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“BLT Fish”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Seafood	Flatiron	Moderate	Great

ugh sunscreen. You are sandy, young, and deliriously happy. Okay, maybe this is a bit of a dramatic stretch, but it’s not that far from the truth.

And what’s really nice is that the food at BLT Fish keeps you in that deliriously happy altered universe state all night long. I will say right now without reservation, this grub is GREAT. No it’s not haute, cerebral fare involving garnished garnishes or partially deflated foams on dried eel jerky. It is fun and simple, yet marvelous, and it is consequently impossible to leave even one morsel on your plate/basket/shellfish platter.

For instance, Laurent’s Caesar salad ($8) is composed of long, wide crisp Romaine ribs, dressed with a cool dressing that packs just the right amount of zing. His New England Clam Chowder ($4/$8) is mind-altering—creamy, rich, and saturated with intense smoky bacon flavor. The Lobster Bisque ($5/$10) is equally dynamic—an exquisite bisque that screams of intense lobster flavor, stocked with massive chunks of sweet meat. Susie’s reaction to it was priceless: “Wow, it’s really too bad there’s no lobster in here,” she said, as she fished out three giant juicy pieces of meat from beneath the smooth surface of the bisque.

The shellfish platters ($58/98) are rare and fantastic in both size and quality. While finding size is not usually an issue in this town, finding a raw bar of this quality is. There were plump clams, briny oysters in their liquor, immense Jonah crab claws, huge Alaskan King Crab legs, periwinkles, lobster cocktail, and perfectly cooked prawns the size of small house cats, all accompanied by mignonette, a mustardy-mayo, and a zippy hot sauce. To boot, you get a trio of seafood cocktail-style treats—an octopus salad, a red snapper ceviche and possibly the most amazing take on those tiny sweet Taylor Bay scallops—diced and tossed with fiery mustard oil and a touch of fruity apple cider. Magnificent.

For dinner, our table was overrun with plastic baskets. The lobster roll ($22) was just silly it was so good. Nope, no diced up vegetables in there, just lots of succulent lobster folded into mayo, seasoned properly with some lemon juice, then tucked into a buttery brioche roll from Amy’s Bread. Laurent’s signature, the BLT Tuna Sandwich ($17)—is a masterpiece of texture between thick slices of Amy’s crusty country bread—a ruby red slab of ... [more, click below]

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Posted: January 16, 2005

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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