U.S. Adventures: Palm Beach, Florida

I’m going to try and make this pretty quick, because it’s a post from outside Indy, but no promises. For my birthday, hubby took me and the kids to Palm Beach for a little getaway. The thing that excited me about this place when I started researching restaurants was how many great options were.

For my birthday dinner, we went to my number one choice—a place called Buccan. It had great ratings and a great sounding menu. I so wish Indy had a place with a menu like this. Highlights of the appetizers (besides for the amazing bread plate) were Hamachi sashimi ($16) andbeef tartare ($14). On top of that wonderfully seasoned tartare was a breaded and fried poached egg. It had lots of acid and even my daughter loved it.

Highlights of the main part of the dinner were hubby’s pork tacos ($5.50) with avocado crema and salsa verde and the short rib empanadas ($6 each) with salsa criolla and aji Amarillo. They flavor profiles of these small plates were intense. Honestly better than my birthday splurge of house made pappardelle with shaved white truffles, which was fun and tasty and rich, but just didn’t stand out the same way. The other highlight believe it or not was my son’s roasted half chicken “Boudin” with mustard jus ($29). Wow, that skin on that chicken was amazing for real. So much flavor and so super crisp. I would actually order it myself if I went back. I loved this place. We even watched Dr. Oz have a few words with the hostess at the table next to us.

My next favorite dinner was at Echo. This is a Japanese restaurant—they do sushi but so much more, and while both the rolls we had were quite good (gotta love a roll with some real fresh jumbo lump crab in it (the Hurricane roll at $17) and a roll with spicy conch on top (the Palm Beach roll at $16))—the highlight of the evening for me was the two hot entrées that my kids chose. My favorite was the sweet and sour halibut ($32) which had large chunks of tempura fried halibut (perfectly juicy on the inside and crunchy on the outside) all tossed in a slightly sweet, but not cloying, sauce. It had a good tang to it and I loved it. We also enjoyed sharing the wagyu flatiron steak ($35) with bulgogi marinade. Ok, really what we really liked about it was the kimchi fried rice underneath. That stuff was amazing. I mean the beef was good—a touch chewy, but that rice was fabulous. The entire table also enjoyed the Peking duck buns ($22). The biggest letdown was the salmon and tuna tartare duo that hubby and I ordered—it was really pretty bland. This restaurant was DARK though. Really dark. I never use my phone as a flashlight in restaurants and there was no other way here.

We also went to dinner at PB Catch, which is your basic seafood place. There was nothing wrong with this place, but nothing stood out in the same was as the first two. I also realized those giant stone crab claws just aren’t that special for me. Give me a Dungeness any day. (We did have a couple and they were really expensive and just ok). Hubby and I shared everything we ordered and the grilled oysters with paprika butter were very good. The oysters here were very fresh. I also ordered another appetizer as my entrée and it was very unique—and one of the best things on the table all night. It was a dish with bay scallops that were deep fried and served with spaetzle, compressed apple (in little balls that almost looked like scallops themselves) and little bits of braised oxtail ($20). It was a wonderful dish. My daughter’s tuna ($42) contained lots of olives and was tasty as well. Hubby’s fish and chips were not good. That crust was soggy.

We also ate lunch in Del Ray Beach one day when we wanted to check out another area (it’s a cute little beachy town with lots and lots of bars and restaurants and a few shops). We ate at City Oyster and had a nice meal there as well. Hubby and I shared the carpaccio of tuna with fennel, capers, and basil ($13.75) and the salmon BLT ($16) served on housemade challah bread with caper aioli. The BLT was heavy on bread, but we ate it open-faced and it was delish. The tuna was unique in presentation and all the sauces along the edge made the dish. The kids were also happy with their clam chowder (son) and seared mahi mahi (daughter). Also, we splurged and had dessert. The key lime pie and chocolate pudding with sea salt ($7) also both very good.

Other than these, most of the meals were in the hotel gazing at the ocean and were wonderful because of the views—and the food wasn’t bad either, although not quite as stellar as the other things we had out. We stayed at Eau Palm Beach if anyone is interested hearing more about it, drop me a line.

All in all, a great trip, great weather, and a perfect way to spend my birthday.

