The Chocolate Lounge by Mad Mac

French-influenced dessert bar that happens to serve food in Aventura.


What we had:




I had the Souvenir From The Islands square foccacia with chicken, pineapple, roasted tomato & curry. An interesting mix, it was light, non-greasy and felt mildly healthy.




My DH ordered the Croque Monsieur, but was brought the Croque Salmon instead. Both are open faced on fresh white bread, smoked salmon or ham, gruyere and very light béchamel. Since he couldn't really tell the difference (other than the color) for the first three bites, he stuck with it. A pretty decent sandwich.

Both came with mixed green salads with a house caesar, which was nice.

The food was very slow in coming out.


Décor:

Very French, very girly without being too frou frou. Lots of clean-lined chocolate and pink.


Service:

Fairly non-existent, but not bad for being French. We were the only customers during our visit, and both people working the front--one in a suit and a black uniformed server drifted by at different times during the meal to check on us, and one right after the other to inquire about my DH's soda level. It was kind of bizarre. Maybe the server didn't understand that he didn't want a second can of Coke? Who knows.


Overall impressions:

This place is somewhat confused. It's all about dessert, as opposed to lunch or dinner, with fondues, macarons, ice cream, pastries, waffles & tea. It's like they spent weeks on the dessert menu and later decided that by offering lunch items, people would stay longer.

A little on the pricey side for what we got, but not terrible.


Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders





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Kon Chau

Duck Ramen

Duck Ramen, all gone

Shu Mai

BBQ Pork

Chinese Broccoli

Pork Dumplings

Duck Ramen half gone

Little hole in the wall place serving authentic Chinese food & dim sum near Tropical Park.

We visited on a Sunday afternoon for a dim sum feast with a friend.




What we had:

Shrimp in rice noodles--soft, pillowy, everything you want in shrimp noodles.

Duck ramen--fatty, with crispy skin and flavorful broth.

BBQ pork--tender slices of pork with the appropriate amount of sticky and sweet.

Chinese broccoli--not on the regular menu, but great. Broccolini cooked almost al dente with a nice garlic bath.

Fried taro--interesting pillowy fried balls coated with very thin bird's nest looking bits. Interesting texture; nice taste.

Pork shu mai--unexpectedly flavorful. Shu mai is usually dense and vaguely flavorless; these were bursting with Ginger and scallion.

Fried pork dumplings--always a favorite, these did not disappoint.

Fried pork and sticky rice dumplings--these came as a surprise, and were really good, albeit prone to becoming airborne. None of us were sure what they were at first (we had ordered the non-fried version but canceled the order because they were out), so I gamely took the first bite. Upon turning the dumpling around to show the table what it was, somehow my dumpling became airborne and landed with a thwack! on the table. Always good for comic relief, I am.


Décor:

Like I said, it's a hole in the wall, with minimal decor and a paneled ceiling.


Service:

Not bad. We never felt ignored, and got our food as it was prepared. You can tell that dim sum is what these guys do on the weekends and their typical clientele isn't going to put up with any crap.


Overall impressions:

This place was great, slightly better even than Tropical Chinese. We ate with a friend and the entire bill was under $40.

Also of note, though the main bulk of the clientele was Chinese with representations of other Asian cultures, we were not the only round eyes in attendance. We also didn't feel bullied or like the service was intentionally shoddy, like a few other caters-to-Asians-only dim sum houses I have been to (most notably, a little hole in the wall in New York City's China Town). Though I doubt they want to hold your hand through the menu, everyone is welcome.


Rating:

4 out of 5 salamanders

Rocco's Tacos and Tequila Bar

Rollicking 'you're going to have fun and you're going to like it' American-style Mexican restaurant with 50 bigillion varieties of tequila.


What we had:

Great spiced table chips.





My DH had a combo platter with a Pork taco, a steak taco, refried beans & rice. Great tender pork with a hint of cinnamon. Decent steak. Really good rice & fresh refried beans.





I had the Baja Combo with a grilled mahi taco, rock shrimp taco & spinach quesadilla. The fish was a bit dry, but overall the tastes were good. The qeusadilla was only lightly cheesed and was surprisingly tasty.

The food tasted like it had been prepared by someone who had visited Mexico, had a great time, and decided to recreate the dishes back home.


Décor:

Really cool best of contemporary Mexican style decor with lots of hammered silver, iron, weathered wood and stone.

I loved the iron Moravian star chandeliers and Dio de las Muertes skeletons.

Rocco's bar also opens to the street, which could be interesting for a leisurely drink.


