When a spacious restaurant with a shining long bar is nearly empty, News-Journal staffer Audrey Parente gets a little nervous that the place might not be too good.
But even though only one other couple was eating at Lime Restaurant & Rum Bar in Daytona Beach when she strolled in with her friend Laurence Bennett before taking in a show at the Peabody Auditorium, the opposite was true. The presentation would put a smile on even the haughtiest gastronomic connoisseur and the tastes were equally smile worthy.
How was the atmosphere?
Green, serene, spacious and clean, with white tablecloths, candles and a festive banana-leaf motif. The waiter was sweet and upbeat.
What did you order?
Bennett had a coconut mojito -- it is a rum bar after all -- and we sampled a calamari appetizer. Nothing fried, but grilled, then delicately sauteed with garlic and white wine. The plate was decorated with two crisp plantains. An unexpectedly light and aromatic dish to start off our meal.
What else did you order?
The waiter suggested we share a salad next. We picked a Creole salad and were thankful for his suggestion when we saw our meal platters. Laurence had suckling pig, all hand-pulled and marinated in sour orange, served with black beans and rice and yucca, all drizzled with a tasty mojo. Audrey had pan-seared snapper with mango relish, served on a bed of yams and a queso blanco (a white cheese) puree, all resting on a banana leaf.
Anything else?
We really went easy on the dinner and had some boxed because the dessert menu would have been a shame to pass up. We shared a Chocolate Marquise and a Tres Leches.
The chocolate martini-glass dessert was an unbelievable mousse, layered with rum-soaked cake, a crisp vanilla cookie and a mint sprig. That would have been enough for the two of us, had we known how thick it was. But that didn't stop us from downing the Tres Leches, a traditional three-milk sponge cake, which was incredibly rich and accented with fresh strawberries. It was so good, I thought about licking the plate. (No, I didn't do it.)
How much did it cost?
Mojito $6.50; calamari appetizer $7.50; Creole Salad $5; Snapper $18.50; Suckling Pig $13.50; Chocolate Marquise $6; Tres Leches $5. Total with tax and tip: $79.03.
Lime Restaurant & Rum Bar
WHERE: 512 Seabreeze Blvd., Daytona Beach
HOURS: Opens at 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, closing at 11 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, midnight on Wednesday and 1 a.m. Thursday-Saturday. Closed Sunday.
MISC.: Major credit cards accepted. Parking on Seabreeze Boulevard.
