You would probably be pretty happy with a reasonable entrée like the Portuguese fish stew ($24.95). The broth is inedibly salty and peppery on its own, but it worked with each piece of fish (probably haddock and swordfish), cherrystone clams, mussels, and sea scallops. Another fine option is eight fish “simply grilled or broiled”; the cheapest, Arctic char ($21.95), happens to be one of my favorites. This piece was nicely crosshatched on the grill, and full of flavor.
Entrées come mostly without vegetables or starch, so one orders side dishes as they would at a steak house. The positive news is that side dishes are huge and good. One member of my party ordered the macaroni and cheese ($9.95) as her entrée and could only finish half of it. It wasn’t too creamy, but had delectable meaty and Gruyère flavors. Oceanaire cole slaw ($5) is heaped vertically and walled in with four slices of beefsteak tomato. I don’t eat winter tomatoes, but the slaw is the old-fashioned kind with celery seeds, which I liked. Green beans amandine ($8.95) have a good dose of garlic along with the almonds, and sautéed spinach ($8.95) has whole cloves of roasted garlic and a lemony bite, too.
For the big spenders, herb-grilled Mediterranean bronzini ($36.95), a fresh piece of the larger size of this farmed sea bass, comes with handsome grill marks and some herbal-stuffing flavor. You want to have one of these on the table because the sauceboat of truffle vinaigrette goes on everything. Seared Cape Sable halibut ($38.95) is a truly glorious chunk of lighter white fish, and its underlying white-bean stew with asparagus and some dried tomatoes makes for a complete dinner.
Foie gras–crusted Georges Bank sea scallops ($36.95) are lovely giant scallops, but while its flavor combination with foie gras may work, bits of foie in the crust result in too much fried-liver flavor. Lobster is served luxury-liner style: stuffed with crabmeat ($42.95), or the right way: simply boiled ($29 per pound, two-pound minimum). For the latter, we got the bib and the nutcrackers right away, but had to ask for butter and a long fork.
That was the only service lapse. In fact, elevated service is a feature at Oceanaire, and while it doesn’t quite get back to the level of the old Ritz, our waiter was attentive, helpful, and full of good advice, and caught every other detail of a complicated order for a large table.
The wine list is large, and reverts to the old-fashioned pricing model of charging double the retail value. There are some very attractive bottles, though few under $40. The list is mostly American, with a secondary focus on France. For our celebration, the Roederer Estate Brut Rose ($51) was one of the best ever California sparklers.
Desserts are mostly familiar and simple, but we ended up with two baked Alaskas ($6.95), which made quite a show. I had never thought much about this traditional dessert, in which a layer of meringue insulates ice cream from a flambé presentation. In reality, the slightly burnt meringue tastes like campfire marshmallows, and with top-rate chocolate and mint-chip ice cream, the whole effect is reminiscent of a super S’more.
Like the lamented Ritz, the Oceanaire can be done at bistro prices, but it’s really at its best when you’re spending lottery winnings or someone else’s dime.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.
