CK Pearl — Restaurant in Essex

I would have rated 5/5, except for the terribly rude and unfriendly woman (older-60’s, dark hair, worn and unhappy in appearance) who (didn’t greet us) but just stared at my 3yo son and I when we walked in (compliant with all covid regulations). I greeted her and said we had made reservations for outside. She then said she only had high top seating, unaware that meant a stool (she then said my son could use a highchair) I asked if it would clear the high top table and she rudely said “maybe just double up with 2 high chairs” I kept my cool (what kind of person suggests doubling highchairs- meanwhile my son doesn’t usually use these- since he is almost 4yo and has been sitting at a table for sometime. We follow her outside and she shows us insanely unsafe stools my son can not sit in...and then I see a regular table and chairs and ask why we can’t sit there (reminder....I made reservations for this) she then rudely says “let me see if I can switch this...and walks off). She doesn’t return (thank GOD) and a nice, friendly hostess appears and ushers us to our table. we had the best waitress and every other staff member was full of light and happiness..I was dumbfounded with that older woman- she may have been having a bad day, but made us feel unwelcome. My son is really amazing at restaurants and I’m proud to take him out for meals. This experience would have been 5/5 if that woman was anywhere else but there in those first few moments (hostess/greeter) is not for her...hope she finds her happiness....

I do not like giving low scores especially when restaurants are having a tough time of it, but I hope this inspires some greater focus from the owners. Caveats: the view of the Ipswich river is beautiful and almost warrants a third star. We went at 3:30 during their off season (late fall). Had a gin drink which sounded interesting but either the recipe or the execution landed me with a perfumey violet bomb. Did not complain. Should have known better. I inquired about gluten free options and there were none. The tacos were served in a sourdough tortilla which sounded odd. Not even a corn tortilla chip to have with the smoked bluefish pate. Skipped the pate and the tacos. Got french fries and kale salad with the salmon (hold the croutons). French fries came out barely warm and clearly not freshly cooked - chewy and toothsome rather than crispy crunchy. It was a cold day and I love french fries so this was a bummer. The kale salad came with the salmon and it looked nice. Salmon was warm but fully raw in the center (Not rare. Raw.). When I brought up my experience of the meal with our server, he was very apologetic and courteous. They comped the fries and salmon (barely eaten). Really sad. Maybe better during the busy season or in full...

Can't say how dissapointed I was. We were there with a group of six, we ordered a cheese board which was miniscule. 3 tiny wedges of cheese, the smallest loaf of bread about 4-5 inches and 5 grapes=$16. Chicken wings were just okay.Most of us ordered the chowder that was cold and had to be sent back. When it came back it actually had good flavor when hot, but clam was gritty. The main course for me was a seared tuna taco with a slaw that had absolutely no flavor and then occasionally you would bite into a big chunk of sea salt that was sprinkled on the tuna which caused a salt explosion in your mouth that was just gross. My friend had the haddock taco which she said was flavorful but same thing with chunks of sea salt. My husband had a very small portion of scallops with just bland beet greens not served with a starch. He was still hungry. Specialty drink Fortune Palace was bitter. We wound up spending $155 per couple and except for the chowder when it was hot, most of it was awful and the prices...