Located on a nondescript narrow street in Hawthorne, this storefront market has 24 seats, as well as 6 at the counter. Starched dishtowels serve as napkins on the tables, which are clothless with flowers. A large bouquet adorns the countertop. Service is friendly, but specials (and there were many of them) are recited without the prices.
Hot sesame Italian bread with a dish of herbed olive oil was placed on the table when we were seated. We shared a tender, grilled octopus that came with a creamy white bean, sundried tomatoes, red onions and finely diced fresh tomato salad in an olive-oil lemon dressing. The octopus was sliced into pieces rather than served whole, and while it was listed on the menu as grilled, there were no char marks. Soup, salads and pastas and one chicken dish are on the menu, but we opted for two of the evening’s specials. A large portion of Scottish salmon tasted so fresh that it could have jumped out of the sea. Colorfully plated with al dente string beans and combined with sundried tomatoes and purple potatoes, this was an exemplary dish. While fresh tasting, the grilled swordfish was bland and dry and looked like it was poached rather than grilled. It was also offered blackened, and we should have gone that route. Desserts are made in house, and we never say no to our favorite of key-lime pie with a scoop of whipped cream that was deliciously tart.
Good fish is not cheap. The owner/chef brings in the fish daily from the Fulton Street Fish Market in the Bronx. With one app, one dessert and two entrees our bill with tax and tip was about $50 per person. Would we return here? You bet your sweet bass we would.
Brigantine Seafood Eatery & Market
112 Lincoln Avenue
Hawthorne
973-949-5600
BYO
Octopus with bean salad
Salmon with string beans and purple potatoes.
Pictures courtesy of Lowell Saferstein
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