Patrick

Just decided to head over to Boca/Palm Beach for business tomorrow. Will stay at SpringHill Suites tonight at Yamato Road exit. Looking for an upscale, maybe trendy place in Boca. Or am thinking of La Veille Maison. Is it still great? Haven't been there in years. Looking for something nicer than the brew pub type places, preferably in the Boca area. Any suggestions? It's "business" so can write it off; I won't say price is NO object, but not a concern.

mclaurie

Try Zemi at the Circle at Boca Town Center (dinezemi.com). Also there's an Uncle Tai's right next door-good upscale Chinese.

Otherwise there's a good Italian at Mizner Park. Sorry can't remember the name.

Patrick

mclaurie, I just looked at Zemi's website. PERFECT SUGGESTION. And I used to go to Cafe Max which I loved --former home of the chef/owner. I just booked a reservation for tonight. Where else could I get such great and immediate information? Thanks mclaurie.

mclaurie

How was it Patrick? I actually just arrived in Boca last night.

Patrick

Well it was good, but I wouldn't say great. We both ordered lobster wonton soup. The lobster filled wontons were very good, but it was the first time in recent memory that I needed to salt my food -- the broth was incredibly bland. Salt actually helped.

I had duck which was nice, but a little on the overcooked and dry side. I ordered the sauce on the side, thankfully, it was VERY sweet, but I sort of expected that. They serve it with the breast deboned and sliced, two whole legs, and several scallion/thyme pancakes rolled around the shredded thigh meat. Nice presentation. My partner loved his salmon on a bed of roasted vegetables and white beans. He also loved his chocolate souffle.

We sat outside which was pleasant (after the heavy rains yesterday). We started inside but it was FREEZING in there.

I was amazed however, that by 9:30 all those restaurants were practically deserted. They really eat early in Boca!!!

mclaurie

It's been a while since I was there. The last time was a Sat. night & the place was jumping! Perhaps during the week it's earlier.

DMG

Was looking for a good place to eat in Boca/Palm Beach and came across this thread. I ate at Zemi on December 1st and was extremely disappointed. Having eaten at Henry's and Kee Grill that same week, my meal at Zemi's was the most expensive and IMHO the food was the weakest of the three. (I had salmon at all three.) I should have gone to Uncle Tai's next door instead.

andy

DMG- I second your observations on Zemi-- The old chef has moved on to DIGG's In Lake Worth at the Gulfstream Hotel..
Portions needed a magnifying glass to see...

For Upscale in Boca, Le Vielle Maison or Maxwell's Chop House are good..

In Mizner Park..You have MARKS' on the Park ( a Mark Millitello (sp?) ) restaurant..and the italian restaurant is PRANZO..

STAY AWAY from GIGI's at Mizner- It used to be great but we ate there last sat nite and it was AWFUL..the food arrive lukewarm to cold ( and 4 of the 6 of us had the SAME dish- swordfish stuffed with shrimp and scallop mousse).The Swordfish was dry as a bone and there was literally only a teaspoon of mousse in the fish...The Fra Diablo literally had 1 shrimp, 2 scallops, and 5 cherrystone clams in it for $26 and was NOT spicey at all..When the mgr came around to ask how everything was, we were all honest and told him but he really didn't seem to care..he just said next time we come in, to let him know and he will make sure everything is ok...Well, there will be NO NEXT TIME....We had been eating at this restaurant for 4 years and this was the first time the service and food was so awful...seems restuarant is typical of the Boca food scene....here today , bad tomorrow...

mclaurie

I'm so sorry DMG I never remembered to agree with Patrick's assessment of Zemi. It's "over". What a shame.

GoTravel

Ate at an excellent restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens on PGA Boulevard, Redfire Grill. Excellent. The julien fried portobello mushroom appitizer haunts me it was so good.

I think Houstons is always a sure thing.

DMG

I must be unlucky (or overly critical), but I had one of my worst meals ever at Redfire Grill. Once again I had ordered salmon which came overcooked and dried out. Waiter was snooty when I complained - which I rarely do.

I am still looking for some new good places to eat in Boca/Palm Beach area when I return in February.

GoTravel

For good seafood (and fun on Thursday nights) hit Sailfish Marina on Singer Island. For fried or broiled seafood, I've never been disappointed.

TooJays is an excellent deli. Taboo is also good.

Have you tried Cafe Boloud in the Brazillian Court? Excellent but $$$$.

Sorry you hated Redfire Grill. It is my most favorite new restaurant in South Florida.

Not sure if they've opened one in Palm Beach yet but Bonefish Grill is excellent for the price. There is one in Ft. Lauderdale.

DMG

GoTravel- Maybe I'll go back to Taboo which I really enjoyed last year. Do you think Cafe Boulud's food is worth the $$$$?

The reason I won't go back to Redfire was the attitude of the waiter, not that the food was bad.

GoTravel

My husband and I both thought Cafe Boulud was great however, and this is a big however, I have a girlfriend that dined there right after they opened. She is a big time food snob and said she would rather eat at McDonalds the rest of her life than eat at Cafe Boulud again.

Like you, it was a service issue with an extremely rude waiter and a gratuity issue. She said the food was just OK.

She loves Taboo and eats there at least once a week.

Getting back to Cafe Boulud, they serve breakfast and a Prix Fixe lunch if you want to get your feet wet before you jump in. Lunch is around $23 if I remember correctly.

It is located in the Brazilion Court just off Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.