Restaurant Review: Bluewater Bar & Grill (Rhode Island)

I took it upon myself to make a reservation for 22 at the Bluewater Bar & Grill while on my family vacation in Barrington, Rhode Island. (I have been called the Little Nazi when it comes to food plans, after all).

The whole famalam showed up to the Bluewater Bar & Grill after a couple solid hours of pregaming (that wasn’t just my sister and I, right?) and were promptly seated at two tables in a back corner of the restaurant. We’re a rowdy bunch, and luckily, the place wasn’t too crowded at 7 p.m. on a Monday night. 

(Cousin selfie!)

I immediately fell in love with this place when I looked at their drink menu and saw that they made a version of my summer-cocktail obsession (besides margaritas, which is my year-round obsession). Here, it was called the Kinky Gin Fizz- made with Gin, St. Germain, Kinky Liquer, basil syrup and grapefruit. 

(mmmmm)

The entire cocktail menu sounded delicious though, and I sampled everyone’s drinks and gave them a thumbs up ! Especially because they were served in mason jars, which ups the trendy-factor at any restaurant. My grandma ordered the Raspberry Truffle Martini which was just about the most decadent, deserty cocktail I’ve ever had (3 Olives Raspberry vodka, Chambord, White Godiva liquer and whipped cream in case you want to try to recreate it…and then send me some).

My sister and I, along with our parentals, devised the perfect plan for our meals. 2 appetizers and 4 meals, no repeats, because that’s just a waste.

As an appetizer, my sister and I ordered the shrimp and avocado wontons. If you know us at all, and you perused the menu, you would have known that we couldn’t pass these up. 

Avocado. All day, every day. Also served with corn, cilantro butter (uhm, yes) and red pepper aioli. 

(Avocado and Shrimp Wontons)

When they came out, they weren’t what we were expecting. More taco than wonton, but that didn’t really matter to us. Wontons, tacos- both are generally fabulous when filled with shrimp and avocado. These were bursting with both, and very tasty, though they could have used a little salt or additional seasoning of some sort. It’s rare that food is a little too bland for me, because I can eat almost anything with zero salt or pepper.

My parents got the Prince Edward Island Mussels appetizer with shallots, pancetta and Dijon cream. I love mussels.  These were good, though the combination of the pancetta and the cream broth was a little overwhelming salt-wise.

Shout-out to the other table for ordering the fried calamari that was spicy and delicious! Lovin’ those hot pepper rings.

For dinner, my sister and I, as is our usual attack plan, ordered two meals to split between us.

First up, the panko-crusted Chatham Code with artichoke hearts, calamata olives, yellow tomatoes, asparagus, lemon caper butter and wild rice. Deeeeeeee-licious.

(Yum, yum in my tum- Chatham Cod entree)

If it were me putting the meal together, I probably wouldn’t have included artichoke hearts, capers AND olives because that’s a lot of salty veggies, but hey, I love them all and it wasn’t overpowering so cheers to that. The cod was cooked perfectly, flakey and mild and yummy.

But by far the superior entrée was the seared sea scallops with summer squash, baby spinach, pearl cous cous, smoked bacon cream, and blueberry gastrique. 

(Hello, you beautiful seared sea scallop dinner!)

First of all, sea scallops are probably one of my favorite types of seafood. These were big and tender and sweet and cooked really well. The presentation was great. The texture of the pearl cous cous was my second favorite part of the meal. The first was the blueberry gastrique.  Yes, I had to look up the term gastrique. It’s a sauce with caramelized sugar, so like essentially crack. That’s blueberry flavored. That tastes amazing on sea scallops, apparently? This entrée was the bomb.com.

My dad the Crab Cappellini- lump crab, snow peas, corn, mascarpone and a spicy plum tomato butter. I was shoveling this in my mouth AFTER fully finishing my sister and I’s meals. It was that good. Or I am that fat. Either way.

(Crab Cappellini)

My mom ordered a special- seared tuna with a wasabi baby spinach salad. A lot of people loved it, but to me, it wasn’t anything special and I don’t love the flavor of wasabi so I could take it or leave it. 

(Tuna special that night- perfect for the ladies, but left my poor uncle a little hungry)

Of course, there was no way my grandma and I were missing dessert, despite being stuffed. She is definitely who I blame for my gigantic sweet tooth! I almost cried when we learned that they were out of the fried banana caramel cheesecake. But then we ordered the mixed berry tart (blueberry, blackberry and raspberrry compote baked in a warm pastry shell and topped with a brown sugar crumble, served a la mode with raspberry glaze) and all was OK in the world.

Weirdly, this was addictive to me, despite my usual chocolate obsession.

(Couldn't stop eating it)

The second dessert we got was the epic Ghiradelli Brownie Sundae- a warm chocolate chip fudge brownie piled with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, fresh whipped cream, shaved dark chocolate, pistachio dust and a chocolate pizzelle.

(Now that's a damn brownie sundae!)

Yup, got my chocolate fix to go along with the mixed berry tart.

The addition of the pistachios was great and that brownie? SO MANY CHOCOLATE CHUNKS!

This place really hit it out of the ballpark. There menu had something for everyone- and there were certainly many things I was sad I didn’t get to try. Grilled avocado and crab salad? Lobster roll? Wild mushroom ravioli? If only my stomach were a bottomless pit (though sometimes, I swear it is).

Beyond the delicious food, expansive menu, great presentation, and lovely interior, Blue Water Bar & Grill had phenomenal service! Our waitress was SUPERB. So friendly, knowledgeable, funny and easy going considering the large party that wasn’t exactly calm.

My one complaint is that they seemed to be running out of a lot of different things- the scallop special, a few different desserts, etc.

But overall, I would highly recommend Bluewater Bar & Grill to anyone living or vacationing in the area!