My fiance and I visited Rumfish Grille for the first time this past Sunday for dinner. When we arrived I was immediately impressed by the modern and simple decor, but terribly turned off by the music. We happened to be visiting the same day that they were hosting an electronic music event on the outdoor patio, so there was crappy house music blaring at a level that should be illegal - and I'm a 30 year old former "raver", so thats saying something!
We were seated immediately, and I asked the waitress to seat us as far away from the music as possible, which tucked us back into a corner. The music was still obnoxious, but a little more tolerable.
Our waitress was prompt and brought our drinks within a few minutes of arriving. She was very friendly and did her best to answer all of my questions about the menu. I don't usually dine at seafood restaurants, so I had quite a few. There were a couple of things that she didn't know the answer to, but she made it a priority to find out. She also assured me that if I ordered anything that I "didn't like" that she would "do what we need to get you something that you like". I like that kind of customer service!
We ended up ordering the Coconut Chicken appetizer to share. My fiance also ordered the Spicy Tuna Rolls to start. After a very short wait another server brought out the coconut chicken and it was burnt. We both tasted a piece to see if we could just deal with it, but it was inedible. There were pieces that were clearly black, and it should have never left the kitchen. When our server came back we pointed it out and she immediately took it back to the kitchen after apologizing profusely.
We ate the spicy tuna rolls while we waited and they were AMAZING. I hate sushi. Seriously, I have tried 20 different kinds of sushi from at least 15 different places and have never really liked anything but vegetarian options. This was the first time I've had sushi that left me wanting more. All of the ingredients tasted fresh and it was just the right amount of spicy.
Just then the new batch of cocnut chicken came out and it was cooked perfectly. The nuggets were a light golden brown this time and the flavor was a hundred times better. The coconut-curry dipping sauce was the perfect accent. We both really really enjoyed this appetizer. You could tell that all of the ingredients were high quality - from the chicken to the curry in the sauce.
For dinner my fiance ordered the Pork Tenderloin with creamy polenta, dried apricots, Brussels sprouts, raspberry demi-glaze. He was very pleased with his meal. The pork was cooked perfectly and was moist and flavorful (he gave me a few bites). I didn't taste the other items on his plate, but he finished everything off, so I know it was good. He can be picky, so a clean plate and a smile is a good sign.
My entree was the Shrimp Penne. The shrimp penne has an oil based fresh pesto sauce with house-mozzarella, and grape tomatoes. I also asked to add mushrooms.They didn't put very many mushrooms in, but that was actually for the better because they were portobellas and honestly they didn't really fit with the other flavors in the dish. There was a lot of garlic, which our server had warned me about, but I love garlic so I didn't mind (just be aware its not a good first date meal). There was more than enough shrimp in the dish and the portion itself was HUGE. The shrimp were also very fresh and tasty. My only complaint was that the house mozzarella was not really melted into the sauce - so instead it turned into little clumps of congealed cheese that didn't blend into the oil. But the flavor was spot on so I really didn't care about the look/texture. Taking a mouthful of pasta, shrimp, cheese, and a tomato in one bite was delectable and made up for the gloopy cheese and my mistake of asking for mushrooms.
Our server was very attentive and checked on us to make sure there weren't any other dining snafus. When we got the check we noticed that they removed the coconut chicken appetizer from the bill. Perfect customer service if you ask me! My fiance agreed that overall we really enjoyed our dining experience and our dinner, despite a few hiccups. We are both excited to go back again and try a few different dishes. I am surprised to see so many negative reviews on here considering we had such a good time and usually we are pretty harsh critics.
This would have been a five star review had it not been for the obscenely loud music, the burnt appetizer on the first run, and the congealed cheese in my Penne. Hopefully next time we can enjoy the patio under more relaxing circumstances.