Bottom Line: The Waterfront Brewery in Key West has some good spicy offerings on the menu along with a nice selection of beers to wash those down with.
If you happen to find yourself in Key West (which is a particularly good place to find yourself) and you are looking for a good brew and something spicy to go with that, I have a recommendation for you. That island at the southern tip of Florida happened to be one of the stops on a cruise I was on recently, and my wife and I decided to take the opportunity to check out what that key had to offer. She wanted to hit the beach (and we made it to Simonton Beach which has to be one of the smallest in the world) and I wanted to try some local beers and find some good, spicy seafood. I accomplished both of those at The Waterfront Brewery.
That brewpub is located at Key West Bight Marina, and while the view of the dock is not as nice as watching waves crash on the beach, it still provided an enjoyable setting for throwing back some brews and grabbing a leisurely lunch. My beer tasting was quite successful and I cover that in more detail at CraftBeersandMore.com. For lunch, I saw two tempting items among the appetizers and salads sections and decided to give both a try (begrudgingly sharing a few bites of each with my wife as well).
The Front Street Shrimp is considered an appetizer, but that alone could make a meal, especially if you throw in an order of fries on the side. It comes with perfectly fried shrimp that are battered just right so that the breading does not overwhelm the crustacean inside nor does it retain too much of the frying oil. The shrimp are decent size and have a nice lightness to them, despite being deep-fried, and would work perfectly well on their own. But that Thai chili remoulade kicks them to the next level. It has some sweetness and some heat, but not too much of either. I would say that these come in around Medium heat on my scale, though it takes a few bites to build to that level. I really enjoyed this dish and will certainly get it again if I happen to make a return trip.
Next up, I ordered the Lettuce Wraps from the salads section, but I can assure you that this ain’t no small salad, Tiny. These come with shrimp sautéed in an orange glaze along with carrots, bell peppers, a spicy cucumber salad, curried rice noodles, and red chili soy and peanut sauces on the side. And all of that is piled on top of a mound of Boston Lettuce. I attempted one lettuce wrap, but that proved quite messy, and then just decided to attack the plate as a salad. My waiter confirmed that is what most people do with this dish.
The shrimp were cooked just right, and while I did not detect the orange glaze specifically, the seasoning was quite good. The cucumber salad was rather refreshing with a bit of a kick and all of the vegetables included on the plate were fresh. The curried rice noodles don’t have much taste by themselves, but they add some heft to the dish and blend well with the other ingredients. What really kicks this up, though, is the peanut sauce. The peanut flavor comes through along with the Thai seasoning and a nice prick of heat and that brings everything together into a satisfying whole. Overall, I would put the dish just above the Mild heat level, but that burn lingers for a while so that you know you are eating something with spice. A few sips from one of their many tasty beers will cool you down, though.
The Waterfront Brewery has quite a number of seafood options on the menu as you would expect from a place with “waterfront” in the name. They also have burgers and other sandwiches along with tempting non-seafood entrees like Cuban BBQ Pork and Caribbean Skirt Steak. And they have a wonderful Key Lime pie on the menu, as you would expect from a restaurant in the Keys, so be sure to save some room for that. The only thing they didn’t have was conch fritters, but there are plenty of places to try those on the island, and I made a later stop at The Conch Shack to check that off my list. The Waterfront Brewery is just a short walk from the dock if you are coming in by cruise ship, and it is definitely an excellent destination if you want to try some local beer and local flavors. I certainly look forward to returning at some point.
Address: 201 William St, Key West, FL 33040
Website: www.thewaterfrontbrewery.com