a nice night or during the day, I prefer to sit outside on the patio overlooking the sailboats. On a cold night and when there's only 2 of you, grab one of the smaller round tables next to the fireplace. Don't forget to pick up your cutlery.

We started with one of their chowders (I prefer the red portugese). They had a few oysters and so we tried some of those (mix of small/flavorful and large/fresh-tasting). Simple adornments of lemon, vinegar, cocktail sauce, or tabasco are all that's needed.

Our main dish was a large crab prepared in a broth with noodles. They used lots of Asian ingredients (think ginger and lemongrass) to create a delectable spicy/sweet mixture. Putting on the crab bib, cracking crab legs and pulling out the tender meat is half the fun. Best to roll up your sleeves on this one.

They always have great sides too. This time we had a butternut squash which seemed to have been prepared with some type of butter/brown sugar/cinnamon for a real sweet vegetable.

To wash down all of this food, I usually go for one of the beers. The Newcastle Brown Ale is my personal favorite.

While they do have desserts, you may want to instead head into Sausalito itself and stop off at one of the ice cream shops and have a stroll around downtown, look at the Philipino guy placing rocks on top of each other, or watch the moon rise over San Francisco lit up in the distance, moonbeams cascading off the water in the Bay.