Havana Club/Bleu Bistro -- Corpus Christi, TX

Today's post is a little bit of a journey, so stay with us. Rob had recently expressed a desire for me to plan a date night. I agreed to, and had been trying to come up with something special -- someplace we hadn't been before, something new and exciting. A good friend of mine suggested that Rob and I try the Havana Club (500 N. Water St., 361-882-5552). "Friday night is Salsa Night," she said. We have never been to the Havana Club, so I looked it up online. I wasn't able to find a website, but I did find several reviews and descriptions that spanned the last few years. One of the descriptions reported that they offered tapas. "Perfect!" I thought. Rob likes latin inspired music, and with a romantic atmosphere and tapas, what could go wrong?

We walked into this eclectic, part rustic, part elegant room carved out of an old bank vault. There was no one at the hostess station to seat us, and it quickly became apparent that this was really a bar, but no worries. Bars sometimes serve food, too. We started toward a booth, but found they were large enough to seat eight people comfortably. We chose a table, and realized that the only staff was a lone bartender, so we moved to the bar. We ordered wine and asked for a menu. The bartender, Cade, informed us that they didn't serve tapas anymore, though they were in the process of bringing them back.

Date night was not shaping up as I had envisioned. We discussed what our options were. Should we just go elsewhere, or go next door to Bleu Bistro? Bleu is the new version of 500 Bistro that I had reviewed in March of last year. During a recent visit to the bar at Bleu Bistro we learned that ownership had changed, but the same chef was preparing what appeared to be mostly the same menu. If you read that review of 500 Bistro, you would know that I was not really excited about having dinner next door. Cade informed us that the previous chef of Bleu recently quit. This is the reason their tapas menu of Cuban inspired foods had been delayed, but there is a new chef at Bleu who is working on it. He offered us the appetizer menu for their sister restaurant, and told us we could take our wine with us if we wanted to move next door to eat. We decided that we would give the new chef a chance. Cade suggested the tenderloin and the lamb.

We finished our wine and walked next door. We decided to sit at the bar because, in most cases, you get to have interaction with staff that you aren't able to have at a table. This bartender was not as personable as Cade. Oh well, he was efficient. We looked at the menu and decided that the prices made our decision a little risky. Yes, there is a new chef, but he's preparing the same dishes as the old chef, and what if the recipes are the problem? There wasn't exactly a huge crowd in the place, so we thought we'd just finish our wine and walk across the street to the sushi bar. As we're working on the wine and noshing on a fancy plate of bar chips, Cade comes up from behind, and sets between us an appetizer plate of two large seared scallops on little pillows of whipped potatoes. He says, "I asked the chef if he'd prepare something for you to try, this is on us." Okay, we were definitely not expecting that! Nor were we expecting the flavors and textures that hit our mouths. The scallops were beautifully prepared, seared and topped with tiny, tender bits of bacon with a citrus sauce drizzled over top. Just a hint of garlic teased our tongues as we savored the perfect texture of the scallops. Yeah, we asked for the menu back.

Oysters on the Half Shell

We ordered oysters on the half shell and the Seared Salmon to share. The six oysters were large and briney. Our bartender had set us up with horseradish, saltines, lemon wedges and Tabasco. I love it when staff anticipates all that a customer will need for a dish. At most places we have to request the horseradish and Tabasco. We dressed up our oysters to our liking and slurped away.

The Seared Salmon arrived sitting atop whipped potatoes and accompanied by haricot verts (fancy french words for green string beans). The salmon was lightly seasoned with a blend of spice and herbs then seared to give it a nice, delicately crisp crust. My first bite was just a flake off of the top and seemed a little salty, but when I sliced through the full thickness of the fish I found the flavors to be in delicious balance. In my previous review of 500 Bistro, I stated that the potatoes tasted as if they could have been made from processed flakes. Well, the potatoes I enjoyed last night were real and they were creamy and they just melted in my mouth. The beans were equally enjoyable. They were dark green in color, cooked well with just enough crunch left in them.

After dinner we happily sauntered back over to the Havana Club, where the night's band was setting up and tuning for later in the evening. There was none of the happy hour crowd left, so we had Cade all to ourselves. We thanked him for the scallops and reported that we had just decided to go elsewhere when he brought them to us, and how that dish had changed our minds. It was at this point that he told us that when the previous chef left he suggested his friend, Chef David Graham, for the position, clarifying why he went to the trouble of having the chef prepare something for us. He told us, too, that Havana Club should be serving tapas (from the same kitchen as Bleu) in about a month. The menus, he said, are at the printers. I can hardly wait to try the plantain dishes he described!

