Atlantic Fish

Atlantic Fish is a seafood restaurant on Boylston Street in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. It has served New England fish and shellfish at the same address since 1978.

The idea has stayed simple since the opening: fresh fish, cooked the way the customer asks. Each day the menu lists the catches that came in, from North Atlantic salmon and Atlantic cod to Nova Scotia halibut and lemon sole from Georges Bank. Any of them can be broiled, sautéed, fried or blackened, and plates come with sides such as basmati rice and grilled asparagus. Swordfish comes either as a grilled Florida steak or as a piccata.

Among the starters, crispy spring rolls are filled with Jonah crab, corn and cilantro and served with a sweet chili sauce, and the shrimp cocktail uses jumbo shrimp with a hot horseradish sauce. Sea bass chowder adds bacon, corn and poblano pepper to the fish, while pan-seared sea bass is paired with spinach and lobster ravioli in a lobster cream sauce. The fish stew uses smaller pieces of seafood in a red broth, and for dessert the kitchen makes a frozen pie of peppermint ice cream under hot fudge and cream.

The main dining room is fitted out like the cabin of an old cruise ship, with detailed woodwork and murals on maritime themes. In warm weather tables spill onto a patio along Boylston Street, next door to the Forum restaurant. The wine list leans toward food-friendly bottles chosen to go with seafood, and Time Out has called it the place to take visiting parents for a first taste of New England fish.