Just. Wow. I have been waiting for this place to open for what seems like years. Last night I FINALLY got to go to dinner!
**keep in mind that this is a seafood restaurant and can be pricy. I've seen some reviews on other media complaining about the price point.
Parking: we parked at First Ave garage since the night rate is a flat $6 and it was less than 5 min to walk to the restaurant.
Decor: absolutely stunning. The Moby Dick nautical theme was beautiful. The mural of the whale on the wall, strung up bulbs, ropes from ships on the ceiling and the pictures on the walls were so awesome. And the menus are old books that have been stamped with the restaurant logo! The menu sections are divided into chapter names. So clever and it appealed to me since I'm an avid reader and book lover.
Food: oh. My. God delicious! We started with the grilled octopus ($18). It was expertly wood fire grilled with the perfect char. The pieces were generous and not overcooked. The chimichurri was the stuff dreams are made of.
Next we had the Guppy Tower ($80). This thing was massive and perfect to share with someone else. There were 12 raw oysters, 12 raw clams (which I've never had before), 6 GIANT prawns, some steamed mussels and pieces of snow crab. The house made hot sauce was really tasty. The clams tasted like briny saltwater and weren't my favorite but weren't awful.
We got a side of the crab mac n cheese which was a real winner. Nice big chunks of crab, the cheese sauce wasn't overly cheesy or watery. You could taste every part of the dish.
Dessert was the ricotta lavender cake. I've never had lavender in food before and it was definitely perfumy and potent but not overpowering. The lemon ricotta on the side was amazing.
Overall I loved this place. I wouldn't get a tower again since it was so expensive (we only did because I had some gift cards haha). Can't wait to go back for brunch one day!