A tempting sundae is a fine finish to the meal.

I’d enjoyed several meals over the past year at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant in the Biltmore Hotel. So, when a dining out plan fell through at the last minute in late January, I jumped at the chance to visit for a review.

We had a wonderful meal that night, from drinks to desserts. But next morning I learned that a few weeks earlier chef Tony Hernandez had left for the McCormick & Schmick’s at Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel. The new chef, Christin Hale from the chain’s San Diego locale, wasn’t going to be arriving in Providence for another 10 days. The meal we’d eaten the previous night had been cooked by sous chef Todd Alsworth. Hats off to him!

So back we went two months later, only to find that although Hale had added several new dishes, which we made sure to try this second time around, the things we’d enjoyed so much the first time around were still on the menu. So were many of the other dishes as well. McCormick & Schmick’s prides itself on the fact that its menu changes twice daily, but most changes have to do with the varieties of fresh oysters and clams and the waters from which certain fish were taken.

Club atmosphere, dark wood wainscoting

Although it’s part of a national 80-restaurant chain, each restaurant has its own take on the menu selections and its own distinctive look. The Biltmore version has a gentleman’s club atmosphere, with dark wood wainscoting, lots of high booths, geometric lighting fixtures, walls painted pale green or beige, prints of everything from yachts to horses. General manager Fred Pahl said in a later phone call that they strive to look like they’ve been there for years and years, although in reality it is only five since they became the 51st in the chain.

While the emphasis is on seafood, there are plenty of meat choices as well, from filet mignon to a 20-ounce porterhouse to chicken stir fry and even linguine Bolognese!

But on both visits we stuck pretty close to the seafood menu, although the first time around my dining companion couldn’t resist what seemed like the menu’s best deal — a six-ounce filet mignon with a choice from three shrimp items and a crème brûlée for dessert, all for $29.95. The filet was done to a perfect, slightly less than medium, juiciness. The stuffed shrimp were large and filled with a delicious crabmeat-cracker stuffing.

Inventive cocktails and delicious soups

Both times we tried their specialty mixed cocktails, which are inventive to say the least, with ingredients such as cucumbers or white grapes and basil. I had to try the Pimm’s cucumber deluxe ($8.95), whose main ingredient is cucumber, with even a slice of cucumber on the side of the martini glass. Yes, there is more than a cool hint of cucumber in the drink. Even more curiously refreshing was the basil-grape cocktail ($9.95) served over crushed ice, the basil muddled into the mix yet with the white grapes being the dominant taste. Either would be terrific in summer. But then it would be a hard choice what with competition from the Southern Smooth ($9.25), which includes lemon and orange juices mingled with Amaretto and Southern Comfort. It was slightly sweeter and not quite as strong as my Newport Haze ($9.65), which has Stoli Raspberry vodka, Cointreau, with fresh lime, cranberry and pineapple juices and a splash of Chambord. More than one will definitely send you into a haze.

Soup lovers can’t go wrong with either the traditional, very creamy and buttery New England clam chowder ($3.95 a cup), which was chock full of the shellfish, or the Maryland crab soup ($3.95). This was more like a spring vegetable soup because, besides lump crabmeat, there were peas, corn, string beans, potatoes and carrots in a tomato base.

Tender, sweet clams; pan-fried oysters

Happily, for me and traditionalists, one of my summertime favorites — steamers in a white wine garlic broth — is on the appetizer menu ($10.95). A big bowl of tender, sweet clams are done just right with a little side of melted butter for dipping as well as the fragrant broth. It was the perfect partner for the crusty sourdough bread, which we dipped and dipped and dipped into the broth until we had to ask for more. A good side for the steamers was pan-fried oysters with tartar sauce ($8.95). Plump and exceptionally tender, they looked greasy, but certainly didn’t taste greasy at all.

