We
stayed at the Black
Dolphin Inn, which I found on this
list of top 10 bed & breakfasts in Florida. I can’t recommend it enough – I just wish we
could have stayed more than one night.
It’s right on the Indian River within walking distance to downtown New
Smyrna and only a few minute drive to the beach.
The
building has a Spanish Mediterranean style, and the interior was surprisingly
modern (I’m used to most B&Bs having outdated furnishings and floral
wallpaper & bedding). You can see a video with owner Brett
Smith talking about the inn here.
After
checking in, we walked to Yellow
Dog Eats Kitchen & Bar for lunch. They’ve had a location for decades in Gotha,
FL just west of Orlando, but the New Smyrna location only opened 6 months
ago. They specialize in BBQ, sandwiches,
and salads.
Large red marquee letters
spell out the name of the restaurant and colorful art depicting different dogs decorate
the walls. We thought it was funny they
had the same yellow china cabinet as we do at home!
I
had their Baa Baa BLT – with smoked pancetta, tomatoes, field greens,
watercress, pecan smoked bacon, goat cheese, and orange Cointreau mayo served
on multi grain bread. I absolutely loved
this twist on the normal BLT – the watercress gave it a peppery flavor and the
mix of ingredients was perfect.
Lance
had the Florida Cracker – with pulled pork, coleslaw, Gouda, pecan-smoked
bacon, pickles, fried onions, and BBQ sauce on white bread. Messy but delicious. Both sandwiches came with kettle cooked
chips, which we saved for later.
We
had hoped to go to New
Smyrna Beach Brewing Company after lunch, but it
turns out they’re closed on Tuesdays! We
wandered around downtown New Smyrna and visited Canaveral National
Seashore.
For
dinner we heard good things about a restaurant called The Garlic. It took us awhile to get hungry after our
lunch at Yellow Dog. I didn’t expect a
wait on a Tuesday night, but it was actually really busy at The Garlic. The restaurant is huge and decorated with
cloves of garlic everywhere you look.
Some of the entrees are cooked in their wood fired oven that reaches 800°F+
temperatures.
We
ordered a bottle of Malbec and they brought us some of their famous garlic – a
whole bulb slow-roasted, smashed with oil and balsamic, then served with crispy
bread.
For
dinner I had the Surf & Turf – an 8 ounce sirloin with shrimp and garlic
mashed potatoes. Lance had the Seafood
Cannelloni – scallops, shrimp, and mahi mahi blended with cheeses and wrapped
in fresh pasta with Newberg sauce.
I
regret that I didn’t get one of the Il Forno dishes prepared in the wood-fired
oven. The shrimp and mashed potatoes
were great, but my steak was actually very dry.
And Lance enjoyed his cannelloni, but I personally thought it was all
sauce & cheese with very little seafood.
This place had such great reviews that I think my expectations were too
high so I was a bit disappointed – maybe we just ordered the wrong dishes.
The
next morning we woke up early to see the sunrise from the dock at our
B&B. We had a nice relaxing morning
enjoying broiled grapefruit and omelets for breakfast (mine was cream cheese
with smoked salmon, Lance’s was cheddar & sausage).
We spent another afternoon seeing the sites –
we walked the beach at Smyrna Dunes, climbed to the top of the largest
lighthouse in Florida (Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse), and explored the Sugar
Mill Ruins.
We
always like to find a nice ice cream shop to indulge when we’re on
vacation. We found the perfect one, Banana Split
Republic, right off A1A next to a produce market. Their ice cream was some of the best I’ve had
– their chocolate chip cookie dough had globs as large as a whole cookie! The birthday cake had real chunks of cake,
and the lava – caramel ice cream with caramel & chocolate swirls, cashews,
and almonds – was incredible.
Afterwards
we went to New Smyrna Brewing since
it was actually open on Wednesday. I
liked their Inlet Amber best and Lance enjoyed the Shark Attack IPA (they also
had guest taps from other Florida breweries).
We
had an early dinner – we researched other restaurants to try out, but Yellow
Dog Eats was less than a block from the brewery and it was so great the day
before, we wanted to enjoy more of their sandwiches before we headed home. Seriously, if this place was in Tampa, I’d be
there at least once a week.
This
time I had the Classic Yellow Dog Club (honey mesquite turkey with Gouda,
pecan-smoked bacon, cucumber, lettuce, and orange Cointreau mayo on multigrain
bread. It was pretty similar to the Baa
Baa BLT, but I liked having the cucumber for a bit more crunch.
Lance
had the Holy Crap sandwich, also with the mesquite turkey, but with avocado,
bacon, goat cheese, red onion, and basil mayo.
As the art says on the wall, their sandwiches “make me so dog-gone happy”.
It
was the perfect way to end our trip. Our
trip went by far too quickly, but we enjoyed a lot of great food in our short 2
days there!
The
Black Dolphin Inn is located at 916
S Riverside Dr, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168.
Yellow
Dog Eats Kitchen and Bar is located at 147
Canal St, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 and is open 11am – 9pm every day.
The
Garlic is located at 556
E 3rd Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169 and is open 4pm – 10pm Sunday –
Thursday and 4pm – 11pm Friday – Saturday.
Banana
Split Republic is located at 1042
N Dixie Fwy, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 (their hours aren’t online…)
New
Smyrna Beach Brewing Company is located at 112
Sams Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 and is open 5pm – 10pm Wednesdays, 2pm
– 10pm Thursdays – Fridays, 12pm – 10pm Saturday, and 12pm – 6:30pm Sunday
(they are closed Monday – Tuesdays).
No comments:
Post a Comment