Fort Lauderdale

As I sit here in Philly waiting for my connection to Denver which is 2 hours late, I thought I'd drop a quick few lines about my two days in FL. First night was a biz dinner with the restaurant chosen by my associate who lives in FL. He told me to meet him at Timpano on Las Olas. After checking it out on the web, I was a bit concerned because it looked more theme than food. I was wrong. We started with sizzling mussels which were as fresh as any I've ever eaten. Perfectly cooked, I didn't even need any butter dip. The crab cakes were also fine, tasty and light.

Had a chopped salad before the main course which was OK, nothing spectacular. For my main I had the seared striped bass over green beans. Again, the fish was absolutely perfect, great tasting with the tomato crust which was not overpowered.

My only complaint is the overpriced wine list.

Second night I was on my own and checked out Tarpon Bend for fresh fish. The noise level is deafening. Not as bad as Bin 36 but close. At least the wait staff doesn't have the sneering attitude of Bin 36. I started with a Warsteiner, blew me away that they had a German beer on tap. But the server brought it in a plastic cup which I told her was sacrilege and she should expect the Deutsche Bier Polizei to show up any minute! She was very understanding, whisked away the plastic cup and came back in a few minutes with a proper pils glass that even was Warsteiner labled.

Menu is extensive but I went for fresh grouper, that's G-R-O-U-P-E-R, which was marinated in a house sauce and grilled. A little disappointing because it was a bit on the dry side but still tasted fine. It came with a side of slaw that was executed well but unremarkable and I chose anothe side of onion mash which was mashed potatoes with carmelized onions. This was great. Check came to $22 which was pretty decent for an OK dinner. But, I doubt that I'll go back.