Quarterdeck Review

      The Quarterdeck is a chain of sports bars in Florida. Having spent over an hour waiting for a water taxi that never came, AND having spent the day in airports, we were starving and just wanted ANY place we could find within walking distance to eat. We stumbled across the Quarterdeck and were told there was a 45 minute wait but the bar had seats available, so in we walked and away we ate. I really wasn't expecting much but was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and most of all the service.

      Think about Fort Lauderdale in late February, vacation central, so while the Quarterdeck is a very large place, it was PACKED to the rafters. And to top it off, we found out a couple of servers had called in sick, (can't blame them is was 80 and beautiful). But the bartender came over right away with menus and took our drink order, and was back with the drinks in a flash. I noticed they had a very large raw bar, so I asked about the oysters (this can be a scary proposition in a sports bar but what the heck I was feeling lucky). I was assured that the blue points had arrived fresh that morning so I ordered a half dozen. My fellow worker decided to start with the peel your own shrimp. Both plates were exceptional, the oysters really fresh and the shrimp huge, with a whole bunch of them. For our entrees, I went with a really unusual sandwich, blackened fresh grouper, fresh mozzarella, basil and cappicola on a ciabbata roll, and my buddy went with blackened fish tacos. The fish in both entrees was incredibly fresh, and while on paper my sandwich sounds weird the blackened fish, the fresh cheese and the salty, slightly spicy ham worked PERFECTLY together. This was a perfect start to our Fort Lauderdale business trip and highly recommended.

Food,                     3.25  Sports bar food but very well done
Beer and Wine,    3.75   Nice beer selection, typical grocery store wine selections.
Service,                 5.0     I have never given anyone a 5 but this poor guy was HUSTLING, and yet he was pleasant and took the time to explain the menu to us.

Ambiance,             3.0     Sports bar, enough said.
Price,                     3.5      One of the most reasonable of all our Fort Lauderdale meals.

Overall                  3.70 A really nice local chain with above average food for a sports bar. I would recommend them if you are in Florida.

Bahia Mar Review

      The next few posts will be all about my recent business trip to Fort Lauderdale. Starting with the hotel we stayed at. But first, a well deserved shout out to Delta Airlines. I know, I know, it's very unusual for ANYONE to have anything nice to say about an airline in this day and age, (Still love you Jet Blue, lower your prices). And after the total fiasco we had with Continental last year, (stuck on the runway for 1/2 hour waiting for a plane to leave our gate, only to find out said plane was broke, missed connecting flight to Vegas, no hotel vouchers as it was FAA fault, RIGHT !!!). So we had a very tight layover at JFK , 40 minutes, and when the plane had to go through deicing, I was really worried about missing our connection. But then the captain,(are they always captains? No privates or Corporals in airline speak? Wouldn't fill you with a ton of confidence would it, to hear "This is Private Ed, way up here in the driver thingy seat, letting you know we will be flying way up high today), came on and said they were given a more direct route and we would make JFK in 50 minutes, YEA, leaves plenty of time to catch the next plane. Got to the edge of the runway and he turns off the engines, oops, that is never good.

      Broken engine sensor, back to the terminal, NOW here is where the tale takes a strange turns, once back in the terminal, we are told, we will call out your cities and you can come up and get new flights, we have them all rescheduled for you. WHAT?? no begging, screaming, hollering, WHAT? So we get new assignments, getting into Fort Lauderdale at 7PM that night, sigh, there goes my afternoon of vacation. But she says, stop at the service desk in JFK and get meal vouchers or she may be able to get you an earlier flight. Well, meal vouchers are way more than we got last year, (YOU SUCK, CONTINENTAL), so off to the service counter we go and surprise number 2, really nice lady says we have a 1pm flight out of Laguardia, I can pay for your cab, if you don't mind going back through security again, gets you into Ft.Lauderdale at 4 pm so you can enjoy a bit of 85 degree weather, WOO HOO, Delta we love you !!!

      Oh yeah, this is a review about the hotel. So what have we learned so far, Delta good, Continental bad. Bahia Mar Doubletree Hotel, just OK. This is quite an old hotel, that Hilton has bought and is updating. At this time the furniture seems pretty updated but the bathrooms, walls and doors are still very old. The good, location, location, location. Right on route 1A1, with the ocean on one side and the waterway on the other. And only a short walk to all the action of the Fort Lauderdale strip. AND a water taxi stop just a few hundred yards away, (but good luck catching one, we waited for an outbound boat for over an hour one night and one never came, not a very efficiently run operation).

