According to the locals and the sales rep that travels here all the time, Michael's has the best seafood in the Newburyport/Amesbury area. And it was sooo good. You might think that all seafood restaurants are good in this area. That is not true, but this place was fabulous. We started with raw oysters, clams, and jumbo shrimp. I usually only eat these at the Chinese buffet ;-). You can definitely tell a difference. One of my co-workers and I shared entrees. I ordered the swordfish with citrus ponzu, and he got the 2lb whole lobster with mashed potatoes. First of all, the portions were huge! The potatoes could be their own entrees. Both dishes were very good. The swordfish was nice and meaty. The sweet and salty citrus ponzu worked really well with the fish. It didn't overpower at all. The lobster was great! It was lightly salty and tender. My favorite part was "the tamale", although I had never heard it called that before. Service was good. Nothing spectacular, but no complaints. I almost forgot! We ordered dessert. I tried their strawberry shortcake. I didn't want to try it because I had a feeling I would like it better than Cheesecake Factory's and I did! The biscuit had a better flaky flavor. The ice cream and the fresh whip were so creamy. The strawberries were perfectly juicy and had the right amount of sweetness. Mmmm....
The next night we tried the Black Cow for dinner. Apparently, it used to be good a few years ago, but it has gone downhill. First, the rolls were rock hard. We should have left then. The only seafood they had on their menu was haddock. It was a white fish that tasted a lot like tilapia. I got it with pasta that came out of a box. The overall dish was ok. Really disappointing compared to the previous night's seafood. Oh, and we got calamari as an appetizer. The Cheesecake Factory has better calamari. This was too chewy and the batter had no flavor. Service was eh. Server was adequate, but not very welcoming. Another sign we should have left.
For breakfast we went to two places: Angie's Foods and Taffy's. I got the corned beef hash at both places. Angie's gave me canned hash and Taffy's was homemade. Angie's provides homemade hash, but I misunderstood the server and ended up ordering canned. The hash at Taffy's was obviously better, but the side of potatoes at Angie's were really good. I really liked how they were red potatoes instead of those cubes of potatoes that come out of a plastic bag from the freezer section. One note about the omelettes. I didn't order one, but my coworkers did. They didn't look very good. They looked like scrambled eggs with the toppings mixed in formed into an omelette shape. One guy thought it was good; the other didn't. I'm sure it tasted fine, but it definitely didn't look appetizing. Both places had decent service. Angie's did end up being a bit slow, so allow yourself extra time if you go there.
I go back to this area in June. I think I know where I'll be going back to!
The Ratings
Michael's Harborside - TWO BIG THUMBS UP
Black Cow - 
Angie's & Taffy's - 
The Info
Michael's Harborside
1 Tournament Wharf
Newburyport, MA
978-462-7785
www.michaelsharborside.com
Black Cow Tap & Grill
54 Merrimac St.
Newburyport, MA
978-499-8811
www.blackcowrestaurants.com
Angie's
7 Pleasant St.
Newburyport, MA
978-462-7959
Taffy's
44 Liberty St.
Newburyport, MA
978-465-9039