What looked to be a poorly planned date night turned into an evening of pleasant surprises. We are looking forward to returning to the Havana Club to try the new tapas menu, and we happily recommend Bleu Bistro as a great date night destination. Bleu Bistro is a bit pricey, but the food is now worth paying a little more. Thanks, Cristina, for your date night suggestion!

(I wish I had been able to include more pictures, but as you can see from the picture of the oysters,  the lighting didn't lend itself to taking pictures with an iphone.)

FYI: I've changed the settings to make commenting on our posts easier.

Dragonfly Restaurant & Curacao Blues -- Corpus Christi, TX

The Dragonfly Restaurant, located across the JFK bridge on Padre Island, at 14701 S Padre Island Dr,(361-949-2224) has been a favorite of ours for some time. Not to say that they don't have their off days, but those are rare. This particular night they were spot on. We like to eat early -- to avoid traffic and crowds -- so we arrived just a few minutes after 5:00 p.m., which is opening time for dinner. Of course, we were seated promptly.

Our waiter, Romeo, introduced himself and recited the special, which sounded wonderful -- Grilled Tuna Steak with a Garlic Potato Flash. We ordered our wine, and kept the special in mind as we looked through the menu. The dinner menu is divided in two sections -- World Tour by Land which features beef, pork, lamb and chicken dishes of various countries, and World Tour by Sea, featuring, you guessed it, seafood dishes from around the world. We opted for our favorite menu items. For Rob, the Shrimp Skewer with Coconut Sambal Sauce (Malaysia -- $19.95), and I ordered the Crab Cake with Remoulade (USA -- $18.95)

Curacao Blues, the bar, as you enter Dragonfly

Rob's shrimp were tender, smoky and flavorful. Topped with a spicy Coconut Sambal Sauce, the one bite I got of these plump, juicy critters made my mouth very happy. The Coconut Peanut rice contrasts the shrimp with a light, delicate, but distinct coconut infusion with bits of peanuts scattered throughout. The Sweet Potato Plantain cake rounded out the dish. It is deep fried creating a not quite crispy shell around a creamy sweet center. And, as if that's not enough, a healthy salad of mixed greens, dressed with a Soy Honey Sauce creates a beautiful bed on which to display the shrimp. Delicious!

My plate held two 6 oz. Crab Cakes with the remoulade on the side. The crab cakes at Dragonfly are made a little differently than what I've had in other places. First you don't get lumps of crab mixed with filler. It seems as though the crab is blended with  the spices and accompaning flavors, then pan fried. They have a more creamy consistancy than most crab cakes I've had. Now, if someone said to me, "try this crab cake, it has a creamy consistancy," I probably would have turned them down, but trust me on this, they are so good! Crab is the main flavor you get with the other flavors complimenting and submiting to the crab in a most pleasant way. The romoulade is tangy nice, but little goes a long way and could easily overpower the crab cakes. Maybe that's why it's served on the side.  And as good as the crab cakes are, they are served resting on a bed of the best french fries that I have ever tasted. These fries are so good that I refuse to ruin them by putting ketchup on them! I literally told the waiter, "no," when he offered it. These fries aren't flavored or exotic in any way. They are normal fries from normal potatoes fried, in I don't know what kind of oil, to perfection. They are not greasy, yet crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, seasoned with just enough salt. Think original McDonalds fries, but oh so much better. (I would make the trip to Dragonfly just for the fries!) I also had a salad of mixed greens, but mine was dressed with a Garlic Vinaigrette, which was similar to a Caesar dressing, but with a little more punch. Great meal!

Spicy Jalapeno Martini

While we waited for our food to arrive, Rob noticed the signature drink menu and the Spicy Jalapeno Martini caught his eye. So, rather than have dessert, we ordered one of those. This is a tequila drink that is a little bit reminiscent of a margarita without the salt. It's sweet and spicy, but not too spicy, with a slice of pickled jalapeno in the bottom. Of course the closer you get to the bottom, the spicier it gets! We thought it was a great end to our dinner.

As I've mentioned, Dragonfly is a favorite, and although the food is consistantly good, this night's dinner was better than usual. We always recommend Dragonfly. It's worth the drive out to the Island. You can view their menu and even order online at http://www.dragonflycuracao.com/. Several items, such as their soups, wing sauces and salad dressings are packaged and available for sale.

Oh, and so sorry there are no pictures of our plates. We dove in before we thought about pictures. It was that good, but you can find plenty of pictures on the website gallery, and yes, the food really looks like that!

El Ferol -- Santa Fe, NM

We felt it would have been a wasted trip not to visit the Canyon Road art galleries while in Santa Fe. Among the galleries sits a wonderful restaurant called El Ferol, at 808 Canyon Road (elferol.com, 505-983-9912). While we strolled through the artwork, we kept our eyes out for this place, as we had it on good authority that they served great tapas, and since we knew we'd have a large dinner later, that was just what we wanted. We found it at the opposite end of Canyon Road from where we started, which was perfect.

