Frutti di mare over fettucine

The kid came home for the holiday weekend, and we knew she would be lobbying to go out to dinner, but, as mentioned in the post below, there was no way in hell we were going to try to go out to eat on a Friday night in October in Salem. So we pre-emptively made a reservation at Berry Tavern and presented it as a done deal when Herself walked in the door.

As it was with our previous visit a few weeks ago, the place was slamming. It was a very warm evening, so all the outside tables were full, and the inside was as loud and buzzy as we found it earlier. Nevertheless, we were able to easily find street parking, and did not have to wait for our table.

Because this is a “more is better” kind of place, I knew enough not to order an appetizer this time, even though I really liked the meatballs app on our first visit. I am always game for a seafood pasta dish, though. The frutti di mare special was mussels, clams, scallops and shrimp in a tomato, white wine, and garlic sauce served over fettucine. The clams were especially good – sweet and succulent. Some of the mussels were huge but not too chewy. The sauce was a little more brothy than saucy, so it didn’t particularly stick to the pasta very well, but it was delicious, and I had the waitress bring us a second serving of bread so I could sop it all up. For dessert, I had a slice of carrot cake that seemed to be made elsewhere, but that’s forgiveable for this sort of restaurant. We are two-for-two on this place now, so I’m sure we’ll keep going back.