It’s no secret that my dad and I both love Joe Fortes. While we sat for lunch recently, I was thinking about what exactly it is about Joe Fortes that really gets me and I’ve come to the conclusion that it reminds me so much of my time in New York City’s restaurants. It’s got this particular old school vibe of marble, wood, brass and high ceilings with art-deco type paintings on the wall. The service is always remarkable and the food is delicious.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself here. We recently came for lunch – they have a great lunch special called the Blue Plate Special. These Blue Plate Specials are $9.95 during lunch time – and a couple weeks ago, they had any blue plate special on any day for the same price. If you add two courses, its an additional $6 or 3 courses for $9.

I came with my parents and my mom and I ordered the two additional courses. Before your meal, you are always served a basket of bread with their famous lobster oil and balsamic vinegar combo. It’s one of the most delicious uses of lobster. This oil is also available for purchase.

For our appetizer we chose a bowl of the New England Clam Chowder. What I love about Joe Fortes is that they don’t skimp on their courses. This chowder is thick, creamy and chock full of clams, potatoes and veggies.

My parents both ordered the shrimp linguine. They both enjoyed it and were impressed with the amount of shrimps in the pasta.

I tried the Seafood Pot Pie. It was an interesting take on pot pie – served in a wide bowl, big, thick pieces of different fish with peas and carrots in a creamy sauce. On the top is the puff pastry. Very cute. It was so filling, I wasn’t able to finish it all but it was really great.

My last course was Vanilla Creme Brulee served with a side of cream fraiche. The Creme Brulee was creamy but light and had vanilla bean crushed into it. It’s an amazing end to a great meal.

For the three of us, the meal came to about $50. We left and I didn’t really check the receipt until afterwards and saw they had overcharged me. I contacted the manager and he immediately got back to me to rectify the problem. Joe Fortes is always great with their customer service. I’ll be back in soon for Happy Hour and their ridiculously huge prawn tempuras!

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Check out their menu and website here.

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