Inner Bay Cafe and Grille - New Bedford, MA

We have never had to wait for a table when arriving at the Inner Bay (1339 Cove Road, New Bedford) and tonight was no exception.  We arrived just after 6:30 p.m. and were seated immediately at a table in a secluded corner of the main dining area.  The main dining room is not very large but has comfortable seating with five booths along the windows and approximately ten tables in the center of the room.  The table settings are elegant with blue linen table cloths underneath glass tops and white linen napkins sitting inside the water glasses. 

Once seated, we were brought a basket of bread and had our water glasses filled by the busboy. Our waitress arrived soon after to take our drink orders and to tell us the specials that were being offered for the evening.  There was a long list of specials including Paelha a Valencia (saffron rice with lobster, shrimp, scallops, littlenecks, mussels, chicken, pork and cacoila) for $22, Codfish with “Broa” for $16, Peppercorn Encrusted Tuna for $16, Fried or Grilled Seabass for $16, Picanha for $16, and Tuna, Monkfish or Steak Kabobs for $17.  I seriously considered ordering the Paelha but had been thinking of the Bife a Acoriano since we had decided to go to the Inner Bay.  I stuck with my original plan and ordered the Bife (10 ounce seared ribeye steak simmered in a spicy gravy with red hot peppers and a fried egg).  I have had this entrée at Inner Bay before and consider it a value at only $13. 

 

My husband ordered Baked Stuffed Scrod (also reasonably priced at $14).  This entrée is described as a Fresh New England Cod fillet over stuffing, baked and topped with choice of Creole or Newburg sauce.  He chose the Creole sauce, which is a blend of onions, peppers, garlic and tomatoes with Creole seasoning.



Dinner Salad

Both entrees were served with a choice of soup or salad.  I chose the Kale Soup and my husband chose a salad with French dressing. The soup and salad arrived relatively quickly. I took my first bite of the soup and although it had a nice flavor, it was not very hot. 



Kale Soup

After finishing our soup and salad, I walked over to the seafood display that was in the dining room. I asked the waitress about this and she said that it was all very fresh seafood that they would use to prepare the meals.  It was all sitting on ice presented with a large squid draped over the entire presentation.  Personally, I thought it looked a bit creepy, with the squids eyes staring at me!  My first thought was that I was glad to have ordered a beef dish.



Bife a Acoriano

After receiving our entrees, I was not disappointed.  The Bife a Acoriano was as delicious as I remembered it.  The sauce had just the right amount of spice and it was loaded with fresh pieces of garlic, which I love.  My meal was served with rice, fries, and steamed vegetables. 



Baked Stuffed Scrod

The Baked Stuffed Scrod that my husband ordered was also delicious. The scrod was on top of boiled potatoes but he did not have any additional sides with his meal.  Since I would never be able to eat all of the food that I was given, I shared my sides with him.  While both meals were delicious in taste, again, they were not exceptionally hot. 

Fresh Seafood Display (draped with a squid)

 


Aside from the temperature of the meals, there are no complaints from me about the Inner Bay Café and Grille.  We have been there before and we will definitely be going there again (and hopefully won’t have a large squid staring at us).

 

The total bill, which included our drinks, was a reasonable $41 including tax. 

The Candleworks Restaurant - New Bedford, MA

The Candleworks Restaurant, located at 72 North Water Street in New Bedford, will occasionally post coupons on their website and for January, the coupon is “purchase one entrée and receive one entrée free”.  (I found about this coupon from one of their Facebook posts.)  The Candleworks can be a bit on the pricey side so we don’t often dine there unless we have a coupon or a special occasion (it is known to be very romantic).

 

When we arrived we could hear live piano music playing in the dining room and when asked about our preference for seating (in the dining room with the high-back chairs or in the sun-room) we opted for the dining room so we could enjoy the piano music.  The restaurant was not very crowded so we did not have to wait to be seated.

