Naked Fish & Cuban Cocktails @ Billerica, MA

Naked Fish (Latin/Cuban Fusion Restaurant?) is where I usually go for my seafood fix. Anyway, hubby and I stumbled upon this little chain restaurants in Boston (this location unfortunately closed down) a few years back and we have been going back to Naked Fish Restaurant branches since.

To celebrate yours truly turning 28, we of course chose Naked Fish to dine at. I was so looking forward to their Chilean Sea Bass (my all time favorite fish, though a little pricey!). The menu on the website unfortunately was different from the one in the restaurant…. No Chilean Sea Bass… Boo!

Lets start from the beginning……… it didn’t take too long for us to get a table since hubby made a reservation in advance. They did at first put us at this table, at the center of one of their party rooms. There were other patrons there, but all of us felt odd sitting there. Ambience in that party room was also missing, and it felt like dining in a cafe instead of a nice Cuban Fusion style restaurant. We asked for a change and requested to squeeze at a nice curved booth table. The ambience is much better, though a little more dimly lit, with decorative curtains and art….and it just felt more cozy!

We started the evening with some cocktails. I ordered a Caipirinha (left; a Brazilian national cocktail) @ $7.95. I’ve ordered this cocktail once elsewhere, but this time, I did not enjoy it as much. I found this aftertaste of the sugarcane liquor (perhaps?) odd. Hubby ordered a Mojito (right; a Cuban cocktail) @$7.95 which was yumillicious. We ended up swaping our drinks, as hubby liked my stronger cocktail. =)

       

Seyda & Chris ordered Strawberry/Mango Mojito @$8.95, which I tried and found it not bad too….but I think I prefer the original Mojito a tad better. Rob ordered a Mango Mai Tai @ $8.25, which was equally yummy! Stir before you drink, as they top of the Mai Tai with lotsa Rum on the top.

For starters, we ordered their Brazilian Fried Calamari @ $8.95 which surprisingly came in quite a large portion. The fried calamari was seasoned in black pepper i think, then deep fried and lightly tossed with assorted roasted peppers for some kick. Hubby and I thought that if the calamari rings were a bit bigger, it would be just perfect! Never the less, this is still good and we will definitely order this again!

Since they did not have my favorite Chilean Sea Bass on the menu, I ordered the next best thing they have. Peppercorn Tuna (pan seared and flamed with Cuban rum in light cream sauce) @ $21.95. I ordered my tuna rare, with plantains (YUMS) and asparagus. I always order seared tuna RARE! I think the only way and best ways to eat tuna is sashimi style or seared rare. It would be nice if they could slice the tuna for me in advance…just the way Bob Chinn’s (my favorite seafood restaurant in Chicagoland area) does it. And I could use a little more sauce for the tuna! Hubby ordered the same dish, with plantains and green beans. He however ordered the tuna to be cooked medium rare, against my suggestion of having it rare. Our tunas came (mine on the left and his on the right), hubby said his tasted not bad, but agreed that mine was better! TOLD YOU SO, DARLING! =P

 

Seyda oenjoyed a Seared Scallop Risotto (seared scallops with wilted spinach and lemon risotto) @ $18.95. Scallops were delish…cooked and seared perfectly. The lemon risotto, although looked a little “blah” and a little unappetizing was surprisingly delicious. I guess, the wilted spinach mixed into the risotto helped give it a little more color. =)  Rob ordered Baked Haddock (over baked potatoes and onions and served with a light bread crumb topping) @ $18.95. The side dishes that came with the fish was placed on a separate dish. I forgot to ask Rob how it tasted, though I did try a tiny bit…I think I got more breadcrumbs than the fish!

Chris ordered a Crabmeat Stuffed Lobster (basted with citrus butter sauce) @ Market Price of $35.95. I tried a piece of the lobster tail which was topped with some bread crumbs… hehe….. It tasted pretty good. I wished I knew that the crabmeat was stuffed in the lobster’s “head”…. We thought the price were very reasonable for a stuffed lobster. This is something we might order in future. Hubby and I will never again order a plain steamed lobster at a restaurant. Why pay $20 for a 1-1/4 lb lobster, when you can get your local grocer to steam it for you for as low as $3.99 per lb? Last winter, hubby and I bought about 4 lbs of lobsters and paid less than $20 for them =)It’s nice to have friends who are willing to let you sample their dishes and drinks.. Hehe!I think all of us enjoyed the food there, albeit the slightly slow service. Warm bread rolls and butter were great fillers between waiting for our waitress and food to come! Hubby was surprised on how reasonable the total bill was. =) Coffee which all of us had was free; I guess our waitress forgot to put those on there! Check out your nearest Naked Fish locations HERE and salivate over their menu HERE.