I was driving between Fort Myers and Shark Valley in Everglades National Park. I was driving along SR 90, known as Tamiami (i.e. Tampa to Miami) Trail or Alligator Alley, well past the Naples exit and I was concerned that I was going to run out of food options and I hadn't eaten all day. I had a reservation for the Shark Valley Tram and figured I had about 30 minutes to eat and still catch the Tram. I spotted Lagoona Grille Restaurant and Bar, with a Naples address, but well outside Naples. I walked in and nearly walked out. The one guy running the place was unfriendly, kind of surly, but I was hungry. So I stayed. I ordered the Gator Basket with beer breaded alligator. After all, this is Alligator Alley and I figured maybe they could cook alligator. I also ordered Key lime pie, as it is relatively close to the Florida Keys where that was made famous.
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| Beer breaded alligator and french fries. |
And I was pleasantly surprised. It was some of the best alligator I've ever eaten and I've eaten alligator quite a few times. The light coating of batter added a nice salty taste and the alligator nuggets were very juicy, not over-cooked. I think this may be the best way to cook alligator. The Key lime pie was not bad, I've had much worse. So what looked like it was going to be a culinary disaster turned out to be more than okay.
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| Nice salty, crispy outer layer and moist and juicy inner alligator meat. |
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| The Key lime pie was pretty heavy and had a nice lime kick. |
Would I go there again for a full meal, probably not unless I was in the same circumstance, but I wouldn't hesitate to stop and get some more breaded alligator nuggets. I'm going to have to experiment with that way of cooking alligator on my own.
What is that blue stuff on the key lime pie? It doesn't look too appetizing.
ReplyDeleteI ended up scraping some of that stuff off. But the Key lime pie itself was kind of thick and a little cold, similar to what we had at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami Beach (although it was not as good as that).
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