Judging Legal Sea Foods
December 17, 2010 · 0 Comments
Legal Sea Foods has one of their 31 restaurants at 6000 Glades Road in Boca Raton’s Town Center Mall (561-447-2112) and true to their tradition, have a fine, consistent source of seafood and other offerings. Chef David Morel oversees an eclectic menu including the following:
Raw oysters from 4 or 5 regions, fresh and delicate on their bed of cracked ice can be had from just a single oyster to a dozen at market price while raw clams –littlenecks and/or cherrystones can be had by half dozen or dozen. The “Treasures of the Reef”,an assortment of shellfish can be ordered for 2 – 4 or 4 -8 diners. Shrimp cocktails, steamers and mussels are other “seafood bar” offerings.
Five soups are listed, we tried the smooth and rich New England clam chowder – with or without a splash of rum or sherry – is a delight with its bit of a bite. The light clam chowder, though, we found to be quite weak in taste and texture. We also tried a cool, taste and chunky yellow gazpacho – very, very nice.
Their five salads include a ceasar with a fine dressing over cut lettuce, a chopped Greek salad with diced olives, cucumber pieces, tomatoes, chick peas and feta which was a great combination plus a tortilla, apple and goat cheese salad with avocado, roasted red peppers and a tasty chipotle orange dressing!
Marc Kent
Appetizers such a “Legal Experience” include raw tuna sashimi, steamed wontons, a generous shrimp cocktail as well as a delicious sweet and soft crab cake. We had a trio of calamari ranging from a gentle Montauk style to a spicy Rhode Island style then to a very spicy Thai version. Each has its own merit and each delicious. Other listings include a hot lump crab dip with seafood chips, Caribbean coconut shrimp, New England fried clams, popcorn shrimp and shrimp wontons.
We sampled the “Fisherman’s Platter” – a spectacular collection of fried shrimp, scallops, calamari, clams and scrod – with French fried potatoes and cold slaw – their tastes coming through the coatings. Cioppino, with its seven ingredients, falls short on flavor – perhaps due to a dull, flavorless light tomato broth. Chef agreed and asked us to try their bouillabaisse in the future. We returned a week later to sample the dinner portion of a fine presentation of clams, mussels, shrimp, crab legs, scallops, grouper, calamari and potato in an excellent tomato and fish stew soup-like base. It was a huge portion of interwoven tastes that rival the offerings of fine New Orleans restaurants.
Items under “Surf, Turf and Beyond” include a surf & turf in various combinations, a vegetarian box of Asian stir-fried veggies, an 8 ounce filet mignon and an oven roasted herbed chicken
Steamed or baked stuffed lobsters from 1.25 to 2.50 pounds abound – larger sizes available too. There is a fabulous new New England lobster bake – a cup of chowder, a plate of steamers, mussels, chorizo, corn on the cob and a steamed lobster – all at market price.
The Chef inspired dinners include crab cakes, double stuffed baked shrimp, nutty Atlantic salmon, red onion jam swordfish and “everything tuna”. Noting that you can have your fish wood-grilled or pan-blackened, we found the array offerings of wild salmon, swordfish, tuna, rainbow trout, snapper, Atlantic salmon, grouper, mahi, shrimp and sea scallops.
We had a sample of baked scrod topped with crumbs and tomatoes, then a pecan crusted snapper with a bourbon butter sauce and a tasting of lobster roll (actually a brioche bun). All were really first rate and recommended.
We tried three desserts- a light and creamy key lime pie, a smooth Boston crème pie and some fried chocolate truffles with enough taste to suit any chocoholic.
With a full bar and a extensive list of domestic and foreign vintages, there are enough house specialty cocktails to suit any taste.
Legal Sea Foods serves luncheons from 11AM to 4PM daily and dinners from 4PM to 10:15PM Mondays through Thursdays, till 11:15 on Fridays and Saturdays and from noon to 9:15PM on Sundays. Seating 200 inside and 45 on their patio, this is a dining experience with quality food expertly prepared and deftly served. So and enjoy!
