Idaho’s Top Seafood Restaurant Is 7 Hours from Boise

When it comes to seafood, what’s your poison? Flaky fish and chips? A perfectly seasoned salmon filet?  A crab cake appetizer that you have no problem ordering as your meal? Seafood paella? A mouthwatering, buttery lobster roll?

Quite frankly, we’re the type of people who don’t consider “all-you-can-eat seafood” a type of restaurant, but a challenge. Honestly, we haven’t met a seafood dish that we didn’t enjoy! However, there are two seafood dishes in Boise that were love at first bite. 

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Last year, Leku Ona on Boise’s Basque Block got a big nod from LoveFood when they put together a list of the best places to enjoy an alfresco (open-air) meal in every state. When they reached Idaho, they handed the honor to the fine basque dining restaurant. We’re ashamed to admit that we’ve lived in Idaho for almost 15 years and didn’t dine there for the first time until Valentine’s Day 2023. Not only was the holiday menu incredibly well-priced, but the lobster paella special was quite possibly the best paella that we’ve ever eaten. 

The other Boise seafood dish that wowed us the first time we tried it? The lobster roll at Freshie’s Lobster Co. in the Warehouse. As we’ve mentioned before, our station is owned by a larger group that has a handful of stations up in Maine and New Hampshire. They write about lobster rolls all the time, so we had high expectations when the award-winning restaurant opened in The Warehouse in February. Freshie’s delivered. When this author’s husband reminds her “there are other places to eat in The Warehouse than Freshie’s,” she politely answers “no, there’s not.” 

Idaho's Top Seafood Destination Revealed

But neither of these restaurants or longtime “Best of Boise” winner, Fresh Off the Hook took the honor of being Idaho’s best seafood restaurant when Country Living built a list titled “This Is the Top Seafood Restaurant Near You.” That title actually went to a “restaurant” that’s not really a restaurant. Country Living chose Rawdeadfish Sushi, a food truck, in Coeur d’Alene. 

In addition to a great name, the food truck has a great story. It was founded by Travis Whiteside, a chef who had been working in the sushi industry since the age of 16. After working at one of the city’s best restaurants, he went on to open two other sushi bars before spending a year working on building his dream food truck with his late father. It was ready to go in 2015. 

Unfortunately, the truck was damaged by an electrical fire the next year, but like a phoenix, it rose from the ashes thanks to some help from the community. One of Travis’s former co-workers set up a GoFundMe account to take care of some of the costs that insurance wouldn’t cover. 

In its first year, the truck earned the title of “Best Food Truck” by Inlander Magazine. They also say that they were the first sushi truck in the Northwest. You’ll find it parked and surrounded by some very cute outdoor seating at 514 E Beset Ave in CDA.