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Frutti di mare

Frutti di mare from Joey's in Worcester, MA

Frutti di mare from Joey's in Worcester, MA

I love going out to eat in the summer months! As refreshing as an outdoor BBQ can be, I also look forward to the steamy nights I don’t have to cook and heat up my kitchen!

That being said…summertime also equals bathing suit season. For me…that means making smart choices when it comes to ordering or lightening up some of my favorite dishes.

This July evening at Joey’s Bar and Grill meant following this summer rule. I decided on the a spicy seafood dish served in a garlic sauce over pasta. I swapped pasta for spinach and hoped for the best. The portion was of reasonable size with large chunks of flaky haddock, four tender scallops, and a generous handful of calamari and mussels. While the sauce was light and garlicky, the flavor was not full-bodied and lacked complexity. The spinach, while healthy and full of vitamins, did not adequately replace the pasta and were quite bitter. Now, don’t get me wrong, I devoured every morsel on my plate. It took every fiber in my being to resist the urge to mop the leftover sauce with the freshly baked, homemade frocaccia bread.

All in all, the dish, while satisfactory, fell short of the high expectations I have of Joey’s food from consistent luck every past visit. However, I am at fault for this disappointing meal. I blame it on making a poor swap to look better in a bathing suit.