My wife and I had what was quite possibly the best meal of our lives here today at lunch. I'm not sure the perfectly attentive server's (Angie) recommendation was even on the menu, but we ordered the lobster roll at her suggestion. Wow!
It was 2:30 and we were the only patrons in this second story restaurant, sitting at a two-top next to the windows overlooking Garrison Bight Marina here in Key West.
We started with a brand of Thai beer we'd never had before called Chang, and it was great. We were looking over the very extensive menu when our waitress told us the lobster roll was good, and I had been jonesin' for a sushi roll all afternoon. I was wary of getting a Japanese dish at a Thai restaurant, but the other sushi houses in town had closed at 2 p.m. until dinnertime. I had only eaten the tasty pad thai the other times I had dined at Thai Island.
Thai (that's his name), the friendly sushi chef, presented us with the prettiest plate of food I've ever been served. It tasted even better than it looked. Beautifully fried sweet lobster tail in a perfect batter... not sure I'd call it tempura...
Some of the fried lobster was in a roll of avocado and rice, with roe and a sprig of asparagus inside, drizzled with a spicy mayonnaise. More fried lobster chunks were waiting for us in the empty tail shell... An umbrella made from lemon peel and an toothpick... Beds of finely shredded cabbage... A complimentary seaweed salad... Scorpions carved of oranges... An extra complimentary bowl of miso soup beforehand, since the two of us were sharing this feast...
Maybe they were just happy for something to do because no one else was there in the middle of the afternoon, but we were treated like royalty. What sweet people they are at Thai Island. Unbelievably good lobster roll. Very good pad thai on previous visits.
The lobster roll was 27 bucks (definitely big enough to share) and Thai beers were $4.50 before a modest locals' discount. My mouth is watering as I write this, six hours later.
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