We visited this restaurant in NJ during a business lunch, and it was such a nice surprise! First of all, I love seafood, so I was excited to go to a seafood restaurant. Second, they had high reviews, so that got me even more excited, that maybe this would be a great place… As we walked in, there was a hostess station, and a narrow walkway into the dining area. The hostess was really nice, and a waiter came right away to take us to our table.
To the right of the hostess station along the narrow walkway was their refrigerated room, clean and bright. This room was holding fish and shellfish, including live lobsters.
Right behind the refrigerated room was their open kitchen. I always like restaurants with open kitchen. It is fun to see them in action, and I think it makes them more honest if the customers are watching them. Anyways, their kitchen was a good size, really large, maybe almost the half the restaurant. In front of the kitchen was a long counter seating, if you really want to get close to the kitchen action.
There are few high table seating behind the counter seating, but after passing the kitchen and counter, the space opens up a bit. Here, the tables are low (or regular height). They have exposed brick on one wall, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere. It also had heavy use of wood and exposed duct work, adding a bit industrial and modern look.
And, it didn’t end here. They have a nice, large, outdoor wood deck patio! We didn’t sit outside, but it is nice to have the option. They had good space, enough to entertain a good amount of crowd.
They offer Lunch Prix Fixe Lunch, either 1 course ($14) or 2 courses ($22) that comes with dessert. One of my colleague ordered the 2 courses one, and went with Octopus & Shrimp Salad for her first course. It came with artichoke, olives, capers, roasted peppers, and citrus dressing. She was nice enough to share, so I got to try it. It was really nice, plump octopus with nice firm texture without being chewy, and all the veggies were very fresh. I really liked the citrus dressing, making it refreshing and went great with the octopus. a great beginning, I was starting to raise my expectations…
She chose Steamed Mussels & French Fries as her second (main) course. It had a choice of provoncal or coconut, and she went with provoncal, which is cooked with garlic, tomato, jalapeno, herbs, and white wine. It was a big size with generous amount of large mussels, she was overjoyed! It had pleasant aroma, and she seemed to enjoy it. She is another foodie like me, so I know it was good if she liked it.
The French Fries came in a silver cone, and had good amount in it too. They were soft and potato-y, right amount of seasoning. It was crisp on the outside, and not greasy. Always good have nice fries or chips to accompany steamed mussels.
So, the 2 course Prix Fixe comes with a complimentary dessert. They had a choice of chocolate or coconut pudding, and she went with coconut. It had nice layer of white cream and custard, with whipped cream and shaved coconut on top. The subtle flavor of coconut was present in the white cream part under the custard part. The custard part tasted like sweetened condensed milk. Needless to say, it was super sweet. I mean, really, REALLY sweet. My colleague and I shared it, but we couldn’t finish the small pudding, as it was just so overly sweet. Did I mention it was sweet?
Moving on… I ordered from their special menu of the day, Sautéed Black Sea Bass ($30), which comes with shrimp cous cous, corn & leek, roasted tomato, and lobster froth. The price is a bit steep, but then the portion was huge! It was much, much bigger than I expected, which was a great surprise. It had perfectly cooked Sea Bass, great flavor, moist and yet flaky. The cous couse and the rest was wonderful as well. Even though there are many ingredients mashed into one dish, they all worked really well together, enhancing the flavor of the fish. Every bite was a pleasure. Really, really enjoyed this!
Another one of my colleague also ordered from the special menu of the day, and he chose Flounder Française ($28). This one comes with green beans, confit tomato, and caper butter sauce. To our surprise, this dish was even bigger. It came with TWO huge fillets! Knowing that he was not going to eat them all by him self, he gave me one of the fillet (to take home). It was packed with flavor, flaky and juicy fish, and the veggies were really tasty too. The flavor of the caper butter sauce was perfect with the fish, it brought the dish to the next level. They know how to do seafood well!!!
We ended our lovely lunch with cappuccino ($3.75), and they had foam hears to warm up our tummy and hearts.
Our waiter was really nice and friendly, and it seemed like he was the ONLY waiter during this lunch time. The service was a bit slow because of it, but he did the best he could, so it was not bad at all. Rather, we had nice, relaxing lunch. If you are looking for a tasty seafood with generous portion in NJ, look no further…this place is awesome! I would love to go back again for more great seafood!
Boulevard Seafood Company – 49 W Main St, Somerville, NJ 08876