Fin Review

Overall rating: 85

Food rating: 89

Fin: Delicious food, somewhat tense atmosphere

Fin was the second of two expensive meals we had in two nights on Cape Cod. The first at Buca's was overpriced and had us concerned about what this second meal would be like.

We were staying in Harwich, and had a fairly late reservation at Fin, which meant a relatively dark drive to Dennis. Despite help from the GPS, we had some trouble figuring out which entrance to take to park for the restaurant.

Fin is located in an antique house, and we were seated on the second floor. We were on time for our reservation, but had a several  minute wait as they got things ready to seat us. The hostess and the wait staff seemed harried and tense. They were perfectly pleasant, but there was nothing relaxing about the atmosphere from the moment we arrived.

The antique house was pretty, but probably contributed to the problem. Both we and the wait staff had to deal with a steep flight of stairs to reach the second floor. Tables were close together, and the space was overly air-conditioned, with cool air blowing on us during dinner.

The floorboards were such that anytime a patron or wait staff walked by, our table and my seat bounced up and down. Writing this, it sounds like some odd picky complaint, but it was actually quite distracting to have our meal and conversation disrupted whenever someone walked past our table.

We started off with two martinis: a pomegranate martini and a sour apple martini. Both were good but overly sweet for my taste, though my wife liked both of them. Rolls were slow to come to the table but very good.

We asked for recommendations,  and both of us had the house specialty appetizer, the oyster chowder. It was cream based, with bacon, chive oil, and white truffle oil and was amazing: much lighter and fresher than a typical clam chowder. For an entree I had hoped to get a halibut special, but it ran out just as we ordered. Instead I had grilled "garlic-thyme shrimp" served with some fried polenta and accompanied by spinach and roasted tomatoes and peppers that was delicious though not as amazing as the chowder (hard not to be disappointed after that initial course). My wife had scallops prepared with raisins, pine nuts, and prosciutto, and accompanied by a cauliflower puree. This was all wonderful.

For dessert, we were told that Fin has its own pastry chef, and we had a very nice chocolate tart with a raspberry puree.

It was hard not to compare this experience to Buca's, where we had been the night before. Each course was several dollars less expensive than at Buca's, but was dramatically tastier and more interesting. If Fin were in Boston, the food would place it among the best Boston seafood restaurants.

The tense atmosphere was unfortunate. It made for a less relaxing night out than it would have been otherwise and makes me hesitant to recommend Fin as strongly as it deserves for its food. That said, we will certainly go back the next time we are in the area.