Alison M.
Yelp
My fiancee has been here a few times with friends and kept telling me that we needed to come try this restaurant with expansive ocean views (think like Orion's Roof) for a while. Finally, this past weekend, I was able to try when his parents invited us here for dinner with them.
I was expecting it to be pretty nice because of what I had been told, but most people probably overlook it because it sits atop the Holiday Inn at the oceanfront. There is an express elevator and valet parking and once we reached the top there were about 6 people waiting to be seated ahead of us on Saturday night at 7:30.
It took a while to be seated so we looked at the bar area with hightop tables, bar seating, and some nice wrap booths overlooking the ocean.
We were seated at a table in the back by the windows and our server, Michael, quickly came with water and menus to welcome us. He was clipped, professional, friendly and prompt. He was a very good server and took excellent care of us. He mentioned the kitchen was understaffed (as are they all now) and so as long as we weren't in a rush we would be fine, but if we were, we should tell him ASAP so he could get our food in. We weren't, but I love the attention to the pace of the meal and the head's up, very professional.
We had a few starters, and we did not get their famous table-side Cesar salad so we will get that next time. Instead we got the tomato mozzarella salad and house salad. Wasn't impressed with either, they were OK, but the caprese-like salad was swimming in too much balsamic and the house salad was just underwhelming.
We went with a nightly special for our entree and split it - the flounder francese - lightly egg battered and fried atop pasta which we got on the side with tomato sauce. The flounder was absolutely delicious, perfectly prepared and wonderful and the side of pasta and red sauce was also a nice touch.
We also got dessert and coffee - delicious warm fresh coffee is always a true test of place I think, because it ends strong as well. Theirs was warm and delicious and they kept the refills coming as we chatted and enjoyed our evening.
We tried the tiramisu and the lemon cake. I loved the tiramisu and only liked the lemon cake.
All in all, the food was great, they have an excellent menu, service was stellar and I'd love to come back and enjoy the views during summer at dusk.
We made friends with a kind couple on the elevator and had a great chat with them and were surprised by the amount of people dining inside who were mostly regulars. This is by far a hidden gem here at the beach where locals come in off season to enjoy. Check it out if you've never been, you won't regret it.