I don’t know how it is in other New England seaports, but Middletown has come a long way from when fistfights spilled out of sailor bars. Last summer, the poor town was embarrassed to learn that its building inspector apparently had this thing about mermaids not fully dressed and was out on nipple patrol. When he spied a pair at a restaurant, Gertrude’s Galley, he blushed and sputtered something about community standards. The poor dear — the mermaid, not the public servant — now has a strip of black electrical tape across her chest.

Anyway, all that nonsense was an unfortunate distraction from the fact that Gertrude’s serves up pretty good food. The 15-month-old restaurant was named after a boat, which is always a good sign.

Be sure to nod to the mermaid painted behind a front window of the former garage, since she still feels self-conscious about her appearance. You can proceed up canopied stairs to her right, or go in the door at the left, and observe the busy kitchen on your way to the rear entrance, weaving among the plate-laden waitstaff. Upstairs, the décor successfully blends homey and chic: walls of red-oak shingles, a bar with glass-block insets, and polished copper corners. The water view is expansive, from the second-story vantage. You also get a view of any guests dining at the "dog-friendly" picnic tables outside.

Self-taught chef-proprietor Christine Reed emphasizes two elements: seafood and Portuguese recipes. A raw bar serves not only oysters and Sakonnet littlenecks, but also stone crab claws and smoked bluefish pate — half-priced every day from 4 to 6 p.m., for a happy hour indeed.

Being a Portuguese-inspired restaurant, rather than ethnically strict, Gertrude’s can be interesting without facing complaints of being inauthentic. Traditional soft rolls, called "pops," come with the expected small black olives, but also large green olives. Chouriço abounds among appetizer offerings — including in a stuffed quahog ($4) — but there is also oysters Rockefeller ($8).

A couple of the starters were tempting, so we decided to go for both and take home more of our entrées. Shrimp Mozambique is a standard that we usually can’t resist, but Getrude’s also has versions with chicken or squid — and even a vegetarian one, with garbanzo beans and veggies. This being Rhode Island, we were obliged to check out the calamari version ($8). It tasted pleasant enough, tangy with lemon, and tossed with a wine sauce and a little garlic and paprika, but it wasn’t as heavy on the spiciness or garlic as the many versions we’ve had elsewhere. Maybe it was a sedate recipe from pinky-lifters Northern Mozambique.

Samplers are good to order as a way to get to know a restaurant, and the vegetarian platter ($7) here is both a bargain and a taste treat. The spread includes more olives, plus pickled cauliflower and carrots, and briny lupini beans. (The waitstaff should make a point of telling people that you squirt them out of their tough skins.) It doesn’t stop there. You also get the provolone-like St. George cheese, plus goat cheese accompanied by sliced almonds to sprinkle on it and quince jelly, to accompany it on bread or small toast crackers.

Scan the descriptions of main dishes and some inventive touches pop out — "vermouth butter" in the baked sea scallops, a chipotle option in the tartar sauce. My pick was the baked cod ($16), and while I’d intended to just taste it and take the rest home, it was so delicious that I gobbled it all up. The flavorful broth was the main appeal, tangy from spices and lemon, making the dark brown fava beans even tastier with the tomatoes and onions.

Johnnie didn’t do badly herself. Her portobello Rockefeller ($14) consisted of two big mushroom caps topped with creamed spinach and grated cheese broiled brown. Its tang of Portuguese anise liqueur was a magic touch, and two thick, wood-grilled triangles of polenta were a perfect complement.

Desserts are made at Gertrude’s, and not wanting to inflict you with vicarious frustration, we tried the two that tempted us. (Actually, they were out of the strawberry crepes that our waitress thumbs-upped, so we did have to stifle a sob.) The Boston cream pie ($5) was very good, the custard layer rich, and the chocolate icing not overly sweet. The rice pudding ($4) was drier than I prefer, but it had a wonderful light aftertaste of lemon that was a pleasant surprise.

I don’t know if many merfolk eat at Gertrude’s Galley now that one of their tribe has been humiliated by a mini-minded landlubber, but it certainly is a good place for healthy human appetites.

Bill Rodriguez can be reached at billrod@reporters.net.