Watercolour Grillhouse

Every now and again, a place comes out of the woodwork and impresses the hell out of me. I've literally lived in the area for 91% of my life, and never heard of this place until thumbing thru some kind of tourist magazine a few months back. The business card sized ad sent me daydreaming of a romantic dinner for two that included some fresh caught gulf grouper and a perfectly cooked medium steak. After I snapped out of it, I did what any of us would do. I pulled out the phone and logged into Yelp to get the skinny. What I saw prompted an immediate bookmarking with the intention of going for my birthday dinner a few weeks later. Plans fell thru for my birthday in July, but last weekend we had the opportunity to stay at a condo adjacent to the Marriott and I planned on striking while the iron was hot. Pulled up Opentable, made a reservation for two and waltzed in last Friday like I owned the joint. The hostess led us to a very aesthetically pleasing dinning room and sat us at a table with a gorgeous view of the intercoastal waterway. We were then promptly greeted by Jennifer, who knocked the customer service ball out of the park all night long. Steaks and seafood are sold as single items, and sides are a la carte. This never bothers me, and it actually gives more control over food intake. Everything on the menu looked great, but I went with the grilled grouper. There were two options, 6 oz. or 12 oz. Mistakenly, I went with the 12 oz. I took a pic, but it doesn't accurately display the magnitude of the filet; it was YUGE. It was also pricey, so you can bet your ass I finished it; it was a struggle though. It was like watching two boxers throwing weak punches during the last seconds of a title fight in order to run down the clock. To date, I haven't had a bigger OR tastier chunk of grouper. La Chica ordered a small sirloin and crab cake combo with some a la carte jumbo shrimp and an oyster on the side. All of it was excellent, and the shrimp was the largest I'd ever seen. She referred to them as "shrimp steaks." For sides, we had the grilled asparagus and the creamy spinach. The asparagus was okay, but the spinach was crazy good. On the record, I'm certain no one does it better. Prior to the meal, we shared a salad. I wanted a Caesar, but Jennifer was nice enough to be honest with me when I asked if they make their own dressing, which they do not. However, they do for the house salad, so we went for it. Very bold-flavored is how I'd describe it. The bacon, the bleu cheese, the apple cider vinaigrette dressing... beautifully executed rabbit food! We ordered a bottle of the Kendal Jackson Chardonnay, and I just don't see how any other wine could have complemented our meal better from start to finish. I am definitely an advocate for this establishment!