Miami: Captain's Tavern

My friends Bill and Henry Widen took me to one of their favorite local Miami spots, Captain's Tavern. Just as they warned me, the decor was clearly brought from the 1970s by time travelers. But no one seemed to mind---the restaurant was buzzing with people having fun.

Bill thought we should try some local specialties, so we got busy ordering. This is the conch salad. The conch itself has some tooth to it, which contrasts well with the tomato salsa. The accompanying herbs were very nicely done.

This is the yellowtail ceviche, one of the chef's specialties. If you haven't heard of ceviche, the fish has been chemically cooked in acid from plants, etc. Everything is done cold but we still get the effects we want from cooking: tenderness and doneness. Our waitress thought it would be very spicy for us but we thought the peppers added just a nice zing. However, Bill did also ask for the scotch bonnet pepper salsa, which lived up to its reputation for heat.

I had the Florida lobster tail. Bill said that Florida lobster is sweeter than the Maine variety and he was right. I've decided that I really like Florida lobster. Lobster can sometimes be boring without butter but the sweetness of this lobster tail really sold me.

We couldn't finish without tasting a little dessert, so we tried the banana cream pie. Everything in the pie was of very high quality. Too many restaurants scrimp but I knew this was a great pie when I tasted the whipped cream. The custard and crust were also excellent.

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