Legal Sea Foods is a chain, it's in a mall: and it does not suck

Say all you want about chain restaurants, but you can have a pretty damned good meal at Legal Sea Foods (aka, Legal Seafood, LS).

Let’s face it, the term “chain” is really meaningless.  Of course there are the McDonald’s and Wendy’s of the world, and those are certainly “chains,” but there also chains like Smith & Wollensky’s, Palm Steakhouse, and Legal Sea foods.  And, considering that menus at Legal Sea Foods’ various outposts vary, just as the menus at  Per Se and The French Laundry can be similar, but different, perhaps it’s reasonable to say that there are chains from Thomas Keller or even Ducasse? 

OK, so I might be stretching the definition of “chain.”  But, it’s a pointless pejorative that people use when they probably really want to say “fast food.”  Actually, what they really want to say is “restaurants I don’t like (and that i've never tried).”  And quite frankly, most people don’t have very good taste so I don’t listen to what they say anyway.

Back to Legal Sea foods for a moment though.

The menu is a bit overwhelming.  Lots of choices.  Lots of combos.  But if you cut through the chaff you can, and should, find yourself with a decent meal that consists of something like this:

A mojito.  They have a Mojito on the menu at the Paramus, NJ location that totally rocks.  It’s not syrupy sweet.  It’s well-balanced and tastes like summer.  In fact, given that I just “discovered” mojitos last fall, I will make it the official drink of the summer of ’06.  Last year’s was the Dark & Stormy.  They get a little much after a while (“a while” being defined here as “10 per weekend every weekend all summer long.”)

Start off with whatever oysters they have that night.  LS usually has at least three types of oysters.  They are deftly handled, served at just the right temperature and with all that gorgeous “liquor” sitting in the shell.  Contrast this to the world famous Oyster Bar at Grand Central in NYC, where more than often you’ll find shucked oysters being flung around to the point where the liquor ends up in the ice, on the floor, or anywhere else other than on your tongue.  Not good.

LS serves oysters with a ramekin of cocktail sauce, with a big dollop of horseradish on top. Please, don’t put cocktail sauce on your oyster.  You're just going to make it taste like cocktail sauce.  I love cocktail sauce as much as the next guy, which is why I use the rolls they serve to act as a spoon for that cocktail sauce, but it has no place on your oyster.  Cocktail sauce is better on bread than it is on oysters. Of this you are assured. 

They also give you a ramekin of peppery mignonette.  You are allowed to use this.  In fact, it’s encouraged.  But, I should think that it’s best to just use the fork to apply the mignonette sauce.  The fork allows you to get a little piece of shallot, just enough vinegar, and some great black peppery flavor onto the oyster.  That’s all you want.  After all, you want to taste the oyster and the liquor, and if all goes right, it’s like tasting the sea. 

Get yerself a glass of Sancerre.  The wine list at Legal is quite decent and well-chosen given the food they’re serving.  Much more so than at about 95% of the mom-and-pop restaurants in New Jersey.  Of this you are assured.  The list even goes as far as to suggest pairings for the different types food (fried, oysters, etc).  A great wine list, quite frankly, with at least 15 or 20 wines by the glass. 

Now, move right into some fried seafood. 

Legal does fried seafood very very well.  It’s never greasy and always seems very fresh.  You really can’t go wrong with the fried seafood.  I think they even have prosecco on the wine list, so you can pair your fried with some bubbles.  Just perfect.  They have a fried calamari dish with hot peppers that should not be missed.  The hot and vinegary peppers cut right through the fried of the calamari.  Just like your proscecco or Sancerre will.

I’m told the little neck clams are quite good as well.  I don’t go for that stuff.  You should, though.

The lobster roll just can’t compare to the Elysian Café’s (Hoboken).  My one lobster roll at Legal was a bit over-dressed, and I didn’t care much for the scallion.  In a pinch I’m sure it’s fine, but relative to the Elysian Café, is just isn’t worth it. Legal has a couple of decent enough beers on tap that will go well with your lobster roll.  I chose Harpoon IPA.  MMMMmmm.  Very IPA-ey.

You can eat that the bar at the Legal Sea Foods in Paramus, and I’m sure that goes at most if not all of their other outposts.  Our bartender was very nice, very helpful (when I had a special request, the response was “no problem, we’re not here to be mean,” rather than what you might find elsewhere in the way of “uh, let me check.”), and she made a mean mojito.

It ain’t cheap.  But good seafood generally isn’t.  And, “Sea Foods” is actually two words.  I always thought it was just one.

Legal Sea Foods - Garden State Plaza - Paramus - NJ (and other locations in a mall near you) - 201.843.8483

Comments

[Priscilla]

Wait... Tommy, you drink distilled now? Yay! And, what is a Dark & Stormy.

