Casablanca Cafe

I'd been to Casablanca Cafe last spring and had a great meal and a lot of fun there. So, being in Fort Lauderdale again, we decided to try it a second time. We were not disappointed. It was a very memorable meal.

We went on a Sunday Evening in late August, a hot night during the "off" season in Fort Lauderdale. Because of this, we did not have to wait for a table outside on the terrace, right along the sidewalk where we could also people watch. We started out with an appetizer and a soup. For the soup we chose the Gazpacho Frio, a cold tomato-based soup. It had a very fresh tomatoey flavor and was quite good and refreshing. It was pretty much a thin puree, but I could taste the cucumber and onion, among other flavors. Personally, I'd have liked just a bit more heat (spice), but it was pretty darned good as it was.

For the appetizer we had Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli. They'd been deep fried and were served on a tomato sauce with romano cheese. They were absolutely excellent. Great flavor--the crispness of the pasta against the creamy goodness of the ricotta and spinach...bathed in the tomato sauce with romano. Each bite was a delight. We easily cleaned up all five of them in short order, savoring each bite.

I also had a side salad with my dinner. It was very good, nice tender assorted greens with a house dressing, sort of a citrus based Italian. It was quite good.

Our waiter brought us some bread. It was not ordinary bread. It was little bits of heaven. A thin pizza-dough like doughy sort of bread cut in strips and served with an excellent pesto sauce. It was sooo good!

For my entree I ordered the Cumin Grilled Flank Steak. It was very good, though I must say I had a hard time tasting the cumin. Nonetheless, it was nicely grilled, a bit charred in places, yet nice and medium rare in others. The polenta cake that came with it was very good and did a good job of soaking up the juice from the steak. The steak was covered with a black bean and corn salsa over some mixed greens. It was all very good.

My friend ordered the Peppercorn Dusted Filet Mignon. It was outstanding. Very tender and juicy, it was cooked perfectly. It was server on a shitake-potato couquette that had a nice hint of cheese in it, and a gorgonzola cream sauce that was absolutely wonderful.

We had a very excellent meal here, once again. Our total bill (only iced tea to drink) came to about $100 with the generous tip. The food was excellent, though the prices do match. You get what you pay for.

But the meal was not the end of the evening. We spent the next several hours at the piano bar with Brian and several other soon to be "friends." Brian is quite good and quite an entertainer. We laughed and sang and danced and had a wonderful time. Next time I'm in Fort Lauderdale, I'm having another Sunday night dinner at Casablanca Cafe, and finishing the evening off again at the piano bar. What a great evening it was.