Restaurants – Page 70 – West Boca News

Grill Time in West Boca Place

Update: Grill Time closed. As of October 2015 it looks like it is being replaced with another steakhouse – “Mr. Prime Steakhouse.”

We stopped for lunch at Grill Time in West Boca Place. It’s an interesting combination of steakhouse, kosher, and fusion cuisine.
The plaza, on Glades just is laid out in an odd way and we weren’t sure where it was. Grill Time is in the back of the plaza, between Party City on one side and Bagel Works and Field of Flowers on the other. The front faces Glades.
This satellite/map view may help some. Grill Time’s front door is the blue dot.

But the food is the thing. They started us off with five salads, served with pita bread. We think these were cabbage (purple), egg salad, potato salad (with egg), cole slaw and eggplant salad (reddish).

We liked all of them. The eggplant salad (if that’s what it was) was particularly good. We also ordered a side of Hummus Asli, which we were told is Israeli style. It was huge. The hummus paste itself was very good. Apparently the style refers to the load of warm chick peas in the middle.

I had the soup and salad lunch special with split pea soup and Israeli salad. The soup was good, pretty much what you’d expect.

The Israeli salad was excellent, and like all the other dishes it was a huge portion.

My companion ordered the steak lunch. It’s an oversized ribeye steak. The marinade or seasoning has a bit of a spicy kick to it. Companion is usually sensitive to spices so this was not her favorite but it wasn’t so spicy as to keep her from eating plenty. The accompanying mashed potatoes and vegetables were just fine.

Overall we really liked it. Grill Time is a great place to go with friends or guests who keep kosher and also has a variety of vegetarian options. And there are some interesting options on the menu including Korean style and Japanese style dishes.
We intend to go back with our kids (there is a kids menu) because we have to try the chocolate volcano for four.

First Watch Announces Fall Menu

The First Watch restaurant in Mission Bay hosted a small event for area bloggers and social media mavens. Several of us gathered to review (and taste) the new menu and hear more, including two of us from West Boca News. Full disclosure: We were provided with free food and a gift bag – but we were already fans before this event so it should not affect our comments. We previously reviewed it in late July: First Watch in West Boca – Mission Bay.
First Watch has a broad breakfast and lunch menu with many healthy choices and reasonable prices. We’ve been there a few times before this and haven’t had a bad meal yet. The Mission Bay location seems to be doing very well and always seems to have a lot of customers.
Carly Sanders led the event and a few of the restaurant’s staff members assisted. In the photo below a manager brought out a dessert item for tasting. One of the guest, Craig Agranoff, looks on.

Here are the three big items on the fall menu, as described by the press release:

Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast
Pumpkin Pancakes are back. Two fresh eggs cooked any style plus one of First Watch’s signature spiced Pumpkin Pancakes and Aidells’ grilled, all-natural Chicken Apple Sausage.
Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa Bowl
A seasonal favorite, this protein-packed quinoa dish is mixed with house-roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries, all-natural white meat chicken breast and herbed goat cheese. Topped with candied walnuts and drizzled with balsamic dressing.
Butternut Squash Soup
Rich and creamy, this butternut squash soup is sweetened with carrot and a touch of nutmeg – a delicious addition to that perfect fall day.

We both had the soup. It was good but not great. I’m not sure what was missing compared to the times we’ve had better. Maybe it was too smooth or just lacked something in character. Still, it was good and we would definitely order it again.

I also tasted the pumpkin pancake. This is something I wouldn’t normally order, so I can’t speak to it as a savant, but I did like it.

We didn’t try the butternut squash quinoa since we were already eating the soup. But I did order the new:

Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl
This protein-packed quinoa dish is mixed with kale, shredded carrots and house-roasted tomatoes. Topped with grilled all-natural lemon chicken breast, basil pesto sauce, feta crumbles and fresh herbs.

It was excellent, both delicious and healthy. The ingredients went well together and the roasted tomatoes had a unique look and great flavor.

The Cherry Chicken Quinoa Bowl from the summer menu has moved onto the permanent menu. The Bruleed Banana Waffle is no longer on the menu but you could try asking the wait staff to see if they can still do it.
And here’s the “Floridian French Toast”, which was also good:

First Watch is also now selling its granola by the bag. As part of a charity effort they are donating some of the revenue from kids meals and the granola to help feed underprivileged children – No Kid Hungry:

First Watch will donate 25 cents from every kid’s meal purchased for one year and 50 cents from each bag of its house-made granola sold in September. This is the first time ever that the granola is being offered for retail purchase.

And here’s the fall menu:

Darbster – Vegan in East Boca

We had a family dinner tonight. In honor of our Vegan guest we ate at Darbster in East Boca (on Federal Highway north of Yamato).
Vegan may be too adventurous for some. The miso soup was very different from what you’d get at a typical Japanese restaurant. The broth was darker and the flavor was a bit sharp.
One of our nonvegans had the nachos appetizer and seemed to like that. I had the seared “scallops” (really tofu) and liked it too.
We had a variety of entrees and they all seemed to go over well.
The “rawvioli” has the stuffing (tomato and cashew-based cheese) on top of zucchini slices.

Another had the ravioli of the day. These were the most nonvegan eaters of the bunch and they ate it up.

One of the kids had Mac and “cheese” (not real cheese). This was a great option because the kid in question has lactose issues.

Finally, our vegan guest had the tacos (with tempeh) and liked it very much.

We also tried some desserts including a mousse made with avocado (yes it works), a chocolate brownie with soy ice cream (the kids and nonvegans liked that) and a strawberry layer cake.
If you’re vegan or have a vegan visitor, Darbster is one of the closest places to West Boca. Also a good choice if you want to try a different approach to eating.
Update: Forgot to mention thr interior. There are two main rooms, one more for dining and the other a bar area.

Fresh Element: Asian Restaurant in Mission Bay

While having a quick lunch at Panera we noticed yet another new restaurant in Mission Bay Plaza. Fresh Element opened in late July, and is located near Padrino’s, Salon Revive and Rotelli’s.
Here’s an exterior photo. Padrino’s is behind the camera and Rotelli’s is in the background.

Inside it’s very small, with only a few tables. It resembles Chinese takeout but looks very clean.

We didn’t get a chance to eat anything (yet) but we did take a menu. There is a clear Asian theme and they claim to use healthy cooking methods including low fat, low oil and no MSG.

And here’s the menu cover.

Not on the main menu but on the window, they also have smoothies.

This place appears to be similar to the Fresh Element in West Palm Beach, but we aren’t sure. The menus aren’t identical but if they’re not connected it might be a trademark case.

Kid Dinner Deal at Original Pancake House

We stumbled onto a good deal tonight. At Original Pancake House (NW corner of Lyons and Glades), kids eat free off the kid menu weekdays at dinner. This works only if they’re accompanied by adults who order off the maim menu.
See it for yourself on the Original Pancake House website.