Last Sunday Donavon and I knocked another one off the list. We actually drove to Maddens hoping to eat there only to find, again, that it was closed. We should really look that up next time. Anyway, we ended up eating at Bodega Coast, a new-ish seafood grill and bar. I love really good seafood but considering the fact that we are at least 3 hours from any coast, it's not very common here. My bar was raised when I had Miso Seabass at Veritas...it was like a dream..but that's beside the point.
So, Bodega Coast. It was interesting. The atmosphere is nice, comfortable, and casual. The menu is pretty expensive for the atmosphere it goes with, but not completely outrageous. The whole experience was one of mismatches, I feel. It's kind of weird to eat expensive grilled fish and be watching a football game, ya know? There is a bar and a separate dining area which helps a little but they're only partially separated and there is a TV in both rooms. It wasn't too loud though, which was nice, and nothing is wrong with being casual, it was just an interesting mix.
Which brings me to the food. I got Seared Snapper with crawfish+tequila butter sauce and dirty rice. Donavon got Blackened Mahi Mahi with agave nectar+chipotle drizzle and he substituted garlic mashers for the black beans. They bring you chips and salsa before hand and every entree is served with a side of stir-fried veggies.
So, I started out with Mexican (chips and salsa) and then had Asian vegetables on the side of a French-type entree with Cajun rice. It just threw me off a little. My fish was very, very good and so was the butter sauce. I really liked the veggies, even though they didn't seem to fit, but they were pretty generic for stir-fry. The dirty rice was not very good. Plain tasting for how much seasoning it appeared to have. I liked the salsa, Donavon did not.
Donavon's fish was good, I liked mine better, but it was good. The garlic mashers were good but I couldn't have eaten very much because of the amount of garlic, it was pretty strong. And for me to say that about garlic, really says something!
Overall, not our favorite, especially in the price range. Kind of an odd ensemble of everything, and not the best sides. Still enjoyable and the fish was very good, especially compared to the other seafood available locally.
Now, I want to go to the coast and eat something fresh!