The table was adorned with cranberry and white linens and an oil-lamp votive was included to add ambiance. The high-back chairs, although appearing to be a bit worn, were very comfortable and made it easy to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.  The dining area where we were seated featured rustic stone walls and exposed beams and there was a rather large bar set to one side of the room. 

Our waiter arrived almost immediately after we were seated, poured water into our glasses, and took our drink order.  After reviewing the menu, there were a few entrees that my husband was considering (the Filet Mignon for $24 or the Baked Scrod for $17) but I immediately decided on the Cast Iron Bleu Sirloin for $25.  Since my husband’s entrée was going to be free with the coupon, he splurged and ordered the Filet Mignon, which was described as a 10-ounce char-grilled tenderloin with roasted garlic and béarnaise sauce.  The Cast Iron Bleu Sirloin that I ordered was a described as a 14-ounce cast iron seared sirloin roasted with red onion and bleu cheese. Each entrée included a side salad and we chose our dressings as bleu cheese and French.

We were brought a basket of sliced bread with dipping oil to enjoy until our salads arrived and when our salads did arrive, as a nice touch, the waiter offered fresh ground pepper.



Cast Iron Bleu Sirloin

When the waiter brought us our entrees, I immediately thought that there was no way my sirloin was 14 ounces – perhaps it was seven or eight at most.  I also looked at the green beans that were on my plate thinking that they didn’t even have a touch of butter or oil for flavoring.  While I am all about healthy, the green beans, while fresh, were very bland and could have used at least a bit of seasoning for flavor.  The roasted red bliss potatoes looked to be the highlight of the plate.

Filet Mignon

I cut into my steak, while small, was expecting it to be outstanding and was somewhat disappointed.  There wasn’t anything spectacular about this $25 sirloin and I recall thinking I could get a better steak for much less money at a different restaurant.  I thought my husband’s Filet Mignon must at least be delicious so I tried a bite, dipping it into the béarnaise sauce that was on the side (not on top as I would have expected).  His filet was okay (again, nothing outstanding) but I did not enjoy the sauce at all.  While béarnaise sauce can sometimes be made with a touch of lemon, all I could taste in this sauce was lemon and it did not make a pleasant accompaniment to the filet. 

Given the ambiance of the restaurant and the higher price of the meals, I was disappointed with both entrees.  I was glad that I had the coupon and was not paying full price.

 

When the waiter arrived with our check I gave him the coupon and he deducted the price of my husband’s entrée.  The total bill, including a second drink (at the odd price of $6.31 each) for me and excluding the $24 filet, came to $47.01 including tax.  We tipped our very attentive waiter on the full amount of the bill prior to the discount.  In addition, we added a few dollars into the jar sitting on top of the piano for the pianist that was providing entertainment for the evening.

Based on this experience at The Candleworks Restaurant I will not be returning anytime soon and if I did return, I would be sure to find a coupon since I did not feel that the meal was worth the price on the menu.

 

The Fireside Grille & Spirits - Middleboro, MA

I met some friends at The Fireside Grille & Spirits in Middleboro a few weeks ago and had a delicious meal (Braised Short Ribs) so my husband and I thought we would give it another try.  We arrived at 7:30 p.m., which is a bit later than we usually eat dinner on a Friday night, and the restaurant was very crowded.  Fortunately they still had a booth available for us so we didn’t have to wait. I was glad of that since I was starving and couldn’t wait to eat.  I had been thinking about their delicious warm bread with honey butter since we made the decision to go to The Fireside Grille so I’m sure that contributed to my hunger.

 

The Fireside Grille is a relatively large restaurant with many different seating areas.  In addition, they have a function room available and a bar that offers entertainment on weekends. We were seated in the main dining room in a booth along the inside wall.  Looking around, there weren’t many other tables or booth’s available so I think we were lucky to get a table right away.

Once we were seated, the waitress arrived to take our drink order. I was even too hunger to order a drink so I just ordered iced water with lemon.  My husband ordered a 7&7 ($5.50) and we looked over the menu while we were waiting for our beverages.

