Last month Bonefish Grill came out with an amazing new menu. (Don’t panic, they didn’t change the Bang Bang Shrimp!) And to help get the word out they hosted a tasting for our little group of local bloggers at the Huntersville, NC location. (It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it.)
I’m a work from home mom with five kids on summer break, so anytime I can get out of the house AND get a free meal, I’m there! 😉 It was a bonus that I got to spend that time with some wonderful women, as well!
OMGosh the food, glorious food! I am not exaggerating when I say this was probably the best meal of my entire life. I loved everything I tried and if you had to put a gun to my head I would say my favorite thing was the NY Strip Tataki (I LOVED the Lobster Grilled Cheese but the steak edged it out, ever so slightly) and the Bonefish House Salad. But in all honesty, everything I tasted was spot on cooked to perfection.
When we walked into the restaurant we were greeted right away by the hostess. After we were seated, the Assistant Manager Andrew came right over to the table and introduced himself and explained a little about how the evening would go, and then he brought over Channing, (and yes, I had to ask him if it was Channing Tatum) the best server ever! She was top notch and as nice as could be.
We started the night off with a couple of appetizers and salads. And maybe a drink or two. I tried the Lemon Drop Martini (Absolut Citron, fresh lemon and sugar) which was very tasty, and then later in the evening I ordered an Ocean Trust Tropic Heat Martini. Not only was that a spectacular drink (Absolut vodka house-infused with pineapples, freshly muddled mango, lemon juice and a topped off with a thin slice of jalapeno), it’s also for a good cause! For every Ocean Trust Martini sold, Bonefish Grill donates $1 to OceanTrust.org “Supporting Sustainability One Sip at a Time”.
NY Strip Tataki – USDA Choice NY Strip, seared and thinly sliced, served with Thai peppers and mustard soy sauce. This was so good! Just melted in your mouth. And the mustard had to have wasabi in it because it was spicy!
Cold Snap Fresh Ceviche (served in an ice bowl, no less) – chilled bay scallops, shrimp, fresh fish, vegetables, avocado, cucumber, jalapeño, citrus, cilantro and warm tortilla chips. This was very tasty. The cool ice bowl had so much shrimp in it, it was like Mary Poppins carpet bag, the shrimp just kept coming, lol.
Watermelon Salad – salsa verde mixed with arugula and English cucumbers, topped with Feta cheese crumbles, pepitas, creamy Feta cheese dressing. Now I know this sounds really busy will all the ingredients but it was actually very tasty. I’m not a big Feta cheese fan, but it worked with the sweetness of the watermelon.
Classic Caesar Salad – House made sauce and garlic croutons. Typical Caesar, very good dressing and not overly dressed as some can be.
Bonefish House Salad – hearts of palm, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, citrus herb vinaigrette. This was my favorite salad. The vinaigrette was divine! I could eat it all day.
Then we moved on to the lighter menu of Baja Fish Tacos and Spicy Tuna Bowl. They were both just as pretty to look at as they were delicious to eat!
Baja Fish Tacos – three warm tortillas, mango salsa, lime crema and shredded lettuce. So delicious. LOVED the lime crema and mango salsa.
Spicy Tuna Bowl – premium sushi grade, sesame-seared rare, avocado, sweet chile sauce, jasmine rice and passion fruit salsa. I’m not ashamed to admit it, I was very scared to try this. I love sushi, as long as it’s cooked. I’ve had many people tell me I’d like raw tuna if I just tried it, but I couldn’t get over the ick factor of raw fish. Anyhow one piece was a little more seared than the rest so I gave it a try and lo and behold, I liked it! YES this girl ate RAW fish, AND SHE LIKED IT!
For the main course we sampled two of Bonefish’s new 13 oz Ribeye steaks and tried some of their new deluxe sides.
Kona Rubbed Ribeye Steak – (This was a special that night and not on the new menu) 13 oz USDA Choice Ribeye. I don’t even LIKE coffee and I liked this. Most of the ladies at the table are afraid of more rare meat so this one was cooked to medium, but (even though it was “overcooked” in my book) it was tender and delicious.