Service:

The food took awhile, and our server was all about offering a round of comped drinks. I got the white Zinfandel, which was better than the reisling I had just choked down; my DH got another Stella.

Although the place was a madhouse, our server and server-in-training were both attentive and friendly.


Overall impressions:

It was pan-de-frickin-moneum on the Saturday afternoon we went. Granted, Spring Break was on, it was raining, and the Las Olas Art Festival was blocks away. It took us 45 minutes to be seated at a high top table right next to the bar and I wanted a muzzle for the gaggle of tequila swilling half clothed desparately single girls near us at the bar.

The thumping music was also fairly oppressive, but not so bad once the drunken shrieking harpies were seated far, far away from us.

All in all, it wasn't a bad place. The food was decent, the service was good, and I'd go back for lunch or dinner; hopefully when less crowded.


Rating:

3.5 out of 5 salamanders





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Brick House Tap & Tavern

A beer drinker's Shangra-la man cave in Fort Lauderdale with sizes ranging from the 16 oz. "sissy" to 100 oz. Beer bong and 169 ounce micro keg.


What we had:







My DH had the Big Boy Prime Rib Sandwich. Although the sandwich wasn't as good as Yard House, it wasn't bad at all. The jus, however, was a watery embarrassment.







I had the Fondue & Mushroom Burger, which came out cooked to shit & dry, but still edible. A subsequent visit made me realize that you can order your burger cooked to taste. Had that been mentioned, I might not have gotten a hockey puck. Duly noted. The side of broccoli I got instead of fries was great.

On said subsequent visit, we had: the fresh pretzel appetizer, which was awesome and is not to be missed; the bacon Mac & Cheese, also great; and a big chicken salad, which even though topped with a smattering of bacon & egg may be the healthiest thing on the menu and was pretty good.


Décor:

This place knows its primary demographic (the 20-30 something testosterone fueled beer drinking set) and isn't afraid to cater to it heavily. Think Tucker Max from "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell"... over the top & larger than life but somehow still working well.

The menu is loaded with attitude and "man food" callouts, and the walls are lined with alcohol-related sayings like the one bridging the fireplace to the kitchen door: "We're not here for a long time...we're here for a good time. Booyah!"

I would be utterly amiss if i didn't mention the plethora of attractive (long-haired, mainly well endowed and tattooed) waitresses in tiny shorts and tight tops.

Seating is ample and varied with 6 separate styles: outdoor patio that opens to a large wraparound bar, high top tables, a "rec room" area with big screen and couches, really comfy couch booths, and regular booths & tables in the back.

During both of our visits to Brick House over the weekend--once for lunch and once with a beer afficianado for dinner--we saw families and older people eating here as well. The target demographic was heavily represented, but the families were an interesting touch.


Service:

Friendly and helpful with menu suggestions.


Overall impressions:

The atmosphere is more fun than the other beer-centric joint I can think of, Yard House, and the service is way better ( at least it's better than Yard House's Gulfstream Village location, which is always fairly terrible), but the food isn't nearly as good. More than just a place to grab a beer & a bite, they're selling a lifestyle here. Something along the lines of "Eat here, and become more than you are. Be that hard charging Type A guy you see in the movies & on TV, instead of the suburban Fort Lauderdalian you are." this should be obnoxious, but for some reason it wasn't. Maybe it was the lack of Affliction tees & trucker hats.

I would rather drink with friends and eat appetizers at Brick House, but eat a dinner of slightly-elevated American sports bar comfort food at Yard House.

A note of warning for the fat and calorie conscious: this place may not be for you. I had a real hard time choosing between the lesser of 2 evils both times I ate here, even with a salad.


Rating:

3.5 out of 5 salamanders





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Catch Of The Day

New seafood restaurant at Dolphin Mall with reasonably priced all you can eat stone, snow or king crab and cheap happy hour beer.

The menu is huge and the menu planner knows the market. Lots of dishes like Churrasco, plantains, and paella are offered.


What we had:




I had the "Paella." It was "paella", but wasn't bad. The rice wasn't quite paella rice, hence the quotes on the menu, but it was flavorful and had the price of the dish's worth of seafood (large shrimp, clams, mussels, fish, baby octopus, squid rings and possibly scallops).




Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo--my DH had no complaints. It was exactly what he wanted that day, and he wasn't disappointed.


Décor:

New-style not-too-tacky seafood style decor. Lots of blues; very limited nautical kitsch.