We arrived there just after noon and tables were plentiful. There are not a lot of people out art gazing mid-day, in the middle of the week during the off season, forunately for us. Felicia , our server, brought us a generous basket of bread, and took our drink order as we settled into the tapas menu. All tapas are $7.75 each or 5 for $38. We knew we couldn't hold five so we decided on three to nosh on. We ordered Ceviche De Atun, Puerco Asado, and Roasted Red Bell Pepper with feta cheese.

As we waited on our choices we nibbled on the bread. Each table is set with small plates, a bottle of olive oil and a pepper grinder. We poured olive oil onto plates, ground some fresh pepper into it and thoroughly enjoyed this firm and chewy country style bread.

First to arrive was the Ceviche De Atun which is described as "mango citrus cured seafood." There was a lot of flavor in this little bowl of scallops, shrimp and fish marinating in mango, lime and jalapenos, garnished with cilantro and avocado. So beautiful and fresh, we dug right in and it was half gone before we thought to take a picture. My apologies.

Then the Puerco Asado, pork tenderloin with figs, port and Idiazabal cheese, and the Roasted Red Peppers with feta arrived. The Asada was so rich and savory and communed well with the sweetness of the figs. The cheese was its crowning glory, hard and slightly sharp. The red peppers, I thought, also worked well as a side to the pork. Rob was not so fond of the peppers and feta, but he is not fond of anything that has any real tang to it. That worked in my favor.

We enjoyed our time at El Ferol and will visit again if we find ourselves in Santa Fe. They serve tapas, lunch, and dinner. You may dine inside or out, and they have live entertainment in the evenings (Wednesday thru Sunday). It's a little pricey, as are all of the restaurants in the area, but in the art district the food is expected to rise above the normal restaurant fare and what we had at El Farol certainly does.

Black Sheep Bistro -- Corpus Christi, TX

The Black Sheep Bistro at 15201 S. Padre Island Dr. (blacksheepbistro.net) is a small, eclectic little place across the bridge on the Island (North Padre for those of you not in South Texas). It's very casual with an eclectic mix of music -- think Willie Nelson, CCR, Crosby, Stills & Nash, played a little louder than most places -- and an eclectic menu. One would expect a place on the Island to serve predominately seafood, but not here. At Black Sheep you can order a steak, pasta, burger, or seafood. Just because you're on the Island doesn't mean you gotta eat fish.

The manager met us at the door as we walked in and seated us at a table for two. This was our third trip to Black Sheep. We went with the intent to blog so we were paying close attention. Of course, this was the one time we'd be served by the daughter of a friend, and Rebecca's amazing, so there's nothing bad we can say about her. Rebecca took our drink orders while we looked over the menu and specials written on a chalkboard that is playfully decorated to draw your eye to items that you won't find on the menu. Rob ordered one of the specials and I ordered from the menu. Rebecca turned in our order and while we waited for our food, we caught up with all that's been going on in her life and her folks since we'd seen them last.

Rob had the Crab Stuffed Flounder. The flounder was beautifully wrapped around the crab filling and sat atop parmesan mashed potatoes with white truffle oil and asparagus. The potatoes were delicious, the truffle oil a faint echo in your mouth. The asparagus was cooked past the al dente stage (we prefer it a bit more crunchy). The crab filling was rich and creamy, but the flounder was just slightly overcooked and a little bit dry. All of the flavors played nicely together and we did a great job of cleaning the plate.

I had the Pescado a la Ticla. Three mahi tacos on corn tortillas with jicama slaw and a chili lime vinaigrette along with a mango salsa and Spanish rice. Rebecca warned me that it was spicy. It was. Very spicy! This dish is not for those with whimpy taste buds.  Fortunately, I like spicy, and I found if you added the mango salsa to the tacos a nice balance was achieved. The heat was fairly intense, but it didn't overpower the flavors. The fish was nicely grilled and meaty, the tortillas perfectly cooked (not fried). The salsa was sweet, but not too. I enjoyed every bite. The only criticism would be for the Spanish rice. I felt it could have more flavor, but it wasn't bad.

As I've stated, this was our third visit and the food has consistently pleased us. We would absolutely recommend Black Sheep Bistro, and we are excited to learn that Black Sheep is adding on to the bistro. Next door, the Barrel is being built. It, hopefully, opens next month. It will basically be a wine bar serving tapas. We will definitely be checking that out!

Since it was slow (we tend to eat earlier than most people), I asked Rebecca if she'd ask the chef if he would mind sharing a simple recipe or kitchen tip. He was willing to offer a tip. I will try to do this for future reviews, also.

