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Welcome 
Casablanca Seafood Bar & Grill
400 NW North River Drive, Miami, FL 33128
305-371-4107
www.casablancaseafood.com
Lunch and Dinner every day from 11 am to 11 pm
Complimentary valet parking
Reviewed by: BeBe King
Food: 
Service:
Get up close and personal with the ships on the Miami River
Have you ever noticed how much better seafood tastes when you eat it next to water? In the case of Casablanca Seafood Bar and Grill, the good taste is enhanced not only by the proximity to the Miami River but also by the fact that the proprietors are fishermen and part of their business is a fish market. The Lazaro and Jorge Sanchez families’ fish market was evicted from Watson Island in 2005. They moved to Joe’s Restaurant on the Miami River, changed the name and remodeled it into this excellent establishment. Their motto is, “From our boats to your table”, and the freshness of their fish and seafood is discernible in every mouthful they serve.
As soon as you are seated, your server will bring you small pots of delicious smoked fish spread and a basket of sesame crackers. Among the appetizers, we tried the Isla Morada Crab Cakes with Smokey Tomato Salsa, Cord and Citrus Cream. They were good and the whipped cream was a lovely compliment to them, but we prefer crab cakes made with lump meat. Other starters include Conch Fritters, Coconut Shrimp, Steamed Little Neck Clams and Crispy Fried Calamari. The raw bar offers Oysters on the Half Shell, a couple of Ceviches and, of course, Stone Crab Claws.
The Lobster Bisque was very good, with generous amounts of lobster meat in the mix. A Grouper Aguadito is a clear soup with grouper, cilantro and optional rice. An Island Style Conch Chowder includes vegetables, tomato broth and “island spices”. The menu offers several salads: Grilled Salmon, Chicken Club Salad, Caesar Salad with an option to add mahi mahi, shrimp or chicken and a small house salad.
The Chilled Seafood Platter
On our first visit, for an introductory sampling of Casablanca’s best, we ordered two dishes: The Chilled Seafood Platter is a two-storey tower of stone crab claws, jumbo shrimp, mussels and clams in which everything was perfectly cooked and presented on a bed of shaved ice. It is served with cocktail and mignonette sauces. A Grilled Seafood Platter consisted of fish, shrimp, mussels and tiny scallops smothered in tomatoes and fried onions with lime and cilantro mayonnaise and beurre blanc; it was amazing and delicious. We had also ordered Grilled Shrimp. Our solicitous and fatherly server told us that would be too much food and he didn’t bring it. Just as well, since both platters were huge. We shared them among three of us and could almost not finish the very generous portions.
The Grilled Seafood Platter
We got the missing Shrimp on a subsequent visit and also had the Grilled Florida Lobster. They are part of a list of fish and seafood one can order grilled, blackened, pan-seared or fried. In addition, the list includes snapper, grouper, kingfish, salmon, mahi mahi, Chilean seabass, ahi tuna, scallops and queen conch. One may choose a sauce from among salsa verde, caper-garlic-tomato sauce, ajillo (garlic sauce), lemon butter or simply lemon and lime segments. With these dishes, you get to select a side of rice, potatoes or vegetables. We thought the Yuca Fries, which were served with a tomato-mayonnaise sauce, were sensational. The Yellow Rice was studded with pieces of fish.
A Casablanca signature dish is Florida Lobster stuffed with crab, shrimp and scallops. (For those unfamiliar with the local lobster, they are “spiny lobster” [panulirus argus] and have antennae but no claws.) Other house specialties are Lobster and Shrimp Pasta, Paella and Sopon Marinero of shrimp, scallops, fish, calamari and lobster in a tomato-saffron broth. For those who don’t fancy seafood (who could that possibly be?), the menu offers steaks, ribs, chicken, burgers and beef empanadas. A children’s menu includes fish fingers, burgers, chicken and macaroni and cheese.
Key Lime Pie at Casablanca Seafood Bar & Grill
Desserts are the usual Key Lime Pie, Flan, Tres Leches and Cheesecake. The Key Lime Pie was quite good, especially after we squeezed some lime juice over it to cut the sweetness, but we advise spending your calories on the fish and seafood which are the strong suits in this fine restaurant.
Casablanca’s wine list includes a choice of American and foreign reds, whites and sparkling wines at generally modest prices. We sampled a house Chardonnay from Brownstone of California, which was a good pairing with our seafood entrées, and a Brownstone Cabernet. The rich Carlos Basso Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina was especially good. A full bar and beer are also available.
The best tables are on this long porch overlooking the river traffic
At Casablanca you definitely want to ask for a table on the long porch overlooking the river, where you can get up close and personal with the river traffic. To reach the porch, you walk past a long open kitchen and a display of fresh fish and seafood reposing on piles of shaved ice. If you arrive by boat, you may dock at the restaurant’s private wharf. This is a “white table cloth” restaurant with a simple décor redolent of old Florida and it is immaculately clean -- think Key West without the funk. One receives a warm welcome and the service is efficient and very friendly.
The Miami River, the fifth largest port in Florida, drains the Everglades into Biscayne Bay. Recent research indicates that the mouth of the river was home to the Tequesta Indians as early as the 8th century B.C. The tribe has disappeared, although some vestiges of their civilization can still be found. Spanish missions in the 16th and 18th centuries and American settlers in the 19th century also established themselves on the shores of the river, but rampant development of the last sixty years has replaced almost every sign of earlier habitation with condos, hotels and office buildings. However, the view from Casablanca shows that the river has not succumbed entirely to gentrification. The 32 terminals on the river, all privately-owned, ship millions of tons of cargo every year and link Miami to the shallow draft ports of the Caribbean, Central and South America.
The slow pace of the river and the informal ambience at Casablanca will encourage you to linger. The fresh and delicious food will lure you back again and again.
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