VERO BEACH — For years, we have been making an annual pre-Christmas pilgrimage to the Ocean Grill. Right after Thanksgiving, the venerable beachside restaurant undergoes a magical transformation, and we’ve found dinner at the Ocean Grill a perfect way to get the holiday season off to a festive start.
But somehow, we’ve never made it there before at Halloween. Wow, talk about spook-tacular!
While the wait staff and bartenders do not don costumes until the eve of Halloween itself, you’re likely to find getting in there on the big night quite the trick.
But you can treat yourself to a pre- Halloween visit any evening – the ghouls and goblins have been lurking amid the spider webs for a couple of weeks now – and enjoy a haunting dining experience.
Actually, the real treat awaiting diners will be the discovery that stone crab season is now underway.
The Ocean Grill serves them chilled, of course, with a homemade mustard sauce either as an appetizer or an entrée.
But on this most recent visit, we had something special in mind for dessert, so we decided to simply start with salads.
I had the tossed house salad (included with dinner).
My husband went for the wedge – a wedge of iceberg lettuce with bleu cheese crumbles ($5.95 extra with dinner) – and our companion enjoyed a very nice hearts of palm salad (an extra $3.95).
For entrees, I ordered my longtime personal favorite, the scampi maison ($20.95) featuring a half-dozen shrimp baked in butter with herbs and garlic and served in a delicious mustard sauce.
The shrimp are excellent, though I still yearn for the scallops that they used to serve in this preparation.
My husband passed up his perennial favorite, the roast duckling (no one does it better) and ordered one of that evening’s specials, the mixed grill kabob ($28.95).
The kabob consisted of grilled marinated beef tenderloin, shrimp, and Maine lobster served over saffron rice with a side of Bearnaise sauce.
The beef was cooked rare, exactly as ordered, and both the shrimp and large chunks of lobster tailmeat were juicy and delicious.
Our companion stuck with her regular pick, the jumbo lump crab cakes ($26.95). These beauties, with barely a hint of breading, were broiled and served with a mango salsa.
No one in town does crab cakes like the Ocean Grill.
Then for dessert, we concluded our meal with one of the Ocean Grill’s famous birthday cakes. (Remember to order the cake before the start of your meal.)
We’ve been addicted to these for enough years to remember when the server who brought it to your table also took a take-home photo for you with a Polaroid.
The Polaroids are long gone, and somehow, capturing the moment with an iPhone isn’t quite the same.
But one thing that clearly keeps getting better are the Halloween and Christmas décor, which become more extravagant each year.
But that’s the only thing that seems extravagant about the Ocean Grill, where dinner for two, including a moderately priced bottle of wine, comes to about $90 before tax and tip.
For Halloween, Christmas, and other special occasions, there is no better choice.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at [email protected].
The reviewer is a beachside resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
