Florida Seafood Bar & Grill

   

     This past Labor Day weekend we visited Exploration Tower, a stunning architectural landmark with seven floors of interactive exhibits full of in-depth information about Port Canaveral and Florida in general. The seventh floor includes an observation deck that offers breathtaking views of the port, Cocoa Beach, and on a clear day, even Kennedy Space Center.

   
     After nourishing our minds with knowledge about Florida's environmental history and space race nostalgia, we fed our bodies at Florida's Seafood, a busy eatery with decor that can only be described as nautical gone wild. Life-sized pirates, tropical greenery, a wall of fish tanks, umbrellas in drinks, and the smell of fresh seafood, all parts of the beach vacation cliche, but you can't help getting caught in it. Florida Seafood is a happy place.
   
     Since I was totally on board with the theme, I ordered a Banana Piña Colada, which delivered that sweet, deceptive frozen delight I was looking to get lost in, while forgetting the alcohol content. I assure you, I was reminded of it later.
   

     The first thing to adorn our table was a basket of crispy, doughy corn fritters dusted with powdered sugar. Who wouldn't smile at that? Then came my Scallops Rosamaria, huge scallops in garlic lemon butter with roasted tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and goat cheese. I know some people won't agree, but for me, goat cheese just adds pizzazz to almost anything. Not that the dish needed any help. When all the elements of the dish were gone, I finished the leftover sauce with a spoon. It was a gift to the palate.
     My dish came with crisp steamed vegetables and bacon cheese grits. The grits needed more butter, a LOT more, and a lot more cheese. The bacon could not compensate for the lack of flavor.

     John ordered the bacon wrapped shrimp with a basket of fries. The proper execution of bacon wrapped shrimp is tricky. Shrimp overcook easily if you're not careful, and if you add a strip of crispy bacon to it, the shrimp will certainly become gummy. That's what happened here. They were flavorful, but too chewy, and the intensity of the bacon overwhelmed the tiny shrimp. It might've worked better with larger shrimp. The fries were large wedges in a glorious shade of gold, crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside, as God intended.
     The dessert menu held nothing that caught our attention, and considering I was still nursing my decadent banana cocktail, my sweet tooth was satisfied.
     I wouldn't call this the perfect meal, but while some elements lacked sparkle, others were sophisticated, and the place is just plain fun. Two thumbs up!