Big Daddy’s Fish Fry: Popular fried seafood in Tofino

This summer I went to Tofino with some friends and I remember one moment where this big burly guy with a beard walked past us wearing a T-shirt that said “Big Daddy’s Fish Fry”. I remember thinking 😯 that guy looks like he can serve up some good fish and chips. (I don’t know exactly why I thought this but I hope it’s not offensive 😅).

Anyways, while exploring downtown Tofino, we actually saw the restaurant Big Daddy’s Fish Fry and I knew I wanted to check them out for lunch the next day.

So yes, the next day we lined up for Big Daddy’s Fish Fry, a local seafood restaurant located right next to a park in Tofino. I came as a group of 12 adults and 4 dogs, so we actually ended up ordering takeout and eating it at the picnic tables at the park instead of their outdoor seating area.

Big Daddy’s Fish Fry
411 Campbell St, Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0

Food review

Here is everything we ordered to share between 3 adults. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.

Panko crusted wild-caught Argentinian prawns ($14)

From the featured snacks section of the menu, we order the panko-crusted Argentinian prawns. One order comes with 5 prawns, which I was like 🤨 meh for $14? But wow! When I opened the box, I was shocked at how big one prawn was 😳.

I was super impressed with these fried prawns. Everything about them was perfect 😍! The panko-crust was fried well and not too oily, and there was so much prawn meat inside these jumbo prawns! If you hold one by just the tail, it will even topple/fall over because that’s how heavy it is. Paired wtih the Calabrian chili aioli and I was in shrimp heaven (I love things like ebi mayo).

There is also a small lemon fennel slaw that I appreciated. I am not the biggest fan of slaw but I found this one to be crunchy, fresh and appetizing.

Crispy humboldt squid ($14)

A second snack we ordered is the humboldt squid for $14. Upon opening the takeout box, I wasn’t expecting the pieces of squid to look like this. Each piece is lightly crusted in dill garlic dredge, but it still tasted pretty good. I just feel like for the same price as the prawns, I wish we ordered more prawns!

Like the prawns, they also serve this with a side of slaw and aioli.

BD’s seafood chowder ($16)

It was kind of a cloudy and chilly day in Tofino so actually we were really excited about this seafood chowder soup. We ordered this to share only between 2 people and it was a good portion (but too small to share with 3 people).

Big Daddy’s seafood chowder is house-made in Boston style with quite a bit of fennel and dill. Other soup ingredients include Yukon gold potatoes, clams, shrimp, locally caught lingcod and Chinook salmon, topped with herbs and dill oil. They also provide this kind of fried bread (texture is similar to a Chinese donut) to eat with the chowder.

I really liked this chowder and thought it was super appetizing on a chilly day. I didn’t mind the generous amount of fennel and dill flavours and I also noticed there is a lot of seafood in it so definitely worth $16 👍. My only comment is I didn’t like eating it with the fried bread too much and Kelvin usually prefers his chowders a bit creamier in texture.

Locally-caught lingcod n’ chips ($28)

For our main dish, we shared a fish & chips – you can choose between halibut or lingcod (both are fresh and locally caught in Tofino). For 1 pc of lingcod, it’s $20 and you can add a second piece for $8.

I was quite pleased with the appearance of the fish & chips. The fish is lightly battered with their house-made tempura and served with house-made tartar sauce. Underneath there is a bed of crispy Kennebec fries and a small side of apple slaw.

The fish & chips were really good and the fish meat inside was flaky and moist. Everything felt quite well balanced and worked together.

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

We had a delicious and casual takeout lunch from Big Daddy’s Fish Fry in Tofino. I liked how easy and simple it was to order and they had a lot of enticing menu items.

We actually came to Big Daddy’s because we really wanted to try their deep fried oysters but they were already sold out at 1pm 😔! So instead, we opted for the shrimp and squid. Out of the 2, the shrimp was definitely better and I highly recommend you to try it!

The fish & chips were also yummy but I wonder how good it is compared to other spots in Tofino. I feel like there are so many good fish & chip places in Tofino. Definitely compared to your average place in Vancouver, Big Daddy’s fish & chips are better and their kids menu fish & chips is also a great value.

I also recommend the seafood chowder! Many of my friends ordered it and liked it.

Overall, I would recommend Big Daddy’s Fish Fry to anyone who is visiting Tofino for a casual spot to grab food.

Sincerely, Loewe