This is going to be an interesting restaurant review with some ups and some downs. If I have a really bad restaurant experience I typically will not write a review but will go back to the restaurant a second time and hope that it was just one bad experience. Firefly American Bistro & Bar at 22 Concord street in Manchester, NH. has a ton of great things going for them! So let’s start with something good shall we?
Just walking up to the restaurant we felt it had a great vibe, along with a great outside seating area. We chose to sit inside as the warm humid weather was getting the best of me! As soon as we walked in we were promptly seated in a great corner round booth across from the bar. Our waitress was quick to take our drink and appetizer order. Both Jim and I were very hungry and ready for a good dinner, so this was a great start. We ordered their GoGo Bread for two to start (for 2 it was $8.00 for 4 it would be $10.00). GoGo Bread is warm thin slices of garlic bread with a warm Gorgonzola fondue. Jim and both dove right into this and loved every bite! This was lick the bowl clean delicious. We devoured that dish in just moments! We both agreed next time we might have to order enough for 4! Our drinks also arrived at the same time. Jim had a Corona and I had their version of a rum punch. Both excellent, BUT, we did start to notice small fruit flies, and if you have any experience with fruit flies they are small and ridiculous to try and remove! I made a very quick note to only order bottled drinks next time, if there is a next time.
For our main course Jim had the Bourbon Street Fettuccine ($22.00). This includes blackened shrimp, crawfish, andouille sausage with tomatoes and green onions in a spicy Cajun cream sauce. Jim’s dish transported me back to the south where we lived for a year while Jim was in flight school. This was spicy with plenty of sausage and seafood! You don’t find a lot of crawfish in our area so this dish was a great reminder of good ole southern cookin’ and we loved it! Jim also ordered some garlic bread to soften the heat and mop up some of that delicious sauce! This was a fabulous dish!
I ordered the baked stuffed haddock with lobster stuffing ($25.00) in a cream sauce. I don’t cook a lot of fish so I do tend to order it out quite often and how can anyone resist lobster stuffing with a side of jasmine rice and asparagus? It was hitting all the perfect notes for me! When the dish arrived it looked and smelled fabulous. First bite confirmed it was indeed excellent, I would say one of the best stuffed haddock meals I have ever had. A few bites in and take one look at that lobster meat…they don’t mess around with seafood!
Another bite and my opinion turned very quickly. I bit into a fish bone. Ugh, so very thankful I did not swallow it. I put it on the side of my plate and I was done with my dinner. The waitress did come over to check on us and I did explain that I found a fish bone. This is yet another downfall to the story. our waitress told her manager, we were comped a drink and told that they were sorry I found a shell in my dinner. This was no SHELL, this was in fact a fish bone that could have caused significant damage. Insult to injury. We asked for our check paid the bill and that was the end.
Had our experience been a little different this is a place Jim and I would go to on a regular basis. This is a little more upscale than your average bar food, no nacho’s or fried chicken fingers here, but still has many familiar choices. Some appetizers choices you will find are crab cakes, calamari or short rib taquitos! Soups and salads are also on the menu but with a twist like maybe a spinach salad with fried goat cheese. If you have never had fried goat cheese…it is delicious and highly recommended!
Other entree’s you will find are steak, roasted duck or how about braised lamb? If Pad Thai is your thing, they have that too. Lots of fabulous choices. They are open for lunch and dinner along with brunch and dinner on Sunday’s. Visit their website for hours and menu selections!
Are you wondering if we will go back? As of today, not anytime soon, but if we did go back I am not ordering seafood and will order a bottled drink!
Firefly American Bistro & Bar is voted one of the top restaurants in Manchester. I think I am going to search a little further for now. Check out their website: http://fireflynh.com/
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