Decisions (The Beached Whale)

Ft. Meyers was chosen for our golf weekend based on it being as close to NY/Boston as we could get with some chance of warm weather - food was not really an initial consideration. Once the decision had been made (non-refundable tickets), I spent a considerable amount of time using Chowhound, Google and anything else I could think of, trying to find food worth driving for in Ft. Meyers. I didn't really find anything interesting and certainly nothing within a half hour of our hotel (there was one very nice sounding restaurant at about that distance, but I wasn't in the mood for a food odyssey (to tell the truth, I had been hoping for Cuban - but no luck on that)). And so on Friday night, after not enough sleep Thursday night (late flight courtesy of Continental, construction courtesy of the hotel), we decided to stay in the immediate neighborhood. I had gotten one hint about a bar-food type place called The Beached Whale and with nothing else to go on, we gave it a try.

The place definitely got off to a good start with the hostess/waitress (Colleen). She was enthusiastic without being obnoxious - a tough balance that many people have trouble hitting.

Now, while the food wasn't earth-shattering, it was actually really good. It was bar food, but it was good bar food. I'm not generally a huge buffalo wings fan or a huge shrimp fan (I eat both, but I never really choose to order either), but the Buffalo Shrimp looked interesting. We decided on that and the Crab Cakes as appetizers. Both were really great! I loved the Buffalo Shrimp - it's a much better use of that sauce than the wings.

The Crab Cakes were definitely some of the better that I've had.

For our main dish, both my dad and I chose the fried Grouper (based on the random recommendation). It was coated in cornflakes, which made it a little sweeter than I had anticipated, but with a bit of lemon, salt and tartar sauce, it really worked. I can whole-heartedly recommend it.

I've often remarked that I am a food snob, but that this is not necessarily related to the price of the food - it's all about quality and taste, not price. This meal is definitely an example of that. It didn't break the bank. There weren't any table clothes (the napkins were paper). But the food was great. And we left very happy.