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Restaurant review

Savor this island experience

A Clearwater barbecue and seafood restaurant has reinvented itself as a Caribbean-themed destination worth visiting.

By Laura Reiley
Published April 19, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Scott Keeler] The Island Seafood Platter with grilled mahi, crab cake, crispy coconut prawn and fried shrimp.

Dancing With the Stars is responsible.

A couple of years ago, if you had asked the average person what a rumba is, you likely would have gotten a blank stare.

Now, because of the dance show's popularity, millions can stumble through an explanation that the rumba is a sensuous dance with a slow Latin beat. It is the Dance of Seduction.

So when Nick Papas, Tom Pritchard and Frank Chivas Salt Rock Grill, Island Way Grill, Marlin Darlin' retooled Hogfish Grill and opened it in February as Rumba Island Bar & Grill, we knew what they were going for: an Afro-Cuban beat that gets your hips swinging, a little "Islands" flirtation and some rum drinks at the ba'.

They deliver. The barbecue and seafood restaurant has been reinvented as a lively Caribbean joint with well-conceived food and reasonable prices. Seduction, indeed.

The sign outside still looks a little temporary, but in every other way the transformation is complete, with Ziggy Marley's Tomorrow People on the sound system, two-for-one margaritas, fruity rum drinks and a new wide patio bar with tiki torches to set the mood.

But it's the food that most effectively teleports you to the Caribbean.

There's still barbecue and a wide net of fresh fish, but now it's accented with kicky jerk aiolis, tropical salsas, big squeezes of lime or a splash of coconut milk. Most entrees are served with a choice of two generous sides (almost all deserve your full attention), but the appetizers are too good to pass up.

One night our favorite was the jerk chicken wings ($6.99), flats and drummettes shellacked with a sweet-smoldery cranberry jerk sauce courtesy of genuine Jamaican chef Donald Chambers. But we also made short work of a plate of Tabasco-dredged, cornmeal-crusted fried green tomatoes ($3.99) that come with a white ceramic spoon of tangy aioli.

Pair a basket of little scotchbonnet/cheddar corn muffins (99 cents for six) with a quenching Red Stripe ($3.75; a pint of Dunedin wheat apricot is super tempting, too, for $6.25) and you're starting to feel like you're on island time.

Don't disregard time entirely, though, because between 11:30 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. a dozen dishes are offered at just about half price. An entree of smoky pork ribs is $5.99 for the early bird, but at 6 p.m. goes to $12.49; either way the ribs are juicy and the sauce nicely flavored with mango.

With the ribs, order sides of Jamaican greens, redolent of smoky bacon, along with mashed sweet potato. Or choose braised green cabbage with the garlicky red-skinned mashed potatoes. The only ho-hum side is the coconut rice, a bland short-grained white (sweeter basmati or jasmine take to coconut so much better) just barely touched with the flavor of coconut.

The entree list is especially suited to the indecisive - with loads of combo platters that may pair citrus-marinated chicken with pork ribs and fried shrimp ($13.99) or a seafood festival of grilled mahi, a heavy-on-the-filler crab cake, delicious coconut prawns and more fried shrimp ($13.99).

A series of shrimp and rice bowls come draped with pan-seared or grilled fresh fish, much of it caught by the company's fishing boats.

Still undecided? The staff of fun-loving, khaki-wearing individualists metes out honest advice along with accurate dish descriptions.

In a peaked-roof, barnlike space that was once Young's BBQ, the new palette features natural colors like terra-cotta and pale pea for a soothing overall effect. Bamboo scaffolding, booths and room dividers make the big open dining room more intimate and less noisy, and a mural of the Bahamian islands provides further setting.

No need, really - a couple more songs by Ziggy's dad, a rum punch and you're there.

Laura Reiley dines anonymously and unannounced. The St. Petersburg Times pays all expenses. A restaurant's advertising has nothing to do with selection for review or the assessment. Reiley can be reached at (727) 892-2293 or lreiley@sptimes.com.

Review

Rumba Island Bar & Grill

1800 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., Clearwater

(727) 446-7027

Cuisine: Caribbean

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Details: American Express, Visa, MasterCard; reservations accepted; full bar.

Prices: Dinner entrees $6.49-$19.49

[Last modified April 18, 2007, 10:14:30]