Islamorada

Though it's a bit off the beaten Chicago path, I was surprised that Search yielded no posts about this part of the Florida Keys. I'm headed there next month for what will be a much needed break from the cold, and would welcome any recommendations. This will be the kind of trip where getting me to move more than 100 yards away from my hotel room will take quite the persuasion, so I'm definitely looking for recommendations in Islamorada, not elsewhere in the Keys. I'll have a kitchen and a charcoal grill on the beach, so shopping tips are just as welcomed as restaurants.

Kennyz wrote: I'll have a kitchen and a charcoal grill on the beach, so shopping tips are just as welcomed as restaurants.

Shopping Tips

- Ocean
- Liquor store

Slim pickings within Islamorada proper. I was going to suggest Manny & Isa's. But apparently, it's been replaced by:
http://www.chanticleer-south.com/Chanti ... _Home.html

Cheeca Lodge has several restaurants.

Cheeca Lodge & Spa,
Islamorada, Florida Keys
81801 Overseas Highway, Mile Marker 82
Islamorada, FL 33036
www.cheeca.com

iblock9 wrote:Cheeca Lodge has several restaurants.

Cheeca Lodge & Spa,
Islamorada, Florida Keys
81801 Overseas Highway, Mile Marker 82
Islamorada, FL 33036
http://www.cheeca.com

Thanks - have you been to any of them? Any tips beyond their existence?

Or, as it turns out, their non-existence. Click through to the home page.

Kennyz - my recollections of Islamorada/Tavernier are four years old but I only recall a Publix supermarket (think Jewel, but with some of the Dominick's better stuff available too and a good but not great beer/wine/liquor selection) and not much in the way of dining other than pub grub. And the pubs were so uninspired I cannot recall any names.
I will,however, urge you to AVOID the "Last Stop before Key West" Liquor Hole (oops, I mean store) at Homestead - if even it's still in business. In a word - yuck.

Davooda

You might want to stop for some tropical fruit on the way down.

We are also headed down to Islamorada from Chicago next week (our 2nd trip in 3 years) and hope to go on a couple of 1/2 day fishing trips (1 on the ocean & 1 back country) and also fish off of the dock of where we are staying (they have some poles available for use and also an outdoor fridge to store your bait). Hopefully, we'll be grilling our catch on the outdoor grills on the property, while enjoying the view and a few cocktails. Lazy Days restaurant will also cook your catch. Last time we were in Islamorada, I do recall grocery shopping at a small local market, but can't quite recall where it was. We had a kitchen so we usually went out for maybe 1 meal a day.

Depending on when you're going, there's 2 restaurants that are connected (Morada Bay & Pierre's). Morada Bay being the more casual. Every month they have a full moon party that we missed last time. I made sure we scheduled this trip around the full moon to be able to attend... It's in & outdoors, has live music on the beach. Looks like a good time.

We also took a two-hour sunset eco-tour out of Robbie's. Our guide was raised in Islamorada & has a wealth of information on the area. He took us through the mangroves, which for me was the highlight of the tour & through so many other areas. It ended up just being us & another couple. You're able to bring beverages along - we brought a bottle of vino. Come sunset, the boat was positioned just right for a beautiful view. I'd highly recommend this.

We had spent a day or 2 in Key West before arriving in Islamorada. While I'm glad we hit Key West, it's nothing compared to the laid-back, relaxing atmosphere of Islamorada.

Oh, we also ate @ Island Grill, which was very casual and right on the water. Although we didn't try them, I've read rave reviews of the tuna nachos. We'll definitely go back to try them this time around!!

For a litte more upscale atmosphere, we went to Mile Marker 88 Restaurant and had a fabulous meal sitting right on the beach. From what I've read from many sources, MM88 has gone downhill, so we'll probably skip it this time around.

Papa Joe's was another place we loved, but I think it's now closed. We were there right after a hurricane and I kept wondering how it had withheld the force of the hurricane.

We travel a couple of times a year and I always research restaurants recommendations ahead of time... like to go where the locals go & by all means, try to avoid the tourist traps. We enjoyed some of the best meals of our life in Islamorada... from the quality of the food to the friendly service, everything was wonderful.

Hope some of this info helps.... I'm sure you'll love it there. If you're there during the full moon, maybe our paths will cross at the full moon party! Enjoy yourself!!

wineaux,

terrific tips, thank you very much! I love the sound of that sunset eco-tour, and will definitely look into it. My trip is a couple of weeks after yours, so if you encounter any new gems, I'd love to hear about them.

And steve - thanks for the link. A stop for some exotic fruits on the drive from Miami is on the agenda.

Kennyz

KennyZ;

Islamorada! My husband's family have been going to Islamorada (specifically, to the Islander) since the 1940's, the main draw way back then was the insanely great fishing, namely, bone fishing. They always and only stayed at the Islander, the place with prominent 70's style sign jutting out. (You can't miss it.) I was lucky enough to enjoy about 12 years of Islamorada/Islander action before those of us in the 3rd generation produced too many in the 4th generation to make a family stay there affordable.

