PROVIDENCE OYSTER BAR,

The Oyster Bar' has a broad array of chilled and hot-from-the-oven appetizers, soups and chowders, fried seafood (with fries and slaw), and baked and grilled entrees (with potato and veggies). There's even chicken breast, tenderloin, and steak for those who can't face anything that used to swim or prowl the briny deep. We all shared a smokehouse sampler ($15.95), a platter of smoked seafood, which that night included curried mahi-mahi, orange-glazed salmon, jerk swordfish, and blackened shrimp and scallops, with a spicy rémoulade. I'd be hard put to say which was my favorite, though I think I'd lean toward the swordfish. Seeking out another menu sampler, I chose the house bouillabaisse ($24.95). The stew was described as containing shrimp, mussels, clams, and assorted seafood, but I discerned only one kind of the latter, quite possibly swordfish, and only one shrimp. There were five or six clams and mussels each, and the-tomatoey broth was nice and spicy. But overall, I was disappointed by the quantity and quality of this item, especially when matched up with the grilled yellowfin tuna ($19.95) and the salmon au poivre ($18.95) . . .

Full review.