Kingfish Hall: Todd English channels the Little Mermaid
Written: Mar 18 '07
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Pros: Good food, nice ambiance
Cons: Expensive, no parking nearby, disappointing service, limited menu
The Bottom Line: A nicely decorated restaurant with good food but average service and high prices.
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| modernmarvel's Full Review: Kingfish Hall |
Kingfish Hall is one of several restaurants created by Todd English in the Boston area. Those that follow Todd English of Iron Chef fame, will know that he also created the Olives and Figs chains. I ate at Kingfish Hall in March 2007.
AMBIANCE
Kingfish hall definitely has a lot of ambiance. You enter into a warm environment that takes into account every sense. Across from the entrance is bar seating with a visible cooking fire behind the bar area. There are tables scattered around the main floor area. In the middle of the room, hanging down from the second floor is what appears to be seaweed and fish. The whole place was dimly lit and smelled strongly of smoked oysters.
We ate on the second floor. Heading up the staircase to the second floor, we noticed sea glass woven into the railings on the stairs. The second floor has an open area in the middle where the seaweed and fish sculpture hangs down. Seashells adorn the walls. Some of the booths look like scallop shells and, if I were to sit there, I would feel a little like Aphrodite rising from the Sea.
We were led to a back room that lacked the decor and ambiance of the main restaurant. It was definitely quieter - the main restaurant was quite loud. However, it was pretty much just a room with a bar on one wall and a cluster of tables. It looked like a room they used for private parties that was opened up for general dining when not booked for a private affair. It was slightly disappointing to be led out of the more creatively decorated main dining area into a back room. The only upside was that we had a nice view out of the second floor window.
THE MENU
The menu at Kingfish hall was surprisingly very limited. There were about six appetizers to choose from including mostly seafood such as crispy calamari. There was a raw bar menu with several oyster choices. There were a few salads - mostly $9 and up. There was also a small soup selection including chowder and gumbo. Everything was expensive and, in some cases, surprisingly so. For example, the raw bar offered a $70 choice that appeared to be a mixed oyster appetizer for two.
We didn't choose any appetizers. The two of us got three portugese sweet bread rolls. The rolls were cold, white bread with a sweet glaze on top. They came with cold butter that was difficult to spread. My date liked the rolls but I thought they were awful. I would, at this price point, expect a few different kinds of rolls or, at least, hot rolls.
Kingfish Hall only offered about eight fish entrees and one chicken entree and one beef entree. All entrees were at least $30 and several were much higher. For an entree, I chose a grilled, whole fish. My date chose scallops. My fish came, as described, completely whole, which was fine. There was a very small dollop of white rice, a pile of pickled ginger, a small dollop of kimchee, one pork dumpling and some pickled bean sprouts also spread out on a large, white plate. It all tasted very good - assuming you like the very strong kimchee flavors which, I admit is an acquired taste and won't appeal to everyone. The fish was tender and slightly flavored. It was cooked perfectly. My only complaint was that there wasn't much food on the plate and I was still hungry after one roll and an entree. My date really liked his scallops but was also disappointed in his small portion of food.
I had made our reservation via the online service, open table. When I made the reservation, I noted it was my date's birthday. For dessert, they brought us a small scoop of vanilla ice cream with a small chocolate cake. The dessert was good, but at $8, I thought it wasn't as good as the price warranted.
SERVICE
This was the big disappointment when we ate at Kingfish Hall. I made a reservation via an online service. They called that morning to confirm my reservation which surprised me and I honestly found a bit invasive. When we arrived, they quickly sat us at our table. Our table had a candle on it. No one arrived for over five minutes. We were trying to have a nice, romantic evening. Finally, we lit the candle ourselves with matches I had in my purse.
Our waiter arrived and offered to get us drinks. Our drinks arrived about five minutes later. We put our orders in. The waiter then circled the small dining area and plunked a bread basket on each table. It seemed less than personal. Our meal arrived and everything was as expected. Our waiter checked in about 5 minutes after we were served and checked on us. However, we didn't see him again for the rest of the meal. Our dirty dished were cleared quickly. I asked for a dessert menu. The waiter asked me if, instead, it was okay if he just brought a cake since I had already indicated that it was my date's birthday. The cake was nice although I was suprised to see that they had charged me $8 for it. If I had known they were going to charge me, I would have preferred to pick my own dessert off the menu. I also ordered coffee for $3 that came after we had finished the dessert.
Overall, I would say the service was barely adequate. They did the job but there was no warmth or personality to it. I was disappointed that, for a $100 dinner for two with no liquor, I had to light my own candle and left barely full.
OTHER THOUGHTS
I would not call this restaurant family friendly although I saw some high chairs in the corner and there were some children there on a Saturday night. The regular menu is expensive and almost exclusively seafood which probably won't appeal to many families.
Vegetarians won't find any options on the menu.
This restaurant doesn't appear to be handicapped friendly. The ground level was okay but bathrooms were down a flight of stairs. You also had to go upstairs to get to over half of the seating.
This restaurant is located in Fanueil Hall in Boston which is a pedestrian-friendly mall area. The restaurant has virtually no free parking anywhere near it. The most you can hope for is a lot a few blocks away. Expect to walk to get here.
They take reservations which I recommend. The restaurant was filled on the Saturday night we dined there.
They have a full liquor license and an extensive wine list.
They take all major credit cards.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
I can't recommend Kingfish Hall. I thought the food was good but overpriced and the portions were small. The service was adequate but far from personal or friendly. For $100, there are lots of other restaurants that will offer a better experience.
DINING OUT IN THE BOSTON AREA? TRY THESE BOSTON-AREA RESTAURANTS:
BOSTON: Radius; Caffe Vitoria; Excelsior; Jacob Wirth; Cottonwood Cafe; Imperial Seafood House; Sibling Rivalry; Fleming’s; 29 Newbury; The No Name; Lala Rokh; Grill 23.
BROOKLINE: Mr. Sushi; Fugakyu; Takeshima; Tsunami; Anna's Taqueria; Zaftigs Delicatessen; Bangkok Bistro; Golden Temple.
NEWTON: Appetito; India Paradise; Blue Ribbon Barbeque; Ice Cream Works; Baker's Best; Bill’s Pizzeria; Cafe Nicolas; Union Street; O’Hara’s; Yeradi’s; Johnny’s Luchonette.
CAMBRIDGE: S&S Restaurant; The Japanese Mall; Jasper White’s Summer Shack; Dali .
WEST ROXBURY: Cafe Misono.
BRIGHTON: Tasca.
FRAMINGHAM: The Aegean.
ESSEX: Woodman’s.
SAUGUS: Kowloon; Hilltop Steakhouse.
CHAIN RESTAURANTS: Not Your Average Joe’s; Bertucci’s; Legal Sea Foods; Cheesecake Factory; Rainforest Cafe; Fire & Ice; Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse; Friendly’s; Ikea Cafeteria; Longhorn Steakhouse; TGI Fridays.
COFFEE, BAGELS AND DONUTS: Bruegger’s Bagels; Finagle a Bagel; Dunkin Donuts; Peet’s Coffee and Tea.
Recommended:
No
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations The grilled fish was good.
Best Suited For: Romantic Evening
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modernmarvel
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