  The bad, doors and paint in room are very chipped up. bathroom is old and looks it. Be aware that if you stay here with friends the bathroom door is a pocket door made of slats, not much privacy. Good and bad, the employees, Karen at the front desk and Patricia at the concierge desk were both incredible, extremely helpful, (Poor Patricia must of made and cancelled a dozen restaurant reservations for me ,as the boss's flights kept getting delayed). On the other hand, the first morning my colleague and I went to breakfast, I asked for a menu and the employee told me "We are doing a buffet for $17.00 each, (not exactly a lie as you notice he did NOT say we couldn't order a la carte, just never offered us a menu, so we paid over $40, (18% tip automatically added), for a really sub par buffet that at Hampton Inns is free. The 2nd morning we had a better server and she gave us menus, but the sausages I received came out ICE cold , so not a whole lot better. She was very apologetic but for some reason the kitchen just could not get them back out to me before we were all done and leaving, (why not pull some out of the buffet, I assume those were hot?).

      So all in all a totally average experience. Location is great, views are incredible, some employees are wonderful, some not so much. Some of the room is updated, alot of the room still needs serious work. If you can get a great deal, I suppose the location would make up for the rest. But as we paid $180 a night, I would not stay here again for that price. Not before I was assured the rest of the updating was finished. All in all I give the place a 2.5 stars (out of five).

Johnny V's Review

      This was on my advanced list of a places we should go to while in Fort Lauderdale. So I was extremely happy when we got a reservation for 6:30. Then I was extremely sad when I had to cancel because my boss's plane was delayed and he didn't get in till 6pm. After picking a second choice, I found I had to cancel that also, as a business meeting ran long. So we decided to head out to Los Olas Boulevard and see what pops up. Our cab lets us off and lo and behold we are right in front of Johnny V's. What a coincidence. I ask at the counter if they have a table for 4 and yes they do. WOO HOO .

      So in we go and I for one am VERY happy we did. The wine list is incredible and I started with an incredible Temparillo from Spain, with this great glass of wine we shared three appetizers, the blue corn crusted calamari, the slightly seared tune poke and the special of the night, baked oysters with spinach and bechamel sauce. All three were just incredible, the flavors, the presentation , everything perfect.

      For my entree, I went with the Duck, Duck, Duck and I must say this was one of the best entrees I have ever had. A duck leg confit, a roasted breast served medium and sliced and a bread pudding made of mushrooms and foie gras, YUMMY. Around the table, everyone else got fresh fish entrees and other than one fish being a bit dry, we all loved our meals. For dessert we ordered a chocolate samplers and there were 4 or 5 different preparations, all of them delicious.

Food,                     4.25  Excellent food, Imaginatively prepared with sometimes unusual ingredients. One of the fish dishes was a bit dry and overcooked, points off for that.
Beer and Wine,     4.0    Very Deep wine selections, list is huge and some of it very expensive.
Service,                 4.0    Our waitress was incredible, making suggestions and helping us out with the wine list.

Ambiance,             3.75  Nice space, but very narrow, some sidewalk seating, which would be fun.
Price,                     3.5   VERY pricey, but food this creative is rarely cheap.

Overall                  3.90  My favorite meal of the trip and probably in my favorite top 20 of all time. If you are in Fort Lauderdale go here

Casablanca Cafe Review

      As we were setting up the booth for the show, we realized it was well after noon and we suddenly were starving. As this particular day included 84 degree weather, with a slight ocean breeze and tropical blue skies, we decide to go outside and find a restaurant where we could eat overlooking the ocean. After a short walk, we noticed a large crowd at the Casablanca, so we stood in line to wait for a table. There was a big crowd sitting on the patio watching the ocean so when the Hostess said would you like to sit on the balcony we said sure, thinking we were getting on the patio. Instead she led us into the restaurant, up a spiral staircase and out onto a tiny 2nd story balcony holding three tables, SCORE, we had the end table, facing the ocean and getting a wonderful breeze in our faces, who said blind luck was overrated.

      Soon our server appeared and offered us some exotic drinks, but since I was working, I went with a Balik Gold beer instead. Perfect for a hot, sultry day. And for lunch, a thinly shaved, lamb sandwich, served on a warm pita bread, (OK, it was a gyro, why don't you just say so) and a nice Mediterranean salad. The lamb was perfectly seasoned and very tender. The salad nice and crisp with some great feta cheese on top. All in all, a perfect lunch plate for $9.99. And the view was incredible.

Food,                     4.0     Great flavors, nicely put together. 

Beer and Wine,    4.0     Nice beer and wine selections, reasonably priced (for Florida anyways).

Service,                 3.75   Waiter was not overly talkative but very efficient and the hostess got us a great table.

Ambiance,             4.5      All I can say is see the pictures.

Price,                     4.5      Probably the most reasonable place in all of Fort Lauderdale.

Overall                  4.15 This was a great find and would be one of my go to spots if I lived in Fort Lauderdale. If you are in the area, do yourself a favor and stop by.