Review: Real Seafood Company

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.

Swedish Meatballs

What You Will Need: Ground beef-80/20 (meaning 80% meat to 20% fat), diced onions, diced garlic, flour, grill seasoning, half & half or heavy cream and beef broth.

Optional Ingredient: Roasted mushrooms, fresh parlsey & fruit jelly.

Preheat your oven to 350*

**if you don't use an 80/20 meat mixture, you might have to incorporate an additional binder such as milk soaked bread crumbs**

In a small skillet with a little olive oil, sauté your diced onions. 2-3 minutes.

Add in the diced garlic. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, grill seasoning & the sautéed onions/garlic.

Mix & form meatballs about 1 1/2 inch size. 

In a large skillet with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil sear the meatballs till they form a good crust. About 3-5 minutes.

Remove and place onto a baking sheet. Pop into the oven to finish cooking while you build the sauce.

Reserve about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan.

Sprinkle in 2-3 tablespoons of flour. Stir and allow the roux to cook 1-2 minutes. 

Add in the beef broth. 1 - 1 1/2 c. Whisk & bring to a boil. 

Add in a splash of the half/half or heavy cream. 

At this point, you have made the tradition sauce. You can now add the meatballs back in, simmer & serve. 

Or.......

You can add the roasted mushrooms to the sauce.

How To: place sliced mushrooms on a baking sheet. Coat with olive oil, salt & pepper. roast in a 375* oven till golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. 

Now we can bring the meatballs back to the hot tub!

Simmer 5-10 minutes. 

Finish with plenty of fresh, chopped parsley. 

When I was reading up on this dish I learned that its traditionally served with boiled potatoes & a Lingonberry sauce. 

Since I didn't have this berry sauce, I settled for what I did have, a tiny strawberry jam from the Grand Hotel. 

I was worried about how this combination would taste but oh my goodness, was it delicious! 

A great mix of sweet & savory!

Two thumbs up from both my husband & son!!

Enjoy & Always Cook with Love!

Greek Burgers

What You Will Need: Ground meat of your choice (I have turkey but you can use chicken, beef or lamb), olives, roasted red bell pepper, red onion, garlic, scallions, fresh dill, feta cheese, cucumbers, sour cream, buns, lemon juice & zest.

In a large bowl mix together the ground turkey with minced olives, garlic, red onion & roasted bell pepper. Finely chopped scallions & dill, along with about a teaspoon of lemon zest goes in as well. 

Next, crumble in plenty of fresh feta cheese.

Combine, cover & refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 6 hours. 

The longer you let it marinate the better flavor you will give the meat.

In a small dish, mix about half of a cup of sour cream with 2 tablespoons of dill, one small minced clove of garlic & a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste & adjust to your liking.

Cover & chill. 

You can use greek yogurt for this if you prefer. 

When your ready to cook, form large patties & season with salt/pepper.

You can grill the burgers but I like to pan fry, especially since they are delicate with the ground turkey. 

Heat a large skillet with some olive oil & lay in your patties.  

Cook for 3-4 minutes per side till done. 

While the burgers are cooking, get your toppings ready. Thinly slice some onion & cucumbers. Slather a good amount of the dill sour cream onto your top bun.

Once the patties are fully cooked, its time to assemble these beauties! 

These burgers are juicy, fresh, busting with flavor & make you feel like your dining in the Mediterranean! 

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Any leftover meat & dill sauce is great in a lettuce cup for an easy next day lunch!

Enjoy & Always Cook with Love! 

Sausage & Spinach Stuffed Manicotti

What You Will Need: Sausage, ricotta cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, sauce of your choice, manicotti, onions, garlic, parsley, frozen spinach (thawed & rung out to remove the extra liquid). 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Preheat your oven to 375.

In a large skillet, start cooking the sausage. A potato masher works great to break the meat up into small pieces. Cook 2-3 minutes.

Add in an entire sliced onion. Cook 3-5 minutes until the sausage is fully cooked & the onions are wilted.

Add the sausage/onion mixture to a large bowl. 

Thawed spinach goes in next. 

Next, add in the whole container of ricotta cheese & 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Mix.

Partially cook your manicotti, about 4-5 minutes. You want it to be flexible but still firm. It will finish cooking in the oven. 

Reserve a mug of the starchy liquid. 

Drain & place your noodles on a baking sheet that has been coated with cooking spray. This helps so they don't stick together. Let cool till you can handle them. 

In a large baking dish, cover the bottom with your sauce of choice. 

Take a noodle & using a small spoon, fill with the sausage mixture.

Repeat the process till the baking dish is filled. 

Cover with more sauce & a few tablespoons of the reserved starchy, liquid.

Top with plenty of shredded cheese.

Cover with foil & bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Uncover & bake for another 10-15 minutes.

If you want the extra, bubbly top, place the baking dish under the broiler for a couple minutes but keep a close eye on it. It can burn very quickly. 

Time to dish up & dig in! 

Garnish with chopped, fresh parsley & a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy & Always Cook with Love! 

Quiche

What You Will Need: Frozen pie crust, 7 eggs, 2c. half & half, then any toppings you'd like. I chose cooked bacon, cheese, potato, spinach & broccoli. 

These are always nice to make on Sundays by utilizing leftovers in the fridge and its such an easy way to prep your breakfast for the coming week. 

Preheat your oven to 350. 

Place your pie tins on a large baking sheet.

This helps save your oven incase some of the egg mixture bubbles over during the baking process.

Fill the crust with chopped up pieces of your ingredients. 

I have one with bacon, broccoli, cheese & the other is potato, spinach, cheese. 

Whisk together 3 whole eggs & 4 egg yolks. 

Then add the eggs to the 2c. of half & half. Stir

Season with salt & pepper.

This egg mixture should fill up two pie tins, especially if you have them really full of goodies!

Pour the eggs into the pie shells. Use your fingers to move around the filling so the mixture gets evenly distributed. 

Bake in the oven for 40 mins. Rotate the baking sheet at the half way mark (20mins).

After the 40 minutes, turn the oven off & leave the quiche in there to settle completely, about 10-15 more minutes. 

Now you have breakfast ready to go for a crazy work week or a weekend full of activities. 

What I love most about Quiche is how creative you can get with your fillings/flavors. 

Make it your own by adding ingredients like;

Pesto

Ham

Sausage

Peppers

Onions

Quinoa 

Zucchini

Sun dried tomatoes

Steak

Cilantro

Butternut Squash

Kale

You get the idea....

When your ready to serve up a slice, add some fun garnish with things like avocado, hot sauce, sour cream or if your like my 7 year old niece, ketchup. 

Enjoy & Always Cook with Love!