Dining in S. Florida

[Vinotas]

It's good to be home after a week of sun, heat and humidity in South Florida. That said, the weather wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, I got some major tan lines, did some serious laps around the pool, and still managed to find some good wines. Food, as usual, was another matter, to some extent. There were some good, and some bad experiences. Wine notes are HERE.

There was Fifth Avenue Grill, where they tried to upsell us on their more expensive main course, after not only taking our orders for the $15.99 rib special, but also serving the salad and the drinks. How does the server not know that they "ran out" of the rib before taking the orders or serving part of our meal, especially at 7:15pm? The only other options were the lobster special or the shrimp special, both for $15.99, or ordering off the regular menu which had NYC prices for decidedly un-NYC sounding dishes. Steak with cheese sauce anyone? When I asked if I could get the NY Strip at the same price as the rib special (since it wasn't my fault that they "ran out" of it), I was told no. Nothing was comped, no apologies were offered. Bullshit they ran out, they were just trying to upsell us (and, I might add, succeeded, as I was in a meat-eating mood). But when dining out with elderly family, I've learned not to make a fuss...

We visited Bova, a popular Italian place that looks like it was plopped right out of South Beach. People here are so fabulous it hurts to look at them. That said, the food was good (my octopus app was fantastic) and service was very good. Best of all, BYO was $25, even for my bottle of NV Champagne Henriot Souverain. The wine was delicious too, BTW.

Another delicious find was FAH Asian Bistro, where the welcome was warm, the fish fresh, and the prices decidedly friendly. I would go back in a heartbeat.

Other times we cooked at home, which is always nice. There is a BBQ in the complex, where I sweated and steamed one night over some huge boneless rib steaks from Costco that were delicious. My wife offered us a bottle of MV Champagne Krug (and you wonder why I love her?) to go with them and what can I say? This was fabulous, but not as usual.

In general, I continue to be under-whelmed by the quality of the food in that area, considering what they charge for it. I find we ate better when we stayed home, sourced good ingredients, and opened our own wine than when we went out. Still, it was nice to see family and relax a bit.

Cheers!