Sunday, September 7, 2008

Mitchell's Fish Market: Enh

Valet parking attracted us to the Capital Grill/Mitchell's Fish Market (MFM) area at the Stamford mall last night. All that rain, 4 people, and only one umbrella = we needed someone else to park our car. We skipped Capital Grille after our friend reported entrees were close to 50 bucks. We were with a party of 12, including a baby, and we got a spot at Mitchell's near the kitchen. It was actually fun to watch the chef shouting orders to keep food flowing to the almost-full resto. The staff was friendly and service pretty good.

However, let me tell you, I'm not OK paying 25 bucks for flavorless scallops. Rrrr. The 5 people who got crab cakes said they were good, but my food was beyond mediocre. I've been to MFM two other times.
--First time, OK salmon, really good pink lemonade martini.
--Second time, disgusting fried combo platter. Horrible.
--This time, a salad w/ not enough dressing, way too salty lobster bisque, and disappointing scallops. Sigh. My husband's filet mignon was insanely over cooked.

Sigh, sigh, sigh. Lots of money for bad food. Sigh, sigh. But we had a great time with our friends, and the baby was super happy, then fell asleep. Good baby.

Now that Ocean 211 is closed, where to go for seafood in Stamford? Saltwater Grille, I suppose.

It was our friend's 30th Bday, so Beamer's got proposed. I thought I might make it there for the first time ever- I'm dying to blog about it- but we decided that a strip club was not an appropriate place for a baby, and that by the time we got 10 people in cars and over to the club, it would be late, and some of us are going to a wedding tonight. Plus, I'll repeat, we only had one umbrella. My umbrella.

19 comments:

Greg said...

I went once with a co-worker. I wont be going back. The service was really bad. We had a new server, which is fine, everyone is new at some point, but they didn't have anyone shadowing him and he had no clue what he was talking about. I thought the food was mediocre at best, especially for the price.

irenesbooks said...

I went there once and was not impressed. I hate over-cooked fish!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's very um, broad-minded of you (honestly, no pun intended)to consider going to Beamers for your friend's birthday. I expect those places to be really depressing, unless they are way high-end, which I don't think Beamers is.

How awesome, though, would it have been to show up with a baby and freak out the other clientele.

Anonymous said...

I've had a similar couple of experiences at Mitchell's. Went to brunch today at Saltwater Grille, and had a bit of sticker shock once the check arrived: 2 bloody mary's 2 brunch buffets, $75! Glanced at the dinner menu on the way out and it seemed pretty pricey. Hope we get a good and reasoneably priced fish place in Stamford soon!

Anonymous said...

Aw, hell! Now is the time that I get up in arms! How dare they ban babies from Beamers! I mean what is wrong with people! Ha!

Anonymous said...

columbus park tratorria has some fantastic fish entrees..just a couple each day but boy the best I'm have in the tristate area NYC included.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I read this review. I received a coupon for Mitchell's in the mail and was tempted to pay a visit, but "Enh" is not worth it, even at a discount.

Kevin McKeever said...

Hmm -- My Love and I went to Mitchell's in late June. Can't remember what we had, but we both really enjoyed it and, even without the gift certificate we had, pricing wasn't bad. Maybe I just got a good night.

But why waste good money on a fried combo platter any where? Except maybe Red Lobster.

Columbus Park is usually excellent all around ... but outside of that I am stumped on the seafood question.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty disappointed with Mitchell's as well. Their $3 happy hour apps at the bar is really the only reaason to go, unless you enjoy mediocre service and inconsistent food prepartations.

Anonymous said...

Couple of great fish places in rowayton and westport

Spike and Roxy said...

This is where this blog particularly shines...I don't need to read some wordy, pretentious New York Times restaurant review with a bunch of words I probably won't understand. It can all be summed up with three letters: "Enh".

PS- Hideaway Cafe > Beamers

meg said...

thanks for saving me a trip ST.

Anonymous said...

the halibut was flavorless as well. I won't be giving Mitchell's anymore of my $$&!

Anonymous said...

Beamers has great seafood. I especailly enjoy the clam sauce.

hideaway is great if you are into fat hairy latinos.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of fish, is Harry O's still around?

Anonymous said...

Why leave Stamford for great seafood??? Napa & Co. has a friggin awesome scallop dish right now for lunch and they always have one or two seafood dishes on the dinner menu and it changes so frequently that you have like a dozen options in a 2-month window.

Anonymous said...

Just for the record, Beamers is a very good strip club. Hideaway is terrible and dirty and depressing.

Yes, there are more upscale strip clubs, but the quality of the women at Beamers is better than any i have seen, and I have been to clubs in vegas, NYC, and several other cities. It is surprisingly comfortable and usually the clients are businessmen and local 30 somethings, the crowd has money, so it is not a dangerous or sleazy crowd at all. It is not overpriced, and the bouncers have control of that place, I've never felt unsafe there, ever, that is rare for a club.

Stamford Talk said...

Cool, thanks for the scoop on Beamer's. I want to check that place out soon. What's a good time of day/week to go?

Anonymous said...

Food has actually gotten WAY better the past year. And who would order a fried combo?