Waterfront Grille

Although the HFG is by no means a food snob, there is one type of cuisine about which I am extremely picky; fish. Growing up on the Atlantic Ocean, I have a very different definition of “fresh fish” than most people, including those who might live only 40 or 50 miles inland (i.e. pretty much everyone around here).

In fact, I once insulted the proprietor of one of the area’s best restaurants in a conversation about this very subject. The proprietor recommended to me a particular fish dish, assuring me that it was “fresh” and full of flavor. I asked what “fresh” meant and was proudly told it had been bought at the area’s #1 fish market that same day. With a sigh, I said “then it’s not fresh, is it?”

You see, other than fish you go out and catch yourself, the only “fresh” Atlantic fish is that which is bought on the pier and served the same day. There are a few places inland that make a point of appearing on the docks in the morning to buy some of the daily catch and then racing it back to the restaurant to be served later that day, but they are few and far between. Mostly, what you get in a good restaurant inland is fish bought from a market that day, which (hopefully) they bought off the docks a day or two before that.

Why this matters so much is that fish spoils at a far faster pace than beef, pork, or poultry, so it’s really a race against time once it hits the docks. While the “fresh” fish you’re likely to eat around here is by no means spoiled, it has deteriorated enough that a good amount of its flavor is gone by the time it hits your plate here in Hartford (or West Hartford or Glastonbury, for that matter).

This is all a very long introduction to the Waterfront Grille in my hometown of New Bedford, MA, where the HFG took his mom for lunch on Mother’s Day last week. There are two things I like about the Waterfront Grille. First, it is literally on the waterfront. You can look out at some of the fishing boats that are tied up and you can almost see the State Pier where the catches are sold off as they come in. It’s not fancy, but it is a special kind of ambiance that reminds you where you meal is coming from and the hard work it takes to get it on to your plate.

Second, and more importantly, 85% of the seafood served at the Waterfront Grille is bought at the pier that same day (the other 15% is from the day before). Now that’s fresh.

To start, I had a plate of fried oysters ($11). They were delicious and bursting with flavor and not overly coated in batter before they were dropped in the frialator. Severed with a bit of lemon and a nice tartar sauce, they were wonderful.

For lunch my mother had a Bloody Mary (go mom!) and the baked stuff shrimp ($19) with brown rice and roasted carrots. The presentation was quite nice but the brown rice was nothing special. In fact, it was pretty ordinary. That said, the roasted carrots were tasty and the baked stuff shrimp was amazing. The shrimp were large, there were plenty of them, and they were bursting with flavor. Fortunately, the seasonings and stuffing (made with crab meat :> x 10) didn’t crowd out the flavor of the shrimp.

My father had orange ginger scallops with roasted carrots and spinach ($18). The spinach was almost wilted, but his main plate looked absolutely amazing as it was studded with a number of massive scallops, slightly browned from having been expertly pan seared. Unfortunately, the HFG is deathly allergic to scallops so I couldn’t taste them, but my father assured me that they were outstanding as he worked feverishly to clear his plate.

My stepfather had a seafood salad ($12) which consisted of mixed greens and shrimp, scallops, and lump crab. The salad didn’t look particularly special, but again the seafood did. The scallops and shrimp looked large and juicy and there appeared to be plenty of lump crab. Like my dad, my stepfather assured me that his lunch was delicious as he shoveled the generous portions of seafood into his mouth.

The HFG had the swordfish ($19) in a sun dried tomato pesto and lemon basil aioli, with roasted carrots and wasabi mashed potatoes. The presentation was pretty ambitious for a dockside joint but the chef pulled it off quite nicely. The swordfish was wonderfully fresh, not overcooked, and bursting with flavor that was complimented (but not overwhelmed) by the pesto and aioli. The mashed potatoes were pretty good, but I thought the wasabi was unevenly mixed into my portion, which was a bit strange. I also had a glass of Portuguese white wine ($7) that was OK but not memorable.

The interior Waterfront Grille is nothing special. It is a big room sparsely appointed which sits on a pier. The service, while enthusiastic, is not great. It does, however, serve delicious fish and other seafood and that makes it well worth the trip. They also serve some meat and poultry dishes (the menu is almost the mirror of image of most places – 20 or 30 fish and seafood entrees with a half dozen meat and poultry offerings), but if you go there and order off the non- seafood part of the menu then someone should slap you in the head. Seriously.

There really is not a whole lot of reason to go to New Bedford other than to visit the Whaling Museum or take the ferry to the islands, but if you find yourself there, or the next time you are heading to Cape Cod, stop off at the Waterfront Grille. If you do, you’ll have a nice little meal and you’ll find what fresh fish tastes like. Here’s the link to the Waterfront Grille website - http://www.waterfrontgrille.com/