Bedrock Cafe
01/06/2006 - By Trent Rowe The Ledger
Bedrock Cafe on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland has everything you would expect from a sports bar -- sports memorabilia, a big bar, TVs everywhere, and hustling servers sporting smiles.
Bedrock Cafe on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland has everything you would expect from a sports bar -- sports memorabilia, a big bar, TVs everywhere, and hustling servers sporting smiles.
Rick Fisher changed the name on the restaurant when he took over the space in mid-2004. Years ago, the building housed Cedar River Seafood. Today, it has a patio with umbrellas for nice days or evenings.
The Bedrock on Bartow Road will have a new owner and a new name soon, says Fischer.
Napkins come on rolls masquerading as paper towels, and each table or booth has two kinds of hot sauce. One menu serves for lunch and dinner, and there are enough selections to satisfy just about everyone.
You would expect a sports bar to have a large selection of appetizers, and Bedrock won't disappoint nibbles fans -- 17 choices and a Sampler platter -- for $3.95 to $8.95 under the heading "Good Stuff."
The Sampler Platter could feed a hungry sports fan if he or she is also a fan of fried foods ($8.95). A wooden tray almost overflowed with five fried mushrooms, five huge chicken wings, two cheese sticks, five onion rings, carrot sticks and celery. Marinara sauce and blue cheese came along for dipping.
The medium level spice sneaks up on you in the wings. One flapper and four drums, all a bit sticky and the size of small drumsticks, qualified as super in taste and size.
The mushrooms, though a bit spongy, tasted fine.
A dunk in marinara helped the hot, solid and oilless cheese sticks.
Rings of onion slid out of the crispy batter, but with batter this good no one cares much if there is onion or not.
At $8.95, nachos have to make a meal or snacks for a basketball team. A platter of corn chips had a good-sized container of good-sized jalapeno slices on the side and a couple of containers of sour cream. Breathe lightly or the pile of perfect-looking tomato chunks could avalanche into your lap.
With punchy chili and ribbons of romaine, there's more here than meets the eye. A little guacamole would be welcome.
Baked potato soup -- chunky, thick and hearty -- would be welcome on a chilly day. Bits of bacon and chunks of potato made it substantial ($3.95).
From the "Seafood" section, my wife chose coconut shrimp at $8.95. Eight well-browned, tasty shrimp could not hold the thin sauce that came with them. A thicker sauce would be better.
(English) Fish and Chips -- that's how it is on the menu -- bore little resemblance to English Fish and Chips. The large, uneven fillet of grouper ($8.95) had been dry-coated, not battered, before frying. Though a nice piece of fish properly cooked, it's not authentic and very hard to cut draped over a heap of double-cooked fries. Try a splash of vinegar.
Burgers come under the heading "Heavy Weight Sandwiches."
I asked for mine medium and got a thick, moist, beefy patty without a hint of pink that could hardly be seen, hidden under a layer of cheese ($5.45).
My wife's blackened mahi-mahi sandwich ($7.45) had two nice pieces of fish blackened to enhance, not hide, the fish flavor. The nip of spice came through later, moderated by two slices of tomato.
A long bun covered with slices of turkey loaf under melted cheese would have benefited from real turkey ($5.95). Slaw on the side featured a vinegar base with onion overtones.
Turtle Cheesecake ($3.95) was the dessert du jour. Painting the plate with fruit sauces made the commercial dessert look special. We've seen this before but thanks to nuts, chocolate and caramel, it's always pleasant to remake its acquaintance.
Ten fried apple sticks ($5.25) looked like fried cheese, but the crispy exterior held tiny bits of nicely spiced apple. Powdered sugar, jam or honey would have been nice.
According to the latest health inspection by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, on June 16, 2005, no items of "critical concern" were found.
A few things the restaurant could do to improve are:
• Change the name of the (English) fish and chips or change the fish coating.
• Have guacamole available with nachos.
• Have a thicker sauce with coconut shrimp.
• Put real turkey in the turkey melt.
One, actually two, nice things about two meals here, was (were) the servers. Both blended professional service and big smiles.
Bedrock Cafe earns three starts.
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