Kitchen Tip from the Chef: When cutting onions use a very sharp knife. The sharper the knife, the fewer tears you'll shed because it will cause less damage to the cells as you cut.

Fajitaville -- Corpus Christi, TX

Fajitaville at 221 South Hotel Place in Corpus Christi, TX (www.fajitaville.com) is actually three spots in one. Located on Corpus Christi Beach (what I've grown up calling North Beach) this bright, multi-colored building houses the open air Bamboo Beach Bar on the first floor, The family oriented "Grill" on the second floor, and the more upscale Club Riviera on the third. We opted for the third floor experience. (The Grill and Riviera share the same menu.)

While researching, today, I found that the restaurant opened on October 29, 2011. I would think that after four months things would run a little more smoothly. We felt as if we had come into a very new operation. The hostess greeted us warmly and explained that she would have someone take us up to the third floor shortly. "Less than ten minutes," she said. True to her word, in actually less than five, there were not one, but two hostesses expecting to take us up, leaving the family of five who were there before us wondering if they would make it to the second floor.

After a bit of confusion, we arrived at our table with only one hostess in tow. She graciously seated us, and our server arrived shortly thereafter. She seemed a little green, but eager to please, although she was not very familiar with the drink menu. The wine list did not include my favorite wine, Sauvignon Blanc, so I asked if they had one. With a slight look of panic in her eyes she said, "If it's not on the menu, we don't have it." It surprised me a little that a place on the beach, serving seafood, would not have a more varied selection of white wines. I ordered the Pinot. Rob ordered the Malbec. I noticed after she served our water that she had to tear the bartender away from his meal to fill our drink orders. I like a server who makes sure the customer doesn't wait longer than necessary.

We had decided on our entrees by the time she arrived with our wine. Many items on the menu sounded intriguing, and I finally settled on the Seashell of Salmon Roulade which is described as, "Salmon fillet rolled in Rockefeller creamed spinach, finished with tarragon pesto cream." I was allowed two sides and ordered the "hand-hacked mashed potatoes" and house salad with a raspberry vinegarette dressing. Rob ordered the Stuffed Gulf Shrimp which are stuffed with blue crab, fried, and served with lobster butter and roasted red bell pepper sauce. He opted for the baked potato and house salad with a Caesar dressing, because they didn't have his favorite, honey mustard.

Our salads came and we knew we were in trouble. Although fresh, they were the classic bowls of lettuce (dressed up with Romaine rather than Iceberg) with one slice of tomato, one slice of cucumber, a little dusting of shredded carrots and croutons. We have learned that you can generally judge the cuisine of a restaurant by the quality of the salad they serve. This salad is generally indicative of less than top-notch food; unfortunately the stereotype held true.

Let's do Robs food first this time. When our server sat his plate down, he looked at it and said, "I thought the shrimp was stuffed." She server said they were. In defense of the restaurant, he was not expecting fried, but after checking the menu, he had just missed that. I thought that stuffed shrimp would be larger. These were about the size of medium sized shrimp. There was no lobster butter on his plate, but there was a red sauce. I tasted one of the shrimp with the red sauce. First, the sauce was nothing special -- no memorable flavor --  and second, the shrimp were indeed stuffed, with about a quarter of a teaspoon of what I supposed was crab. You could not taste it, but what you could taste was that the shrimp were of the frozen variety.

Now my dish. The potatoes had no seasoning. I take medication for high blood pressure and so I have become accustomed to eating foods with a minimum of salt. I had to add salt and pepper these, they were so bland. My first thought was that Robert Irvine would have a field day with the kitchen staff. (Reference to the Food Network Show, Restaurant Impossible, for those of you who are scratching your heads.) The salmon tasted as if it had landed on the griddle right behind an order of bacon. I have never had salmon that tasted like bacon before. The "Rockefeller creamed spinach" was sandwiched inside the salmon. Let us have a short cooking lesson: A Roulade is the french term for a thin slice of meat rolled around a filling and Rockefeller generally refers back to Oysters Rockefeller which was named so because it was so rich. Nothing on this plate was rolled, and not only was the Rockefeller creamed spinach not rich, it tasted as if it came out of a can, having no real flavor at all. And forget about a tarragon pesto cream. It was finished with a drizzle of the raspberry vinegarette. Yes, the very same dressing I had on my salad. We passed on dessert.

The building is festive, with a pleasant decor and wonderful view. The seating and wait staff, although trying to please, were very unpolished. The food, if ours was any indication, was not worth what we paid, much less the drive over the bridge. We could only figure that it being a tourist oriented restaurant, they expect to get away with less than excellent food. In my book, that is the wrong attitude to take. Rob left with an upset stomach, and this couple will not be eating at Fajitaville again.