But I drove past it last year with girlfriends on route to Key West so I know a few things about still what might be what.

The very spiffy Islamorada Bay/Pierre's complex is a nice addition, but the original "keystone" business is the Islamorada Fish Company store and restaurant. You can get fresh fish in the store (including stone crabs, buy a mallet!) but they have a casual plastic table with umbrella restaurant overlooking the water and the fresh, local fish options are very good. Avoid anything that's not local.

There is no Publix in Islamorada . . . but the one grocery store, just across the way from the Islander/Cheeca Lodge is a peach colored place/ They have almost everything you need and their in-house white fish spread is very fine, we like it on Triscuits.

If you want a little more local flavor, then you should go to the Lorelei . . . also across from the Islander. This seems to be the place (in my decade of observing) where the local fishing guides go at the end of the day to um, unwind. There are tourists here too, but it is a nice super mellow crowd. We had a nice time having a beer, eating chips and salsa and watching the sun go down.

My grandfather-in-law's choice for all boating/guiding was Bud and Mary's. Not sure if they still exist but he was very, very faithful to their guides.

One of the best excursions that we ever made off of Islamorada, was to this freaky great island called Lignum Vitae. Strong Wood. Fun boat ride. Totally Floridian.

Here's the link:

http://www.floridastateparks.org/lignumvitaekey/

Finally, if you really want to get into the mood, then you might want to read "92 in the Shade" by Tom McGuane" or the most cynical yet historically accurate guidebook ever published, The Guide to the Florida Keys" by Joy Williams.

You can email me if you want more info.

bjt

bjt wrote:Finally, if you really want to get into the mood, then you might want to read "92 in the Shade" by Tom McGuane" or the most cynical yet historically accurate guidebook ever published, The Guide to the Florida Keys" by Joy Williams.

While not really about the place or of any use to you in finding places to eat or get groceries there, Islamorada serves as the setting for much of Richard Ben Cramer's excellent portrait of Ted Williams (who lived there after his retirement), "What do You Think of Ted Williams Now?" Sorry, as this is pretty much off topic, but it's well worth a read, especially if you're a baseball fan.

Obligatory food-related excerpt from that piece:

Richard Ben Cramer wrote:He does not go to restaurants, and the reasons are several: They make a fuss, and the owner or cook's on his neck like gnat. Or worse, it's a stream of sportsfans (still Ted's worst epithet) with napkins to sign. At restaurants you wait, wait, wait. Restaurants have little chairs and tables, no place for elbows, arms, knees, feet. At restaurants there's never enough food. Lastly, restaurants charge a lot, and Ted doesn't toss money around. (A few years ago he decided $2.38 was top price for a pound of beef. For more than a year, he honed his technique on chuck roast and stew meat. Only an incipient boycott by his friends, frequent dinner guests, finally shook his resolve.)

The last reason is seized upon unkindly by restaurateurs in Islamorada and nearby Keys: "No, he doesn't come in. He's too cheap. He'd go all over town, sonofabitch, and he'd pay by check, hoping they wouldn't cash the check, they'd put it on the wall."

Having just returned from a fabulous trip to Islamorada, I'm afraid I have no dining-out advice to share. I took G Wiv's advice almost entirely:

G Wiv wrote:
Shopping Tips

- Ocean
- Liquor store

and I thank Stevez for the link to a G Wiv post that helped me start the shopping.


First, we picked up a veritable bounty of Florida-grown goodies from Robert is Here in Homewood. We got custardy canestel, a sweet-potato-pie evoking mamey, sapodilla which tastes like pure brown sugar, the best cantaloupe of recent memory, wonderful citrus, February strawberries and tomatoes(!) and much more...

Our haul from Robert is Here:




We didn't eat out once, instead turning our gorgeous beachfront backyard with gas grill (not the charcoal one I thought we had) into the best dining room in recent memory. We had...

succulent, sweet grilled Key west shrimp:



cocktails with fresh citrus juice and rum, garnished with starfruit:



Caprese as good as the one we had on our recent honeymoon in Italy (and a good cigar to boot):



...and much more, including grilled Islamorada Mahi Mahi with an avocado-grapefruit salad for dinner, fresh melon with yogurt for breakfast, plenty of stone crabs for snacks, and wonderful local-bakery key lime pie for whenever we felt like having it.

The deliciousness was made all the more delicious because we ate it here:



I could not have dreamt up a more idyllic getaway than the one we had in Islamorada, and we have already begun making plans for annual return visits.

iblock9 wrote:Cheeca Lodge has several restaurants.

