Wife and I decided to try Fish for NYE this week at the last minute. We have wanted to try it for quite a while but just never got around to it until now. No reservations, but they had a table for us in a small room off the main dining area as we walked in around 9PM. Room left a lot to be desired, as lighting was very bright and it really lacked much ambience, if any. They were serving a "special" NYE menu. Ordered a bottle of wine from a not very helpful or informed server who seemed to not know a thing about the wine list. Forget about getting a suggestion on what he recommended between a couple different brands of a varietal. Pretty much the same for the food menu offerings. At this point I am concerned that for a supposed "finer dining establishment in RP", that something is amiss. Later during dinner, he is overheard to say in the room that he is not a "usual server" at this restaurant and that he was called in for emergency assistance and that he normally works at a different restaurant. Not sure if that is really so or not. So much for service, hopefully the food would make up for it. No dice. We ordered 2 appetizers. Calamari and an octopus dish. The calamari had a nice flavored sauce, but it was un-chewable. It was so tough, it was like eating thick rubber bands. The other was a dish made of octopus and potatoes. It was mediocre and mostly all potatoes. Where's the pulpo? For main course, several fish filet dishes were offered, but seeing them being served at an adjoining table of about 8 diners didn't make us want to order any of them. Very small portions for fish entrees and nothing that stood out as looking all that delicious. A "Tomahawk" steak for 2 @$55 was also served to same table. It was not appealing looking at all for the price. Later the people who ate it remarked it was very fatty when asked how they enjoyed it by others in their group. When same server was asked by them if that was "Sonoran" beef, he responded "yes". I'm not so sure they were convinced. On to deciding what we should order for a main course, we went to the Seafood Grill for 2, thinking that we usually always do OK with shellfish dishes. Served on a long, narrow platter, it was rather ordinary. 3 or 4 medium shrimp. a "lobster tail" the size of a big blue shrimp in the fish markets, scallops, and a couple forkfuls of a yellowtail filet. Probably the yellowtail qualified as a tasty item, but we have had much better for a lot less in price.
Overall, for the amount of the check, and expecting much better menu fare and special service in a fine dining experience, this will be our first and last visit up the hill to this place. A lot better food for half the price can be found elsewhere in Penasco. Like Chef Mickeys.
