Seafood Serenade

serves Nayarit-style seafood to a soundtrack of jukebox tunes and live musicians.

Nayarit is a state in central-western Mexico bordering on the Pacific Ocean. The restaurant is large and clean, containing perhaps 30 tables, with comfortable, pink booths along the sides of the dining room.

I arrived with my friend, Michael, for an early Sunday dinner. We suspected that our meal would be accompanied by music when we noticed the large jukebox, flashing with purple lights. The music started soon after we opened our menus, and it was very loud. We also noticed four or five closed-circuit cameras mounted on the ceiling, suggesting that security was a priority. Although a bit distracted, we managed to choose some items for dinner. Michael ordered a classic Mexican seafood soup, Siete Mares. I ordered a breaded fish filet dinner.

The server brought us tortilla chips oddly paired with packaged saltines. The tortilla chips were unsalted, which is fine with me. My friend and I both agreed that the tangy tomatillo salsa was excellent.

In the meantime, a man with an accordion wandered in, stopping for a brief instrumental serenade at our table. He didn’t play along to the music on the jukebox, so the added layer of sound on top of the jukebox music, and the din from the big-screen TV, became discordant. Another man walked in with an electric guitar; with a few others standing around looking expectant, they appeared to be a band waiting for the rest of its members to arrive. Perhaps it was Happy Hour? But no. There was a sign announcing that Happy Hour was Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3-8 p.m., so it was a little puzzling.

It didn’t take long for our orders to arrive. The Siete Mares (Seven Seas) contained plenty of seafood—at least a dozen whole shrimp, octopus, a white fish, fresh crab, a few pieces of clam and oyster—with onions, carrots and mild jalapenos. The broth seemed to have a chicken base, and it was mild, not at all spicy. Michael thought it decent and was impressed with the amount of seafood it contained.

My large fish filet (probably cod) was breaded and fried. It was cooked well enough (not overdone), and I finished it easily. However, the rest of the meal, containing white rice with peas, a small salad (your basic iceberg lettuce, tomato wedges, and cucumber) without dressing, fried potatoes (obviously from the freezer), and pale, bland frijoles—while not downright bad— were not particularly appealing.

I may have been better off ordering one of their specials, such as the Molcajete (a spicy stew in a heated stone mortar) with meat ($11.50) or fish ($16) served on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Besides the Siete Mares, the restaurant has a nice selection of soups, including jaiva (crab), mojarra (small fish found in Mexico and the Caribbean), langostino (prawn) and camaron (shrimp).

Shrimp and langostino dishes seem to dominate the menu. But other items are tempting, including the empanadas de camaron (shrimp empanadas), chicken wings (one of their few non-seafood dishes) and fresh fish or shrimp ceviche (a popular dish made of chopped, raw seafood, that has been “cooked” in lemon or lime juice and mixed with diced onions and chilies).

While my experience at Mariscos Las Islitas was mixed—and would certainly have improved with a lower noise level—there are clearly a number of items on the menu that would be worth trying.

1230 Main St.

Hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Happy Hour: Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 3-8 p.m. 831-724-8448.