If you read this blog at all, you know I'm a huge supporter of shopping and eating local. This is why I haven't eaten at a lot of the really popular chain restaurants. Recently Bonefish Grill approached me about their new menu and I initially wasn't interested. But after looking at the menu I was intrigued. It looked really good and many people I know like the restaurant so I decided to give it a try.
When we arrived the placed was PACKED! And it was a Thursday night. If all these people were there, it had to be decent, right? Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised. It's definitely not the same as eating at one of my favorite local establishments, but overall we enjoyed our meal. With a few tweaks, they could be excellent.
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We chose some cocktails - a dirty martini made with citron vodka and a watermelon martini made with cucumber vodka. Both were good. They froze the watermelon balls which is a great idea because it helped keep the drink cold. The only drawback is that the fruit tasted like frozen fruit then.
I was specifically looking for the menu items labeled "new" and a lot of them sounded delicious: cold snap fresh cerviche, lobster grilled cheese served with lobster bisque, and bowls filled with your choice of seafood, steak or fire roasted veggies. But one of the specials caught my eye - sockeye salmon lily style with goat cheese, spinach, artichoke hearts, and lemon basil sauce.
The salmon was wild caught, perfectly cooked and delicious. I loved the fresh spinach in the sauce. I never order salmon out because I'm so often disappointed so I was very happy I took a chance and ordered this dish.
I substituted the new crab fried rice for the jasmine rice for an additional $4. The first fried rice came out swimming in oil. I advised the server who initially stated "but it's healthy olive oil" but thankfully redeemed himself by bringing out a fresh serving that was grease free. It was a small portion but absolutely delicious. The seasonings were flavorful and I like the addition of tiny pieces of crab. I would love to eat this as an entree with larger and more plentiful pieces of crab.
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| This was some of the oil that my first fried rice was swimming in |
My hubby and I split the water melon salad. It was marred by lettuce that was not washed properly. There were lots of yucky pieces of lettuce throughout our salad and our friend's too. It's a shame because it was really good. This is another example of where attention to detail could have elevated this to an outstanding dish.
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Watermelon Salad
salsa verde mixed with arugula + English cucumbers, topped with Feta cheese crumbles,
pepitas, and creamy Feta cheese dressing
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For his entree, my husband selected the swordfish special and chose the warm mango salsa as his signature sauce. It was a colorful and tasty dish. The fish was really fresh and he enjoyed the fresh zucchini medley that came as a side.
We were unfortunately stuffed by the time we were done so we had to skip dessert. There were so many items that sounded good - s'mores flatbread, Jamaican coconut pie with rum sauce, key lime pie and more.
Overall, I think that Bonefish is an above average chain restaurant. The menu is full of interesting choices for seafood and meat lovers and vegetarians too.
Bonefish not only provided a gift card for us to use, they are also providing a $25 voucher for one of my readers. Here's how you enter:
- Leave a comment below telling me what you would order if you win.
- You can also get a bonus entry by Tweeting about the giveaway, tagging me and @BonefishGrill in it and leaving another separate comment and telling me you did.
That's it! Be sure to leave your name and a way to contact you. If you don't, you can't win. Giveaway ends Sunday the 7th with the winner announced the following day. Good luck!