[tommyeats]

priscilla,

i must admit, i have a taste for the sweet girlie drinks. what can i tell you. but you can still keep your (not you, specifically) disgusting martinis and whatnot. generally, though, i'm strictly a beer and wine guy.

any drink with an umbrella in it is fair game as far as i'm concerned. and if it's in a plastic cup that has sand all over it, all the friggin' better.

Dark & Stormies are from Bermuda, where mrs. tommy and i had the vacation of a lifetime last year. briefly: ice, gosling's black seal rum (please don't try to use any other rum), topped with Barritt's ginger beer (please don't try to use any other ginger beer) and a twist of lime (please don't use a lemon).

summer? summer was friggin' invented for this drink.

[menton1]

Reminded me of another "chain" that's a cut above most other chains. PF Changs, in Weehawken, does really nice Asian fare. Beautiful decor, and some nice touches with sizzling food as its brought to the table. Beter than 99% of the Chinese places littering the NJ landscape...

[dbrociner]

They also make a good bloody mary at LS. They separate the spices from the tomato juice and mix things up when you order. I like the lobster roll more than you did but I agree that the Elysian's version is better.

As long as you don't want me to order the burger.:D

[Rail Paul]

Legal Sea Foods has a major infrastructure behind it.

With buyers in major seafood markets and huge buying power, they're in a good position to get the best fish

[Ev]

You said the magic word, Tom (mojito)...the first one I ever had was at Cafe Atlantico in D.C. about 5 years ago, and I've loved them ever since. Summer it 'TIS. :-) For that alone, I'm ready to hit LSF!

[Karen]

My dinner at LS usually consists of oysters, the goat cheese salad, and a flight of some wine. I don't sit at the bar, but in the bar area..

[tommyeats]

Karen, you remind me that they do in fact serves flights of wine. +2 points for LS, and just another touch that puts them head and shoulders above the local competition (for the most part).

[Rail Paul]

From LS's website. It's a decent philosophy:

What can restaurateurs do to leverage their wine lists to reap the most profits?
It’s a question I wrestle with all the time. I think there’s a point of diminishing returns. My approach is I’d rather sell the wine at a fair price, actually at a relatively low price, and put the dollars in the register rather than create a monument where everything is marked up to a certain percentage and anyone who wants a particular wine is going to have to pay a lot more for it than they would at a retail store.

What kind of training needs to happen to get the most from a wine list?
I think servers have to understand about the product, they have to understand a lot about their menu, and they have to understand how to describe the various wines so they create a vivid picture in the mind of the guest that is going to allow the guest to determine quickly if its kind of wine they think they’ll like.

How has a more sophisticated consumer changed they way restaurateurs approach their own wine lists?
We-as consumers-demand better quality. We speak up. It’s not inexpensive to go out to dinner. Some people vote with their pocketbooks, some people send e-mails and write letters. The last thing a restaurateur wants to hear is what a lot of them used to hear: “Oh, the food was great, but the wine list wasn’t very good.”

What kind of wine sales strategies works best in retail and restaurants?
Credibility is huge; as a customer you need to believe that (retailers and restaurateurs) know what they’re doing. They’re not just trying to sell you something.
I turn off when I get the feeling the server is trying to sell me something. It has to be handled with finesse, and it has to be not, “I want to sell you this,” but “What do you like and what are you ordering?”

How has the role of the sommelier changed?
There are very few sommeliers in the Boston area. Restaurants don’t know quite what to do with them, per se. Great restaurants usually have a person dedicated, maybe a wine director, to selecting and training the staff. That’s what they think about, that’s what they do. You don’t really need sommelier to affect that.

http://www.legalseafoods.com/index.cfm?cd=NAA&cdid=18448&pid=11282

[tommyeats]

rail paul, i'd argue that it's more than a decent philosophy. Legal Seafoods really is doing what all restaurants should be doing, but aren't. They understand and appreciate the relationship between wine and food. They understand and appreciate the need to have a well-trained staff, who *also* understand and appreciate the relationship between wine and food (for the most part, at least). And they understand and appreciate that they can get people in the door and make them happy without a wine list that consists only of 5 flavors of oaky chardonny, a pinot grigio and 4 boring reds, all picked out by a distributor or manager who knows nothing about wine, and doesn't care to know, either.

[Karen]

Tommy,

I've never seen Barritt's Ginger Beer. Is it readily available or do I have to make a trip to Bermuda?..lol

[tommyeats]

karen,

Barritt's Ginger Beer is available at the Bottle King chain, at most Stop and Shop's around north jersey, and lots of other places, believe it or not.

I can assure you that i was very surprised to find all of this out after i hauled a case back on the plane from bermuda. very surpised indeed!

although, i highly recommended a trip to bermuda, as it's beautiful place, filled with happy people, pink sand beaches, and you can get up at a normal time in NJ any be on the beach with a Dark & Stormy by lunch at noon.

you can call(888) 227 - 0708 to find out where, or visit them at Barrittsgingerbeer.com i'm not shittin ya. now, go get yourself some Gosling's!