Captain's Place - Acushnet, MA

We were heading out to dinner a bit earlier than usual and arrived at Captain’s Place (162 South Main Street, Acushnet) around 5:30 p.m. We have been to this restaurant before and have oftentimes had to wait for a table.  We were pleased that there were several tables available when we arrived and we were seated immediately.  We apparently timed it just right because the tables filled up quickly and 20 minutes later, the restaurant was full, with a wait at the door.

A full restaurant usually means that the food is good and, having been to Captain’s Place before, we were expecting a decent meal. 

 

When the waitress arrived, I ordered a Malibu and Diet Coke, my husband ordered a 7&7 and we looked over the menu and the décor of the restaurant.

 

Captain’s Place was completely decked out for Christmas with garland draped over everything possible. Every wall hanging was wrapped in Christmas paper and some were ornamented with a big red bow!  There were silver glittery ornaments hanging from the ceiling and more than two dozen holiday ornaments hanging above the bar.  While it is the Holiday season, they may have gone a bit far with the decorations!  Decorations aside, the décor in this relatively small restaurant is simple with a half wall separating the bar and the dining area.  One wall has a couple of fish tanks with tables right beside them making for a unique view while you’re dining.



There were several specials written on the board, most of which I had no idea what they could possibly be.  Among the specials were Polvo à Lagaruro ($17.95) and Arroz dePolvao c/Camarao ($13.95). (A Google search told me that the Polvo à Lagareiro is octopus cooked with potatoes and drizzled with olive oil and garlic and the Arroz dePolvao c/Camarao is Octopus Rice with Prawns.)

Since I cannot read Portuguese, I am glad that the menu is written in English and each item is complete with a description of the dish.  After looking over the menu and the specials, I decided to order the Captain’s Casserole ($16.99) and my husband decided on the Cacoila Plate ($9.99).



Captain's Casserole

The Captain’s Casserole was a pan filled with shrimp, scallops, swordfish, linguica, littlenecks and red bliss potatoes cooked in a Portuguese broth.  The Cacoila plate was marinated pork served with a choice of two sides.  My husband chose fries and rice as his sides.  Other options for sides were Portuguese round fries, boiled potatoes or mixed vegetables.



We were brought a basked of bread that included both hard and soft Portuguese rolls but the table did not have bread plates.  The crumbs from the hard rolls left a bit of a mess on the paper placemats!

The moment our meals arrived at our table, I could not help but smell a strong fish odor from my dish.  While I know that swordfish can have a strong smell, something told me that this was a bit too strong.  I spooned out the three large pieces of swordfish from the pan and placed them on my plate to inspect.  One of the three pieces looked okay but the other two pieces were very fatty and did not smell or appear fresh (I tossed those into the bowl that was brought for my clamshells).  This was a major disappointment to me since the fish had been sitting in the broth with the rest of my seafood. I feared that the rest of my meal would be ruined. I spooned some of the other items from the pan and luckily, everything else was good. 



Cacoila Plate

My husband’s cacoila was not disappointing.  There was probably a half-pound of marinated pork on his plate, with equal amounts of rice and fries, sitting atop a rustic stoneware plate.  I took a bite of this pork and it tasted as good as it looked.

When the waitress arrived to take our plates and wrap them for leftovers, my husband made a comment to her about my swordfish.  He told her that the fish did not appear to be fresh and had an “off” odor.  We merely received an apology.

While I was somewhat disappointed with my meal this week, I will give Captain’s Place another chance because we have been there in the past and this is the first time we have had a less than great meal.  The total bill for the evening was a reasonable $44.07 with tax.