Shooters Waterfront

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Conveniently located along Fort Lauderdale's Water Taxi Route (Stop #9 ), captured us for a late lunch. Recommended (not hosted) by the PR company working for the Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau that arranged for our International Food Wine Travel Writers Association post-conference press trip, as well as the staff of the Water Taxi. Turns out 2022 is the 40th year they've been open, making it a local icon.



My first colleague ordered a shrimp Po'Boy. The shrimp are breaded and large, not in the New Orleans style with cornmeal, but with flour as you might see in chicken nuggets, with tomato and mint and served with thin, shoestring fries. She enjoys any kind of shellfish and thought the serving was too large piled atop a French baguette with a spicy remoulade.



My second colleague ordered coconut shrimp, large and deep fried, along with onion rings that she sent back because they were served with cheese (this was not found on the menu) and replaced promptly. After the first bite? "The shrimp are absolutely delicious." The sauce, a mango jelly with chili, is yellow (not green as I thought viewing it from an angle that made me think it might be guava).

The mango jelly, sweet with a little tang to it, received a 10 out of 10 on the sauce taste scale.

"I'm so glad I didn't order this as an appetizer and then a meal… this is an entire meal."



Later still, "These are the best coconut shrimp I've ever had in my life."

Because we always like to consider how we might change things or improve them if we were to make it home, we had to ask if there was anything that could be done to improve it… "The only thing that would've made this better would be a little more coconut on the breading. I know that being this hungry did make a difference." Turns out, she hadn't eaten for about 18 hours before having this meal (after we left the supremely decadent Sistrunk Marketplace & Brewery .)



Fish and chips were the choice of the hour for my final colleague. Breaded Cobia, we were all surprised they were delivered as fish sticks rather than the typical planks. Shoestring French fries joined a beautiful slaw with red onion, corn, red pepper, cucumbers with cilantro and a tanginess that doesn't seem like vinegar.

The tartar sauce rated a "six or seven" out of ten. Cole slaw has "a bit of "zip," like a jalapeno, maybe" though we couldn't find jalapeno on the plate. Our server, Mark, happily supplied Amy with a side of the mango jelly and then the guacamole from my taro root chips which she tasted but didn't finish without crisps available to dip.



In addition, my final colleague had a black bean soup with an avocado crema as a garnish. She loved the soup, but the dishes were all served at once so it was difficult to enjoy it first.



Warning: though gluten-free options are available, you may be challenged to find a celiac option that works for you. The frozen raspberry lemonades are delicious but two (!) pack as much of a calorie wallop as "real" food and may require the prompt administration of taro root chips (no guacamole) to overcome a child-like belly ache from too much sugar.



My taro root chips were the white, thinly sliced version reminiscent of the Terra chips you get at the grocery store, but perfectly round that breaks easily like a very large Communion host. Thirty dollars for two lemonades and chips seemed a bit excessive.

At the end of a pleasant hour watching the torrential rain come and go on the terrace, congratulating ourselves for having moved inside from an area that would have caused too much sun exposure for one of us, we examined the dessert menu.

They offer a pineapple upside-down rum cake, a chocolate fudge cake, Betty's homemade apple pie, Caribbean bread pudding plan, a peanut butter chocolate bar, a Key Lime Baked Alaska and seasonal sorbets and ice cream. While the only option for ice cream was vanilla, the seasonal survey was a strawberry pineapple, which was ordered and refreshing, and as delicious as you would expect.



It was a delicate balance between the two flavors, but successfully accomplished by the chef.

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