The Tides: Sunset Menu is a tremendous value
With Chef Leanne Kelleher and Über-host Claudia Arens spending a week in Key West, we decided to slip into The Tides to see what kind of a dinner you can actually get for $15 at what many beachside residents regard as the island’s best restaurant.
That’s right, $15.
Ever since The Tides began offering salad and entrée on the Sunset Menu (actually, well before summer sunset; you need to be seated by 5:30) for $15 a person, people have been asking us, ‘Have you tried this? Is it really up to this fine restaurant’s standards?’
So we arrived a few minutes after 5 last Friday, and were seated at a table in the attractive front room.
Kenny, a highly experienced server whom we remembered from previous visits (though happily he did not seem to remember us) quickly appeared to brief us, and we told him we were ordering entirely on this evening from the $15 menu.
Great, he said. And in that case, perhaps you would like to also order a bottle of wine from the Sunset Wine Menu.
We knew The Tides was offering wines by the glass in the pre-5:30 hour for $3.50, but had not realized they were also offering a selection of better-than-decent wines by the bottle at pretty amazing prices. We chose a Chalone Monterey chardonnay for a very reasonable $21.
Then for starters, I ordered The Tides’ house salad, and my husband opted for the BLT. (The other salad would have been the Caesar, which my husband has enjoyed at
The Tides on a number of occasions.)
The house salad, a mix of baby field greens, tomatoes, red onion and cucumber, came with a gorgonzola herb vinaigrette. Very nice.
The BLT was a wedge of iceberg, with bacon, red onion, Maytag blue cheese crumbles, grape tomatoes, and buttermilk blue cheese. An excellent start.
Then for entrées, I ordered the shrimp penne and my husband chose the marinated porterhouse pork chop.
The other Sunset Menu entrée options were a chicken marsala, grilled Scottish salmon with dill sauce, or filet au poivre.
The shrimp penne consisted of five perfectly cooked shrimp tossed in a parmesan cream sauce with summer vegetables and a chiffonade basil. Couldn’t have been better.
But the dish was definitely topped by the grilled pork chop, a thick, juicy chop served in a shallot, apple, cashew and calvados demi-glace, accompanied by carrots, haricots verts, and a sweet potato gratin layered with gorgonzola cheese. Sumptuous.
At this point, we could easily have concluded the meal with espressos – feeling remarkably well fed for our $15.
But we decided to also try the two Sunset Menu desserts, a $4 add on if you are craving sweets.
While I enjoyed the Key Lime parfait with coconut, my husband preferred the lemon tart.
All told, with a bottle of wine, desserts and a couple of cups of espresso, the check for two still came to under $80 with tax – pretty amazing for a meal of this caliber. And if you stuck with salads and two of the excellent specials, had a glass of wine each, and skipped the dessert, you could actually dine well at The Tides for under $40 before tip.
These summer prices are little short of incredible.
While Chef Leanne has told friends of ours that she isn’t losing money on the Sunset Menu, but she certainly isn’t making much either. If you can bring yourself to dine this early, by all means go.
We would also urge diners taking advantage of these specials to tip more generously.
While 20 percent of a $150 check in season is a fair gratuity, an $8 tip for service that involves pretty much the same amount of work is a painful reminder that Vero really slows down in the summer.
But high season or slow, The Tides continues to excel.
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
Nightly from 5:30 during season
Tuesday-Saturday from 4:30 in the summer
Bar
Full Bar
Address (MAP)
3103 Cardinal Drive, Vero Beach, Telephone: (772) 234-3966
