And so it continues ... a brand new set of tastes for 2017 ...
here's the TWENTIETH of FIFTY tastes of FLORIDA
(coming to you on sequential Thursdays. All. Year. Long.)!
Establishment: Aruba Beach Cafe
Location: Lauderdale By The Sea
Meal: Dinner
Drink: coke? water? beer? (oops -- I forgot to record)
Appetizer 1: Lobster Bisque (soup of the day)
Appetizer 2: Baked Escargot (for the table)
(tomato, garlic and pernod, served with crusty French bread)
Appetizer 3: Seafood Quesadilla
(flour tortilla stuffed with fish, shrimp, scallops, jack & cheddar cheese, served with guacamole)
Main: Grilled Swordfish (special of the day)
Side(s): House Rice AND a whole loaf of freshly baked Bimini Bread with Honey Aruba Glaze
Dessert: Key Lime Pie
(Key West lime citrus custard pie with whipped cream. kiwi and raspberry drizzle)
Server: receipt said Matt B (although I don't think there ever was an introduction)
Website: http://arubabeachcafe.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arubabeachcafe/
If you take nothing else away from this post, you should understand the call to action to hie thee hither to this establishment at your earliest convenience to score some of their homemade freshly baked Bimini Bread with Honey Aruba Glaze. Their social media says they sometimes run out, so hie thee hither early in the day. You can thank me later. Also -- a quick disclaimer about this post: due to a delay with the publication of this blog, this review is being retroactively slotted in May 2017 but posted in June 2018 for a meal that was actually eaten and photographed in July 2017 [hope you can follow that!]). Also also -- keep on reading to see how this particular local treasure fared on the Troy-score:
AMBIANCE: 9/10 (a wall of windows looks right out into the ocean -- which I'm sure is amazing during the day and maybe even special at night ... and a good sized veranda wraps around on the outside and is next to the beach and the main thoroughfare to it -- which I'm sure is good for people watching ... but as explained below, I opted for moving our group to a corner against the wall so that we could focus on the conversation and the people across the table from us, which is how I came to realize that there was a bit of an 80's hotel feel about the decor, which is why there is a point deduction)
FOOD: 8/10 (truth be told, there's a real good chance that I would have been happy making a meal just out of that homemade bread [see bonus below] ... but I was also very pleased having chosen the swordfish special, because I like me a fish that is more steak-y than flaky, as that one was, and the meal felt healthy [as opposed to some of my choices in this series] ... plus the quesadilla was packed full of goodies as you want a quesadilla to be ... the points lost are because just about everything else felt like it was so so close to being delicious but just a touch off -- the bisque was a touch too sweet, the sides were a touch too forgettable, and even the key lime pie was a touch too tart -- a persistent enough problem that is worth the rare double point deduction for the same issue)
SERVICE: 8/10 (we put the service to the test immediately ... as in *before* we sat down ... as in I didn't like the first table offered and wanted to pick something in the corner instead so that we weren't immediately on top of other guests as our party had lots of conversation and catching up to do -- and I'm happy to say that they gladly re-seated us quickly ... the points lost are because there wasn't much interaction during the meal and because there was definitely no urgency at the end of the evening when we were pressed to leave since the meter was running out even though we explained that fact to the staff)
BACON: 6/10 (that's one point for every time I saw it on the menu ... and that was in all the usual places [wrapped around a scallop, as a salad topping, defining a burger, as a side meat for brunch] ... but that was all rather expected and nothing all that special, which, for me [and the overall score], was disappointing)
BONUS: 10/10 (+3 for those special fishy light fixtures [see accompanying photo], +3 for that amazing glazed loaf of bread (I just can't say it enough), +3 for providing live music to amp up the atmosphere and +1 for being a place to which we will return on a night when we can maybe focus on those breathtaking views a little more)
TroyScore: 41 out of 50 -- aka 82, a B
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