Clouds like whitecaps lapping slowly at the sunset. Families and friends in short sleeves and sundresses. A sea of ship masts in silhouette.
It isn’t summer yet, but, for a little while yesterday evening, the season felt tantalizingly close at Dockside, a marina restaurant and bar off Branford Harbor. Located, currently, in a maze of dry-docked boats waiting to return to the water, it was the first place I called during this current warm snap that wasn’t waiting ’til May to open its deck.
Primed by the gritty crushed stones of the driveway and the weathered metal bones used to hoist the boats, I expected to find a bar that was as salty as the ocean. Instead I found a cute, and in some ways fussy, maritime-themed oasis. A path to the front door curved past a tidy sloped lawn edged with white picnic tables and red Adirondack chairs and anchored by a rowboat installation. Homey restaurant seating then led to a bright yet intimate bar room with a vaulted ceiling and, beyond it, the deck for which my companion and I had come. As we sat down, we both noticed the “Dockside” branding felt like a bit of a stretch, including for our eyes as they reached through the labyrinth to catch glimpses of the harbor. But the boats themselves and a clear view of the western horizon were enough to set a mood.
First we ordered the Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy ($7), a draft hailing from Wisconsin but served to us in a UConn Huskies pint glass. Its top note was a fruity hit of lemon, with a base of yeast to smooth it out from the underlying weiss beer. The taste reminded me of the addictive, confectioner’s-sugared hard candies I sometimes ate as a kid, and with a low ABV of 4.2%, I can imagine sipping it over and over across a hot afternoon or evening.
Still chasing summer, we ordered a Watermelon Martini ($13), the most summery-seeming option from the bar’s cocktail menu, which is, for the record, about 90% martinis. Combining watermelon vodka, watermelon “Pucker” schnapps, cranberry juice and sour mix, it smelled, tasted and, in color, looked almost exactly like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. Though it was clear going in that the menu relies heavily on packaged products for its fruity flavors, the lack of a fresh watermelon component was disappointing. Oh well. The drink was still an easy if guilty pleasure, served chilly with some tang to cut the sweetness. About halfway down, I squeezed in some fresh lime juice from the garnish, but, to my surprise, I liked it better without.
Finally, we ordered the Dockside Famous Onion Rings ($8.95), whose ring of a signature dish convinced us to try them. The lightly salty batter, perfectly thick and tightly packed around the hoops of sweet white onion, ate softly but with a crisp, avoiding the usual air pockets and mushiness that’ve given me a standing caution around onion rings. Overall, the rings here were tasty and well-executed, even if the seasoning played it safe.
And with a safe if unseasonable high of 73 predicted for today, it could be a great day to go try them yourself.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
