Fish lovers rejoice
Pompano grill is an excellent choice for upscale casual dining particularly if you love fish. For a restaurant named after a fish Pompano grill has a surprisingly large number of choices for diners who want something other than seafood. Their menu states that they are a French Continental and Northern Italian restaurant. The besides sea food entrees their menu had numerous steak and chicken dishes and traditional Italian favorites like Eggplant Parmigiana
For fish lovers the choices were very impressive. On the menu was salmon, grouper, and mahi mahi and the catch of the day. On Saturday June 20, 2009, catch of the day was a choice of Pompano, Wahoo, Tripletail, Cobia which is a surprisingly large assortment sport fish that one rarely sees of general restaurant menus or grocery stores.
I figured that if they named the restaurant after the Pompano fish, their Pompano should be one of their stronger dishes, so I ordered the Pompano. Preparation choices for the Pompano included grilled, blackened, and pan sautéed almondine. The talented and attentive waitress recommended the almondine and it did not disappoint.
All of the entrees at Pompano Grill come with salad and bread. The default salad is an authentic Caesar, with a very fresh dressing that like any real deal Cesar dressing has a hint of anchovies. I thought their Cesar dressing was fantastic but my spouse (who is not fan of anchovies) found the hint of anchovies was not subtle enough. Next time we go I trust she will have the ranch instead. Apart from the dressing was fresh crisp dark romaine lettuce, multi-color croutons, and optional parmesan brought by a server.
Pompano grill serves a pretty standard French bread served room temperature (not warmed) with butter (also served room temperature for easy spreading).
The Pompano arrived hot from the pan and accompanies by assorted vegetables, (squash, roasted potato slices, and carrots if I recall correctly), and two slices of kiwi. The portion size was ample, two medium size pieces, enough for an adult to leave full, and appropriate given the moderate price of $22.50. The fish was perfectly cooked, tender and flavorful. The almondine preparation had little more oil/butter than I was expecting but it was not swimming in butter. For the calorie conscious grilled would be better call. Everything on the plate was a hit and the kiwi slices were a nice touch of color and warm-up for desert.
My spouse had the apple chicken. This dish consisted of slices of chicken breast, layered with slices of cooked apple. I was expecting the chicken to be sweet or not have any spices to make the dish completely sweet. The chicken had hits of pepper and other seasonings making the dish sweet and mildly spicy. I liked this dish but not as much as the fish. Accompanying the chicken and apples was a side of linguine in a light cream sauce, a side of vegetables, and two slices of kiwi made a repeat appearance.
For desert the choices were Key Lime pie, Carrot Cake, and home made mango ice cream. I ordered the Key Lime, my spouse ordered the carrot cake and the waitress brought a small complementary serving of mango ice cream for our toddler son. The key lime was appropriately tart and yellow (Key Lime juice is NOT green and a green key lime pie is a tragic misuse of food color). The pie was topped with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. The crust was standard graham cracker. If you like key lime pie, this one will not wow you but it will not disappoint. The carrot cake was less dense than what I am accustomed to but made for a light summer desert. There was quite a bit on pineapple in the cake, cream cheese frosting, and some whipped cream. What I liked best is the that cake was not overly sweet, which made the carrot, pineapple and cream cheese flavors distinct. This was another very good desert. Each of the deserts was $5.00 a solid value for this quality range. The mango ice cream was light, and white, with large chucks of mango and good mango flavor. The ice cream was not to rich and not to sweet, a cool excellent end to a summer meal.
The décor of Pompano Grill is traditional Florida casual with mounted fish on several of the walls and assorted animal figurines and other knickknacks. The décor is not contemporary but it works with the casual Florida seafood style.
Pompano Grill is not a very large restaurant, I would guess they have 15 to 20 tables. On a Saturday evening we saw one or two would be diners turn away because they lacked reservations and did not wish to wait. If you plan to dine here on a Friday or Saturday night, a reservation is highly recommended. At many seafood restaurants non-fish dishes are an after thought comprising of one or two dishes of steak, chicken, and pasta. Pomapano grill will delight fish lovers while offering the fish phobic a large assortment of well prepared dining choices. read more