Ocean Grill: At Christmas, the next best thing to Toyland
If your household’s Santa is having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, you need to quickly schedule a dinner at the Ocean Grill.
Each year, the venerable beachside restaurant – a Vero institution in the best sense of the word — gets all dolled up for the holidays (the Christmas decorations stay up until New Year’s).
When we visited in early December, the magical annual transformation had taken place, and for purposes of getting an Old Grouch out of the Bah Humbug and into the let’s-stroll-down-Ocean-Drive-past-the-shops mood, dinner at the Ocean Grill turned out to be the next best thing to a visit to Toyland.
It probably further aided the cause that the food on this occasion was very good.
For appetizers on our most recent visit, we started with a perennial favorite, a bowl of tasty steamed clams ($10.95), which at our request arrived at the table radiating a strong aroma of garlic. The clams, as always, were wonderful.
While I followed this up with a tossed house salad (included with dinner), my husband enjoyed a very nice hearts of palm salad (an extra $3.95).
On this evening, I chose one of the Ocean Grill’s special entrées – the parmesan panko red snapper ($23.95) served over angel hair pasta Oscar style. The snapper, topped with lump crab meat and served with a Béarnaise sauce (which I had on the side), was cooked perfectly.
My husband opened for another of the evening’s special entrees, the broiled local pompano topped with apricot butter ($29.95). The pompano could not have been fresher.
On previous visits, we have enjoyed the shellfish pasta ($25.95) — Maine lobster, bay scallops and shrimp, tossed with fresh spinach and tomatoes in a white wine sauce, over linguine — and the fried oysters ($21.95), lightly breaded, succulent, and accompanied perfectly by homemade smashed potatoes.
My personal favorite, however, remains the scampi maison ($20.95) featuring a half-dozen shrimp baked in butter with herbs and garlic and served in a delicious mustard sauce. I still yearn for the scallops that they used to serve in this preparation.
While one tends to associate the Ocean Grill with seafood, no restaurant in town does a better roast duckling ($24.95) – baked, partially deboned, broiled to produce the great crispy skin, and served over a bed of pecan rice. By all means, pour the cup of orange-sherry sauce over the duck, and enjoy!
On this most recent visit, we chose from a very tempting dessert array Ocean Grill’s homemade key lime pie. We would rate the key lime pie an excellent pick if you don’t have someone along who qualifies for their wonderful birthday cake (actually, most anyone who has had a birthday within 12 months of their visit qualifies simply by asking).
There is, particularly at Christmas time, not a bad table in the house. On our most recent visit, we were seated along an interior wall, giving us a particularly festive view of the lights, ornaments and decorations strung out across the restaurant. But on several previous visits, we had tables directly in front of a window, offering the best view of the ocean to be found in any restaurant in Vero Beach.
Dinner for two, including a moderately priced bottle of wine and tip, comes to about $120.
For special occasions (they also decorate for Halloween), there simply is no better choice. Vero Beach at Christmas time is the Ocean Grill, and the Ocean Grill is Vero.
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 Vero Beach 32963.
Hours
Lunch: Monday through Friday from 11:30 to 2:00
Dinner: Sunday - Friday from 5:30 to 9:30
Saturday from 5:00 - 10:00
Bar
Full Bar
Address (MAP)
1050 Sexton Plaza, Vero Beach, Florida 32963, Telephone: (772) 231-5409
Online
www.ocean-grill.com
