Big Fish
370 Richmond Street
Providence
by Bob Mariani
With stylish restaurants like Providence’s XO and "Ten" Steak & Sushi, chef/entrepreneur John Elkay has little more to prove when it comes to creativity and panache. Nevertheless, Big Fish is a dazzling re-do of an old industrial garage in the Jewelry District. You enter through a glass tunnel with a waterfall overhead. Two ruby-colored swinging doors admit you into the large open space with high ceilings, a long bar, open kitchen and free-style dining areas in the industrial/SoHo tradition.
The menu for Cocktails at Big Fish is as large as its food menu and includes a number of suggested wine pairings for various dishes. Leading off the food menu is a list of sushi choices like seared sushi Quality Tuna; Big Fish Maki (lobster, asparagus, cucumber, caviar, tempura fried); and Rainbow Maki, crab cucumber, avocado wrapped with tuna, snapper and salmon. There’s also a raw bar with a nice sampling of oysters, shrimp and clams.
As a raw oyster lover, I seldom stray from the raw presentation, but on this night I chose a cooked selection from Big Fish’s Luxury Oyster Bar. The Oysters Rockefeller was a classic treatment of cooked oysters in a cream sauce topped with beautifully cooked spinach. The New Orleans Style, which I’d never had before, was a tasty cooked oyster in a mild horseradish sauce crowned with a heap of crunchy black caviar—a real winner. The final version was the Crispy Fried Oyster chopped and mixed with a hearty tasting aioli and cornbread "pudding" filling. Another excellent starter. You can order these by the half dozen for from $11.95 to $12.95, or a sampling for $12.65.
Our other starter was the lobster bisque. This version focused on the subtle lobster flavor rather then the creamy/sherry taste many bisques favor. It was darker, more intense and with lots of juicy lobster chunks.
For my main dish, I ordered the Big Fish Bouillabaisse ($21.95). It was a modest size portion in which each individual ingredient was perfectly cooked and fresh—the tender hunks of lobster, the soft scallops and the in-the-shell clams and mussels were everything you expect in a classic bouillabaisse. There were also little cubes of oven-roasted potatoes and two slices of delicious bread lightly toasted. The only thing I could have wished for was a bit more of the mouth-watering savory lobster broth and a tad less salt to compete with the lovely seafood flavors.
For a second entrée, we had the Cashew Crusted Sole ($19.95). In contrast to the typical wafer-thin slice of delicate white fish lightly sauteed, this was the lumberjack version of filet of sole featuring a triple layered "loaf" of perfectly cooked sole with a thick coating of crushed almonds. It was served over a hefty portion of Udon noodles, snap peas, and bok choy cooked in a cucumber coconut vinaigrette. All the flavors worked well together and complimented the mild flavor of the sole nicely.
In addition to the catch-of-the-day entrees, other Big Fish Specialties include Orange Maple Glazed Salmon with a gorgonzola potato cake and grilled zucchini; Seared "Everything" Tuna with a sesame, poppy and onion crust on creamed spinach; Blackened sword fish with crabmeat hash hollandaise; Salmon Oscar with Maine crab, aparagus and red peppers; Plantain crusted shrimp; Seafood Bolongnese; Grilled mahi mahi with a lemon caper sauce; Fried Ipswich clams; Fish and chips— and for non-seafood fans, there crisp skillet chicken breasts, or Ten’s bacon-wrapped filet mignon. There are also four different pizzas available.
The dessert menu comes, not on a page, but in a slide viewer. You hold it up to the light and twirl the switch to see the assortment of over-the-top sweets in frothy three dimensions. The portions are huge and it’s hard to imagine any single person finishing one alone.
My choice was the Tira Misue "Twinkie." It was an oval bowl filled with a fried Twinkie and covered with a rich, rich layer of Tira Misue custard and whipped cream. Our other dessert was the fruit cobbler, a delicious, moist apple crust covered in a layer of cream sauce and topped with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream. Despite their gaudy, over-stated look, both these desserts had a comforting, home cooked flavor that’s hard to resist. Big Fish is open for lunch and dinner. 751-3474.
Bob Mariani is a Southeastern New England freelance author. Besides his "Table for Two" restaurant reviews found here, he also writes jazz articles on allaboutjazz.com.
