Finely Jps - WELLFLEET

This place is definitely not fine dining. The food is ok but everything else was lacking. JP's was recommended to us as a good place to celebrate an anniversary. Maybe if we were 70. The drinks stunk and the silverware and place settings were straight out of a middle school cafeteria. Half the people were in shorts and t-shirts. Maybe had we gone on a casual night out we would have had a better time.

The only reason I am even giving this one star (other than that I have to, is that the front-of-house staff is terrific...from the greeters and hosts to the bartenders and waitstaff. The food, however, is horrible. I have come to think of this place as the 'before ' in an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. The clam chowder is great if you like a bowl of watery cream. It 's great to see cataplana on the menu--it should and could be a regional highlight--but I can 't order it anymore because I feel sorry for the lobster that has to sacrifice its life to have the sh*t cooked out of it to the point at which it 's rubbery and inedible. But chicken marsala (which is kind of a no-brainer, no? was equally horrible.

Can you say bland and ordinary? My boyfriend and I went in for dinner last night around 6:00 to celebrate an anniversary and there was not a person in the restaurant. The two waiters were watching TV at the bar and the chef was hitting golf balls in the back of the restaurant. This should have been our sign that we should make a quick escape but we decided to persevere thinking that the empty restaurant might provide a quiet spot to celebrate. After perusing the menu the waitress informed us of the specials and left us for a moment to make a decision- the food was all very expensive- $18.00 for a hamburger (no cheese or bacon and appetizers averaging from $12-$15 left us feeling that at the very least the food should be exceptional. We were unfortunately disappointed. We ordered the filled ravioli as an appetizer to share. $12 got us six ravioli that were roughly the size of a half dollar in an unremarkable sauce. They were not terrible- but you could easily find anything as good from your local freezer section at Trader Joe 's. I ordered the Wellfleet Paella for $26.00 and my boyfriend got the special rib eye steak with a side of rice (they were out of potatoes so he could not get them as a side. WHAT RESTAURANT DOES NOT HAVE POTATOES AT THE BEGINNING OF A WEEKEND DINNER SERVICE? We received our entrees after what felt like an insanely long time for their being no one else in the restaurant- and quickly our anticipation turned to disappointment. The steak was greasy, gristly, and covered in a thick yellow flavorless sauce. The side of rice was dry and a greyish white. The paella was fair- the scallops were cooked well and the shrimp were nicely prepared- but the dish had no flavor- not a trace of the spicy, savory, delicious quality that makes paella a special treat. Also missing was the crunchy, pan crisped rice that is everyone 's favorite part of the dish- replaced instead with yellow, soggy, rice in a weak saffron broth that tasted more like a bullion cube than any sort of special seasoning. Our bill came to $80. Neither one of us were close to full or satisfied. My boyfriend remarked that he has, had better steaks at wedding receptions and I can think of better rice dishes from my high school cafeteria. In sum- the lack luster staffing, ordinary, bland food and outrageous prices were the perfect storm to assure we will not be back. What a shame. The decor was actually quite nice and they could have a real gem on their hands if they either 1 adjusted their prices to fit the quality of the food or 2 offered food that is actually worthy of a higher price. Perhaps some local items or regional specialties? We really wanted to like Finely J.P. 's- but we really didn 't.

Let's start by saying that we were seated in a nearly empty room (2 other tables filled at 7:00 and our food arrived at 8:10 by the time everyone in our party of 7 had food. Our meals out staggered and folks at our table felt obligated to wait until everyone had their meal. The calamari linguini dish was bland (I almost never never see my husband add salt! and not much fish. It was fairly over priced at $21.00 for pasta. My Caesar salad was lackluster and the dressing was flavorless. A great Caesar should have a hint of garlic, anchovy, lemon, spice, something... But the dressing tasted like mayonnaise and water. Also, the salmon portion was laughably small for a $5.00 up charge. I actually ordered another piece of salmon because I wanted more; the waitress pushed back, but after I insisted and said she could charge me whatever she wanted, she came back and brought the addition fish. Maybe other folks liked their food better? The bread took a long time. It was only OK. The drinks were good. The waitress tried and was pleasant enough. I think the atmosphere was really nice and if the food was better, I would want to go back. It's not surprising that we were able to get reservations on a Saturday for 7 at the last minute when everyone else was booked. The word must me out this place is only OK at best.

Good early bird special during off season pre fixe 3 course meal. Bared menu with atypical selection. Pastas fish and meat to satisfy all. Decor great as is service. Make reservations.