Blue Heaven: Key West Florida

As our previous evening at Emeril's left us with a significant amount of regret and disappointment, we decided to take a day trip from Miami to see the famed Florida Keys, and have a "do over" of our celebration. After a 3 hour drive and a pit stop in Marathon for a helicopter tour, we ended up in Key West.


Spending the first few hours shopping, where I got thoroughly ripped off on 2 dresses that I bought...but alas, a story for another time.
SJ had done a little investigation as to which restaurant we wanted to review, and settled on a small Caribbean place called Blue Heaven. The restaurant is located just off of the beaten path about a block or so from the great Ernest Hemmingway's former home, and in fact is a place he used to referee boxing matches at in a past incarnation of the building.


We were immediately seated as we entered, and chose to eat in the main part of the restaurant, which is outside. There is an air conditioned indoor area available by request, but I'm sure you would be missing the real ambiance of this place.


Our waitress was with us a few minutes later and thoughtfully brought a frosted glass for SJ's Stella...to "make it go down a little faster". Very considerate as it was a typical muggy Key West afternoon. I went with a key lime lemonade, that was a little on the tart side, but still very refreshing, recommended by our delightful waitress.


Now I have to pause here for a moment to describe the environment. We are seated in an outdoor courtyard at a table underneath some umbrellas...with a bunch of roosters running around fighting each other for some food scraps. Very unique, unassuming, and certainly not the kind of place one would expect to find dishes comparable in quality to a 5 star place in a big city.


When our waitress came back with our second round of drinks, she also took our orders. She was very helpful in recommending a few "signature" dishes such as the Sautéed Yellowtail Snapper with Citrus Beurre Blanc Sauce and the Pork Tenderloin, both of which we ordered as mains. We also ordered Seared Sea Scallops Provençale and the Caribbean BBQ Shrimp as appetizers which came quite quickly.


The shrimp were very nicely seasoned, seared with jerk seasonings, deglazed with beer, and served with freshly baked corn bread muffins. A very nice sized appie... The scallops also cooked perfectly, accompanied with a citrus beurre blanc sauce and garlic bread making this dish simply incredible! The mains arrived very swiftly and absolutely did not disappoint. Neither of us are fish people, but on this evening SJ stepped out of his comfort zone for the sake of this blog (what a guy! Lol). The fish was spectacular, splitting our mains to ensure each of us got a good sample, I couldn’t help but admit that some fish...yes some fish when one right can be very tasty!!. This fish was Flaky, tender, and accented with a ridiculously good beurre blanc sauce and pasta. I chose the pork tenderloin with a mango chutney and curry butter sauce on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes. Very nicely prepared, and the sweet potatoes gave just the right amount of sweetness to the dish. We were both highly impressed by the quality and the experience thus far...


For dessert...um, hello...could it be anything other than Key Lime pie??? Authentic tasting (and color...yellow, NOT green), and served with a large amount of meringue on top, it was a perfect end to a perfect meal.


And to top it off, our waitress suggested a great place for us to go watch an amazing sunset. All in all, the perfect evening, and a full two thumbs up, if we had more thumbs to give we definitely would. IF you are ever in the Keys, a place you must go as we will definitely ensure to recommend it and return in our travels

Location visited: 729 Thomas St. Key West Florida

Ratings:

Ambiance: Unique and quaint
Cuisine: Caribbean Fusion
Presentation: Above Average
Price: $30/serving
Service: Above Average
Value: Above Average





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