May-time Munchies - Bluezoo

[Guest]

The good news is that Bluezoo is a fabulous restaurant with excellent service and delicious fresh food……
The bad news is that I wasn’t feeling at all well (far too many late nights with our cyber mates, along with an overabundance of the old grape juice and millions of Margaritas had caught up with me) and couldn’t eat half of what I’d planned to.
I’d been salivating over the menu for weeks and was desperate to sample the Seared Scallops with Short Ribs and Cauliflower Puree, but I just wasn’t hungry tonight. So sadly they’ll have to go back on the list for next time.

We took the very short walk from the Yacht Club, where we were staying, to the Dolphin Hotel, where Bluezoo is located on the ground floor.
We were politely greeted at the podium and immediately shown through the bar area to our table.
On the way we snapped a discreet piccie of the Raw Bar displaying a selection of crustacean treasures upon an enormous bed of crushed ice.
We continue on, past the Dancing Fish! Here, whole fresh fish are grilled on a revolving vertical skewer. Quite a fascinating sight!





Our waiter P was soon welcoming us warmly, and after handing us our menus gave us a bit of time to relax into our surroundings.
The general ambience is cool and contemporary yet still mellow. As expected by the name Bluezoo, the décor is predominantly deep blue, which is lifted by copper and silvery tones. There are lots of soft curves, columns that give the appearance of waterfalls and chandeliers that look like bubbles.
(I took this picture one morning while the restaurant was closed)



P took quite a bit of time to explain how items were prepared and also recommended we try the restaurant’s featured martini. The Zooberry!
It was combination of crushed fresh blueberries, sugar syrup and vodka.
I chose to stick just with wine tonight but Paul was only too pleased to sample the resultant alcoholic berry concoction.
He thought it absolutely delicious and has been added to his list of favourite cocktails. It was apparently pretty potent too!





The bread basket was filled with a nice variety of tastes and textures. There was caramelised onion focaccia, honey and sunflower wholemeal and some crispy sesame flatbread. It was accompanied by a dish of fennel seed butter. All totally delicious!



I wasn’t going to have a starter but Paul urged me to at least share something with him, so we decided on the Salad of Mixed Greens, Roasted Beets and Goat’s Cheese with candied Walnuts and crunchy Focaccia Croutons.
They were happy to split the serving for us and as you can see there was plenty of salad on each plate. The ingredients complemented each other very well and the red and golden beets were earthy and sweet. It could have done with a little bit more cheese if I’m being picky, but other than that small niggle it was scrumptious.



There are no vegetarian entrees advertised on the menu and that initially put us off dining here, but I emailed the manager before we booked and had a very friendly reply, basically saying that the chefs are very happy to cook vegetarian dishes but like to use the ingredients they have fresh to hand on the day. Vegetarians are very welcome and they are used to serving veggie dishes on a nightly basis.
That was just the kind of reply we wanted to hear so I went ahead and booked our table.

Meanwhile back at the Bluezoo….
When discussing Paul’s meal, our waiter said he could choose some main ingredients from the menu and the chef would make a dish using them, or Paul could give the kitchen a completely free rein and trust the chef to be creative.
Paul said he was happy with the latter and, very daringly I thought, waited for his mystery meal.
Thankfully he wasn’t to be disappointed!
Paul says the photo doesn’t do justice to the Teppan-seared Tofu which was sitting on a pool of smooth Potato Puree with Truffles. There was some buttery spinach and a rich medley of wild mushrooms.
It actually wasn’t my kind of thing at all, but Paul was in veggie heaven and ate every last bit. He said the quality of the ingredients was outstanding and the flavours all married together perfectly.
He still raves about it to this day and says he’s more than happy to trust the chefs to come up with something inventive again when we return.