U.S. Adventures: Cabbage Key- Cabbage Key, FL

So our family loves Captiva Island, Florida.  I never thought I would be a person who repeats places several times, but we all love Captiva and have been going there ever since we first moved back to Indy nearly 6 years ago now.  I have to say the one downside of the place is the food on the island isn’t that great, although we keep managing to find certain things and certain places we like.  It is frustrating how many restaurants in Florida are actually not using fresh seafood though.

Anyway, every trip I have said I wanted to go out to Cabbage Key to try the restaurant just because the idea of a somewhat remote island with just a couple of buildings on it, including the restaurant, just seemed intriguing.  Supposedly, this is the restaurant that inspired the song “Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Jimmy Buffet.  Not that I am much of a Jimmy Buffet fan, but any restaurant that has a song written about it always interests me.  And they do have a picture on him on the wall, and a dollar bill that he signed (along with about 70,000 other bills people have signed) so I guess it is legit that he has actually been there anyway.

So the other thing that made me happy about this idea was the boat ride to get there. Nothing makes me happier (almost) than being on a boat.  It took about an hour to get out there and we saw probably a dozen dolphins along the way including this pod that escorted us for awhile on our way home. So the place looked really cute pulling in, but this is in no way a quiet kind of place.   The place has a ton of character and charm, but it is in no way a secret or anything remotely close to it.  They are ready for the big regularly scheduled boat loads of people to land and they are happy (and quite efficient) to take your order.  There are several rooms in the place, and they are all different (wood paneled bar room, white washed front porch and dark dining room in the back that is literally covered in taped up dollar bills).  They are all interesting, but I liked our seats on the front porch the best because you could see the water and it just felt beachy.  If I were there when it was dark, I think the back room might be kind of fun—but during the day, this famously known room’s view is mainly focused on the bills on the walls and ceiling more so than the outside scenery.

So as wrong as it normally would seem to me to order a cheeseburger in such a place, it seemed to be a requirement here right?  So we ordered our burger ($9.50) and a plate of stone crab claws and some drinks.  The cheeseburger was decent.  You know, they probably serve about 1000 of them a day (the table of 5 next to us ordered 5) and they certainly have their technique down pat.  They cook them medium which is more than I would request if asked, but the burger was still pretty juicy.  You have a choice of cole slaw or potato salad alongside and we go the potato salad.  It seemed homemade but was really bland—we pretty much ignored it even after I tried to doctor it up with everything on the table.

The stone crab claws were good—they are a Florida thing, and they were in season and a decent size.  My only pet peeve about them is because the shells are so hard, they are tough to crack.  But we managed with only a few minor injuries (hubby managed to cut his tongue on one of the shells).  They were served with drawn butter and a mustard sauce, but for me, the butter is the way to go with crab. Simple bite of sweet crab with a little butter.  They aren’t my favorite of the varieties of crab, but really, I haven’t met a crab I didn’t like (although Dungeness will always be my crab sweetheart—so easy to get at the meat!).

Ok, we were on vacation, and had a couple of drinks in us, so naturally we had to try the caramel turtle fudge ice cream cake as well ($5.95).  It was definitely huge that is for sure, and the coldness of it hit the spot on the very warm day.  It was tasty, even though it tasted a lot of the vanilla ice cream part. We only had a few minutes after we ate to wander around the island, and there isn’t a lot to do—we did climb the water tower and have a look around, and wandered on a few of the paths.  You can stay here as well, but it would be a little remote for me, even with the cute restaurant.

So this is a place where the food won’t blow you away, but the location, well, it is pretty darn cool for a meal.  It’s a place where you really feel like you are on vacation when you are eating there, and you can relax and enjoy the view.  Just be prepared for the crowds.

Cabbage Key

Intracoastal Water Maker 60

Pineland, FL 33945

239/283-2278

www.cabbagekey.com/dining

U.S. Adventures: Maritana Grille, St. Pete Beach, FL

 After a couple of days in Disneyworld, we were so ready for a couple of relaxing days at the beach.  We rented a car and drove to St. Pete Beach.  We had been once before, several years ago, and remembered having a great dinner at the Maritana Grille in the Don Cesar resort.  So we booked a kids club night for the kids and made a reservation.  The restaurant has won several awards for its food.

For a hotel restaurant, I like this place because it is on the small side, and is quiet and relaxing (seriously what I was needing).  They specialize in seafood, but have a fairly extensive menu.  The service seemed fairly professional, although again, we had a server that wanted to explain just a little too much.  I am sure there are people who really need all that information, but I am not sure why any server assumes everyone does.  And then when we actually did have a question, he didn’t know the answer (but would go find out for us).

