I went to Monty’s Seafood Grill in Ballantyne Commons a few weeks back. It was my first visit to Monty’s. Upon arriving, I noticed that the restaurant was really slow for 6:30pm on a Thursday night. I would have expected it to be busier. We were the only people in the dining area, although there were several people in the bar area. They had a $4 tapas bar from 5pm to 6:30pm on Tuesday through Saturday, which is probably why there were people in the bar area.

It was strange to be that slow in the dining area because they do run an all you can eat crab legs special on Thursday nights ($24.95). The Carolina Wing & Rib House was always packed during its Thursday night all you can eat crab legs special, so I suspected Monty’s would be the same. Perhaps people just do not know about it as of yet. They better find out in a hurry because I don’t know how long a place can stay in business as slow as they were.

I started with the bacon wrapped scallops. I got three scallops on a skewer that was served over a bed of diced pineapple, red onions and red peppers. The scallops were not what I would call large, but were perhaps slightly larger than average. The bed of pineapple, red onions and red peppers was amazing. It was simply fantastic. It made the entire dish worth getting. On the downside, it was a bit overpriced at $10 - especially in comparison to the other items on the menu. For example, my entree was only $17.95. The scallops would have been more appropriately priced at $7.

For my entree, I got the Grilled Mahi Mahi with lemon butter. They have several varieties of fish to choose from as well as several seasonings to choose from. The fish has a really really (really!) strong grilled taste to it. I agree with Hank Hill that you are supposed to “taste the meat, not the heat.” I don’t mind a little grilled or smoke flavoring every now and then but it should complemint the meat - not the other way around. The fish was moist and appear to have been prepared good other than the overly grilled flavor.

I also got shrimp scami on the side with were great. My other sides included mushrooms and asparagus, both of which were good (not great, just good). My wife ordered a filet which she also thought was good, but not exceptional.

For desert, we had strawberry cheesecake. It was pretty good, but would have been better with strawberries. It wasn’t spectacular by any means. In my opinion, it is difficult to find bad cheesecake.

I will probably try to visit Monty’s again in the future, but will likely do it for the all you can eat crab legs special, primarily because there are not a lot of places that have the special anymore.

I finally went to Bonefish Grill for the first time and was very pleased. The Bonefish Grill is an upper end Seafood chain headquartered in Tampa, Florida. They have two Charlotte area locations - one in Pineville (Corner of Carmel Rd and Highway 51), and the other in Matthews (off Independence Blvd).

The atmosphere was exceptionally nice. There are few restaurants in the Pineville area that offer a sense of upscale ambiance like the Bonefish Grill. The service was also exceptional as the waiter was very attentive and was always on top of making sure that our dining needs were met.

The meal started with a basket of bread that was quite good. The one black mark from the service standpoint would be the removal of the bread when the meals are served. Many people eat bread throughout their meal - not just as an appetizer. They did bring the bread back upon request though.

I started with the Bang Bang Shrimp. As promised, they were tender and crispy and were covered in a delicious spicy sauce. The amount of shrimp that I received was way more than I expected and could have easily served as a lite lunch by themselves.

For my entree, I had the clilean sea bass. I was amazed at how well this fish was cooked. It was exceptionally tender and moist. The rich taste of the sea bass was complimented perfectly with the warm mango salsa that covered it. The exceptional salsa consisted of red onions, diced mango, red pepper, scallions and cilantro. This fish was complimented nicely with a mashed potatoes that mixed exceptionally well with the warm mango salsa.

For desert, I had my favorite again - Creme Brulee. Once again, I loved it. I am not sure if it is possible to get bad Creme Brulee. I will keep looking until I find some. The Creme Brulee at the Bonefish Grill was larger than several other restaurants - perhaps twice as large as some. While it still rates high in my book, I still believe that it is not quite as fantastic as a few other places - particularly, McCormick & Schmicks and the Palisades Country Club (the best I have ever had).

All in all, I really enjoyed my meal at the Bonefish Grill. I would highly recommend it to anyone in the Pineville area of the restaurant that is looking for a nicer restaurant to go to. Also of note, they do have Steaks, Pork Chops, chicken, and a variety of other dishes if you have a non-seafood eater along.

There is really only one word for this place: Spectacular!

I have been a frequent visitor to McCormick & Schmicks for well over a year now - having tried virtually every item on the menu.  At one time, I had tried everything on the menu but they change the menu frequently.  The prices are more than what I typically spend on dinner but the lunch menu is very similar and much cheaper - although not cheap.  Lunch will run about $15-$17 per person.  A full dinner with appetizers, entrees and dessert will run around $50 per person, before any alcohol.

My wife and I went there the other night in what was planned to be a pre-Indiana Jones meal.  Unfortunately, we engorged ourselves so much and took so long doing it, we did not feel like a movie afterward. 

The ambiance is very upscale and the staff very professional.  The staff is always very knowledgable and willing to ablige whatever desire that you have. 

On this visit, I had a decided to splurge a little.  I had a 2 lb Whole Main Lobster stuffed with lump crab meat.  It was outstanding.  It was pre-split down the middle for me so that the meat was extremely easy for me to get to.  As I said before, it was simply amazing. 

My wife had a Steak and Shrimp Combination, but as you may recall from prior post, she does not eat seafood, so the shrimp were for me.  The combination also came with McCormick & Schmick’s Signature Creme Brulee - again for me, my favorite dessert.

The shrimp were large and also stuffed with lump crab meat.  This was the first time I had had these, and as usual, I was very pleased - delicious.