Cheeca Lodge & Spa,
Islamorada, Florida Keys
81801 Overseas Highway, Mile Marker 82
Islamorada, FL 33036
http://www.cheeca.com

We stayed at Cheeca Lodge. Excellent resort however the beach sucks (it isn't lush sand, it is pebbly/dusty), just something to be aware of. We were in a room that was at the very back but the combination of being very well sound insulated building and the white noise of a waterfall in the courtyard, we didn't hear any traffic noise at all.

We did dine at Cheeca's Nikai Sushi (which is on Open Table as are all the restuarants at Cheeca).

There is both indoor & outdoor seating at Nikai. We were seated outdoors on a deck overlooking the beach area. Very nice as there was a light breeze, temps in the upper 70s, terrific setting.

To start we had the maguro tartar, spicy tuna with truffled ponzu and wasabi tobiko. VERY interesting as I've not had truffle flavor with sushi before, Mrs Willie & I found this very enjoyable.

Next was the tuna poke, with wakame, red onion, sea salt, furikake & poke sauce
topped with toasted macadamia nuts and served with wonton chips. The nuts were far too overpowering for this dish, just not needed. We did best to pick them out, it was an enjoyable poke.

We finished with 3 rolls:
sunshine roll: spicy hamachi, & cucumber topped with tobiko, lemon glaze & tempura crunchies
samurai roll: spicy hamachi & smoked jalapeño topped with spicy tuna & sweet chili garlic over spicy aioli, dusted with togarashi crunchies
truffled tuna roll: spicy tuna & avocado topped with wasabi tobiko, truffled ponzu & green onion

The truffled tuna was just ok, I guess we were over the unique flavor by then. We really enjoyed the Sunshine (nice bright flavors) and the Samurai Roll.

Service was slow and the wait staff acknowledged it, so we were given some edamame tossed with sea salt prior to our sushi being served.

Islamorada Fish Company does not take reservations, I called and asked if 7 pm on a Sunday night would be busy, "we'll get you in" was the feedback. Ah well, should have known better. We didn't get seated until 8:30pm, 1.5 hours after we arrived. The only reason we were seated then is that another person gave us their buzzer after he was tired of waiting so long. So expect long waits.

The smoked fish dip is terrific, our whole group enjoyed this.

That night they had fresh hog fish which we had grilled. Portion size was small, the rice and veggies was 60% of the plate. That said, the fish was fantastic in taste and cooked perfectly.

Islamorada Fish Company
81532 Overseas Highway
Islamorada, Florida 33036
http://www.ifcstonecrab.com

Our first breakfast at Bob's Bunz was so good, we came back a second morning.

Mrs Willie likes poached eggs, seems that some breakfast places just can't execute a good poached egg, Bob's Bunz nailed it both mornings. They also serve Jones brand sausage which has a pronounced sage flavor which we are fans of very delicious.

I enjoy fresh fish, each morning they had fresh local catch which I had with eggs over easy. Simply divine.

Expect a wait if you show up at 9:30 for breakfast. There is some outdoor seating, not much.

Service was hit/miss, on our first visit our waitress was fantastic, a really attentive person (she wears a bandana under her hat), this was on a very busy Sunday so we were thrilled to have such a great server. The second day, a Monday morning, our waitress was very forgetful, she tried to deliver the incorrect food to other tables a number of times and never came back to refill my diet coke or checked on us until my wife tracked her down. Part of the Keys charm.

Fun side note: one morning some of the film crew for the series "Bloodline" were having breakfast.

FYI, there is a bakery counter at Bob's Bunz and it does a lot of business, we didn't try.

Bob's Bunz
81620 Overseas Highway
MM 81.6 Bayside
Islamorada, FL 33036
http://bobsbunz.com/
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Had lunch at Island Grill in Islamorada.

Nice setting, back in the mangroves, Lots of open air. I tried the Cuban Sandwich for lunch, it was good. Some good looking fish coming out of the kitchen to other tables.

Island Grill
85501 Overseas Highway
Islamorada, FL 33036
http://keysislandgrill.com/locations
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on our way back to Miami, it was lunch time so stopped in at the unassuming place called The Catch in Key Largo.

Mrs Willie & I enjoyed what may be the best tuna poke tower we've ever had. While the tuna really wasn't poke style like that we've had in Hawaii, it was high quality tuna with lots of flavor over some terrific homemade guacamole w/pico de gallo mixed it. Combine this with the homemade flour tortilla fried strips, and it was amazing.

Mrs Willie had fresh fish grilled tacos (fresh & full of flavor) and I the mahi reuben. Normally I prefer to have my fresh fish simply grilled without a lot of fuss around it but the reuben version called out to me this time, it was delicious and not overwhelmed by the other ingredients.

Service was a bit slow but seeing as they were getting in their food delivery at the time, some of the kitchen help was busy packing items into the cooler rather than let the items sit out in the heat of the Keys, so we understand why things were a bit slow.

The Catch
102041 Overseas Hwy
MM 102.4 OCEANSIDE
Key Largo, FL 33037
(305) 204-4143
http://thecatchrestaurant.com/
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