Black Bass Grill - South Dartmouth, MA

I had found an advertisement for Black Bass Grille in TheStandard Times a few weeks ago.  The ad described this restaurant as Elegant and Simple – Fresh and Local.  It also said “mention this add and receive a FREE cup of chowder”.  I clipped the ad so I would remember to check out this place at some point (and remember to order the free chowder).  That’s exactly what we did on September 21^st.  We didn’t have any specific restaurant in mind so I started flipping through my collection of coupons, ads, and notes and found the ad for BlackBass Grill that I had cut out.  We headed toward Padanaram Village in South Dartmouth until we reached 3 Water Street (which happened to be just after the Padanaram Bridge). 

We located the restaurant but had to drive around the block to find the parking lot.  As we walked up to the restaurant I noticed lots of outdoor seating, which I imagined would be packed with guests during the summer season.  Since the weather was a bit cool, they had an outdoor heater in the event that you wanted to be seated outdoors to enjoy the night air.  There was one couple seated outdoors enjoying a cocktail.

Considering the restaurant was relatively small, with only a dozen tables and a bar equipped with seating for eight, we did not have to wait for a table.  The waitress arrived promptly to take our drink order and gave us plenty of time to look over our menus. 

We started by ordering our “free” chowder (menu price was $3.50) and a dinner salad with blue cheese dressing ($2.50).  I ordered the Padanaram Bouillabaisse ($21) and my husband ordered a Philly Cheese Steak Pizza ($12.50). 

The chowder and salad arrived and we were also brought a basket of warm ciabatta bread.  The chowder was not thick and creamy, but rather more of a broth based chowder.  I had a spoonful and could taste a hint of bacon flavor.  It wasn’t the best chowder I have tasted, but my husband enjoyed it. (He added crushed oyster crackers to thicken it up.)

The bouillabaisse was described to have a spicy Portuguese broth but I didn’t find it very spicy. Most of the flavor came from the capers, green olives, tomatoes, onions and garlic that were included rather than from any Portuguese seasoning. I didn’t think this was a bad flavor, but it just wasn’t the flavor I was expecting. What I did enjoy about my dish was the fresh taste of the scallops, mussels and haddock that sat on top of the angel hair pasta.  I also enjoyed the salty taste of the green olives.

 

My husband’s pizza was an individual sized, thin crust, brick oven pizza loaded with lots of American and Mozzarella cheese.  Since this was a Philly Cheese Steak Pizza, there wasn’t any traditional pizza sauce so it didn’t have that typically pizza flavor. Instead, it had a white sauce and sautéed peppers. The bite that I took seemed to have almost too much cheese (if there is such a thing).  He ate half of his pizza and took the other half home. 

 

While we waited for our meals to arrive, I had the chance to really look around the restaurant. The décor, including the white trim, gave the restaurant a beachy feel, which is perfect for the area in which it is located.  The majority of the patrons appeared to be local regulars, especially those that were seated at the bar.  Everyone seemed to know everyone else and by the time we left, the bar was very crowded with standing room only.

Overall, I enjoyed the Black Bass Grille but my husband didn’t think that there were many choices on the menu that appealed to him so we will probably not be rushing back.  Our total bill was $54.57 including the tax.