June 24-30, 2004

food

Fish Your Wish

THE SEA AND CAKE: Seafood Borgata offers two styles of crab cake: deep-fried with a crispy coating, or fluffy and broiled (pictured). Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Whether you want to cook it yourself or have it served on a (Styrofoam) platter, Seafood Borgata has what you're craving.

by Debra Auspitz

It's a tough year to be the other Borgata.

After all of the fanfare surrounding the billion-dollar "village" that opened in Atlantic City last summer, a smaller, closer Borgata has gone relatively unnoticed. It opened last October in the space that formerly housed Old City breakfast staple Blue in Green — the decor hasn't changed much, but the vibe certainly has.

While the counters, chairs, even the plastic-cased magazines still remain, Seafood Borgata has filled the room with giant cases of fish. From a blood-red fresh tuna steak to rows and rows of breaded sea creatures (you name it, they've fried it), the display would seem more at home in a farmer's market than in the Real-World-bait environment of Old City.

The other marked difference between Seafood Borgata and its neighbors is price: This fish is as fresh and as tasty as you'll find in many a trendy spot, but it costs only a fraction as much.

Patrons of the Seafood Borgata (and, if you haven't figured it out yet, there is no connection to the AC house of sin — this place was even out of clams casino on our visit) can either take out fish to prepare at home (everything from stuffed shrimp and flounder to pre-breaded fryables), or order off the menu and let the Borgata cook your meal for you. The menu offers sandwiches and other non-fishy fare, but when we visited, we were there to sample the goods of the sea. And sample we did.

Despite its bad reputation in health circles, there's something magical about fried foods. Seafood Borgata realizes this, and takes frying to an art form. We started out with the fried calamari ($2.75), possibly the world's most popular appetizer (OK, fine, they have mozzarella sticks too, but we didn't try those). The results were "standard," says Lori Hill. Her ambivalence was shared by the group, though we quickly devoured the entire dish. Bad move, since things got much better from there.

The fried jumbo shrimp, available a la carte ($5.50-$10) or through a variety of combos and platters, were simply delicious, especially dipped in spicy cocktail sauce. Lori puts it perfectly when she says, "These little guys were plump and addictive." While we munched we also sampled the New England clam chowder ($2.95 for a small bowl), which was extremely hearty and flavorful. The soup seemed a bit heavy, but, in all fairness, it was nearly 85 degrees out, not ideal chowda-eatin' weather.

For our entrees, we ordered several fried seafood platters that included everything from shrimp to scallops to crab cakes ($7.50-$8.99), fried oysters ($1.99 each) and beer-battered fish and chips ($5.99). To avoid actually deep-frying ourselves, we also tried the seafood salad platter ($5.99) and a special of broiled fresh flounder ($8.99). All of the platters and entrees come with a choice of two "vegetables." Why the quotes? Well, aside from a daily green veggie (broccoli on our visit), the other options fall more into the French fry/onion ring/cole slaw/potato salad variety of side dishes. While we enjoyed the slaw, potato salad and a side of pickled beets, frankly, when the fried fish is so tasty, it doesn't leave a lot of room for onion rings or fries. And oh, how tasty those fried morsels were, from the enormous oysters to the impeccably prepared fish in the fish and chips. The latter received the highest praise from our group. "These five perfect filets flake beautifully at the first buttery bite," says Juliet Fletcher. "It could stand up to a pub's platter any day," Lori adds.

The only soggy note in a delightfully crunchy array were the crab cakes, which seemed to consist of much more breading than crab. "The cakes were mealy," Lori laments. "The crab cakes were, as is common with the low-end version of this crustaceous delicacy, more or less crab mashed potatoes in a breaded exoskeleton," Patrick Rapa explains.

Though we were nearly sick with delight over the fried morsels, we saved room and appreciation for the non-battered fish as well. The seafood salad was spectacular, which is no small feat for a dish that often ends up tasting mayonnaise-y and a little, well, fishy. Served in a generous portion with a choice of veggies, the salad is an excellent choice for those who don't like their food fried, and it surely would be great on a sandwich as well. The broiled flounder also drew raves. "The flounder was succulent and lacked nothing in taste or texture compared to its deep-fried friends," Patrick says. "Mild but flavorful," Lori exclaims.

We ate ourselves sick (in the good way), and still wanted to come back the following week to try out the joint again. And we could afford it when we weren't eating on the company dime.

If you want frills and flair, go to any other Old City restaurant. If you just want fresh fish, quick service and affordable prices, go to Seafood Borgata. As a market, Seafood Borgata is a gift to the neighborhood. If they could just get a slot machine in there, we could tell Atlantic City to take their Borgata and shove it. How about it, Rendell?

SEAFOOD BORGATA
7 N. Third St., 215-931-1560
Mon.-Sat., 10:30 a.m.9 p.m.
Appetizers, $1.99-$7; sandwiches/wraps, $2.99-$5.95; entrees, $5.99-$19.99
Not wheelchair accessible. Smoking is not permitted. Reservations are not necessary. Accepts Visa, MasterCard and Mac.