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Serving: Sunday-Thursday, Lunch — 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Dinner 5-10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, Lunch — 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; Dinner — 4-11 p.m. Cuisine: American Entrees (dinner): $12.95-$22.95 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 8/10
OG: Firefly is divided into three sections: two for dining and one for the bar. One dining section is open and bright with large windows facing the street; the other is closed, but casually elegant with its brick walls, curved booths and linen tablecloths. The walls that are painted are done in comfortable earthy hues. I found the restaurant to be comfortable, but loud. 4
The Dining Companion: Firefly has two entrances, one on Concord Street and the other on the side of the building with a parking lot they share with the Franco-American Centre. We were seated at a large, horseshoe-shaped table, which gave us and the guest we had with us that evening plenty of room. It was a bit loud, but I only had to ask twice what was being said. OG tells me I’m going deaf anyway. 4
Appetizer 17.5/20
OG: I started my dinner with a seared ahi appetizer ($11.95), yellowfin tuna dusted with togarashi spice, a slightly spicy Asian seven-spice mix. The tuna is served quite rare with seaweed on the side. It was cooked perfectly, which is to say, nicely seared on the outside and almost rare inside. Seared tuna in any of several preparations is one of my favorite dishes and Firefly does its version well — a nice clean taste and well seasoned. 8.5
TDC: I decided to try the fire-roasted scallop appetizer ($11.95), scallops in a vol au vent, which is another name for wrapped in a puff pastry shell. It was served with a chipotle lobster sauce, which was light and very tasty. If in the mood for scallops next time, I would order this again, but a couple of the other apps sounded interesting too. 9
Entree 17.5/20
OG: The menu is split into Land, Sea and Classics. I opted to order from the Sea portion of the menu: Pan-seared scallops ($19.95). These were a lovely and delicious surprise, the big juicy scallops cooked perfectly with applewood smoked bacon and served with wilted spinach and roasted garlic cream. The delicate flavor of the scallops with the savory bacon and pungent garlic blended wonderfully. Accompanied by the slightly nutty Jasmine rice, this dish is a winner. 9
TDC: I decided to see how this place could do with a piece of meat, so I decided to try the 10-ounce prime rib ($17.95). It was served with a side of crisp broccoli and smashed potatoes. The prime rib was medium rare as I ordered and it was delicious. The broccoli was well prepared, but the smashed potatoes were cold and not as tasty as I hoped, ruining a chance at a higher score. 8.5
Dessert 16/20
OG: My ultimate chocolate cake ($5.95) was chocolate-y, but was a bit of a disappointment after the delectable dishes that preceded it. It was only average; not bad, just not noteworthy. 8
TDC: Their desert choices that evening seemed somewhat limited, so I went for the carrot cake ($5.95), which I doubt was baked on site, but was a nice, moist and flavorful cake. 8.5
Service 9.5/10
OG: We went to Firefly on a Friday night and the place was hopping. Still our waitress managed to provide good service, quickly replacing a bad glass of wine and serving everything in a timely manner and with good grace. 5
TDC: We had a couple of hiccups; there were no bread plates and the tap water was undrinkable with a metallic taste to it, but our server, Vee, took good care of us and had the answers when asked a question about the dishes and the restaurant. 4.5
Value 16/20
OG: The restaurant scene in Manchester has been steadily growing and there are plenty of places to be found in this price range, so Firefly’s prices are certainly acceptable, if in the upper range. With good service and good food added in, I’d say the value is above average. 8
TDC: Nice to see another place opening up in downtown Manchester during these tough financial times. The prices may be all over the place, but we had a fairly good meal for about what we would have expected. We will probably put this place on our will-visit-again-at-some-point list. 8
Total Score: 85/100
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