Gluten Free. It’s a trend we’re seeing a lot of now where
people are finding they have a disease, allergy or intolerance to a protein
found in rye, wheat, and barley called gluten. Bonefish Grill has been a leader
in providing gluten-free food to their guest but has mostly gone unnoticed. I
was invited to try out their gluten free foods, beverages and desserts.
Mitzi Dulan, a registered dietitian and co-author of The All-Pro Diet (Rodale, 2009), has
been working with Bonefish Grill bringing awareness to this trend and providing
valuable information on healthy living to her clients. She was present to talk
a little bit about Bonefish Grill’s commitment and menu selection for those
with the need for gluten free foods.
On a beautiful night in Dr. Phillips, an intimate gathering
of people were in attendance to taste their gluten-free options and me, being
the food lover, was delighted to indulge on what Bonefish Grill had to offer.
We started the evening fabulously with a delicious strawberry infused martini
plainly called strawberry martini that is actually far from plain. It is Square One Botanical vodka,
hand-muddled strawberries + chamomile citrus tea infusion. It’s a lot
more complex than the simple name implies which makes it more amazing. It is a
definite taste bud pleaser and something I know to order the next time I dine
there.
We started off with steamed edamame, saucy shrimp, and mussels
Josephine. Out of the three, I
personally enjoyed saucy shrimp the most. It had this amazing sauce (hence the
name) that was full of flavor and was perfect with their gluten free bread to
sop up the sauciness. What came next baffled me because everything I knew about
beer told me that there was a pretty good chance there was gluten in it. But
Bonefish Grill has gluten free beer called Redbridge.
It’s an amber lager that I am told taste best when drunken from the bottle.
However, I am not a beer connoisseur, so to me, it tastes like any other beer.
You’ll have to go there yourself and try it out and tell me what you
think.
Before entrees came out, we dove into their signature house
salad. I’m a big fan of salad so I was elated to find that their salad had the
perfect balance of their citrus herb vinaigrette, kalamata olives, and tomato.
I found that the pepitas gave the salad a nice crunch, a perfect replacement to
the crouton. Just after the salad we were given, yet another sample of their
beautifully prepared Skinny Rita-Tini. This adult beverage is only 140 calories
per glass. They substitute the margarita mix with agave nectar. Being a big fan
of margaritas, I would say that this was a light refreshment where the taste is
sacrificed to keep calories low. It definitely wasn’t bad, but I’d prefer my
calorie filled regular margarita. When
the entrees came out, my stomach was already feeling satisfied but I had to try
everything as to not let our readers down. So off I went into the depths of my
plate with Lily’s Chicken, Sirloin Steak, Grilled Mahi Mahi, Grilled Atlantic
Salmon, and Grilled Chilean Sea Bass.
Lets go down the list. Lily’s Chicken is fire roasted topped
with spinach, goat cheese and lemon basil butter. The chicken by itself was a
little dry but the butter and goat cheese helped that along nicely. The goat
cheese on top was a larger quantity than I would have liked, but overall it was
pretty tasty. The Sirloin Steak for me was just like any other steak. There was
no fan fare with this but if you like a nice piece of meat, you can’t go wrong
with steak. Grilled Mahi Mahi was topped with their Chimichurri sauce,
something I’m used to having with a skirt steak, but a fan of the sauce
nonetheless.
If you’ve had chimichurri prepared at a Latin restaurant, the one
at Bonefish Grill is a little milder on the taste buds but paired nicely with
the mahi mahi. The Grilled Atlantic
Salmon was topped with the lemon butter sauce. The fish was very nicely cooked
but with this salmon, I felt it was just as I expected. The Grilled Chilean Sea
Bass was topped with the mango salsa and I would say my favorite of the three
fishes. Chilean Sea Bass has a different texture of all fishes in my opinion,
but paired with the mango salsa was a delectable treat.
As if, all this food would be enough, they came out with an
Espresso Martini that was rimmed
with sugar and chocolate, Crème Brulee and
Flourless Chocolate Macadamia Nut Brownie. The Espresso Martini was yummy
because who could really resist sugar and chocolate. A few of these, and I
would have been sent to bed early. Crème Brulee is my favorite and Bonefish
Grill did not let me down here. It was fantastic. You always have room for
Crème Brulee no matter where you go. As I really wanted to dive into a
chocolate brownie, I couldn’t because of my allergy to macadamia nut. But as
the wonderful women by my side stated, it was to die for and worth traveling to
Bonefish Grill just to have that brownie. I’ll take their word for it.
Overall, the gluten free options at Bonefish Grill proved to
be a fine choice for a meal dining for any occasion. If you are someone who is
looking for gluten free food, I’d highly recommend going to Bonefish Grill.
When you do, make sure you tell your server of your concerns and a manager
should be alerted to your needs and assured that there is no cross
contamination when preparing your meal; part of the promise and service that
Bonefish Grill is committed to. I myself will be returning to try their sea
bass with the saucy shrimp sauce as recommended.
