[My ongoing series for 2016 continues ... with the THIRTY-EIGHTH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA (coming to you on sequential Thursdays. All. Year. Long.)!]
Establishment: Tropics Piano Bar and Restaurant
Location: Wilton Manors
Meal: Dinner
Drink: Coca-cola
Appetizer: Stuffed Mushrooms
stuffed with andouille sausage
Main: Shrimp Bercy
jumbo shrimp dipped in flour and egg then pan sautéed in a white wine parsley lemon butter sauce served over angel hair pasta
Side(s): Hot Cross Bun
Dessert: Key Lime Pie
Server: Giovanni aka "Gio"
Website: http://www.tropicswm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tropicspianobar/
According to a sign by the door, this establishment is itself a historical building for the island city of Wilton Manors, and according to a lot of recent press, it's a place that is a work in progress after a recent change in ownership (the third just since we made the big move here). And the bottom line is that there IS still work to be done ... as to how those negatives affected the score, see below:
AMBIANCE: 8/10 (currently, the immediate vibe that is being throwing off is "hotel bar and restaurant" ... which isn't necessarily good or bad, but just an observation ... the lights are dimmed enough to make a person turn down the brightness on the old cell phone to avoid getting stares, and we were lucky enough to be eating during a piano playing session -- two rooms away so it wasn't overwhelming but was just nice background music ... a point is lost because the booth bankettes are too loose so that it's a luck of the draw as to whether the person behind you is one who moves around a lot and shakes the whole seat and a second point is lost because clearly some degree of updating still needs to be done)
FOOD: 7/10 (in descending order from best to worst -- the refreshing key lime pie [with sliced almonds that we first thought was coconut], then the shrimp bercy in a very light yet flavorful sauce [my first bercy, which is apparently an established french sauce], then the giant stuffed shrooms [which seemed like maybe they were frozen pre-fab and not homemade, so a point lost] and finally the rolls and spreadable whipped butter substitute [which came three in a basket for a table of two ... so we had to fight over who got the extra roll, so another point lost] ... plus, as much I liked my shrimp, they arrived with the tails on ... disguised in the breading and the dimmed light, which resulted in a final point lost)
SERVICE: 8/10 (the actual server did fine ... and the person whom we think was the owner/manager stopped by all the tables to say hello .. but a point lost for a missing host at the stand when we first arrived, and a second point lost because the owner/manager [dressed casually] didn't introduce himself as such, although we're pretty certain that's who he was ... [also see the bonus section below for one additional comment])
BACON: 6/10 (indeed, the menu has it in the usual places [burgers, salads, etc], but I didn't see it used creatively anywhere in any other dishes [I wouldn't have minded some in my bercy sauce, unless that would violate all things French] ... so just a few points off in this essential [to me] category ...)
BONUS: 6.5/10 (+3 for dealing well with a service escalation in that the other party in our group did not like the prime rib special and made it known as such, resulting in a return visit from the owner/manager guy, and +3 for, in the end, agreeing that we'd keep it on the bill because the boys would enjoy it [see photo below] and, for the first time in this series, a half point for being a place to which we *likely* return, if only because we believe in the commitment that the new management has to turning things around)
TroyScore: 35.5 out of 50 -- aka 71, a low C
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