Mini Food Review: Land and Sea Appetizer

Sea and Land - Grilled shrimp with cucumber salad and BBQ beef skewer with creamy polenta $11.99 

Couldn't find a good pic of this app yet, but hey-he is a land & sea sorta guy. 

 

 

This appetizer seems to be a staple at the Coral Reef restaurant. It's pretty straightforward and simple fare. Your dish comes with a skewer of 2 grilled shrimp on a bed of cucumber ribbon salad, and a skewer of BBQ sauced beef tenderloin on a bed of polenta. The shrimp are average, and relatively small, probably 26-30 count sized*. They are your standard grilled shrimp with no stand out flavor beyond the grilled flavor. But they were cooked properly and not dry or rubbery. The cucumber salad the shrimp are served on was it tasty and refreshing and really was the only one who brought their flavor with them to the shrimp and salad party. The beef tenderloin was tender and flavorful and not over-cooked, which always scores with me. The pieces, again small, were sauced with a lovely BBQ sauce, that I do believe might have mango in it. It also had a nice tang to it and almost reminded me of a chutney with its vinegar undertones. It was sweet, savory, & tangy and each individual taste hit you at different times, yet blended seamlessly. It was complimented by a creamy, smooth polenta that had a hint of cheese in it. I am thinking Italian hard cheese like Romano or Parmigiano. Either way it was another winner for me. I found it funny that the accompaniments had so much flavor, almost giving the main elements of the dish a run for their money. This is a good appetizer and one you don't have to think too hard about it. Of course that can be a double edged sword because it's good-but not so good your are savoring every last bite, but good enough you'll be a bit peeved wondering where it all went. I seem to remember this dish being $9.95, but I'm not sure. I think $9.95 was a far better price point for this appetizer, far better then $12, but alas-such is life. All in all this appetizer is quite good, in parts and adequate in others, but I would definitely recommend it.

**Shrimp are rated by how many can fit in an average pound. So a 26-30 count is an average size. 10-12 counts are the monster prawns, and 40-50 count are very small just above salad sized.