Resturant review (original) (raw)

Conte's
Westport, CT

Yesterday was my birthday so we went out to dinner. I gave my honey very specific instructions that I wanted to go somewhere we had never been before and then rattled off 4 names to him as suggestions. He did some online research and chose Conte's.

Conte's used to be a John Harvards. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't feel like I was somewhere new. Conte's also has a fish market attached to it, so I was a little worried that the ambiance would be more casual than I really wanted. I was wrong on both accounts. The restaurant and the fish market are completely separate so there was no door opening between the two with the smell of dead fish wafting in. Good. And other than the shape of the dining room there was no reminders of the John Harvards that came before. They even replaced windows. The coolest thing they did for ambiance was a light that made it look like water rippling on the walls. I also liked the fish mobile the had hanging in the center of the room. I would only think I could say about the atmosphere is the room was too cold.

The food I would say was average seafood restaurant food. First we got the hot appetizer sampler. It came with calamari, popcorn shrimp and lobster spring rolls. The calamari was excellant. The shrimp was a little greasy, but I would rather that than having bits of rock hard breading mixed in with the shrimp. The shrimp themselves were a good size for popcorn shrimp. I really liked the lobster spring rolls and J didn't, though I would have preferred a butter sauce with them instead of duck sauce.

For dinner we decided to share our plated because we were about to order the same exact thing. We both wanted the simpley seared tuna with lemon garlic sauce and parmesean fries. So we got that and the simply seared mahi-mahi with ginger sesame sauce and sauted green beans. J made a mistake ordering and the tuna, though prepared as ordered was overcooked to our taste. The mahi-mahi was excellent. It was a shame dipping it in the sauce that came on the side. So I used the sauce on the tuna. I loved the fries. J thought they were too parmeseany. The green beans were green beans. Nothing special but still very good.

For dessert J got the lemon sorbet and I got the whisky chocolate mousse cake. The cake was only ok. It was a layer of cake, a layer of mousse and fresh whipped cream on top. The actual cake was too dry. The mousse was good. The whipped cream was my favorite part.

Conte's also has a raw bar. That is not our thing but the list looked impressive. They also had entrees that were not the mix and match of the simply seared section of the menu. There was one chicken and one steak choice for the non-seafood lovers.

Overall we had a great time but next time I want seafood close to home I think I want to check out the Red Barn (also in Westport). Conte's was only average for the price of the meals (I can't give you a total for what we spent because J wouldn't let me see the bill). I would reccomend it but not highly.