While I was tempted to get the Braised Short Ribs again, I wanted to try something a bit different and went for the Chicken Marsala ($18.99).  There are a few entrees notated with a star on the menu indicating that it is one of their specialties and this was one of them.  The Chicken Marsala is described as sautéed chicken tenders tossed with mushrooms, shallots and prosciutto in a Marsala wine sauce served over spinach and wild mushroom ravioli.

When I ordered my meal, the waitress was able to up-sell me a dinner salad for an additional $3.00.  I originally declined but my hunger took over during that decision!  I ordered my salad with bleu cheese dressing.

There were several entrée salads on the menu including a Buffalo Chicken Salad ($11.99) that my husband chose. This salad had fried buffalo tenders served with applewood smoked bacon, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, Monterey jack and cheddar cheeses, mixed greens and bleu cheese dressing.  My husband decided to substitute Thousand Island dressing for the bleu cheese dressing. In addition to the salad, my husband ordered a side of Sweet Potato Fries for $2.99.

Warm Bread with Honey Butter

Our beverages arrived along with the delicious bread I spoke about.  I immediately cut a slice from the warm loaf and spread some of the whipped honey butter on top.  Delicious!

My husband took a sip of his Long Island Iced Tea!  Nope, that’s not a mistake…he was actually brought the wrong drink!  The mix-up was discovered by the waitress (when another waitress was looking for that drink at the bar) and they were going to exchange his drink for the 7&7 that he ordered. Since he was enjoying the drink he was brought, he told the waitress that he would keep it.  A little while later the waitress brought the 7&7 that was still sitting at the bar.  She said that they were only going to dump the drink so she figured she would give it to him. Since the ice was melting, she also brought him a glass of “rocks” to refresh it with. (I wouldn’t hold this mix-up against them since they charged him only for the 7&7 and brought him the extra drink anyway.)

Dinner Salad with Bleu Cheese Dressing

My dinner salad arrived and it was an average dinner salad, just as I expected but it did come with about three times more dressing that I needed. The salad helped to stave off the hunger pangs until my meal arrived (the bread didn’t hurt, either).

Chicken Marsala

Luckily it did not take very long for our meals to arrive and the plate of Chicken Marsala that was put in front of me looked amazing.  Along with my meal I was brought a side of parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.  (I think they could make a slight improvement with this and offer freshly grated parmesan instead.)

 



Buffalo Chicken Salad

The Buffalo Chicken Salad was also nicely presented and it was in a rather unique bowl, which added to the presentation.  The side of Sweet Potato Fries was rather small, but I wasn’t expecting much for the price.

The Chicken Marsala had a generous number of chicken tenders and was loaded with mushrooms and Marsala sauce. The batter on the chicken was almost not necessary since the sauce made the chicken a bit soggy.  Regardless, it tasted great.  I would say, though, that my favorite part of my meal was the wild mushroom ravioli’s that were served with it.  There was a nice, earthy flavor to the ravioli.  This, paired with the mushrooms, was outstanding!

I was enjoying my meal so much that I never even tried my husband’s buffalo chicken or his sweet potato fries. Taking his word for it, it was good.

Neither of us could finish our meals so we wrapped up our leftovers to bring home. The waitress that we had was very attentive and even asked my husband if he wanted some additional salad dressing to take home with his leftovers. 

Our total bill was $45.45 with tax and we were asked by our waitress if we were a member of their Loyalty Program.  We weren’t, so she explained the program to us.  Basically, you receive a rewards card pre-loaded with $5.00 on it and receive rewards for every dollar spent (100 points earns an additional $5.00), with additional rewards ($10.00) loaded on your birthday.  I love receiving rewards (and getting discounts on meals) so of course I accepted the card.  I just needed to register the card on-line and I was good to go!  (The rewards card is also good at Barrett’s Alehouse which means we’ll need to head there sometime soon).  Once I registered my card I saw the $5.00 rewards and the 45 points earned during this visit. 

Overall, we had a great evening and great meal at The Fireside Grille.