Cindy and I decided to head to Captain Fishbones tonight after work. Capt. Fishbones is located in the Marina Bay area north of Wollaston Beach in Quincy, MA. Parking can be scarce on the weekends, but on a Tuesday night it was not a problem. Located directly on the marina boardwalk, it sports a nice view of the marina. Unfortunately, the enclosed dining area isn't high enough up to really see out into the bay past the ships. But overall, the ambiance is comfortable and pleasant. There is an outdoor area with gas space heaters, but since it was fairly cool and foggy this evening, we stuck to the indoor dining.
The menu included a nice variety of fresh seafood leavened with traditional burgers, chicken, and pasta fare for the land-lubbers. They also have a selection of beers, wine, and cocktails (we stuck to water tonight though). Cindy ordered the fried whole clams with coleslaw and I went with one of the specials, a blackened swordfish steak served on a Caesar salad. The service was quick and friendly and everything looked great when it arrived.

(Despite the fact that I was talking with Cindy about taking a picture of the food when it arrived, I took a bite of mine before I remembered to photograph it. Sorry. ;-) )
Cindy's clams were good with little to no grit - I think she only complained about sand in one of them out of the whole plate. This is a marked improvement over our experiences at Legal Seafoods. For some reason, those guys at Legal can't get the hang of washing grit out of shellfish. But I digress... Cindy's coleslaw was a mild sweet-cream based slaw, something she's had no experience with and thus didn't particularly enjoy. I thought it was delicious (although I tend towards enjoying a hint of mustard in cream based coleslaws). It would make a good side dish choice for anyone trying to avoid spicy foods though.
My swordfish was excellent - cooked to a perfect temperature and seasoned with just the right bite. I'm always nervous when ordering "blackened" fish in the north - while this wasn't up to true Cajun standards, it was still very well executed. The salad was adorned with hearty dark croutons and a well executed Caesar dressing. I'd had the option of adding anchovy fillets, but they turned out to be a little too much salt for my taste. If you're into anchovies, they appeared to be of good quality and were certainly tasty.
The pricing was not outrageous - total price for our dinner with water to drink was $27 (pre-tip). Bear in mind that my salad was only priced at $8 - which was amazing because that swordfish steak was not particularly small. So a typical two-entree dinner should run about $36-40, well within budget for a good seafood meal. Lobster and other market priced seafood was available, but I didn't check the rates.
Overall, I'd recommend Captain Fishbones to anyone interested in some quality dining in the Quincy area. Their website also features a entertaining little flash animation (I'm not normally in favor of splash screens on websites, but this one got a chuckle). Check it out if you're in town!
Captain Fishbones
332 Victory Road
North Quincy, MA 02171
phone: 617-471-3511















