Holy moly! The day after arriving at our rental cottage in Moran, Michigan on Brevoort lake, we noticed plenty of mosquitoes! Serious mosquitos! So the first thing on our list of needs, was buying a can of Off! Being that the cottage is in a fairly rural area, there aren't very many stores. But on our drive in, I noticed King's Fish Market. It was close, so I drove up. Turns out they don't sell bug spray, only smoked fish and a million other things, including Venison sausage. I purchased some smoked white fish and some venison cheddar sausage. OMG-Fantastic! They also have a little cafe and you can order fish and chips, chicken fingers etc as well. Big local beer selection too. After walking around checking everything out, I walked past a couple of women having lunch. I figured I'd ask how the food was. They then told me it was delicious, and that they have lunch there several times a week. Needless to say, my lovely wife and I will be back! And then before cashing out and leaving, the friendly owner sent me down the road to a gas station that sells Off! Bonus! read more

Wherever I can support local during my travels, I'm all for it. Last week, I brought a group of Texans, Missourians, and Californians here for lunch during our week-long tour through both Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsulas. While we found this to be a charming local fish and specialty market, we were unfortunately underwhelmed by the food. Most of us ordered the 2-piece whitefish basket with fries. The fish itself seemed fresh, but the batter lacked seasoning and could have been much crispier. The fries were also fairly soggy. We also tried the whitefish chowder, which desperately needed salt. Adding a bit ourselves made a huge difference in flavor. We arrived well before the lunch rush and practically had the place to ourselves, so perhaps this was just an off day. Still, the fish baskets felt severely under-fried and lacking overall flavor, which was disappointing given the local reputation and specialty focus. read more

King's Fish Market - Seafood Markets Near Me - Moran, Michigan

We were excited to try this place but were slightly disappointed. I'll start with the bad then give you the good. The fish breading was sort of wet/under cooked so much that it sort of slid off the fish. There was nothing crispy about it. It looks good but it's almost as if it's steamed or boiled instead of fried. Sadly, we didn't finish it, what a waste! We feel bad for wasting food and wasting money but we just couldn't do it. My daughter who is crazy obsessed with fish refused to eat it after 1 bite. The chicken strips were not house made but they were very crispy and delicious. The fries are fresh cut, crispy and excellent! They do have grilled sandwiches on the menu so I'm assuming that is actually the best thing to order there. I might consider coming back for a sandwich and fries but not the fish! The staff was very friendly! The store and bathroom were very clean and welcoming. They have a huge collection of vintage boat motors and taxidermy. Stop by for a soda, premade snacks and some french fries. read more

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Stopped in for lunch on a whim and we were all highly impressed. The smoked whitefish spread was more like a whitefish salad, which I LOVED. Piled it on bread the next day and was very happy. Smoked whitefish chowder was homemade with love and care and I would drink this by the gallon. Whitefish and walleye baskets were to die for. And the whitefish sandwich was as amazing as you'd expect. Bonus: the fries that came with the sandwich and baskets were also utterly delicious. Cannot say enough good things about this place. I will definitely make this a regular stop coming in and out of the UP and plan better so that I can take more home from here next time. Big thanks to the wonderful staff for their hospitality and pride in their food. read more

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Establishment is clean and nicely decorated. It's a store selling fresh and smoked fish, frozen and refrigerated foods. A large amount of products. We go there for a dinner. I order the 3 piece white fish, others at our table ordered the perch, trout and walleye meals. No one was disappointed with the quality and taste; the French fries are fresh cut and super delicious. When in the upper peninsula we try to make it here for a meal. read more

Excellent Fish baskets are great to if they had only had cold beer with the fish perfect read more

Smoked trout. Wonderful people hosting stellar products. I hear Queen Valley is a hidden gem. read more

The fish is Great. The service as well. You will Love it if you like fish. The store has lots of Great things to look at and buy.

