The most challenging reviews to write are of good restaurants where things don’t go quite as they ought to.
Certainly, our most recent visit to Sonya’s, the fine dining restaurant at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort on North A1A, got off to a curious start a couple of weeks ago when I called to make a reservation. I asked the hostess who took the call whether our party of three could get a table at 7 that evening.
No, nothing was available at 7, I was told. But they could accommodate us at 7:05. (You can’t make this stuff up.)
When we arrived there just a bit early, we were immediately ushered into Sonya’s, and shown to a nice table.
While Sonya’s is dimly lit, giving the room a distinctly clubby feel, it was plenty bright enough to see that the restaurant was not full – and it remained only about half full through the evening.
For starters, we decided to share an order of wood oven-baked lobster crab dip served with sun-dried tomato tortilla chips ($13). Highly recommended. I then ordered the seasonal salad ($9), and my husband and our companion had Caesar salads ($8). So far, so good.
For entrées, I went with the pan-seared jumbo scallops ($34), my husband chose one of the specials, a surf and turf ($36), and our companion opted for the vegetable lasagna ($26).
The diver scallops were perfectly seared, and were nicely complemented by the port wine gastrique used to decorate the plate.
My husband’s entrée, however, was something of a disappointment. A great surf and turf dinner is like a really good date, but the beef tenderloin and the king salmon were more like uneasy strangers thrust together for the evening – just not a match.
The evening ended on an up note, however, with a slice of grapefruit cake ($8) – a wonderful made-in-house confection.
Our next strange experience came when we returned a couple of weeks later to dine at Shutters, Disney’s casual restaurant. While the dishes served by Sonya’s and Shutters are different, the food is prepared in a common open kitchen.
Upon our arrival, the hostess and an assistant outside Shutters conferred for a long minute, huddled over a seating chart, before we were led past a number of nice (empty) tables to a cramped spot in the far corner.
When my husband demurred, we were given the option of that or a table directly in the path of traffic from the kitchen. We finally were grudgingly seated in the middle of the room.
For starters, I decided to order a cup of a very tasty conch chowder ($6.49). M husband and our companion went for iceberg wedge salads ($5.99).
For entrées, I chose the spit-fired rotisserie half chicken basted with a roasted shallot chicken jus, my husband opted for the bourbon-glazed salmon ($22.99), and our companion had the shrimp scampi with linguine ($20.99).
While awaiting our meals, we watched two orders of the rotisserie chicken arrive at the table next to us. Beautiful, plump birds. My hopes were high.
But the chicken put in front of me was an anemic guy who appeared to have been cremated some time earlier.
The server at first seemed a bit befuddled when I complained. “Would you like something else,” she asked. “No, I would like a different chicken,” I replied. She finally took my dish back, and miracle of miracles, returned a couple of minutes later with a plump, golden brown bird.
We’ve dined at both of Shutters and Sonya’s a number of times over the years, and the quality of the food at both has generally been very good. (In fairness, I should note the Shutters’ chicken was taken off the check – but a comped meal is not the experience one is looking forward to when one goes out for the evening).
We certainly hope our two recent visits were aberrations. The two Disney restaurants have shown they can deliver high-quality dining, and they are very conveniently located for residents who live toward the northern end of our island.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com .
The reviewer dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.