The time has come to end my recap of my favorite little city I had never heard of before visiting, Dunedin, Florida. What a trip this was. Matt and I spent a week+ in Dunedin and grew to love this quirky place. From the baseball to the breweries to the orange murals to the rooftop at the Fenway, everything about Dunedin was wonderful. I wish it wasn't so hot, but it's summer in Florida so I can't count that against them too much :) To round out my recap of our trip, here are the places we ate and loved.
Number one for ambiance and the view, you cannot beat Bon Appetit Restaurant and Bar. We were lucky to be seated at a waterside table and enjoyed the sunset while eating fresh seafood and sipping champagne. Cheers to vacation dining!
A daily staple in Dunedin was the picture perfect lemonade stand, Lane's Lemonade and Dairy Bar. We had a couple versions of mix-ins like strawberry or raspberry but soon became purists and required a daily glass of cold lemonade. The pathway behind our hotel led us directly the Lane's so it made for an easy first stop before touring around the rest of downtown.
While not the best food we devoured in Dunedin, Olde Bay Cafe was a local dive bar with water views, cold drinks, and a few bar foods to keep you sober. This was the first place we stopped when we came into town and had so much fun talking with locals for hours. It has a special place in my heart no matter how many good meals we had since our first one.
We are a long way from Maine but the lobster rolls and Lucky Lobster Co were worth the wait we had to get a table! And anyway, the restaurant's proximity to HOB made the wait speed by. A lively atmosphere and decent seafood made this a top eatery from our trip.
Believe it or not, there came a point during the vacation where we just didn't want anymore seafood. Sometimes a person just craves pasta. Cafe Alfresco helped us out with delicious, giant plates of the Italian classics. My eggplant parm was cooked perfectly.
No beach vacation is complete without ice cream and Dunedin offers a few tasty options. We especially loved Strachan's for their homemade confections.
In all my travels, I always find the cute coffee shops. Excellent coffee is very important but I also love a good vibe. Turkro Coffee delivered on both fronts. I loved the inside aesthetic and the outdoor patio and of course the latte was A+ too.
I'm saving the best for last, because this meal in Dunedin may have been one of the best we've ever had. The Black Pearl blew away our expectation (although to be fair, we haven't been to many fine dining restaurants). Look how happy I am as I walk out of dinner!
The Amuse Bouche was a tiny potato and a toast with topping to resemble a Chicago-style hotdog, so right away, it was love at first bite. The famous White Mountain bread with herb oil came out next followed by two of our favorite items on the menu, The Black Pearl Salad and the White Truffle Lobster Risotto appetizer. The Black Pearl salad was amazing and consisted of organic greens, gorgonzola, currants, and pine nuts and was served with warm poppy seed vinaigrette. The lobster risotto, topped with pistachios, baby arugula and piquillo pepper confit, is on our best food I Ever Ate List. For our entrees, I had the Chilean Sea Bass Lyonnaise and Matt had the Hereford Filet Mignon. We rounded out the meal with the molten chocolate cake with caramel creme anglaise and then a sweet date candy bar bite came with the check. An incredibly delicious meal that I will remember for a long, long time.
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