Fishbones — Restaurant in Chelmsford

No Wow Factor.

Upon arrival the greeting was poor. The staff seemed uninviting and at the end of their wits like they’ve just done a double on a Saturday. except it was a Monday evening. I don’t blame them as this seems like a place where you’ll have the same people come in once or twice a week that doesn’t tip very well. Granted if the service wasn’t great then I can understand but this boils down as a very negative cycle. All in speculation of course.

What I liked about it; the price is fair considering the plates we ordered which consisted of Alaskan King Crab legs, lobster roll, crab cakes and a bowl of clam chowder. The bill was about $150 which included a 20% tip that we added despite our server was lacking intuitiveness. I just assumed she was inexperienced but overall very nice and polite. The food came out all in order starting with the chowder, the crab cakes then a few moments later the two entrees both accompanied with sides.

Definitely have room for improvements: Again, the lacking of intuitiveness and the inexperiences stemmed and made its way down to the table from the kitchen. The clam chowder was runny and was light in flavor. This happens often when the soup is cut to extend the serving amount. The lobster roll was okay. The bread was good, fluffy and toasted nicely on the outside but it’s a bit of a shame that I was enjoying the bread over the actual lobster claws. Typically the soft shell or “new” shell lobsters will offer more of a sweet and tender taste versus these which were tough and rubbery. The “butter” it came with looked and tasted more like oil or margarine than it was actual butter.

The crab legs consisted of two claws, a pincher and a crusher and two legs. Anyone who eat crabs would know you’d need a claw cracker to get those open or at the least have them served pre-cut/ cracked. Our waiter zipped around but wouldn’t make enough of a gesture for us to get a hold of her attention for one. The place was overwhelmingly loud. As you can imagine we didn’t want to make it seem as if we were yelling at her. The pre-cuts was a lazy attempt in my opinion. Even the spikes weren’t removed. The pre-cut slits were made only on one side and halfway up, rookie stuff here guys, pay attention. I used the snap and pull method, splattering shell fragments to unexpected senior citizens the table over. By the time she came back to check I had given up on the claws and had no desire to continue.

I will be back for the crab cakes but most likely for takeout. Crab cakes were 10/10 an absolute...

What a let down. I'm giving it 3 stars as our server was amazing, and one of our party members had what looked like a decent meal.

So, I'm a bit embarrassed.

I had an old friend from the land locked state of Arizona here for a business trip. He wanted to have some seafood from the notorious Northeast. I have visited this location several times over the years and always thought this place was really good for its location and price range. Granted it may have been 5 or so years since my last visit, this was NO WAY the same as it was then. For starters I had the raw oysters. Three different selections and I samples 2 of each. Several of them were what I would call dirty (gritty, good-sized shell pieces embedded, etc...) and had several slivers of shell get lodged in my mouth and such. I can usually look past this but these I felt warranted a comment to my server. The lobster bisque that my other party members seemed to be just fine, albeit being a bit on the smaller side for the price. The main course I had was a "trio" of seafood with mixed vegetables and Cole slaw. For about $30 I got (3-4) SMALL chunks of over grilled swordfish, a small steak tip sized chunk of somewhat decent cooked salmon, and (2) Medium shrimp. For the mixed vegetables I received a couple of pepper chunks, a VERY squishy and bitter tomato, and literally a wedge of RAW red onion. The onion alone was so strong tasting and not what one would expect to get as mixed vegetables. The slaw was fine and of the creamier style. My visitor from AZ got the baked scallops and he complained that of the six or seven he received, 3 of them were so sandy that the crunch was alarming. the others were still "dirty" but what one would maybe deem "appropriate" in that style of dish. Nonetheless more preparation should have been done, especially at the price point we were at. The other member of my party got the Lemon Caper Trout and even looking at it I would say it was the most appropriate sized and attractive plate of the bunch. He mentioned his meal was fine, nothing amazing, but par for the course.

The restaurant was loud. Not the fault of the staff, but just noting that it was very difficult to have conversations. More of a bar atmosphere.

Chances are I will not be back to try again as it certainly in that price range that you cannot gamble on getting #1 a good meal and #2 getting something that wont leave you feeling hungry afterwards.

Seems like a nice place for drinks though! But there are cheaper bars for the same liquor...

A delightful seafood experience without the hassle of having to drive into the city.

Fishbones offers a huge menu with an array of items ranging from good to great.

The service was amazing, I can't say enough nice things about the staff we interacted with and the atmosphere was quiet but lively.

About the food -

For apps: Bacon wrapped scallops. Were served in a maple glaze, which only added to their decadence. Everyone at the table loved them, though personally, I think the toughness of the bacon took away from the texture of the scallops. Spinach dip: Tasty, but also quite heavy for an appetizer, I would not go for this dish again. The scoops are literally just tostitos scoops (though they weren't quite as salty as store bought, so they might make them in house).

For entrees: Swordfish steak. We ordered the last one they had available, so everyone else must have also loved it! Lazyman lobster. This was an explosion of butter, mostly in a good way. As far as the lobster, I grew up in MA, so lobster isn't as much of a delicacy to me as everyone else. It tasted like lobster and butter. It was cooked correctly, and the $2 extra charge to have them shuck it for you is probably worth. If you're looking for "The Lobster Experience (TM)", I wouldn't choose this dish, or probably this restaurant. Fishbones Favorites Halibut. Halibut can be a difficult fish to get right, but the kitchen prepared this perfectly with a nice crisp without loosing that flakey center. The pesto sauce complimented the dish wonderfully. The pasta was average, but tasty. Sesame Tuna Steak. For a tuna steak, this was a tremendous portion that would feed even the hungriest. The sear was excellent and the quality of cut matched our expectations.

For dessert: Bread Pudding: This was extremely rich and dense and served with a generous portion of ice cream. I really enjoyed it but it was a lot. Creme Brulee: This was far thicker and creamier than most creme brulee's I've had. Personally I wasn't a fan, but others at the table really liked it.

Overall, I would definitely visit this establishment again.

Side Note: My grapefruit/elderflower cocktail was delicious and they had a mid-sized wine list that could satisfy anyone with an appetite. We got 2 different...