‘Watts for Dinner’ the Takeout Edition: Fin Bistro – top notch all the way
Our next dining destination is Fin Bistro on Marco Island. And unlike last week’s restaurant, social distancing was being observed and masks were being worn by staff. And I appreciate it.
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Things got off to an appetizing start with a couple of items from their “Beginnings” menu. I partook of the “Umami Kobe Sliders” ($16) which featuring Vermont sharp cheddar, butter pickles and garlic aioli on toasted Bistro bread. All I can say is small on size, big on flavor. Leave it to Fin Bistro, one of my favorite restaurants on the island, to class up the slider. Who knew it was even possible.
My dining companion had the “Fin Lump Crab Cake” ($13). The dish features shiitake mushrooms, green apples, watercress and lemongrass curry emulsion. Even as a takeout order, this dish was a work of art. And it tasted as good as it looked.
From the “Greens and Pasta” portion of the menu, I ordered the “Fin Bistro Market Salad” ($6) featuring wild greens, tomato, red onion, bleu cheese, balsamic vinaigrette and potato straws. When I first saw this combination, I was a bit skeptical how these ingredients would blend, so I had to find out. This salad is where bar and gourmet food meet, and it was a very productive meeting.
My partner in dine ordered the roasted beet, palm hearts salad ($9) featuring creamy gorgonzola, spiced walnuts, aged balsamic, herbs and baby spinach. The golden beets made for an unexpected visual surprise. This is a can’t miss salad. I highly recommend it.
From the “Fresh Caught” portion of the menu, I ordered the seared yellowfin tuna ($31) featuring a sweet potato/goat cheese taco, a miso portobello, grilled green onion and an ancho chili-ginger sauce. Let’s start with that sauce, amazing but not overwhelming (not always easy to do when dealing with an ancho chili). The entire dish was pure perfection. I did overestimate my desire for very rare tuna. I have had it in sushi and in small strips on salad. About halfway through these tuna steaks, I was looking for a frying pan. Just a word of warning, but not any reflection on the restaurant.
My companion also went with a “Fresh Caught” selection, picking the “Key Largo Dorado” ($29) featuring a coconut crusted and sautéed colossal lump crab and cream corn with shiitakes, leeks, Fresno chili and curry lime butter sauce. OMG! Right! An incredible invention. This dish earned the highest praise of our entire meal.
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From the “Sweet Endings” portion of the menu, we ordered the white chocolate apple croissant bread pudding (warm bread pudding served with vanilla ice cream and Bourbon caramel sauce) and the “Sweet Potato Sopaipilla” (warm pastry with cinnamon, orange blossom honey, chocolate sauce, toasted almonds and served with vanilla ice cream) ($9.50 each).
You can’t go wrong with the amazing bread pudding, but you can go more right with the sopaipilla. It was a deep-fried delight with decadent toppings. Save room for dessert! And this one can easily feed two.
Fin Bistro serves it top notch all the way. You won’t be disappointed. And we tip a full 20 percent for takeout. May I suggest you do the same? If you can.
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If you go
Fin Bistro
- 657 S Collier Boulevard, Marco Island
- 239-970-6064
- finbistro.com