Ribeye with Bearnaise Sauce – 13 oz USDA Choice ribeye with Béarnaise Sauce – classic hollandaise based sauce flavored with tarragon and red wine. Again, another delicious steak. In case you weren’t aware, the ribeye is the most delicious, flavorful and tender cut of beef (IMO). It has that great marbling of fat that keeps the meat tender and moist, and infuses it with flavor. The Bearnaise Sauce was perfectly made and lick the plate good!
Crab Fried Rice – jumbo lump crab wok-fried with eggs, bell peppers, carrots and green onions with a hint of soy sauce. This was out of this world good. Huge chunks of crab and perfectly cooked rice. I actually recommended this to someone at the next table when we were at my anniversary dinner and she stopped and thanked me for the recommendation! Said it was her favorite thing of the night.
Mushroom Ravioli – classic Italian ravioli filled with porcini mushrooms and ricotta cheese sautéed in a sage brown butter and topped with crispy mushrooms. The only thing I didn’t try, I hate mushrooms but the fried sage was yummo!
Wood-grilled Broccolini – small florets tossed with garlic herb butter. I actually didn’t get any of this, I was too busy sampling the Crab Fried Rice, but I’m told it was very good.
And for dessert we sampled two of their amazing flatbread treats!
S’mores Flatbread – creamy chocolate, toasted marshmallow + sliced almonds, sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs. Just heaven. No need to say more.
Banana Split Flatbread – brioche flatbread topped with creamy chocolate ganache, strawberries, bananas, roasted peanuts and whipped cream. Again, no words needed.
Earlier in the evening when Andrew was telling us about the items we were going to be tasting, he said we would try the Lobster Grilled Cheese, something I had been drooling over all day long. So while people were chatting over drinks and letting our stomachs rest after a glorious meal, I casually mentioned to Channing how disappointed I was that we didn’t get to sample the Lobster Grilled Cheese. Being the sweetheart that she is, she brought out a plate for us. OMG, this was so good, and surprisingly, I think it tasted even better because we had it AFTER dessert. There were huge chunks of lobster in both the sandwich and the bisque. The bisque was delicious and was a perfect complement to the sandwich.
Lobster Grilled Cheese with Lobster Bisque – cheddar, smoked mozzarella, North Atlantic lobster chunks, with fresh greens and lobster bisque. This was just amazing. That is all.
Phew! That was a lot of food! Just so you know there were five of us and the food was served family-style.
Everything was delicious, so much in fact that I “dragged” my husband to the Matthews-Charlotte Bonefish location for our anniversary just a few days after the tasting… and right now as I’m sitting here typing this, my stomach is growling and I might even be drooling just a little… I’m having withdrawal symptoms.
I can’t thank the staff enough at Huntersville, NC location for our wonderful night.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review. The tasting was provided at no cost, but my thoughts and opinions are my own.
So jealous you got to go twice! I am looking forward to heading out and trying items we didn't get to try this time!
Looking forward to our next visit!
Seriously one of the best dinners I've had in a long time! That Lobster Grilled Cheese was to die for!
Yum! Bonefish Grill is a new favorite restaurant of mine. Especially the lobster bisque.
Ugh! So envious! This looks soooo good! Will have to snag a babysitter and head to Bonefish for date night!
Thanks for sharing, Kate!
This all sounds so amazing! So sad I missed joining you all.. maybe we should plan a girl's night there again!? I always have a weakness for Baja Fish Tacos!!
Never been but this place sounds yummy!!
Looks like I know where to eat when I come to Huntersville. I love seafood and everything you posted looks delish to me!
We love Bonefish Grill. I am wanting to try the Watermelon salad next time I am there
Wow, that looks so fun and delicious!
All of the food is amazing. I wouldn't even know where to start.
My two oldest (grown) kids like to eat there. We don't have one close by so I've never tried it. The pictures look good though!
They have really good steaks and salads.