Last week, we checked back in at The Patio Seafood Tavern – the current incarnation of the historic eatery in the Old Downtown – to see how it was doing in what is now its second year.
For our visit, we picked a Tuesday night because on a visit last year on a Tuesday, we had found the dinner hour in Vero’s largest restaurant disquietingly slow.
But Tuesday at The Patio now has two things going for it.
One is that Tuesdays still are Maine lobster night, when The Patio serves beautiful pound-and-a-quarter Maine lobsters.
But even more of an attraction is that Tuesday now is also dueling piano night, when Johnny Nick and Kent Taylor Brown hold forth playing requests – which tend to run toward Billy Joel and Elton John standards – on their baby grands. Johnny is an excellent piano man, and Kent plays saxophone and a variety of instruments in addition to piano.
When we arrived on a beautiful spring evening, the dueling pianos welcomed us as we stepped out of our car in the parking lot. We opted for a table in the outdoor dining area, where the tunes were still plenty loud but conversation was possible. (A number of diners clearly like loud; the main dining room was even fuller than the patio area.)
Once seated, our server quickly took our drink order. Since the special menu that night featured a mixed drink that included Hendrick’s gin, my husband was inspired to order a Hendrick’s martini. After a few minute wait, the server returned with news that the bar was out of Hendrick’s, so he joined me in a glass of chardonnay.
For appetizers on this evening, we decided to start with a favorite from previous visits, the asparagus and parmesan tempura ($8), and the crispy calamari ($9.50).
The tempura, topped with shaved parmesan and accompanied by a mustard dipping sauce, is very tasty – but on this evening a bit chewy. The long thin strips of calamari steak, however, had been flash-fried perfectly and were extremely tender. They were tossed with a citrus beurre blanc, sriracha, capers and tomato.
Our server also brought a basket of the cheddar-rosemary biscuits everyone loves. Usually light and flaky, these biscuits were tasty – but they needed a bit more time in the oven.
Passing up salads, we went straight to the entrées. I ordered the shrimp and lobster scampi ($21), my husband had the macademia crusted mahi mahi ($24), and our companion opted for the fried coconut shrimp ($19).
The shrimp and lobster scampi entree consisted of four jumbo shrimp and four stuffed lobster ravioli served in a creamy garlic sauce atop a bed of spinach. Excellent. The dolphin was perfectly cooked and accompanied by broccoli rabe. The fried coconut shrimp with basmati rice and an orange horseradish marmalade was a very successful dish.
All around us, meanwhile, diners were enjoying large platters of broiled lobster, which for $19.95 is certainly one of the better values around.
For dessert, we shared a slice of a luscious carrot cake ($7).
The service on our visit was attentive, and overall we would rate the food a bit better than average – but not inexpensive.
With the music (live entertainment is also offered on weekend nights), The Patio is a fun place to dine. Certainly, the turnout last Tuesday had to be encouraging to management.
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.