For those looking for something a little out of the ordinary, the crab and shrimp tater tots with jalapeño tartar and cocktail sauce ($9.95) will do the trick; nuggets of the seafood are fried crunchy on the outside, but are moist and light in the middle with just a hint of a bite from the jalapeño tartar sauce.

For meat lovers, the short ribs with hoisin dipping sauce and kim chee ($9.95) is just the thing: eight sliced-through-the-bone, succulent, meaty ribs for dipping in the sweet and slightly salty sauce. The kim chee was not the fiery traditional Korean version, but a milder dish for New England palates with cabbage, pickled onion and red pepper.

I was delighted that my monkfish wrapped in pancetta and pan-seared with honey balsamic glaze ($24.95) from our first visit was still on the menu. Our cheerful waitress, Kelly, said it was one of the most popular dinner items. And well it should be. The sweet balsamic-honey glaze was wonderful atop the moist fish and also was perfect atop the accompanying mound of mashed potatoes. Thin, tender asparagus and a mix of steamed zucchini, yellow squash and sliced carrots completed the colorful plate.

Grilled jumbo shrimp, steelhead with lobster risotto

There was more yellow squash and zucchini (plus slices of green and yellow pepper) on the skewers of my marinated grilled jumbo shrimp ($19.95) on Christin Hale’s new menu. The shrimp had been marinated in a simple concoction of garlic, oil, salt and pepper, then wrapped in bacon before grilling. It wasn’t the most original thing on the menu, but richly delicious. The sweet, slightly smoky taste of the bacon made for a fine contrast with the shrimp, with both personalities shining through. The skewers were served on a bed of rice, gussied with zucchini, yellow squash and carrots.

Even more interesting was the steelhead from the waters of Chile ($25.95). Alexis, our second cheerfully knowledgeable waitress of the evening (taking over for the departing-for-the-day Kelly), described the steelhead as similar in texture and color to salmon, but more robust. And so it was. The hearty, flavorful fish was a nice fit for the accompanying milder creamy lobster risotto, which had real good-size pieces of lobster meat in it along with sliced mushrooms and artichokes. Hale scored a knockout with this dish, which we hope stays on the menu for a long time to come.

Cheesecakes, pastries and sundaes, oh my

The dessert tray includes a large collection of favorites, all made in house — cheesecake, Boston cream pie, Key Lime pie, crème brûlée. The latter, served with the steak and shrimp combo special, was wonderfully smooth with a crispy sugary thin crust. My dining companion, who the first time had passed up the big sundae with slices of a dense flourless chocolate torte, scoops of vanilla ice cream and hot fudge and strawberry sauces with chopped nuts and a cherry on top (a bargain at $5.95), chose it this time. It was everything one could hope for in a sundae.

The chocolate bag dessert ($12.95) wasn’t on the dessert tray. But Alexis’s description made it sound too good to pass up. It looked like a three-inch-tall department store shopping bag made of semisweet chocolate, filled with creamy white chocolate mousse, a flaky cinnamon pastry stick and blueberries and raspberries. The sweet berries, mousse and pastry offset the rich taste of the chocolate. It was a dessert my dining companion said was topped only by a Kahlua-filled cup of Mexican coffee, one more dessert touch for the road.BILL OF FARE

Dinner for two at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant might look something like this:

Basil-grape cocktail…$9.95

Southern Smooth…$9.25

Rhode Island steamer clams…$10.95

Monkfish…$24.95

Steelhead…$25.95

Sundae…$5.95

Total food and drink…$87.00

Tax…$6.96

Tip…$18.00

Total bill…$111.96

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant, 11 Dorrance St., Providence. (401) 351-4500. Dressy casual. Handicapped accessible. Child seats. Reservations. AE, M, V, DC, DIS. Valet parking $2 for three hours. Breakfast 6:30 to 11 a.m.; lunch 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; dinner 4 to 11 p.m. daily. Appetizers $3.95 to $12.95; entrees $9.95 to $36.95. Wines are $5 to $18 by the glass; $27 to $125 for a bottle.

mjanuson@projo.com