The countdown is on. Though Florida's own Bonefish Grill will debut its new menu July 29, this past Saturday, Short Order was invited on a boat with a bunch of Bravo-lebrities and Mario Lopez to taste-test new menu items.
The new menu has a handful of new items sprinkled into every section, with the introduction of some new categories including bowls, deluxe sides, and dessert flatbread. Some highlights are the wild orchid Hawaiian and fresh pineapple martini, the spicy tuna bowl, the porcini mushroom ravioli, and the s'mores flatbread.
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The Real Housewife of New York's LuAnn de Lesseps and onetime cast member of The Real Housewives of Miami Karent Sierra were all smiles. The statuesque Countess LuAnn commented that she would be a shrimp if she were an appetizer. The famed Bang Bang shrimp at Bonefish better look out.
The fresh pineapple martini, which combines Malibu rum, St-Germain, lemon, and homemade vanilla syrup, paired beautifully with the Miami weather. The Hawaiian martini featured Cruzan guava rum, coconut water and comes garnished with an edible orchid. In case you were wondering, the orchid tasted a bit like an underripe nectarine. Overall, a favorite drink. For a less fruity and more savory cocktail, they have a Patrón perfect cucumber margarita with a salt-and-pepper rim for something different.
A favorite of the new starters was the NY strip tataki, which has seared, thinly sliced, and served with Thai peppers and a mustard soy sauce.
The new shrimp salad with a cilantro lime vinaigrette has roasted corn, black beans, tomatoes, onion and is sprinkled with feta and tortilla chip strips.
You have probably had spicy tuna in a roll, but have you had in a bowl? Another stand out of the new menu items was the spicy tuna bowl with premium sushi-grade, sesame-crusted, seared rare tuna over jasmine rice with avocado, passion fruit salsa and sweet chile sauce. It was a light and fresh entree that brings something very different for the brand. Other new bowls include the seared NY strip, shrimp pad thai, and fire-roasted vegetables.
In the midst of new menu items, it was the s'mores flatbread that offered the sweet finish. The traditional graham cracker-based sandwich now comes on an open-face flatbread topped with creamy chocolate, toasted marshmallows, almonds, and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs.
Beyond the food featured, X Factor finalist David Correy, just returning from the World Cup, sang to us and had that swagger and point while covering Bruno Mars that made us melt like the marshmallow in that s'mores flatbread.
Other Bravo celebrities in attendance were Million Dollar Listing Miami's Chad Carroll and Adriana de Moura from Real Housewives of Miami.
Mario Lopez got down with the new menu. You can try it for yourself in Kendall or in West Dade come the 29th of July.
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