Atlantic Fish Co, Boston

Boston is a city filled with nice seafood.  From low key lobster shacks, to classy oyster bars, and everything in-between.  When I was recently in Boston, I focused on seafood for every meal, starting with an *incredible* non-traditional lobster roll from Eventide Fenway, getting some mediocre crab cakes from Rosebud American Kitchen & Bar, and concluding with the best clam chowder I've ever had in my life (and a very generously stuffed lobster roll) from James Hook & Co.  But also on my list was getting just a nice piece of haddock or Atlantic cod, both everyday seafoods around the Boston area, but, treats for me, as they are essentially never seen on the West coast. 

My research into nice seafood restaurants led me to Atlantic Fish Co, which has been around since 1978.  They source the fish daily from the docks, yadda yadda.  Open for lunch and dinner daily, brunch on weekends.

The dinner menu is essentially all seafood, starting with raw bar classics like shrimp, crab, and lobster cocktail, moving on to seafood soups (clam chowder, lobster bisque, seafood stew), to salads to which you can of course optionally add grilled seafood (or chicken).  Appetizers have all the usual suspects: tuna tartare, crab cakes, bacon wrapped scallops, crispy calamari , fried clam fritters, fried oysters, clams, mussels, etc, etc.  I was fairly tempted by their lump crab cakes, particularly after the lackluster ones from Rosebud, or by the grilled octopus with chorizo, but, I had my eyes set on things further down in the menu.

The main entrees are again what you may expect - yes, fish & chips, lobster rolls, steamed lobster dinner, lobster ravioli, lobster risotto, crab cake entree crab crusted haddock, bouillabaisse, seafood fra diavolo, even lobster thermidor!  

A second seafood section is the more simple dishes, the "Fresh Catch", where you select a seafood, and two sides of your choice, rather than composed dishes like the rest of the entrees.  Here you have a nice lineup: halibut, swordfish, tuna, haddock, salmon, and even a whole branzino.  Each is prepared slightly differently, with the details given, e.g. halibut is pan-roasted and has an herb crust, swordfish is grilled and has a citrus marinade and salsa verde, tuna is seared, etc.  With these, you have your pick of any two sides from the fairly lengthy side menu.

The sides lineup is full of heavy hitters: fries, mashed potatoes, and potato gratin for those who need their potatoes, fancy mushrooms, corn pudding, rainbow chard, and asparagus for those who want an interesting veggie, and spinach or broccoli for the real simple green veg.  When purchased individually, the sides range from $9 for most of the simple veggies (spinach, broccoli, swiss chard) and simple potatoes (mashed, fried), to $11 for more interesting veggies (mushrooms, asparagus, corn pudding), to the most expensive, potato gratin, at $12.

Non-seafood eaters do have a couple options ... a single steak, game hen, and pork chop round out the menu.  No vegetarian entrees.  This really is a place for seafood.

On the sweets front, Atlantic Fish also puts up a nice lineup: cheesecake, key lime pie, creme brulee, tableside baked Alaska, and classic Boston cream pie.

I was interested in nearly all the seafood, from the apps to the mains, most of the sides, and the desserts.  However, I kept it reasonable, and just ordered the haddock I so desperately was craving, along with my top pick of sides.

I ordered my delivery on DoorDash, which was quite easy and customizable.

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• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
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• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Overall ... there were some highlights, but, they weren't what I was expecting.  I'd still consider ordering from Atlantic Fish again, to try the crab cakes this time (and maybe a dessert ...).

Bread & Butter (Complimentary).

I was surprised to find a second package in my takeout bag, not with cutlery as I had thought it would be (none was included, luckily I had some in my hotel room), but rather, a fairly sizable half loaf of bread and butter.  

I'm not usually one to fill up on bread, but, this actually was really quite good.  Lovely crust to it, good chew, nice flavor.  I consumed nearly all of it ... and it really was a large (half) loaf.  Thank you Atlantic Fish for including this with takeout!  I wonder if this is the same bread they use for the bread bowls for the chowder?  The size and shape would make sense for that.

I later read reviews online, and saw that yes, this bread gets everyone's accolades.  I am not alone in thinking this was definitely above average bread, ****.  The highlight of my meal, truly.

Fresh Catch: Haddock $32 at the restaurant, $35 DoorDash.
Asparagus, Corn Pudding.

"Broiled, scampi butter."

Haddock.  For those who live in the northeast, and everyday fish.  For me, now living on the west coast, a treat.  We never have haddock.  I was so excited for it.  The haddock comes broiled, with scampi butter (and a lemon to squeeze over).  

I was pretty thrilled when I opened the container.  The portion of haddock was generous.  It looked to have some light herbs on top, although I didn't see anything I'd identify as "scampi butter".  I quickly dug in, pushing aside the comically large parsley garnish.

And ... well, I didn't care for it.  The taste was just ... odd.  I can't describe it.  It wasn't fishy, it didn't taste not fresh or anything, but it had such an odd taste to it.  It must have been the "scampi butter" that I wasn't liking?  That said, it truly didn't seem buttery at all, I didn't really taste shrimp/prawn, and it did have what seemed like a light gremolata on it.  I sorta wondered if the preparation was different than advertised?  The fish was nicely cooked, moist, and I tried to squeeze lemon over it, I tried to add my own leftover tartar sauce, but I just couldn't get past the odd taste.  It really, really let me down.  *+.

For my sides, it was a bit hard to narrow down, as I wanted to try their potato gratin, definitely wanted the corn pudding, and was really craving asparagus.  Corn pudding was my top choice, so, deciding to not go for two decadent sides at once, I opted for the asparagus over the potato gratin.

The asparagus looked great, although, a laughably small portion of only 4 spears.  They were large, juicy spears, nicely grilled.  But ... the asparagus was extremely over cooked, soft, mushy.  Entirely without seasoning.  It desperately needed salt and pepper to liven it up (and a drizzle of the lemon).  So, mushy and under-seasoned, not really a winning side dish.  **.

The corn pudding was the star though.  It was nicely crispy on top, moist and a bit souffle-like inside, with whole kernels of corn.  A loose style, as you can see the corn spilling out, not as cornbread or stuffing like as other versions I've had (like the incredible version at Truth BBQ in Houston), but more firm than the very loose creamed corn version I had at STK last month.  I enjoyed this dish, but it too didn't really have much seasoning.   I'd get it again if in the mood.  ***+.