Some years back, we used to occasionally visit the old Mangrove Matties – a casual waterfront restaurant just this side of Jetty Park at the Fort Pierce Inlet.
Then it closed two years ago (the former owners subsequently opened Trattoria Dario here on South Beach), and Mangrove Matties was replaced in the fall of 2013 by a new restaurant called Manatee Island.
Recently, we noticed the parking lot usually seemed pretty full when we drove past, so a couple of weeks ago, we decided to try it.
Arriving at 6 pm on a Sunday, our party of three was shown to a table next to large windows ideal for watching the boat traffic coming through the inlet.
The restaurant, for the most part painted in a pale blue with pink trim and decorated with a variety of cutesy signs and nautical items, appeared to have been spiffed up a bit from the latter Mangrove Matties days.
For starters on this evening, we decided to try the steamed clams ($11) and the fried calamari ($10) – pretty standard fare at this genre of Florida restaurant.
The steamed clams were prepared with Applewood smoked bacon, Chablis, garlic and fresh oregano, and presented with two crostini ideal for dipping. The calamari rings were nicely fried, but they were quite small and like the clams, a bit chewy. The sauce that accompanied the calamari was pretty bland. All in all, quite ordinary.
Then for entrées, the server talked me into the seafood paella, which she said was the chef’s favorite dish. While it is $29.50 as a dish for two, it can be ordered for one for $19.50. My husband went for the fresh baked grouper ($25), which the server said was her favorite. Our companion opted for the mahi fish tacos ($17).
My husband’s grouper was the best of the three – a couple of pieces of perfectly cooked fresh grouper, dusted with herb bread crumbs, simmered with a leek, basil, tomato garlic and Chablis sauce and served over mashed potato. A nice preparation.
My dish would have been fine if it had been billed as something other than a paella. The basic ingredients were spot on — chunks of lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams, and chorizo – but that’s where any resemblance to a traditional paella ended. This interpretation of paella was far too liquid, and way too light on the saffron and heavy on the tomato.
Our companion’s tacos contained tasty pieces of grilled spicy marinated dolphin, topped with cabbage and pico de gallo and tangy sauce, in a flour tortilla and accompanied by rice, beans and fried plantains.
For dessert, we shared a piece of an excellent key lime pie.
Dinner for two, with a salad or appetizer and entrée, is likely to cost between $50 and $60 with drinks and tip extra.
Is this worth a special trip? Probably not. But the fresh seafood was not bad, and with an outdoor tiki bar that on weekends has live music, Manatee Island reminded us a bit of Captain Hiram’s – a place where you are more apt to go for the action, the drinks and the drop dead views than for haute cuisine.
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.
