Ocean Prime: Overpriced in Aventura

I’m pretty cheap about a lot of things. Eating is not one of them. Buying groceries or dining out, I always want quality ingredients and a good preparation. Generally, that means spending. Earlier this week we went to Ocean Prime in Aventura, just north of Miami, and the overall feeling upon leaving was “boy, that was expensive”. It was $300 for four people with $40 in corkage fees (we didn’t buy any other drinks besides coffee).

But the most important question here is: how was the food? Some standouts, some major flaws and some stuff that was just pretty good. We started with two appetizers, the tuna tartare and the truffled deviled eggs. This is the place that inspired my make-all-the-time truffled deviled egg appetizer. The eggs were flavorful, creamy, truffle-y and left me wanting more. The tuna was equally as good. It was fresh, a little spicy and sat atop creamy avocado. Everything is better with avocado.

We all agreed that thus far, the meal was off to a good start. We moved on to the entrees: Chilean sea bass and a filet for our friends and a red snapper for us (FKGuy and I opted to share the 10 ounce portion of fish.) We had been assured that all of the fish is fresh and flown in daily. Our snapper choice came from the Florida Keys. Sadly, it must have come from the Keys many, many days prior to landing on our plate, because it was not fresh. It was a fishy mess.

There are only two things that can make a piece of fish taste fishy: either it is horribly overcooked, or it is not fresh. Ours was not overcooked. We sent it back and despite the fact that I really wanted the snapper, we then opted for the tuna. We knew that was fresh, as we just had a plate of it served raw.

Ocean Prime is a steakhouse concept, so everything comes a la carte. The $37 fish comes on a plate  by itself. $10-12 side dishes also available, including a potato about eight different ways. We chose the jalapeno au gratin (outstanding), asparagus with hollandaise sauce and the truffle mac and cheese (you can never have too many truffles). This version of the mac and cheese was a good one, but it could have benefited from a quick stop in the oven, as it was a little mushy. A nice, crispy top would have helped it’s cause.The truffle fries (really, you can never have too much truffle) were good, if over-salted. The truffle fries at Louie’s Upper Deck are so much better, though.

We passed on dessert, as we were all full from dinner, yet our server brought

us over some to make up for the fact that our fish was spoiled. Tip to wait staff: if you truly want to make a gesture, bring over a dessert that is chocolate, as it is almost universally loved (except by one weird cousin of mine). Carrot cake should never be the top choice. Plus, it would be helpful if you did not charge us for the spoiled fish without us having to point it out to you.

Overall, the food (that was fresh) was good. The service was fine, if a little pushy on the up-sell. The prices are outrageous. Would I go back? Unlikely. Certainly not if I am paying for it.