One of the best parts of vacation is finding those places that you will go to over and over again. The title should explain our experience at Caps on the Water in St. Augustine, Florida. We have been coming to St. Augustine as a couple for 10 years now, and this was the first time we had even heard of Caps. As we sat on the beach and contemplated where we wanted to eat that evening, we knew wanted oysters Rockefeller, so we Googled the best in St. Augustine and found Caps.
Our philosophy on restaurants is that there are three main components to the success of a restaurant. Believe me, it goes way past how good the food is. The holy trinity of a restaurant is the convergence of the food, the atmosphere, and the service. None more important than the other, but all could make a restaurant experience a nightmare. Fortunately for Caps on the Water, they excelled in two phases of the trinity. The food and the atmosphere was outstanding. The service left a lot to be desired, but I will get into that later.
First, the atmosphere was second to none. Situated on the bay in Vilano Beach, the restaurant deck over looks the bay with low hanging tress and perfectly placed fans. The atmosphere is jovial and relaxed, as is the dress. Nice shorts and flops are more than enough, but khaki pants and a polo are also perfect for this restaurant. We truly loved our seating arrangements, but if you cringe at outdoor dining, then the dining room is also available.
The food, as with the atmosphere, was amazing. We of course ordered the appetizer (oysters Rockefeller) that led us to this gem and was greeted with six healthy oysters covered in spinach, cheese, and bits of bacon. The oysters were not too big, but they were big enough that six were the perfect amount for a pre-meal snack. I ordered the stuffed flounder with lemon and tomato orzo. While my eating experiences are not worldly, the stuffed flounder from Caps was easily one of the top five fish dishes I have ever had. The fish came wrapped around one of Caps' crab cakes served over a bed of lemon and tomato orzo. The whole dish was brought together with an amazing cream sauce with shrimp. The fish was seasoned perfectly and the cream sauce was literally drinkable. The crab cake was almost all crab meat and little breading and it complimented the fish. Heaven on earth was a fork full of all of the ingredients on the plate. Each part of the dish had a complex flavor that never over powered the other ingredients. Again, simply an amazing meal.
My wife was equally impressed with the herb crusted grouper with a mushroom orzo. I have to admit that the one taste of her grouper left me speechless. The fish was cooked to absolute perfection that left the grouper flaky and smooth. While this may not seem like a good analogy, the fish was as smooth as cream cheese when it was eaten. The herb crust with parsley, basil, rosemary, and mint was light and accentuated the flavor of the grouper. By the end of the meal I was somewhat jealous that I did not get to enjoy the entire piece of fish and that my wife did. However, she did mention that her mushroom orzo was a little under seasoned, I was happy that I still had my shrimp cream sauce. Overall, we both agreed that the food at Caps was, by far, some of the best food we had eaten.
The only phase that Caps fell short of my expectations, sometimes too lofty, was the service. I never want to feel as if I am an inconvenience to you and at times I felt that the Caps staff was a little to preoccupied to make my wife and me feel like we were the only ones in the restaurant. While that may seem impossible to some, that should be the goal of all wait staff. It was very interesting as my wife and I had a great conversation during our meal, that most of the wait staff that are truly exceptional are older people. College-aged students, while in need of a job for obvious reasons, rarely make great servers. What may have been more interesting about the service at Caps, was the fact that our server was training another young lady, but I felt that the trainee was better prepared and more personable than the one she was being trained by. As first time visitors, which we made clear we were, we were not offered any suggestions or even engaged in any conversation. Perhaps the most personable encounter came when the young man, who is originally from Alabama, brought out our main course and noticed our distinctly southern accent. "Georgia," he said, "You guys must be from Georgia." If the service from the start was as personable and meaningful as this young man, Caps on the Water would have received five stars from us.
I am including a link to the restaurant below and hope that if you are in the St. Augustine area, that you will give Caps a try.
http://www.capsonthewater.com/
Enjoy!
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