Why is it I make it a point to do our annual review of the Ocean Grill each year in late October?
Is it because Vero’s most venerable place to dine becomes even more of a must-visit than usual when it engages in its annual spook-tacular transformation for Halloween?
Or is it because mid-October marks the arrival each year of those marvelous stone crab claws?
The answer may never be known.
I will confess that I was one of those waiting in the Ocean Grill’s reception area for a table to open (no reservations for parties of fewer than five) on the first night this year that stone crabs reached Vero.
But I also knew that stone crabs or no stone crabs, we were in for a haunting dining experience, with ghouls and goblins lurking amid the spider webs that criss-crossed the dining room in preparation for Halloween.
Unless you are unusually lucky, you probably won’t be able to get in on the big night itself, when members of the restaurant staff bid to outdo one another for scariest costume. But you still have some time to check the Grill out, and this really is something you don’t want to miss.
When our name was finally called last Friday, we were shown to a table in the main dining area and our server quickly brought us a nice bottle of chardonnay.
Needless to say, I couldn’t resist starting the evening with the ¾ pound stone crab claw appetizer ($29.95 –
1 ¼ pound appetizer is $39.95).
While these divine beauties, chilled and cracked, were served with the Ocean Grill’s homemade mustard sauce, I personally prefer to savor them with just a touch of lemon. Absolutely wonderful.
My husband, however, passed on the stone crab claws (his loss) and started with a half dozen Long Island oysters ($13.50) on the half shell. He pronounced them sublime.
Our companion opted for the soup of the day, a blue crab soup ($4 with an entrée) and said it was very tangy.
For entrees, I ordered the petite Coquilles St. Jacques ($22.95 – larger portion is $28.95). My husband had one of the evening’s specials, the seared diver scallops ($30.95), and our companion chose the crab cake dinner ($22.95).
The Ocean Grill’s version of my seafood casserole was filled with shrimp, scallops, crab and mushrooms, then baked in a creamy sauce and sprinkled with parmesan. Very nice. And our companion has long insisted that the Grill’s crab cakes are the best in town.
But by husband’s scallops were sensational – as fresh as you can imagine, perfectly seared, and served with a lobster cream and sweet potato hay.
When it came dessert time, we belatedly inquired whether a birthday earlier in the week qualified us for one of the Ocean Grill’s fabulous birthday cakes. Well, these really need to be ordered in advance, was the reply.
But miracle of miracles, five minutes later, our server Candice returned with both a cake and a group of her co-workers singing “Happy Birthday.”
Dinner for two with a modest bottle of wine is likely to run you about $100 before tax and tip (if you pass up the somewhat more expensive stone crabs).
I might also note that if you don’t get to the Ocean Grill for Halloween, there is always Christmas – when the Grill turns itself into as much of the quintessential Vero holiday experience as the Ocean Drive Christmas parade.
As a place to bring visitors, and especially at Halloween or Christmas, there is no better choice.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com.
The reviewer is a beachside resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of this newspaper.