Restaurant Review – Blu Island Bistro Venice, FL

This restaurant is in Venice, Florida. I live near Ft Myers, but I have a brother that lives there and my wife has a sister that also lives there, so we do spend some time there. First thing I want to say say is I like this place and I will go back. However, if you read my review below, you might be a little confused because I had problems with my food. So what’s up with that? Why would I go back to a restaurant where I didn’t like the food? Its complicated, but let me try to explain.

First, I liked what I saw with my eyes. As we approached the place from the parking lot it had that kind of eclectic, lets put some tables here and lets put some tables there kind of feel so when we get really busy we can make some money. That’s not a bad thing. We are in America, you know! Money good! Its kind of the same thoughts I had when my wife and I had a small restaurant in Sedona, Arizona. When we got popular the only place we didn’t have tables was on the roof! Then we walked inside, past all the outdoor tables (it was hot), and were told to sit anywhere. Since we didn’t know the layout we sat in the small front part. Turns out there are rooms in the back.

Secondly, the people who worked there were great. Friendly and smiling. They would talk and laugh with all the regulars that came in. I would like to be a regular there. You know, “everybody wants to go where they know your name” Cheers kind of thing. Then I read the About page on there website and that made me like the place even more. Its kind of like me and my wife’s story of being in the restaurant business together for 25 years.

Thirdly, lets talk about the food. I got some good news and some bad news. Let’s start off with the good news. We started out with a basket of onions rings and they were fantastic! The dipping sauce was a tangy mayo that was perfect for the rings. We dove right in and our hands got all greased up with the deep fryer oil. As a matter of fact I joked to my wife that the EPA is going to be here soon investigating an oil spill. Just a little humor, but like I said these were the best onion rings I’ve had in a long time. Maybe the fryer oil was a little old. Maybe the fryer wasn’t hot enough, so the oil soaked in to the breading. Or maybe the rings were put into the serving basket right from the deep fryer without draining them properly. I don’t know, but again they were delicious. We couldn’t finish them all and we took them home to reheat and eat them later. So we started out great.

Next came our entrees. My wife ordered a single pancake with real maple syrup and pecan smoked bacon. She loved the pancake and syrup, but the bacon was cold. So the bacon was probably cooked earlier. I used to do that too, but I’d make sure to put it on the flat top to get some heat on it before it went out.

Next up is my Eggs Benedict with Lump Crab meat and Asparagus with their in house made Hollandaise Sauce and extra large poached eggs. Now I am kind of a Eggs Benedict aficionado and have had Eggs Benedict all over America and even make a great version myself. So I’m going to be brutal on this one. Sorry about that, but here it goes. I didn’t get much Hollandaise Sauce. And what I did get was kind of bland and not lemony at all. My asparagus was old, discolored and wrinkled. I would be embarrassed to put that on a plate and serve it to somebody. The extra large poached eggs looked a little on the small side to me. And how can you poach an egg where the whites are still runny and the yolks are almost cooked through? That still puzzles me! My lump crab meat was in tiny little bits and didn’t get much at all. I also wanted hash browns and after a confusing conversation with the waitress I guess I traded in my protein for hash browns that are cooked with cheese. Even though I ordered a Crab meat Eggs Benedict I guess I still could have gotten bacon, ham or sausage with it. I thought the crab meat would supersede that option. Anyway the hash browns were strange. They were orange, but not cheesy, as in gooey. So I did not eat all of the hash browns or the asparagus, but I did eat all of the eggs, English muffins and what there was of the crab meat and Hollandaise. I used the salt shaker 3 times! Everything was bland.

So why would I go back? Again, I just like the place, the people and the vibe. They got a big menu, I’ll try something else. Now if I strike out on the next visit, I might have to rethink my stance. As a restaurateur I hated it when somebody said something bad online and didn’t say anything while they were in the restaurant. I have pointed out problems to waitstaff in other restaurants in the past, but many times you get the feeling its falling on deaf ears. If there’s problems the next time, I will. Maybe I’ll order the Eggs Benedict just as a test! Maybe it was just a fluke? Maybe 99 out of a hundred are good! And I was the unlucky one? We’ll see.

Check out their menu here. If you find yourself in Venice, check them out. Its a breakfast and lunch place that closes at 2pm.