Whale's Rib - Deerfield Beach, FL

Florida from a culinary point of view is about seafood, recreational summertime beverages and key-lime pie.  That pretty sums up the Whale's Rib.

They had an actual jawbone from a 712-pound tiger shark hanging behind the bar.  I didn't notice any actual whale ribs or bones of any kind anywhere. The bartender said that it was very old, probably from the 1930's but she had no further intel on it. 

The bar/restaurant is a few yards from the Atlantic Ocean.  Beach-goers can step out of the blinding Florida sun and into the dark bar to let their sunburns heal and feed their hunger and thirst.

I was unfortunately not in Deerfield Beach to play so, I had to behave myself during lunch.  The only liquid that I had was water with a slice of lemon.  The first time that I visited Whale's Rib I got the dolphin sandwich on bar tender's suggestion.  The restaurant seating area was too full and we had to sit at the bar.  This was a good sign.

The dolphin sandwich was very surprisingly good.  The dolphin fish (mahi mahi, not flipper) was really fresh as you would expect a few feet from the ocean and flavorful.  They also did not hold back on the fish quantity.  It kept sliding out of the sandwich because it was in a slippery creamy sauce that had a slight kick to it. 

I had actually started out with a cup of lobster bisque.  My experience has been that outside of the Boston area, to set your expectation level down a few notches.  I really like lobster bisque soup and am willing to accept the fact that I can't get the best quality soup everywhere.  This was a huge exception.  It was every bit as good as you would find in Bean-Town.

My lunch partner and I liked the Whale's Rib so much that we went back again for dinner the next day.  I liked the lobster bisque and was so tickled that I could get a really good one that I had it again this night.  I almost wanted it to fail so that I could prove my original theory correct.  I was gladly let down.  It was as good as ever.

I had the lobster salad for dinner to go with the bisque.  This was not the wisest of moves.  I did not have my bar tender friend to lead me in the right direction.  The whole neighborhood including the restaruant had lost electrical power for a couple of hours and it came on just before we got there.  So, all the workers were rushing around trying to get back on track.  No dinnertime help.

The lobster salad was a little bland at first.  Luckily, they had a whole assortment of pepper sauces on the table.  I man-ed up and set out to literally spice up this meal.  I tried a few types and finally settled on the house spice in the unmarked generic plastic ketchup squeeze bottle.  This made all the difference.  I don't know why they didn't just serve it that way.

Then again, would have to guess that the average age of local residence was well over 65.  I suppose the bland lobster salad would be good for a lot of the local Deerfield residents.  I suppose that you kind of had to take some level of ownership of your dining experience with the lobster salad.  Whereas the dolphin sandwich was given to you ready to go, the lobster required that you use a little imagination.  It all turned out well in the end.

In fact, the best part of the whole experience was the dessert.  When in Florida, I have to have the key-lime pie.  It was absolute killer!    

I would give the Whale's Rib a 9.1 on the triple-D scale.  My second visit was for dinner and I also got to sample their beer selection which was pretty wide.  I think that this put me in a pleasant mood from the get go and might have added a few happiness points to their score.  Oh well, all's fair in love and dining.

Whale's Rib
2033 NE 2nd St
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441
(954) 421-8880

Victors 1950’s Café - Minneapolis

Victor's is a Cuban restaurant.  It is a bit edgy.  If you are afraid of places with graffiti on the walls then this is not the place for you.  The waitresses were all very nice and attentive.  I never saw the dry bottom of my water cup.  They wore cute 1950’s Lucy style dresses and aprons that showed off their tattoo sleeves very well.  Latin music radio is played over the speakers and candles were lighted in front of the plate on display with the picture of Jesus and an angel on it.  There are lots of cool pictures from Cuba around the restaurant.

The booths are wooden with colorful Latin tablecloths.  The booths, walls and ceilings are covered with lots of messages and free expressions of love and war.  One of the messages was “Viva La Cuba!!  Huesa La Vista Fidel.”  There is a poster of a young Fidel Castro with a Soviet Star and the writing is all in Russian.  Right next to that one is another picture of an older Fidel shaking hands with Pope John Paul.

The menu is very Cuban.  Plantains are in several of the dishes.  There are four types of rice that you can order up with your meal.  I had the white rice steamed with a hint of olive oil. 

The crab cakes appetizer was really good.  They were very light and served on a bed of lettuce with a drizzling of some kind of cream sauce.

The Salmon main dish was served on a bed of spinach with a mango sauce and a slice of mango across it.  The rice was white rice with olive oil and it was all served with plantains that had a sweet sticky glaze of probably the mango sauce.

It was well worth the visit.

[UPDATE - Feb. 2012]

I went back to Victor's in February 2012.  The place hadn't changed one bit in the two years since I was here last.  They even sat me in exactly the same spot as last time.  

My previous trip here was for dinner.  This time I came for lunch and had the Sandwich Cubano.  This was a pork, ham and swiss cheese sandwich with pickles and mustard on a bread that is shmushed in a hot press like a grilled cheese sandwich.  I picked the pickles right off of my sandwich just because I can't stand pickles of any kind.  Once that was out of the way I dug in. 

Cuban food to me is very sweet.  This sandwich was no exception.  I'm not sure how they make meat sweet but it was, and very good by the way. 

I got it with the Yuca Frita which the waitress explained was kind of like stringy potatoes that are deep fried like french fries.  They were indeed as advertised.  They didn't have that heavy obviously fried taste that french fries usually have.  They were lighter and again probably a bit sweeter than regular potatoes.

I didn't die but, after half the meal was over the waitress came by and asked how we liked the Yuca.  THEN she explained that the yuca is actually a poisonous root in nature but the cooking process takes the poison supposedly out of the food.  Okey dokey, thanks for that timely bit of news!

The plantains were every bit as great as I remembered them.  They were both sweet and succulent at the same time. The sugars in the food form a wonderful almost creme brulee-like glaze when pan sauteed.   It is really like a desert. 

I got one of their Cuban Coffee's to go.  Wow!  Now I know why the American federal government won't let us travel to Cuba.  It must be a plot by the Starbucks corporation to keep this secret away from us so that we continue to buy their coffee in ignorance.  It was really strong (the way I like it) but very smooth and flavorful.  Not even a tiny bit bitter.  Really good quality stuff.

The last time I was here, I hadn't yet started to rate my dining experiences.  Victor's is a solid 9.9 on my triple-d scale.  The food is absolutely killer, the atmosphere is over the top cool and interesting and the service was really very good.


Victors 1950’s Café - Minneapolis
3756 Grand Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55409
612-827-8948
victors1959cafe.com