I chose the Dancing Fish, which tonight was Sea Bass.
To be very honest it tasted like it had been grilled in the normal way, but I was romanced by both the title and the sight of the ‘Dancing Fish’ and felt compelled to order it.
The fish was moist and tender and served with a tart caper and lemon butter. The Grilled Romaine Lettuce had a very light, fresh tomato dressing and I swapped the advertised bean puree for some perfectly cooked Broccollini.
P asked if I wanted him to fillet my fish for me and although I’d normally be happy to do it myself, tonight I was only too pleased to let him attend to the job – just quickly get rid of that head first please!



We shared the Bluezoo signature dessert - 5d.
You get the chance to taste a small sampler of sweet treats, accompanied by some choc chip, shortbread and peanut butter and jelly cookies.
As usual Paul ate the lions share while I focused in just one – an incredibly delicious Lychee Sorbet.
Initially I’d thought it might taste a bit bland but I was proved wrong. The tropical flavour was intensely perfumed with the natural fruit, and the texture was as smooth as silk. Very nice indeed!
Also featured were Fig Crumble, Strawberry Conserve with Custard and Biscotti, Crème Brulee and Chocolate and Raspberry Soufflé.
Needless to say Paul polished off the lot, with gusto!



We shared a bottle of San Pellegrino mineral water and I had a couple of glasses of Honig Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, while Paul had a glass of Markham Merlot.
The wine list looked interesting and was quite extensive - I’ll be exploring it more thoroughly next time - and I noticed that the cost of both the wine and food was just a tad lower than the high end WDW restaurants such as California Grill, Flying Fish or Jiko.
They don’t accept the DDE card here though, so we missed our 20% discount.
The bill came to $133 plus tip, which I thought pretty reasonable for such a first-rate meal.

P was proved to be exceptional waiter and was attentive without being in any way intrusive. He was extremely knowledgeable about whole menu and struck a perfect balance of professionalism and friendliness.
Another thing we noticed was that there were no young children in the dining room, which gave the restaurant a much more reserved and relaxing feel.
Everyone at the tables around us seemed to be having a wonderful time, chatting animatedly and really enjoying their food.
Even though I wasn’t feeling my best, we had a very enjoyable evening and we can’t wait till we go back in October – when I’ll be ordering those Scallops for sure!

[truesdpr]

Oh Sue I'm so sorry you didn't feel up to the meal. It's awful when that happens esp when you've been so looking forward to trying somewhere. However, as always an absolutely excellent report and somewhere that will go on my must do list. We're having 2 nts at the Dolphin in October but supposed to be for easy access to F&W but may need to try to fit something in after reading this. Either that or have another stay on our next trip! Paul's meal looks great - for something veggie! he's very adventurous trusting the kitchen to create his meal!

Pam.

[Clare]

Sue, fabulous report I can't wait until we try this in December, everything about it looks fantastic

[Guest]

Pam - I don't deserve sympathy My liver has recovered now LOL Paul was brave - I'm far too controlling when it comes to food, to do that.

ClareH - Sorry I made you wait so long It's for you that I did Bluezoo first

[Clare]

Originally Posted by mcsue

ClareH - Sorry I made you wait so long It's for you that I did Bluezoo first

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Awww thanks Sue, you're a star

[Bob_and_Dawn]

THANK YOU SUE!

Have been waiting for May's reports and so pleased to see Bluezoo first. We are so looking forward to it in October too.

Dawn

[Guest]

Food looked wonderful,

[Guest]

Wow I'd have been happy with just the bread basket and desserts - the rest would have been a bonus! Looks scrumptious.

[Guest]

Makes it so hard to stick to my diet when I read your reports Sue - the discriptions and pics have me drooling already, lol

Love Suexx

[Guest]

Looks like a lovely chilled out atmosphere. Booked again for this time? Hope you're feeling a bit better for it this time!

I still have no idea how you manage to eat so much. That plate of salad would have filled me up for the night!

P was very brave, leaving his dinner up to the chef! Paid off though!

Well done, great reports!