On the smoked fish side of things, Daniel P.'s review has a level of detail that I couldn't match if I spent five weeks driving around the UP and reading smoked fish blogs. Today was my second smoked fish purchase at King's (lake trout) and my first time getting the fried whitefish. This was the ideal preparation since it didn't cover up the fresh fish. It used the thinnest breading possible. I expected good fish but the fries were a pleasant surprise. I also enjoyed the whitefish chowder, which was large and had abundant fish. This is worth a detour from St. Ignace/Route 2, and if you're a real fanatic you might even want to drive down from Soo. Keep in mind that they close at 4 (except 7 on Friday.) read more

My favorite place to visit when my husband and I are in Michigan. My husband grew up near King's Fish Market and it is well loved and appreciated by tourists and locals alike. They have a great assortment from smoked fish to ice cream. They also have touristy clothes and places to sit and eat. read more

Smoked white fish dip is the best I've had. Buy a tub to take home. Fish sausage sounds horrible, but it was A++, you must try a piece of the smoked cajun cheese fish snack stick, it's not fishy at all with a smoked aroma, uniquely delicious & healthy. I highly recommend King's fish market read more

King's Fish Market - Seafood Markets Near Me - Moran, Michigan

Very clean place with a lot of cool old outboard motors to look at. Staff is super friendly and service is fast. We got the whitefish sandwich and the fried walleye. Both were pretty good, the fries were cooked just right and the fish and tarter sauce were good. We bought a few things from the store, we did try the maple smoked fish and that was really good I wish we had bought more, still got to try some other things we bought but the place is pretty good for a quick pit stop. read more

This place is fantastic! Every time we eat here it's the bomb. The Fish Special is so flaky and tasty and very fresh. You can taste the freshness. All their fish is great. The funny thing is they have pizza here too. We tried that and they warn you it takes 1/2 hour we were fine with that as they are homemade. The pizza was delish! So funny to go to a fish market and get pizza but it was worth it. They also make dips with their fish, I need to try those yet. Staff is very friendly. Service is great. Highly recommended. read more

Taking a break on our rainy drive to Newberry, we made a quick stop here for a bowl of White Fish Chowder. What a nice surprise and a tasty bowl of chowder too. The market was cozy and the staff was friendly and welcoming. I loved the wooden screen door, you know, the squeaky kind. You definitely know what this market is selling, and that's what makes it so special. Fish everywhere you look, from the front through to the back. Sometimes it's the small details that I appreciate about the places we stop and believe it or not I remember the ketchup bottles on the tables here. It has been so long since I have seen ketchup in a GLASS bottle! Every table had one. When we head up again we will definitely plan to time it so that we can try the dinner special, but for now the smoked fish, and the pasties in the freezer, will have to tide us over. read more

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Had some great smoked trout and whitefish. The prices are very reasonable and they had fresh whitefish and trout for sale along with some "freshwater cod" frozen which was a rarer find. Reasonable prices, $8/lb for smoked trout filet. Very nice lady at the counter who heated me up some whitefish chowder which was delicious with nice chunks of whitefish and really wasn't like fishy at all! Nice little joint. Slower day so maybe that's why they weren't actively smoking fish (always nice to see since it points to turnover and means the fish you're buying hasn't been sitting around too long in the display case) read more

Seriously outstanding smoked fish! I consider myself an aficionado of smoked fish, and King's smoked trout was among the best, if not THE best, I've ever had. There is also an advantage of King's in that you can buy smaller portions than at Gustafson's. We were tourists in the area and wanted just enough for lunch and were able to do that at King's. At Gustafson's you need to buy a large chunk of fish, which weighs in at least at 1 lb., which for us was way more than we needed. Having said that, Gustafson's does an incredible job smoking, but it makes more sense to shop there only if you live in the area or have a cooler. If you love smoked fish, and you're in the area, you must give King's a try. I only wish I lived there so I could go back more often! read more

