Gibraltar Restaurant

• Cuisine(s): Seafood
  Hours: Daily 7am-3pm, Sun-Thu 6:30pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 6:30pm-11pm
• Attire: Dressy
  Features: Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Private Party, Wheelchair Accessible, Vegetarian Friendly, Business Dining, Fireplace, Water View
• Reservations: Accepted

Description

Yes, Gibraltar serves fresh, creatively executed dishes that often feature local ingredients. But let's not kid ourselves - people would probably flock to this Grove Isle oasis even if it served stale bread on a plate. The view here is killer - a 360-panorama of ocean, sky, and marina enjoyed amid tropical shrubbery and tiki torches. It's no wonder that nine out of ten patrons on any given night are coupled up and snuggling outdoors even as mosquito- and humidity-free indoor diners wonder why (though the interior floor-to-ceiling windows ensure they don't feel left-out). There are a few meat and pasta dishes on the menu, but the seafood dishes are where chef Jeff O'Neill (a veteran of the New York dining scene who also had a gig as Donald Trump's cook) exhibits his most intriguing ingredient pairings. Pan-fried snapper ($33) is served in a lemon grass-coconut broth with ginger-butternut squash, bok choy, and a lotus chip salad; and a blackened seared tuna ($32) is glazed with a sake-wasabi sauce, garnished with peanuts and fermented black beans, and served on jasmine coconut rice. The wine list is arguably Gibraltar's weakest point - it's mostly populated by marked-up supermarket brands with a few fancier choices thrown in for good measure. The restaurant gets away with it because, as we mentioned, people would probably drink sea water just to sit at a table.