On our first full day of vacation, we awoke to catch a glimpse of the sunrise from our balcony.
Our plans included to not eat breakfast or lunch out during the week to save some dough but since we hadn’t had a chance to go to the food store yet, we needed some grub for breakfast that morning. For breakfast at the resort, our options were either room service or heading down to Shutters, the table service, casual restaurant on property. Shutters it was….
When we arrived there was only one other table seated besides us, probably because it was so early in the morning, around 8 a.m. or so. The other table seated right across from us happened to be Senator Gravel from Alaska, a Democratic presidential candidate, who had some sort of party at the resort the previous night.
Onto the food…the hubby had Scrambled Eggs, Corned Beef Hash (under the eggs), Potatoes, and an English Muffin. Nothing special but tasty.
I had Scrambled Eggs, Potatoes, and a Croissant. I particularly liked the potatoes because they had peppers and onions mixed in. The croissant was ok, I’ve had better.
By far, this was the best service we had. I believe the waitress’ name was Charlotte. She was super attentive and friendly and didn’t charge my husband for his hot cocoa. When you stay on Disney property, you have the option to buy refillable mugs for about 12 bucks. The resorts will have drink stations where you can fill it up as long as you stay for free, unlimited drinks, hot and cold. Usually they have hot cocoa in the mornings but Vero Beach didn’t and when the waitress saw our mugs, she assumed we filled them with coffee (I did). When the hubby explained his was empty because he thought maybe there would be hot cocoa, she offered it to him for free. Nice!
Good meal, great service, worth a trip if you stay there.
For dinner that evening, I had done my research and had my eye on a few places off property for dinner. We were in the mood for some casual dining that night and heard that the Riverside Cafe was a popular choice among locals.
Located under a bridge, the Riverside Cafe has two rooms, one with just tables and the other with tables, three bars, and live entertainment. We got there after sunset, but apparently, they stop everything to observe sunset.
To start we had some conch fritters and hubby had some clam chowder. The fritters were ok, couldn’t taste much conch, but the sauce served was soooooo incredibly hot that my mouth was on fire! Hubby enjoyed the clam chowder.
For our main entrees, hubby had ribs with mashed potatoes and veggies. He liked everything a lot. I tasted the ribs and I swear they tasted suspiciously fishy to me but he said they didn’t and it was because I was eating fish. The mashed potatoes were heavenly though.
I had fish tacos with a side of black beans and rice. Let’s start with the bad. The black beans and rice were so dry and flavorless I didn’t eat them. The good: the fish tacos were AMAZING!! The fish was a fried flounder and was so incredible tasty I would have been satisfied with just that. And the portions were huge, I had to take one of the tacos back with me (for a yummy lunch the next day).
Desserts left little to be desired. Hubby had key lime pie, his favorite. Neither of us liked it all that much. It had an overwhelming taste of condensed milk. I had a chocolate peanut butter pie that tasted like it had been in the fridge uncovered for several days. Not good.
The service here was the worst we experienced all trip. Our waitress, young and inexperienced, was impossible to get to the table, kept forgetting things, brought us our check without even asking if we wanted dessert and when she finally did bring the check back after we gave her our credit card, she never rung it up. If we were jerks we could have walked right out at that point. When we called her back and said we don’t think you actually rung this up, she was just completely confused.
The food ranged from sub-par to excellent, the atmosphere was fun (had a two guy cover band that were pretty decent), and the service forgettable. I’d definitely go back for those fish tacos but get dessert elsewhere.
Next up, a casual lunch and dinner at the resort.