First, just let me tell you about the bread plate.  It was so good, it deserves a mention.  The bread itself was fresh and warm and included kalamata olive bread, asiago cheese bread, little white rolls and a whole grain.  The bread was all good, but the butters were served with various flavors of salt on top—one with duck fat salt.  Yep, duck fat salt. Nothing like a little duck fat with your butter.  There was also cumin infused salt and garlic salt.  All really good (and served on nice room temperature butter).  You know I liked it when I took a picture of the bread plate. Yum.

Anyhow, again, cold things were sounding good (it was pretty hot after all) and we shared the tasting trio ($13) that included tuna tartare, beef Carpaccio, and a cocktail shrimp.  This dish was quite nice, the best thing being the beef Carpaccio.  The beef itself was fresh and tender, practically melting in your mouth.  The accompaniments were good as well, a drizzle of mustard, some capers, microgreens and very thinly sliced fennel.  It was a small portion though, being part of a trio, and I think they overdid all the accompaniments that were piled on top. We took a few things off, and then it tasted quite nice.  The tuna tartare was nice as well, a soy based sauce served with a seaweed salad and some crispy wontons, but it wasn’t spectacular.  The shrimp was perfectly cooked, but it was basically one shrimp cocktail (it had a little cocktail sauce artfully placed on the plate).

We also ordered the tempura soft shell crab (of course we did) ($13) and this was a major disappointment.  The crab itself seemed fresh and meaty, but the batter was gloppy and undercooked.  I think the oil must not have been to temperature, although we saw others come out that looked much better, so I guess we were just the unlucky ones.  As much as I love soft shell crab (and you know I do), I didn’t even finish my half.  The ponzu dipping sauce was good that was served alongside—the slight sweet, sour and salty all combined together but you needed a crispy crab to dip into it, and we did not have that.

For my main dish, I went with the King Crab and white truffle fagottini ($22).  This dish was superb.  Hubby was so jealous (which always makes me happy).  Fagottini are typically little square-shaped filled pastas that are sealed at the top, but these looked like little bags—they were filled with ricotta that I think was flavored with some white truffle and were served with a bunch of different spring veggies—there were spring onions, white asparagus, morning radishes, a couple of carrots and some sliced cherry tomatoes (ok, fruit).  There were also big hunks of the crabmeat, and it was all set in a light broth that had butter for sure, as well as probably a little more of the truffle oil and maybe some stock.  It was seriously, really good.  It was funny, when hubby looked at it, he thought surely it wouldn’t taste good, but he was so wrong.  And the rich creamy cheese inside the pasta added just the right amount of creaminess without drowning out the other flavors.  One of the best pasta dishes I have had in a long long time.

Hubby had a special, which was pan seared snapper set over potatoes and veggies with a black truffle beurre blanc.  This one was disappointing. A really nice piece of fish that gave its life only to be overcooked. It had a soufflé on top which I think is the reason they overcooked it.  It was a shame really.  It was too dry, and no amount of beurre blanc could save it.  The flavors combined nicely together, but we ended up just pretty much splitting mine (I really am too nice).

For dessert though, they redeemed themselves.  There was a s’mores dessert ($10), another of my weaknesses.  And these were homemade graham crackers—they were almost more like think cookies—they weren’t hard like crackers, they were flaky and light.  There was a nicely singed marshmallow in between, and the whole thing covered with deep rich chocolate. Oh, with a bit of ice cream on the side.  It was a perfect way to end a meal that had certainly had its ups and downs.

We also ate at several other places—Madfish—one of those cool old retro diner cars with pretty terrible food (obviously past its prime), Crabby Bill’s—your typical seafood shack type place, right on the beach, a chain I think. It had decent fried and blackened grouper and the kids enjoyed it.  And to celebrate a family milestone, we all went to The Lobster Pot, which is an old school steak and seafood place—we had steak and lobster, and it was good.  But seriously, if the name of your restaurant is the Lobster Pot, you better know how to cook a lobster properly (and they did).  St. Pete is a fun place, and we had a really nice time.  Food-wise, it was up and down, but honestly, when I go to the beach, that is sort of what I expect I guess, and I am really there for the relaxation more than anything, right?

So where is your favorite Florida spot to visit? We are always trying to decide whether to stay with our tried and true place (Captiva) or go somewhere new. I would love to hear feedback.  I know a lot of Hoosiers are regulars in Florida.

