Fathoms

When I think about New Bedford, Massachusetts, I think about seafood, stuffies, and Portuguese cuisine, and you can get all of that, plus a lot more at a restaurant named Fathoms.

Now, Fathoms is an interesting place because it's not just a restaurant, it's basically an entire seafood empire. They own their own fleet of fishing boats. They have a beautiful new state of the art fish market, and of course, they have an extremely popular waterfront seafood restaurant. So as you're sitting inside the restaurant, you have sweeping views of the New Bedford harbor, and you can actually see their fishing boats coming in and out, catching and delivering the freshest seafood possible.

It's located right next to the Fair Haven - New Bedford bridge. So every hour you get to see the bridge rotate so the boats can come through. And every time the bridge gets shut down and the traffic starts backing up, the good news is you can just pull right into the parking lot, get yourself something to eat or drink.

You hear the phrase farm to table at restaurants a lot these days, but Fathoms is all about boat to table. The beauty of them owning their own boats is that they can sell their seafood for a lot less than anybody else. It comes straight from the boat right to their truck into the market or right into the restaurant.

In terms of atmosphere, this is a really cool place, very comfortable, very stylish. This is one of the coolest looking bars I've ever seen. It's made out of Italian glass. Sort of looks like undulating waves, and there are only like five of these glass bars in the entire country. It's the kind of place you can dine outside in the summer or dine in the bar in the winter, watch a game and get some really, really good seafood.

Let's start out with some appetizers. Here's one you definitely want to order, the ahi tuna. You take that tuna, you dip it into a whole bunch of sesame seeds, make sure it's coated onto every single side. And I'd put this up against some of the finest sushi restaurants in Boston. I mean, this is a great tuna appetizer.

Now this is the dish New Bedford is famous for:  the stuffed Quahog, also known as the stuffy. They take a giant clam out of the shell and then stuff it back inside with a mix of bread crumbs and butter and wine and chorizo and peppers and onions. This is a stuffy stuffed in my mouth.

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing better than a grilled cheese is a lobster grilled cheese. And Fathoms has one of the best I have ever tasted. This starts with two thick cut slices of sourdough bread. They butter those up. Throw on a couple slices of Swiss cheese and a few slices of bacon. Then once that starts to get all toasty and melty, in comes the house made lobster salad. You are talking fresh, shucked lobster meat, right off the boats, just a little bit of mayo, nice and cool, creamy and sweet. And I've been waiting all day to bite into this one. Come on. I mean, you might be thinking to yourself, do all those flavors work? The answer is yes, yes, I'm telling you right now, this sandwich is worth a drive from anywhere in New England. You gotta get it.

Here's a dish for all you big eaters out there. Most restaurants call it the fisherman's platter. Here, they call it the fried ocean feast. So we're talking gold and fried shrimp, scallops, fish and clams with French fries and coleslaw and cocktail sauce and tartar sauce. Dip in the tartar, nailed it. I cannot fathom how they do it.

There's a big Portuguese population here in New Bedford, so they do have some Portuguese recipes on the menu, including Mozambique. You've probably heard of shrimp Mozambique. Here at Fathoms, they do a haddock Mozambique. It's made with a combination of wine and beer and butter and onions and garlic. Get a little chorizo, get some of that sauce, get some rice, get everything into one bite at one time, and you're going to experience a Portuguese flavor explosion.

One of my personal favorite dishes at Fathoms is the blackened swordfish. Again, these guys are getting the top of the catch. So the swordfish itself doesn't get any better. The Cajun seasoning is a little spicy and peppery. So to counterbalance that, homemade red pepper jam adds a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of acid. So the whole dish is perfectly balanced, nice and big, hearty, satisfying and a perfect way to eat swordfish.

If you've ever been to Fathoms before, you probably know you might get stuck in traffic when the bridge is open. So their most popular cocktail is called Stuck on the Bridge. I basically consider it a New Bedford Mai Tai, sweet, tropical, refreshing, kind of strong, but really, really good. So if you want some serious seafood at a seriously great price, you gotta come right here to New Bedford to Fathoms restaurant. Cheers.