Dotty's Kitchen & Raw Bar — Restaurant in Quincy

It makes me really sad to write this review, as the prior concept restaurant - The Townshend - was one of the best restaurants around Boston. Dotty's kitchen is not that.

Here are the courses we ordered.

Oysters - 4/5. Good selection, and fresh. The miss was with the mignonette, which was a clump of garlic and pepper drenched in vinegar.

Lobster slider - 2/5. Bun was burnt, the aioli while unique took away from the lobster.

Steamed Littlenecks - 1/5. Inedible. So salty that we had two bites and stopped. I'd like to say that the flavor or the broth otherwise was good, but I couldn't taste it. The one toast that it came with was drenched in butter and was so crisply toasted that we would have been better off getting croutons.

Duck confit - 3/5. The mash and frisée were excellent but the actual leg was burnt on one side, dry and tough.

Salmon crudo - 4/5. Good but served over a white sauce that did not belong and stole away from the flavor profile of the salmon.

Tuna tartare - 1/5. Bland and flavor profile was way off. Also, please don't serve this with chips. They overpower what should be a delicate dish.

Fries - 2/5. Burnt and too oily and salty.

Brownie - 2/5. Meh.

Service - 5/5. It's largely the same staff as before, and they are great people, but you don't go out the dine, especially at fine and pricy places just for the service.

One more thing. It was so NOISY! There are extra tables crammed compared to before and the music was so loud that mixed with guests elevated voices to try to out scream it the dining room sounded like a concert hall.

We used to go out of our way to come here (Townshend) and told anyone who would listen from the metro area to do the same.

Unfortunately, this was our last trip back, even if it's the first one to the new Dottys concept. This place will not survive if the quality of the food does not improve...

I recently dined at this spot and had a bit of a mixed experience. The seafood pasta was a highlight—it was flavorful and well-prepared, with lots of ginormous shrimp that were cooked perfectly. The grits were also tasty, though they were a bit too salty for my liking. Still, the generous portion of shrimp made up for it. On the other hand, the special of the week, yellowtail in yogurt sauce, was a letdown. The flavors didn’t mesh well at all, and the fish had a strong, unpleasant fishy taste that was hard to overlook. It just didn’t work for me.

Another dish that missed the mark was the French onion dip. I was expecting a warm, rich dip with lots of onion flavor, but what I got was essentially cold sour cream mixed with onion cream cheese. It lacked depth and didn’t have much onion flavor at all. The chips served with it were good—crispy and well-seasoned—but they couldn’t save the dip. On a brighter note, the clam chowder was delicious. It was fresh, creamy, and packed with flavor, making it one of the better dishes of the night.

Overall, it was a bit of a hit-or-miss experience. While the seafood pasta, grits, and clam chowder were enjoyable, the yellowtail special and French onion dip fell flat. I’d probably return for the dishes I liked, but I’d be cautious about trying the specials...

Wow! We started out with 8 raw oysters and they were so delicious. Salty and really flavorful, these oysters were so fresh and good. We also had fantastic dirty martinis with stuffed olives in lovely vintage glasses. Then came the small plates and I mean small plates with gigantic flavor. We had the beet salad with cranberry mascarpone. I don’t like mascarpone because it is usually grainy, but this was smooth and delicious. The crab toast was bright, fresh and the bread was so crispy and dense. Loved it! The zenith of the evening was the broccolini. We’re talking “last meal“ level! You may think, broccolini, whatever, but try it!! It was amazing and I’m fairly certain I could live on it. The waitstaff was friendly and attentive (shout out to Zach behind the bar) and chatted us up a bit. It was clear they had regulars who loved the place. The evening ended with a bit of a blended Moscow Mule they gave us with the check in the cutest vintage glasses. Seriously, I can’t say enough about the flavors, quality and staff. Everything made for a fantastic evening! Make a reservation if you want a table or walk in and sit at the bar. I can’t wait...