Night out on 2nd street in Fort Lauderdale

This Saturday morning I needed to re-charge my battery on my favorite bench on “my” beach…300 feet down the path (yes, I’ve counted, really!). It’s a beautiful perfect 78 degrees and breezy in Fort Lauderdale.

 Easter is tomorrow and we’ve got cooking to get started this afternoon.  But for now, I’m chilling. Beverly is already busy doing projects with her son.  She is much more ambitious then I am. My plan is to get this article written, the easy part, then send off to Beverly to add to and correct my grammatical errors.  She will make it readable so even though today I am writing in the first person you are actually getting the two chicks as you read!

Last night we decided to check out Second Street which is just off the big brick Riverfront building. Second Street thrives, people crowd the  sidewalks or sit at tables and people watch. Lots of noise and energy.

We decided to just sit at the first open table we saw and we ended up at T-Mex, a very casual tex-mex restaurant. The atmosphere was lively with all the music of today’s hits playing loudly.  We did not take time to check out the menu.  We perused the margarita selections and ordered chips and salsa with guacamole.  Our thinking is if they can’t master those simple things we won’t go any further. I ordered the Coco Loco Margarita with salt and Beverly went for the classic Rico Margarita.  The margaritas were decent; sweet and sour, nothing spectacular, but a good solid drink. As for the coconut in my drink, we both felt that a margarita wasn’t necessarily a good fit for the flavor of coconut.  The chips were thin, crispy, slightly salty and just the perfect crunch.  The guacamole was creamy and buttery with some chunky bits but overall a very smooth texture.  The salsa was so fresh with all the flavors of cilantro, lime and tomato…very cool and cleansing.

During the day, Riverwalk is crowded with people walking with their kids and dogs or biking, but at night it’s deserted dark and peaceful.  So, we decided to take a walk along the river and enjoy the beautiful views it has to offer.

Once the chips and margaritas were walked off we decided to have dinner at Rok-Burger. It’s a trendy hip gastropub with brick interior and dark wood.  We settled in and met our waiter Neil from Freeport Bahamas. He had a charming Bahamian accent and sat down with us and chatted for a bit.  He took his time joking around with us before taking our drink orders.

 Let me give you fair warning, the cocktail menu is fantastic, you will be drawn in like we were and you’ll want to ignore me and order a cocktail, but don’t do it! Unless they decide to invest in a serious mixologist this is not the place for a cocktail. We tried the cosmopolitan which we are convinced was nothing more then cranberry and vodka watered down by ice in the shaker.  There was a tense moment when we returned it and asked for the mojito which was so pretty, but tasted only of simple syrup with mint on ice. I had the bars signature “Rok Old Fashioned” with Makers Mark bourbon infused with bacon.  In all fairness, when the restaurant first opened, the drink was everything it was promised to be;  potent, a little sweet with a hint of smokiness from the bacon. Now it’s just a watered down version of its former glory.  Very disappointing.

There is a long list of craft beers and almost everyone had an icy looking pint in front of them and that’s got to be the way to go and everyone else has already figured it out. Beer goes with burgers so why not?

 To start we ordered truffle fries for the table. They could have been crispier, but the truffle flavor was there and they were sprinkled with sea salt and toasted parsley.  These could be addictive.

For dinner we each ordered something different to check out the menu as best we could. Beverly ordered the Riverwalk which is a slightly seared tuna burger with asian slaw and a wasabi mayo.  It’s served with a beautiful sweet juicy slice of tomato and that crunchy slaw on a big soft brioche roll. That took the best in show for the night. Our friend Jay went for the Rok-Brgr which is a cheddar bacon cheese burger, a good solid classic. Steven, Beverly’s son, tried the sliders, the Grand Tasting which come 6 to an order, 2 of each kind, each with its own sauce. The meatball are mixed with ricotta and are soft and delicate.  The pulled short rib, while not heaping on the roll, melted in your mouth and lastly the Kobe beef  burger. My burger could have been great, but maybe I’m to blame. I ordered the Mediterranean which is a lamb burger with spices of cinnamon and cloves; it came out dry and tough and spices were very assertive.  If I had specified medium it may have made a difference, they did not ask so maybe it’s a safety issue?  I ordered it because the lamb burger that Bev had at The Breslin in NYC was so juicy and bursting with flavor I was sort of hoping to re-live that in Rok-Burger. I was so jealous of her burger I still have not forgotten that since May of 2010!

 

Well back to last night…we ended our meal by splitting the Apple Crumb Pie with vanilla ice cream with homemade caramel sauce.  This was absolutely delicious!!

I’d go back to try another burger and a beer, the atmosphere is half the charm, the décor is very hip urban. Check it out and let us know what you think!

The End