One of the newest restaurant in Bay City, Real Seafood Company is offering the tri-city residents an upscale dinging experience with a water front view.
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First impression on entering was clean, very open & airy. Tables nicely spaced out and large windows to look out over the river. During the warmer months a large patio is the prime seating area for most diners.
Lighting was rather dim inside which made my eyes feel like they were constantly adjusting.
Upon seating, the hostess place two tablets at the table. My husband asked what those were for & she explained that they are the menu's. She picked one up and demonstrated that using the main menu, you can pick each category (drinks, appetizers, soups, salads, entree's, etc.), in each category you can then select the menu item to see a photo & description of the dish.
My husband being a non-tech savvy person asked if he could have an actually menu instead. The hostess said that due to some misprints, they didn't have a paper menu available. She then proceeded to literally laugh at my husband saying that its usually the little old ladies that complain about the tablets.
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With the tablets it seem to take longer to go over the menu and decide what we wanted. Our waitress was very patient & offered suggestions. For the appetizer she said the best seller was their Dynamite Shrimp; fried shrimp, green beans, crunchy wontons in a sweet & sour sauce.
Presentation was cute in the small cast iron skillet but the flavor was unsatisfactory. The sweet & sour sauce tasted more like a watered down buffalo sauce.
We spoke with our waitress who was more then happy to exchange the shrimp for another appetizers. We choose the Sweet & Spicy Calamari; light fried & coated in a chili sauce topped with scallions, cashews & peppers.
The calamari was perfectly cooked. The chili sauce was sweet, while the cashew gave that good, salty bite. The scallions & sliced peppers completed the dish with a fresh finish.
My husband declared it one of the best calamari dishes he has ever had.
Entree's come with a blue cheese coleslaw. Im not a blue cheese fan but when asked if I can substitute it for something else, I was told I can either add a salad for $2.95 more or just go without. Seeing that my entree was already $27, I wasn't about to go add $3 for a salad. I just opted out of the coleslaw.
My husband decided he wanted the side salad instead of the coleslaw. The salad was mixed green pre dressed in a house ranch style dressing. Although the portion size was good the lettuce tasted dirty, gritty & unwashed.
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I ordered the Rainbow Trout; corn meal crusted with creamy leeks, roasted butternut squash, sweet peas & arugula.
All the components of this dish was something I love. The fish was pipping hot which lightly wilted the arugula. The leek sauce was creamy & delicate while the sweet peas gave a nice pop of flavor. My only con was having to peel away the fish skin. This is my own personal preference, many people love crispy fish skin, Im just not one of them but always keep in mind that cooking with the skin on helps to keeps the fish moist.
My husband ordered the Lobster Linguini in a tomato basil sauce & spinach. Although the overall flavor was good, the pasta was overcooked & he picked out a total of 5 small pieces of lobster. For a dish that is $24 & pasta is mere pennies per portion, I expected more lobster for your buck.
Overall my husband gave this restaurant 4 out of 10 while I gave it 6 out of 10. Our waitress really came through being so patient, attentive & nice. Good service on her part is what helped raise my final rating.
Pro's:
Good portion sizes
Clean bathrooms
Pretty view
Nice size menu with a variety of options
Con's:
Poor lighting
Disrespectful attitude towards customer not wanting to use the tablet
(I have read other reviews about the poor attitude from the staff here as well).
No substitution option for the blue cheese coleslaw
Paying more for the view & trendy tablet menu's then the actual food/drinks being ordered.
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