Webster Hall
207 Main St., Wareham
508-295-0300
Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner 4:30-9 p.m. daily
Reservations accepted
Major credit cards accepted
Accessible to the handicapped
"It's not the kind of restaurant you'd expect to find in Wareham," a friend said of Webster Hall. While I don't know Wareham all that well, I'd venture to say that Webster Hall is not the kind of restaurant you'd expect to find anywhere.
Housed in an imposing old downtown building that has been a speakeasy, a candy store, and an indoor basketball court, the restaurant features a décor that defines the term eclectic. Upholstered chairs surround glass-topped wrought iron tables in cozy seating areas near deep windows looking onto Main Street. Charmingly mismatched Victorian velvet couches, armchairs, and claw-footed tables invite waiting or lounging around the large horseshoe-shaped bar. The dark wood of the main dining room, which diners enter through drapes held back by tasseled pulls, is brightened a bit by peach-colored walls. Exposed wood beams accent the high ceiling, and wood tables are topped with crisp white linens. The only jarring note was the televisions visible from nearly every table; we don't mind TVs in a sports bar, but we find them distracting in a dining room.
The menu is also eclectic, running the gamut from standards such as shrimp cocktail and sirloin steak to novelties such as a portabella mushroom stuffed with crabmeat and the signature cod Florentine.
Appetizers were generous and distinctive. Alexander stuffed pepper ($8) was a sweet oven-roasted red pepper stuffed with feta cheese and spinach. The pepper was smooth but still had some bite, and the filling was rich. Webster's portabella supreme ($12) was a bread-plate-size portabella cap loaded with crabmeat stuffing and topped with a creamy, Newburg-like sauce laced with parmesan. It could be a meal in itself. Great Hill spinach salad ($9) featured tender baby spinach, blue cheese, walnuts, and craisins (not grapes as the menu indicated) tossed in a smooth balsamic vinaigrette.
The steal of the night had to be the $4 clam chowder. Expecting a cup, we were treated to a soup bowl full of rich, thick chowder dusted with herbs. The soup of the day ($5) was also a generous serving. The waitress described it as vegetable soup, so we were surprised to discover large chunks of beef along with pasta, carrots, and kidney beans in a minestrone-like broth.
While we are used to seeing split-plate charges for entrees, this is the first restaurant we have come across that assesses a sharing tax ($4) on appetizers and salads. We frequently share appetizers and salads, particularly since they often are nearly meal-size. It would take an unusually hearty appetite to polish off a Webster Hall appetizer, salad, entree, and dessert single-handedly.
An entrée special of Delmonico steak ($25) featured flavorful, tender beef surrounded by a somewhat amorphous mélange of potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and onions. Grilled Nantucket swordfish ($21) was a generous piece of fresh fish, served with terrific garlic mashed potatoes, and sweet braised fresh spinach. Lobster ravioli ($12 appetizer, $18 entrée) was bursting with lobster, with just enough cheese to hold it together, and topped with a smooth sherry-lobster sauce.
There were only two desserts available, so we tried them both. Chocolate lava cake ($7) was a dense chocolate round with a molten center. We passed on the vanilla ice cream, but later wished we had ordered it to balance the intense chocolate flavor. Carrot cake ($7) was bright and spicy with a light vanilla frosting.
We had the dining room to ourselves on a Sunday evening, though the waitress assured us that the place would be rocking later when a band was scheduled to play.
When Mike Kelly and Tony Blaize bought Webster Hall about a year ago, they decided to complement the restaurant's fine dining reputation with entertainment. Thursday is comedy night and Friday features live bands playing rock, alternative, and crossover music. On Saturday a DJ spins '70s and '80s classics and top 40 hits at the "martini mingle," and reggae bands perform on Sunday nights.
ELLEN ALBANESE
