AMONG THE BEST RESTAURANTS THE HARBOR in Oak Bluffs can offer is Fishbones Bar and Grille. If you are looking for expertly executed cuisine at a fair price this should be your first stop. Depart the Hy-Line ferry or dock your boat and
take Equally enjoying a beautiful menu, wonderful staff, classic and historic New England views and the atmosphere that only Oak Bluffs and this community can capture.After all, this historic restaurant and bar district of the Oak Bluffs community is known as a lively, upbeat, fun area and Fishbones lives up to this reputation with its harborside presence. The tuna tartare tower lays before you in a tantalizing aura, begging you to take a bite and when that bite comes it takes over full control of your senses. The oyster sauce notes hit first and the tuna is light and plentiful while combined with the cucumber. The cucumber and bean sprouts provide a nice textural balance to the whole experience and everything is so delicately balanced you would have to be this side of Gordon Ramsay to have anything negative to say about this beautiful dish. The ceviche, which is on a rotation of different fishes, is so light and healthy tasting while also being shocking to the taste pallet because the notes hit so strongly. It’s also a gorgeous dish, with many colors in the cocktail glass that sits before you. Onions, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and corn. All of these veggies combined with the soft fish (in this case cod) and strong hits of vinegar leave a refreshing taste on your tongue as you finish the last bite. Lobster bisque is a classic dish for any seafood fan and Fishbones serves up a truly excellent version of it here. The heavy cream and plentiful helping of lobster really make this dish memorable. I remember thinking as I savored the afternotes of a bite that I had the true taste of a lobster roll on my tongue. While the initial notes of my first bites were surprising and delighted with
the creamy, buttery notes of the dish. Do not let the word “curry” scare you away from the curry shrimp. This dish, while exemplifying everything a curry can be, is not spicy to a tame pallet. Instead, it really brings forth the but-
ter and coconut flavors of the classic Indian cuisine. A wonderful showing of vegetables and basmati rice that not only shows well but also tastes delicious when combined with the rich flavor profile of the curry sauce. Finally, lobster would not be my first choice to combine with a corn taco. However, upon tasting what lobster can really be when put into a taco shell and shoved down my gullet I have to say I love being wrong. The truly soft and delicate lobster com-
bined with the corn and black beans really made me change my mind about what a taco can be. It is actually a really beautiful texture pairing as well as the soft lobster rolls over your tongue into the corn shell it all just combines so perfectly on the pallet that it’s hard to forget.
Come down to the harbor, whether you’re coming off the
Hy-Line from Hyannis or parking your yacht worth millions
from Florida we can all sit together and enjoy the experience of the harbor and Fishbones together as equals. Equally enjoying a beautiful menu, wonderful staff, classic and historic New England views and the atmosphere that only Oak Bluffs and this community can capture.