My Dad turned me on to this place. It seems whenever I passed it before, I was concentrating on passing trailers and trucks and was not paying attention. Never even saw the small place. This place sells smoked and fresh fish. They also prepare a Whitefish and chips platter that is excellent! My dad had clued me into how good the fish is at this place and I guess I never believed him till he took me here. I now pace myself on traveling to catch this place when it is open. I have just took my Wife and kids here for the Whitefish and chips, and it is still excellent. Take home some fresh Whitefish or Salmon. It is super fresh and I think you will agree that it is some of the best that you have ever prepared. read more

This is a "absolutely must stop here when visiting the U.P." place! A friend and I were on our inaugural U.P. trip, and had received recommendations from friends -- and King's came highly recommended. We now understand why. It was easily one of the best (if not THE best) meals we had. The whitefish basket is amazing -- the fish was clearly fresh, was very lightly breaded, the serving of that and the fries was generous. The low price made it even better, and of course service was friendly. The whitefish dip was also *very* good. Really -- if you like fish, you have to visit if you're in the area. read more

BEST white fish chowder I have ever had! We drove into UP (form LP) and was looking for two particular food items: white fish and pasties. King's located maybe 15-30 minutes into our drive on the way to Paradise, a cute log cabin-looking shop that we knew from first sight, was the right place for White fish. You have to read EVERY ONE of their fish/decor on the wall. As I said, BEST white fish chowder (or any kind of chowder) I have ever had. Not too salty and plenty of flaky, tasty, fresh white fish pieces you can pick out in the chowder! We also had the fish dip (very flavorful! A bit salty, but would still recommend) and the walleye fish and chips (YUM!!!!). Service was good and down to earth. We were too full to try their ice-cream which obviously was an attraction there and to the kids too. We went shortly after the shop was open for the day and it's not very busy, but had stream of customers who know this was the place to go. Totally agree with other reviewers that it's a MUST STOP coming into/leaving UP. P.S. Unfortunately we didn't find any pasties in eastern UP and no time to go to western/northern UP... read more

We found this place on a chance when we were camping in the UP a couple of years ago. We were driving around the eastern UP for several days, opportunistically popping our heads into places that sold smoked fish. They invariably had the funky smell of old smoked fish and slow stock turnover. King's was the first place that broke this nasty pattern. At King's the shop smells like fresh smoke, and the fish taste clean and fresh. There's a smoker outside, usually in operation. The wood pile they use for smoking (specifically hot-smoking) looks to be of exactly what's growing outside: white pine, balsam fir, sugar maple, and yellow birch. This fortuitous combination beats any hickory-smoked fish we've tried - frankly, hickory trees are rare up in the UP, and hickory-smoked fish is likely using wood that's been trucked in. Fresh is better. For whole smoked fish, they usually have trout, whitefish, menominee, and herring. The trout is much like salmon, unsurprisingly. Whitefish has a soft texture and a sweet taste, menominee is drier and chewier, and herring is somewhere between the two. All of them are good, but we've never seen smoked menominee anywhere else, so it's especially worth trying. They seem to have a restaurant business too, and they sell fresh fish at the counter, but we've only ever bought the smoked whole fish. We liked it so much the first time that we stopped again to load up on fish to take home on our way out. Since then, we've found opportunities to come back, and the quality has been consistent. If only they distributed in the LP. read more

The fish is great. Smoked or fried. The atmosphere is great. Very friendly staff. Don't miss this off-the-beaten path restaurant if you are in the Eastern U.P. read more

Not only the best smoked and fresh fish, packed nicely for us to bring home, but the most honest place around too! Thank You for sending our credit card back to us that we left behind. We received it in 2 days. Amazing, very nice and friendly Women working there as well. We will be back! Bill and Lisa Setter read more

we split fish and chips to go. so good! plenty for two. service great. breading thin so one could taste fish. very fresh good fish. stopped on our way to Mackinaw. wanted to stop on way back but they were closed. read more