VERO BEACH — If you have made it to the end of the week and are looking for a summer dining special, you may want to head for Mimmo’s Scampi Grill in Vero’s old downtown, where Thursday is “Seafood Night” and Friday is “Couple’s Night.”
At this attractively decorated trattoria, where we have had many great meals over the years, the Thursday night deal is a three-course seafood dinner for $20 each.
On Friday, a couple gets a two-course dinner plus a bottle of house wine for $50. Best of all, both menus are available all evening!
Since we tried the “Couple’s Night” menu a year ago, we decided this year to sample “Seafood Night,” and presented ourselves at the Scampi Grill last Thursday shortly before 7:30.
The first course offered a choice of Rhode Island clams, New Zealand mussels, or calamari fradiavolo. I opted for the calamari, and my husband and our companion both chose the clams.
My calamari – sautéed with roasted garlic, fresh herbs and infused olive oil, and tossed in a spicy marinara sauce – was a good choice. But the little neck clams, sautéed with roasted garlic, fresh herbs, infused olive oil and finished in a chardonnay butter sauce, were tender and tasty, and the sauce was wonderful.
It took a couple of the Scampi Grill’s wonderful rolls to mop it all up.
The second course is a choice of a soup or salad. While my husband had a house salad, our companion and I both decided to try the seafood soup, a light, tasty but a tad salty seafood broth with chunks of grouper that melted in your mouth.
For main courses, the choices on the Seafood Night menu are shrimp scampi, shrimp con broccoli, shrimp al funghetto, Mimmo’s ultimate vongole, and scungilli ala vodka.
Just as I was about to order the pan seared jumbo shrimp with florets of broccoli, which I have enjoyed here before, the waitress told us several other entrées were also available for an add-on fee of $5 – a pan seared shrimp with pancetta and Kalamata olives in a marinara sauce, a fresh grouper dish, and a seafood mix.
I went for the seafood mix upgrade, while my husband stuck with the scungilli and our companion chose the shrimp with mushrooms from the basic seafood menu.
Our companion’s pan seared jumbo shrimp with wild mushrooms, Vidalia onions, Roma tomato and fresh basil were finished in a light plum tomato sauce, and were served over linguini.
Delicious. The tender sliced conch were prepared with roasted garlic, pecorino Romano cheese, Vidalia onions, and cracked black peppercorn, finished in a light vodka cream sauce, and also were served over linguini.
But my seafood mix – a combination of fish, mussels, clams, shrimp, and calamari served over linguini in a light, fresh tomato sauce – topped them both. The sauces here are wonderful; unlike those at so many local restaurants, the Scampi Grill’s sauces complement the seafood instead of overwhelming it.
On the whole, we can report that the Thursday seafood menu is a great dinner.
But we would say that the Scampi Grill’s Friday night special is an even better value.
When we tried this last year, in addition to seafood entrees, the offerings included veal piccata, veal “pizziola,” chicken Mediterranean, melanzane al forno (eggplant), and penne Bolognese.
Again, we have commented on a number of these dishes in reviews over the years. There is not one among them that you will regret ordering.
While desserts are not included in either of the special menus, adding one of Mimmo’s great desserts to either is not likely to break the bank.
As we have suggested before, Mimmo’s ranks right up there with the best of Vero’s Italian restaurants.
The “Seafood Night” or “Couples Night” menus are a great way of enjoying the best of the Scampi Grill at a great price.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at [email protected].
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.
