Florida Keys
Mrs. Macs Kitchen
Mrs. Macs Kitchen describes itself as an “American Seafood Restaurant”. It looks like a local diner decorated appropriate for the area, and is based in Key Largo.
To start, I had their “award wining” “Konk” chowder. Its conch in a tomato based broth. Its delicious and packed with flavor. It reminded me of the fish chowder in Bermuda and was even served in a similar manner with a condiment bottle of rum on the side to season your soup as you like.
For my main I had the fish of the day, blackened. It came with fries and rice and beans. The fish was prepared well, had good flavor from being blackened and was very fresh.
Key West Cheap Eats
There were two places in Key West we had good food for cheap. The first was Eaton Street Seafood Market & Restaurant. I ordered a lobster roll and shrimp sandwich. The shrimp is “Key West pink shrimp” and you can order it grilled, blackened or fried. I had it grilled. It was very flavorful and had a nice grilled taste. Both sandwiches were fresh. They also give you some coleslaw and plantain chips.
The second place was Ana’s Cuban Cafe. We had some Cuban coffee and sandwiches. Both of the above are two good options for a quick lunch.
AB Lobster House
Researching places to eat in Key West was an interesting task. While the food scene in Miami has improved greatly over the years, it became evident to me that key West is not Miami. In fact, its worlds apart. I like Miami – a lot – I would not say the same for Key West. Anyway, back to the food. Our first dinner I chose AB Lobster house because well, it serves seafood, and more specifically, lobster.
I started with the Maine Lobster and Escargot. The sauce was very delicious. The puff pastry was good too and tied everything together. The sauce had truffle in it and cremini mushrooms. Overall this was a good dish.
Islamorada Fish Company
Usually, I am skeptical of “world famous” anything, but this was a convenient place to stop on a recent trip from Miami to Key West, and I wanted seafood. The restaurant is nicely set on the water outdoors, but under cover.
We started with the smoked Wahoo Dip which is a popular dish in South Florida. It was pretty good. Very refreshing and subtle flavors of fish and smoke.
We also had the “World Famous Islamorada Fish Sandwich”. This is the day’s catch served grilled or fried (we got it grilled).