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Serving: Monday-Thursday, 4:30-9:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 4:30-10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 4-8 p.m. Cuisine: Eclectic seafood Prices: Entrees, $19-28 Scoring: Our Gourmet and The Dining Companion each grade a restaurant in six categories, for a combined total score of up to 100 points. Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
Ambiance 9/10
OG: Hip. Hip. Hip. That’s the first impression when entering Commercial Street Fishery. The clean lines and funky mill chic are the first thing you notice when you enter — and it’s a pleasing sensation. 4
The Dining Companion: Commercial Street Fishery is located across the street from WMUR, and just down the street from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats baseball stadium. It has that nice converted mill feeling with a partially open kitchen that you can watch chefs do their thing. 5
Appetizer 18/20
OG: Dining with TDC is something of a competitive process. Since we must each order different meals, it becomes a complex dance of who will order exactly the right meal and who won’t — generally one of us fares better than the other. On this night it was TDC, although I suspect his tactic of letting me decide what I would order first was really a diabolical psychological labyrinth in which he ended up ahead.
I got the lump crab cake ($12), which was actually two crab cakes with a sort of papaya, arugula and prosciutto salad and an artfully drizzled bit of orange vanilla bean yogurt. The crab cakes were good, but unexceptional. The arugula/papaya/prosciutto mix was tasty. Overall it was respectable, and while I rated it on its own merit, TDC’s appetizer — which I originally planned to order — blew it out of the water, so to speak. 8
TDC: As my homage to their neighbors the Fisher Cats, my appetizer was a home run. I ordered one of the specials — tuna sashimi served with tempura battered lobster hash topped with a quail egg ($15). The tuna was as good and fresh as any I have had in any sushi restaurant. What made this was the crisp lobster hash. The lightness of the tempura batter and freshness of the small lobster pieces made this appetizer my favorite of the year and so far my only 10.
Entree 17.5/20
OG: Since we had company coming in a couple of days and planned to eat out no less than four more times in the coming week, I passed up the evening special of skate wings (TDC ordered them) and opted for the more simply prepared grilled Atlantic Salmon ($26). The salmon was nicely grilled and fairly flavorful, but the best part of the dish was the lobster-chive mashed potatoes. They were to die for. 8
TDC: Again I ordered off the special board and was glad I did. I chose the “local” skate served with a bok choy and fennel medley with lobster rice hush puppies ($25). I had never had the opportunity to try skate before. This one was lightly breaded with a scallop-like taste that melted on the tongue. The bok choy and fennel medley was light and tasty with a light licorice flavor present. 9.5
Dessert 18/20
OG: Double espresso crème brûlée ($6). Creamy and thick with a less sweet flavor then one usually finds with crème brûlée, this one was a tasty end to the meal. 9
TDC: I went with the ginger pear cheese cake and it was delicious. This was a New York-style creamy cheesecake with chunks of pear throughout, making for a nice marriage of fruit and cream cheese. 9
Service 6.5/10
OG: Our server Stephanie was a pleasure. Personable and competent, she enhanced our dining experience. 5
TDC: Here is where I had an issue — and it had nothing to do with Stephanie. She did an outstanding job taking care of us, so thank you, Stephanie. My gripe happened before we even met her.
We arrived at about 5:15 p.m. on a Saturday. The hostess took us to a booth between the front door and the kitchen door and I asked that we be seated at one of the open seven booths on the opposite wall. The hostess went back and started explaining to another waiter our preference. I heard him say, “those are all spoken for, I’ll take care of this,” and he took us to a worse location — a very small table in the middle of the room about 10 inches from another couple, ignoring our request for a booth.
OG: At this point we didn’t say another word to the hostess and TDC and I started bickering over the matter. Apologies to our neighbor diners.
TDC: When we finished our meal, some of those booths still had no diners. Buddy, you started our fine dining experience off as a downer, so here is my downer score to go with it. 1.5
Value 15/20
OG: The Commercial Street Fishery is pricier than a lot of options in the city, but not out of line for the type of restaurant it is. The atmosphere is nice, the service is good and food is above average to excellent. An above average value. 7.5
TDC: The Commercial Street Fishery is another one of those great places to go to dinner in order to impress the girl or her parents. It is also a great place for a small get-together dinner especially if you are a fish lover. 7.5
Total: 84/100
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