Maritana Grille

Don Cesar Resort

3400 Gulf Blvd

St. Pete Beach, FL  33706

727/360-1881

http://www.loewshotels.com/en/restaurants/the-maritana-grille/overview

Madfish

5200 Gulf Blvd

St. Pete Beach, FL 33706

727/360-9200

www.madfishonline.com

Crabby Bill’s

5100 Gulf Blvd.

St. Pete Beach, FL 33706

727/360-8858

http://www.crabbybills.com/SPB.html

The Lobster Pot

17814 Gulf Blvd.

Redington Shores, FL  33708

727/391-8592

www.lobsterpotrestaurant.com

U.S. Adventures: The California Grill in Disney World, Orlando, FL

We just got an opportunity to take our kids to Disney and the beach for a few days to celebrate the end of the school year.  It was my son’s first time in Disney, and needless to say, he was very excited.  I thought doing a review or two might be helpful since so many Indy people seem to travel to Disney World, and Florida in general. Overall, I found the food in Disney to be pretty much what I expected—mediocre park food, and our dinner at Chef Mickey’s not much better than the food in the park.  It was a buffet—the real purpose of this restaurant was to meet Mickey Mouse and his friends, and for that purpose, it was exactly what we wanted.  I didn’t eat a lot there, because it was one of those meals that felt a bit like a waste of calories. 

Our last night in Disney though, I had made a reservation for the California Grill which is at the top of the Contemporary hotel.  It is a very large place, but has lovely windows almost all the way around with very nice views of the parks.  There was even a rainbow over Epcot while we had dinner.  While it is a nicer restaurant than a lot of the Disney choices, it is still quite loud and kid friendly.  Most tables had kids (as did ours).  The kitchen is open, and it was interesting to see all the things coming out of there.  A lot of good looking stuff, I have to say. 

So hubby and I shared a couple of things—the yellowfin tuna sampler  ($23)(and they have a large selection of sushi as well) which was quite good. Probably the best thing we had all night.  It was tuna tartare, seared sliced tuna (tataki) and tuna poke (large cubes).  Each part came with its own little sauce and accompaniments.  There was also a little dish of this soy and pickled onion relish that was delicious with all the different things on the plate.  We really enjoyed it. 

We also shared the local corn soup ($11) which was made with pureed corn and Portobello mushrooms –it was a very thick soup.  It was meant to have lobster in it as well according to the menu, and there were a few little dices of something on top when it was served, but they were so small, it was hard to really tell if it was lobster.  It did add a little texture, but the soup was so thick already, even that you didn’t notice that much.  The whole thing was drizzled with white truffle oil and ended up being a pretty decent combination of flavors even without the lobster.  The sweetness from the corn and the heartiness of the mushrooms were nice—and mushrooms are always nice with a little truffle.  It was so rich though, and thick, like I said, that we didn’t even finish it.

For my main, well, they had soft shell crab sliders on the menu, and you know I wasn’t passing up soft shell crabs even if they were in the form of sliders ($18).  They were an appetizer, but there were two of them which was more than enough for me.  They were on little brioche buns (one small crab per bun), and topped with roasted red peppers and corn, and had a spicy aioli on them as well.  The buns were nice and soft and the crabs were fried nicely—it was maybe just a little too much for me with all that stuff—you couldn’t really get the flavor of the crab.  By the time I had gotten to the second one, I mainly was just pulling the crab out of the sandwich. 

The kids enjoyed it too—my son appreciated a kid’s meal that included a decent steak (“fire-roasted” he kept pointing out to me) and he ate every bite.  Hubby had the veal dish ($44) and liked it, although didn’t love it. It was veal tenderloin with potatoes, beans and a morel/spring veggie vinaigrette.  But we were both really happy to have food that was fresh and had some care put into making it. Also a decent wine list.  And the views are some of the best in Disney.  This is a great place to come watch the fireworks that are set off every night around Cinderella’s castle.  And even if you eat before the fireworks start, you can come back up and enjoy their balcony.  It is a bit of a mad house, but if we do a return trip to Disney, this is a place worth repeating.  My next Florida review includes some places from St. Pete Beach, which was where we were off to next.

The California Grill

The Contemporary Resort

Disneyworld

4600 North World Drive

Buena Vista, FL  32830

407/824-1576

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/california-grill/