F.I.S.H. in Port Chester

Last weekend, four of us had dinner at F.I.S.H. in Port Chester. The photo in the Sunday Westchester section of the NY Times (May 27) looked so enticing. We wanted to be those people, sitting on the deck, sipping cocktails, feasting on shrimp, and watching the boats go by in the harbor. And surprisingly, I was able to get a reservation for the same night.

So the question is, how was the food, service, and ambiance compared to the "very good" review penned by M. H. Reed? The drive to get there was definitely, as M.H. suggested, "daunting." The road ahead twisted and turned, going through an area of Westchester definitely off the beaten track. There are signs pointing in the right direction - so we just kept going, and ultimately arrived in a vacation-like setting, right on the water.

The service was friendly and attentive. We liked our waitress. She joked with us, and offered suggestions of the foods she liked.

We ordered appetizers. Our waitress suggested the spicy tuna flatbread, which M.H. had also recommended. We all liked this - a huge rectangular plate of very thin sushi-quality rare tuna sprinkled with wasabi and ginger - over what was called flatbread, but appeared and tasted much like matzoh! It was delicious and very filling. The calamari was okay, nothing special. To be daring, we ordered the grilled octopus with white beans and arugala salad, which the reviewer really liked. Us, not so much. The octopus was as we had feared -- we likened the experience to chewing fish flavored rubber bands. The white beans were nice, though.

By the end of appetizer time, we were actually kind of full. But we soldiered on.

I had the black bass en barigoule. I did not know what barigoule meant when I ordered this dish, but I can tell you now after having consulted a dictionary - it is some kind of French braised artichokes. The bass was very tender and flavorful and was served with artichokes (duh!), mussels, olives, and feta cheese. An interesting blend of flavors. One of our party ordered risotto, which although I didn't taste it, appeared to be kind of soupy. One of us ordered paella, and one ordered a shrimp dish. We ordered a side of fries, which were okay. Our fries were of the thick steak-fries variety. We coveted the ones at the next table, which seemed to be much skinnier and crisper fries. There weren't two kinds of fries on the menu, and we were confused.

We ended the meal with cappuccinos for all.