Go Fish

»TOURIST TRAP IN A TOURIST TOWN?

I recently dined at "Go Fish" for the first time, and as first impressions go, I will not be back. As a life-long resident of the area, I have for a decade or so, heard mixed reviews, and if it had not been for my wife's urging, I would likely have never been inspired enough to end up there.
The first thing that struck me was the remarkably dated decor- few New England restaurants were bold...+READ I recently dined at "Go Fish" for the first time, and as first impressions go, I will not be back. As a life-long resident of the area, I have for a decade or so, heard mixed reviews, and if it had not been for my wife's urging, I would likely have never been inspired enough to end up there.
The first thing that struck me was the remarkably dated decor- few New England restaurants were bold enough to do 90's interiors, and fewer have been bold enough to retain them- I can look past that, as "retro" or simply campy. Less forgivable however is the sense that you are in a dining hall with a bar dropped int he middle. The volume of the space is vast and uncomfortable. The service was really neither fish nor fowl- It was hardly impressive but also inoffensive (a feat in itself). Let's call this benign service, it was efficient, but lackluster. The food was, offensive. I will mention my main course because I think it best summarizes the experience- An Ahi Tuna "Special", which after discussing with the waiter, ordered rare, as such a dish should be consumed- what I received was seared, but when I cut into it the interior was not the bright color one would expect, but a softer pink, that suggested it was not a sushi grade tuna (a surprise at a restaurant known for sushi). Had I not been with my wife's parent's I would have sent the dish back, but I chose to simply eat my dinner, and call it a lost dining experience- because if you cannot offer a good piece of tuna, seared, I had little faith in the kitchen's abilities to conquer more complex preparations (which says little because any cook should be able to sear). The Tuna was tough, with fatty deposits and connective tissue. My father-in-law had ordered "Bombsters Scallops", which the menu suggested was a special type of Scallop- again, I believe, a bait and switch like my meal. Bombsters is a seafood distributor located in Stonington, better known as Stonington Seafood Harvesters. The company offers local sea scallops, which are usually in excess of 1.25" across and have the reputation as the sweetest most wonderful scallop in the area. What my father in law received was smaller, and less flavorful- likely a non-local scallop that Bombster sells (they distribute local and not so). Why put the Bombster name on it? Maybe this was the only thing pretentious they could think of assigning to a ho-hum run of the mill sea scallop. They could not say local or Stonington, because this was likely not the case. All together a very disappointing meal, with pretenses of fine dining in a peculiar atmosphere.-COLLAPSE (by Localculinariat, created December 7, 2009)