Riverhouse
I love to eat, drink, hang at a fun bar and look at a beautiful body of water. So I hit the jackpot at Riverhouse in Taunton.
This was a warehouse 100 years ago, and I love the look. You've got all that wood and metal and brick. But what I love even more is the way they embrace the nautical theme. You've got anchors and buoys, a giant boat hanging from the ceiling, lobster traps, oars like a million mermaid pictures and by the bar, Jimmy Buffet fans will love the clock permanently stuck at five o'clock.
“I do pride myself on the little details. I think they're fun. I just want to, I just want everybody to have fun here.”
Cheryl Latour is a maniac for great meals and mermaids, and to fully appreciate her attention to detail. You got to really look around the restaurant while you're eating. You're going to find stuff in every little corner.
The water theme here is so extensive, they actually do boat cruises on Sundays. I'll get to that in a little bit, but first we got to get to the food.
If you're gonna hang out here all day or night, and I think maybe you're gonna want to, you gotta try the charcuterie soft pretzel board.Dig into that soft pretzel. Maybe make yourself a sandwich with prosciutto or salami. You've got orange cheese and yellow cheese and some pickles too. This has four dipping sauces, a yellow mustard, a brown mustard, a queso that Cheryl recommends, I say, go with the pub cheese. In my opinion this world does not have enough pub cheese.
There's also a fishing rod and some Swedish Fish. I gotta tell you, Swedish Fish really have nothing to do with a cheese board, but let's just roll with it.
“I can't even tell you how much people love that and it's just delicious.”
I think the prettiest appetizer here is the Ahi tuna, super fresh tuna. You've got wasabi, seaweed salad, avocado, and notice the way they serve the tuna, each one on its own, wonton chip. That way you and your friends don't have to fight over the chips.
“It's gorgeous visually. When it comes out, other people go, "Oh, I want that too, and when you taste it, it is just the best tuna board around.”
The crab Rangoon flatbread is a great change of pace if you're looking to mix things up with your taste buds. It's a thin, crispy flatbread. On top is a sweet chili sauce and mozzarella cheese. Under that is the crab rangoon spread out over the flatbread.
“When you take that first bite, it's a surprise…it just makes everybody go, Wow. It's like the best crab Rangoon you've ever had, and it's on a pizza. It can't get any better than that.”
Cheryl's nephew convinced her to put this item on the menu. It is a peanut butter and jelly hamburger. When you think about it, America's favorite foods are the hamburger and peanut butter and jelly. This combines the two. There’s peanut butter over the burger, Jelly under the burger, bacon, American cheese, of course, on a brioche bun.
“Holy cow, it works. I don't know why it works, but who doesn't love peanut butter and jelly, who doesn't love a burger? Never thought they could be married, and it's really good. It's really, really good.”
Normally, I don't order seafood unless I'm at a seafood restaurant. Here, I make an exception for the Norwegian salmon. It's a big piece of salmon. They bake it, they add a sweet chili glaze on top, and then some slivered almonds. And I don’t mean a few almonds, I mean a lot of almonds. This is a really tremendous dish.
“It is my favorite. It's my go to, it's so good. It doesn't really have an almondy flavor to it, like you might think, but it gives it that crunch. And then the sweet chili sauce on it is just to die for.”
Riverhouse does something on the menu that I like. They star some of the most popular items and one of those items with a star is the steak tips. These are marinated and super tender.
“They really are the best steak tips. We pride ourselves on our steak tips. People come here and say, I eat steak tips everywhere, and I never have had steak tips like the Riverhouse. They're so good”
For dessert,I had to check out the cheesecake flight. These flight flavors rotate, but they're always tasty. It has four flavors. It has a peanut butter pretzel, a blueberry lemon and espresso. And I think when you're by the water, there's nothing better than key lime pie.
Okay, I said I'd inform you all about the boat cruise after the food, let's hit the river.
Ahoy, just a short walk from the restaurant, and we're ready for the river cruise. They do this four times per Sunday. It's just one hour. Great drinks, great food, beautiful river, tree lined. So round up six fun friends, get on the website, book your tickets, pick your drinks and your food and enjoy a river cruise in Taunton, Who knew?