Service:

Decent. It was cold the day we went, and the doors remained open, but other than that no big complaints for a mall restaurant.


Overall impressions:

Not a bad place if you're dying for seafood at the Dolphin Mall. I wouldn't make a special trip to eat there, but will certainly keep it in mind next time I'm shopping and need crab.


Rating:

3.5 out of 5 salamanders





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Pelican Landing At Pier 66

Open patio dining spot upstairs at the Pier 66 Marina behind the Hyatt in Fort Lauderdale. I visited on a Saturday afternoon with a couple of girlfriends for a leisurely tipsy lunch.


What we had:

Mahi Burrito--flavorful and juicy, with a really nice mango sauce.

Mediterreanean Appetizer--great hummus, though it came with tortillas instead of the menu-listed pita chips.

Conch Fritters--managed to be light, even though they were larger than golf ball-sized.

Skirt Steak--cooked properly and well seasoned.

Chicken Gyro--this dish I don't remember tasting, but it looked perfectly fine and I didn't hear any complaints.

Sweet Potato Fries--always delicious and a generous helping.


Chocolate Mousse Cup--beautiful to look at and just as tasty rich, velvety chocolate mousse in a lightly-fruited chocolate tulip cup.

Liquor Drinks--I don't remember what all we had, and I think I mainly stuck to some sort of pink lemonade. Drinks are great and priced around $10, so keep that in mind if leisurely lunching with the ladies. We ended up racking up quite the drinks bill.


Décor:

We ate outside, with a view of the marina, sun and wind, and it was pleasant.


Service:

We lunched through a shift change, and both servers we had were very attentive and personable. They adjusted our table umbrella so we weren't baking in the sun, ran to get one of our party cigarettes, and were all around attentive guys.


Overall impressions:

Maybe it was the booze, but we had a great time and I would recommend. The locale was beautiful, as was the day, and the company couldn't be beat. A word of caution: this place is kind of hard to find. Enter the Hyatt property and look closely for the signs--the restaurant is to the far left, behind the main building, down the pier, turn right, at the end of the next pier and up a steep flight of stairs on the side of the building.


Rating:

3.5 out of 5 salamanders





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Canyon Southwest Cafe

Cute little modern American cafe in Fort Lauderdale. My DH and I went with a friend on Tuesday night for dinner.


What we had:

We all shared small plates.

Indonesian spiced bison medallions with scotch bonnet blueberry crema and anjeo tequila roasted corn salsa. This was a great dish, with perfectly mid-rare buffalo, and a well-balanced sauce. The blueberry didn't come through, but the overall fruitiness of the peppers did. The spice rub wasn't my DH's favorite thing in the world, but that isn't his thing on red meat, either. I liked it and our third had no complaints.




Wasabi ginger marinated beef with soba, carrots, scallions, cilantro & crispy wontons and a fermented brown rice vinegar soy sauce. A nice dish, if a bit on the oily side, with juicy steak nuggets that we all clamored for at the bottom of the plate.

Blue corn fried oysters with toasted sweet corn, mixed organic greens, cascabel chili vinaigrette and cilantro cream. These were the best fried oysters I have ever had. The oysters were perfectly, barely fried, still briny jewels. The salad was a great accompaniment, cutting the fat of the fried corn oyster coating and sauce nicely. This was also my DH's first time eating oysters, and I'm kind of sorry the bar got set so high. Really happy we got to taste them, but now the standard of what a fried oyster should taste like is going to be impossibly high.

Pork & shrimp dumplings. Aside from pasted shrimp and pork, the dumplings were bursting with flavor from fresh ginger, garlic, scallion, and an unidentifiable "wow factor" ingredient. These tasted better and just more than pork dumplings have a right to.

White truffle manchengo cheese potato chips. When they came out in a mini fryer basket, we just couldn't help but smile. These were great little chips, with a nice saltiness from the cheese and richness from the truffle. Addictive.


Décor:

Tiny and cute in warm golds and icy purples. Be forewarned: this place is very cozy. The plate choice must also be mentioned here, because they were large and fun.


Service:

Good service, especially considering the servers have to battle their way from the kitchen or bar.


Overall impressions:

This was a great find. We went on recommendation from another FTL-based foodie friend, and she hit the nail right in the head. I'm also glad we arrived when we did--at 7, we snagged the next-to-last table and by the time we left (on a Tuesday!) it was standing room only, with bar patrons waiting to get in. This is a happening little spot, and as they warn 10 times on their website, they don't take reservations.


Rating:

4 out of 5 salamanders





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