One thing I usually do is to order the Potato Croquet as my side item.  I did so this time, and it was cooked to perfection.  As you take a bite of the croquet, you have to wonder how the chefs at McCormick’s are able to prepare food this amazing while competitors can not.   

When it was time for dessert, I was still excited to see the Creme Brulee placed on the table along with the Cheesecake that my wife ordered.   Again, the Creme Brulee was outstanding.  I will stop short of saying that this is the best Creme Brulee I have had, because it is not.  But, it is near the top of the list.   Of course, I do not recall ever getting a bad Creme Brulee. 

My wife throughly enjoyed her Filet Mignon as well.  I routinely go with friends that do not eat seafood and they all rave about the steaks.  For those who have ever heard the phrase, “never eat steak at a seafood place”, can throw that advice out the window at McCormick & Schmicks.    I will agree with most seafood places, but not McCormicks.    Of course, if you eat seafood - get seafood. 

Since I have literally visited this restaurant 100’s of times, I will list out some of my favorite dishes too:

Oysters On the Half Shell - always extremely fresh, and always extremely delicious.  This is one of the few restaurants that I will actually eat raw oysters at.  I do not trust most restuarants to handle the oysters properly - especially some of the “dives” around town that proclaim to be raw bars.   Don’t get me wrong, I will drink a few beers and eat a bucket of steamed oysters at those places, but I am not eating a raw one.

Ahi Tuna - Sesame Seared
Halibut, with Roasted Garlic Butter
Swordfish, with Boiled Red Potatoes and Lemon Butter
Atlantic Salmon, Roasted on a Cedar Plank with Northwest Berry Sauce (THE BEST SALMON I HAVE EVER HAD, BAR NONE)
Yellowtail Flounder, Permesan Crusted with Lemon Caper Butter

Desserts:  Pretty much all of them are great

Upside Down Granny Smith Apple Pie
Cheesecake
Cholocate Bomb
Creme Brulee

Last Week, the family and I were looking a place fairly close by to get a good meal, and we decided to hit one of the local fish camps.  A short drive from our Lake Wylie home toward Belmont yields at least three fish camps, including:  Twin Tops, Graham’s Fish Fry,  and Catfish Cove.  Twin Tops and Graham’s are across the street from one another and Catfish cove is about a mile down the road.  On this occassion, we decided to visit Twin Tops so that is the one I will review here.  I am sure, I will eventually get to the others as well.

You will notice the biggest problem that Twin Tops immediately upon pulling into the parking lot - limited parking and VERY tight parking spaces. If you are driving a Suburban-sized vehicle, you may want to get their early to guarantee two spots next to one another.   If you are driving a SMART Car, you should be fine.   Of course, parking is a minor detail. 

The last two times we have been in, it has seemed like a long time before we were approached by a waitress - almost to the point of wondering whether or not our table even had a waitress assigned to it.  As usual, the restaurant was packed with people, so perhaps she just got busy.  Eventually, the waitress did come and took our orders.  A few minutes later, she returned with the iced tea - which was a bit rough.  Traditionally, fish camps usually have good sweet tea so this one was puzzling to me.  My wife recalled the tea being bad last time as well.    I would recommend going with a soda or something other than tea.  We will not be ordering tea there again.

At the same time that the tea was bought to our table, a basket of hush puppies were also delivered.  My wife liked them a lot.  I thought they were good, but I have definately had better on many occassions.  I would rate them about a 7 out of 10.

They had several all-you-can eat specials up on the board - depending upon the night of the week, as follows:

Tuesday, Perch $7.95
Wednesday, Calabash Shrimp $8.95
Thursday, Whiting $8.95

As is the case with most of the fish camps nowadays, the large platters are always all you can eat.  This is assuming that you can finish the large platter to begin with.  On this night, I wanted to try a little of everything [because I knew I would be writting about it later], so I ordered the all-you-can-eat three item combo platter for $11.95 which featured Calabash Shrimp, Deviled Crab and Flounder.   I would only rate the flounder about a 5 out of 10.   It was pretty average.  Next time, I will probably order something different in place of the flounder.    The Calabash Shrimp were a different story though.  They were lightly breaded and fried to near perfection - earning a score of 9 out of 10.  I will definately be eating more of these in the future.  The third item was the Deviled Crab which was also excellent.  It was some of the best Deviled Crab I have eaten in a long while - earning an 8 out of 10.  I ended up getting reorders of both the shrimp and the deviled crab, but had to fight my way through the reorders - I was so stuffed.

My wife who is not a seafood eater, ordered the 1/2 order chicken tender basket.  I am not sure if they messed up the order and gave her a whole order or if the 1/2 order is usually this big.  It was monsterous.  I have never seen anything like it and it was supposedly only a 1/2 order - see photo.    As far as the quality goes, she would rate them a 7 out of 10.

Also of note, since I mentioned the difficulty of getting a waitress, I must say that once she finally got to our table she was very attentive and very good.  Of particular note, my drink did not get empty which, as I have said before, is rare.

As with many fish camps, you pay up “at the front” when you are leaving.  The front area reminds me of an old time candy store with classic candies lining the wall - making it impossible to resist an extra purchase as you are paying your bill.  Next to the main door sits a Ms. Pac Man machine - how great is this! 

Also of note, Twin Tops does not take credit cards - quite a dissappointment considering it is 2008.  Even McDonald’s and Taco Bell take credit cards.  Twin Tops does take debit cards.  I am not sure the logic behind this.  Perhaps they are trying to save on credit card processing fees which are much more than debit card processing fees.  Who knows?  Just remember to take cash (or a debit card). 

They are also not open on Sundays or Mondays, so plan your visit accordingly.