If you enjoy a laid back island ambience reminiscent of Jamaica with Caribbean cuisine, this the place to be. Besides that, there really is a real Macaw at The Real Macaw. We have frequented this place in the past & the bird makes itself known with the occasional squawk & scream. He was absent for this particular visit due to the frequent rain that we've been experiencing. The owner sent him to bird camp. Really - that's what she said.
The location is odd as it sits in an older neighborhood of small, single family homes on Bayshore Drive. It consists of two buildings with a small open air courtyard in-between. That's where the bird resides & where the live entertainment is. Live entertainment in the summer is provided on Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights. It's more often during the winter season. The music can be loud if you sit outside.
The front building has been a restaurant for as long as I can remember. Currently, it is the bar. It's all undercover but the seating around the bar is in the open. There is an additional room with high tables behind the bar to provide lots of Happy Hour seating. The current owner of fourteen years added the back building which was a single family bungalow This little house has two rooms that now form the main dining area which is under air. The bit of space between these two buildings has some seating, trees, a dance floor & the band.
The decor is interesting in that it's very tropical with a strong island vibe. The buildings are painted in bright colors, mostly fuchsia pink & lime green. The dining bungalow has mismatched chairs at the tables, white tablecloths & colorfully painted chargers at each place setting. Christmas twinkle lights decorate various areas throughout. There are a couple of pink, plastic flamingos thrown in. The one large, pink-lighted flamingo that electronically moves it's head up & down was highly visible from the table at which we sat in the dining room. Eclectic or tacky? You decide. ;-)
We got wines by the glass & they came with a generous amount. The bread that they provide comes in the form of Johnny Cakes. They were muffin shaped small rolls. Cornmeal is the main ingredient but a hefty amount of shortening make them dense & heavy. They came with a strawberry butter. This combo was sinfully good.
We started with splitting a Caesar salad which was unremarkable. All entrees came with rice, broccoli & cole slaw. These were good but I think the rice & broccoli had been sitting for awhile; the rice was mushy.
R had the Jamaican chicken curry in a creme sauce. They used the juicy dark meat but, alas, it seemed that no attempt was made to remove any of the fat. The sweetness of the accompanying sauce, a peach chutney, counterbalanced nicely the slight spiciness of the curry. We both thought that the flavors were very good.
The lemon pepper Mahi Mahi was my choice. I was told that the fish was fresh; it wasn't flakey although it easily came apart with my fork. It was pan seared & had a ginger beurre blanc sauce with an avocado salsa on top. The pepper was a strong flavor throughout. I asked for more of the avocado salsa because it was good. I enjoyed my entree.
It looks like the Bar Menu has some nice selections as well as some fun cocktails.
I conclude by saying this is a fun place to go if you're looking for this kind of quirky ambience, island feel, some live music & decent food. read more