I had lunch at this Ravenous Pig replacement yesterday. I suspect you understood (by the name) that it is a seafood restaurant. It has been open for over a month. I had a chilled peel and eat shrimp app for $10 and the ceviche of the day for $11. The shrimp (9) were iffy. They looked nice and fresh, but, they were soft and sticky and mouldering. All signs of age. I suspect that they cooked them on Friday. They were closed on Monday, so, Sunday would have been the closest day that they were prepped. If not, then they have some uncomfortable conversations ahead with their monger. Now realize that I didn't get ill from them. I just played Russian roulette and suffered through some pasty shrimp. The ceviche (of all things) was fresher. It was a mix of grouper and hogfish (snapper). They marinated (cooked) it with three juices (orange, lemon and lime). The orange tempered some of the bitterness. The portion size was generous. They added some onion, tomato and avocado. But, it was mostly fish. Plus the tomato was sweet (a necessary but almost ignored touch) and they cut the avocado into similar size pieces (another thing people are often too lazy to do). I don't like ceviche as a cooking method even when done properly. It's a primordial method of thinking and coping. Just serve it raw if you are going to go down this path. The result is always too bitter and the fish gets tough. And if they are too cheap to use fresh juice (or juice at all)! Forget about it. I've had it many times seared with vinegar! However, this is about as good as it is going to get. The rest of the menu (and why I ordered these prone to disappoint dishes) is pretty dull. The one interesting thing (a burger with fried oysters on top) was a special and cost $18. The rest of the menu (at least at lunch - I forgot to look at the dinner menu) consisted of fried calamari, fried fish (cod) sandwich, fish soup, salads (mostly non-seafood), chicken sandwich, fish dip and a few more "immemorables". The special was a fried hogfish. Now I never understood why someone wanted to open a seafood restaurant here with Winter Park Seafood down the street and Mitchell's, Lombardi's, and the one on Park Ave already established. And those were just off the top of my head and I don't live there. Plus that doesn't take into account the places that have some seafood on their menu or sushi restaurants. Seafood isn't priced for it to be an every day affair. It's an indulgence for most people (even in WP). And who would eat it every day anyway? Even Arthur Bach believed that "fish must awfully tired of seafood". Is there room for them? I heard them pitching the fried angle. If so, then you spent too much on the remodel (and likely the rent). Are you high end or low end? You look (and price) on the high end. I'm not saying that I didn't like you or that I didn't even prefer you. I didn't get a big enough sample size to tell. I just wonder who your market research guy was. This is a packed field.
The place is broken into three rooms. The bar. The main (middle) room. The raw bar/casual room. The ceiling is composed of those gilded/etched tiles that mimic a more glamorous era. The color scheme is white and black with touches of blue. The decor is a hodge podge. The overall look is appealing. Service was polite, knowledgeable and efficient. The china was new, white and modern. It was pretty empty at 1pm. Parking may be a problem.
It was what I expected. No better than its competitors in any discernible way. They need a hook to avoid becoming the Lorde of the bunch.
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