Memorial day in Key West is as relaxing or wild as you choose it to be.
Saturday night we relaxed with an overview of the always wild north end od Duval Street. A less laid back crowd here on this Holiday weekend. Seems to me a younger rowdies bunch akin a South Beach. Petty much all the bars are packed. I could do this night out In West Palm and not know the difference. So we didn't.
For our nice dinner out we chose the Grand Cafe and we sat on the patio along Duval Street. It's a raised patio with a little wall keeping diners at arms reach from the drunkards passing by. We sat in the middle just left of the fountain, lucky pick because it was filling quickly after the sunset worshippers wandered back from Mallory Square. While A fortunate find for us, I think a table inside would have been even better. The dining rooms and bar area are very nice; they offer a respite from the overtly casual settings found in most Key West establishmensts (but it's not stuffy at all).
Each course was top notch.
Appetizers:
Tomato bisque with crab meat. I thick bisque, hearty and flavorful.
A signature dish, Bluefin tuna tartar. Tuna chopped and dressed with a touch of ginger/chive oil set between fried wonton chips atop cucumber slices. Template had a jalapeño aioli (sauce to us normal people) which added just enough heat. The whole thing is balanced. Great way to start.
Entre:
Seared scallops with couscouse. These scallops were perfect and a mild key lime beure blanc sauce didn't overpower them.
Filet with port wine demi glace, white truffle oil mashed potato, and sauté spinach. I don't usually order filet mignion as I find other cuts more flavorfull, but this combination looked the best and I did want a steak. Not disappointed.
Desert:
Key lime pie. Not the best I have had as it lacked the full tartness, but a pretty solid effort.
Highly recommend The Grand Cafe for a nice dinner in Key West. The tuna was the best single dish.
Showing posts with label restuarant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label restuarant. Show all posts
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Gratify Gastro Pub
This evening me and a friend headed out to watch the Maryland v Miami game and down a few beers. Duffy's would be the normal sports bar option but we wanted something better.
Enter Gratify, a Gastro Pub in West Palm Beach. Here is the Google Place page where you can find my review based on previous dining experiences.
We sat at the bar overlooking the open kitchen, two HD Tv's perched overhead. Much better way to watch the game then Duffy's 15 small TV's at a distance. Other then a nice 8 minute run in the 2nd half, Maryland looked pretty bad. But that's another discussion, if your really interested here is a good discussion.
Gratify specializes in small plates and good beer. Perfect. We aren't particularly hungry nor have any desire to drink Light anything. I started with a draft Palm, a nice Belgian pale ale. We split two small plates, the BBQ Sliders and something I realy wanted to try, tater tots. The tots were great. Golden brown and crispy outside with almost mashed potato innards. I believe the insides contain some meet and onion along with a few others. Too bad its not on thier online menu, which is out of date. They should use SandwichBoard. The sliders I have had before and really like. A classic shredded pork on foccacia with a little slaw on top. Great with the beer.
Back to the beer! 2nd round goes to the bottles. I had the Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale, a potent brown that definitely would go with a cigar.
Overall, a very good time at the Gratify on a Wednesday night. This place is great for doing sports bar stuff with better food and way better beer.
Side note: Semi-talented rapper T.I. was playing a concert in the amphitheater across the street from Gratify. I could actually see the stage from my seat at the bar. To bad there wasn't much good to see. Or hear.
Enter Gratify, a Gastro Pub in West Palm Beach. Here is the Google Place page where you can find my review based on previous dining experiences.
We sat at the bar overlooking the open kitchen, two HD Tv's perched overhead. Much better way to watch the game then Duffy's 15 small TV's at a distance. Other then a nice 8 minute run in the 2nd half, Maryland looked pretty bad. But that's another discussion, if your really interested here is a good discussion.
Gratify specializes in small plates and good beer. Perfect. We aren't particularly hungry nor have any desire to drink Light anything. I started with a draft Palm, a nice Belgian pale ale. We split two small plates, the BBQ Sliders and something I realy wanted to try, tater tots. The tots were great. Golden brown and crispy outside with almost mashed potato innards. I believe the insides contain some meet and onion along with a few others. Too bad its not on thier online menu, which is out of date. They should use SandwichBoard. The sliders I have had before and really like. A classic shredded pork on foccacia with a little slaw on top. Great with the beer.
Back to the beer! 2nd round goes to the bottles. I had the Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale, a potent brown that definitely would go with a cigar.
Overall, a very good time at the Gratify on a Wednesday night. This place is great for doing sports bar stuff with better food and way better beer.
Side note: Semi-talented rapper T.I. was playing a concert in the amphitheater across the street from Gratify. I could actually see the stage from my seat at the bar. To bad there wasn't much good to see. Or hear.
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