This week’s Dining with Dad was a special occasion. This coincided with Alex’s 17th birthday! Since it was going to be the same day, I asked Alex if he wanted to pick the cuisine. He actually went one step further and asked if we could go to the Ocean Club. Much of the enjoyment the kids get from DWD is the surprise of not knowing where we are going. Knowing that, I had him pick the cuisine and I had somewhere else in mind. But after thinking about how I threw him off the trail, we could go to the Ocean Club and he’d still be surprised. The plan worked and he had no idea we were going there until we walked up to the front entrance.

We had reservations so we were able to get seated after a short wait. The kids ordered their Shirley Temple’s while I went for a glass of Chianti. They brought out some sourdough bread and soft pretzel sticks that we enjoyed while we looked over the menu.

Alex was immediately drawn to the Wagyu steak, but it was 16 ounces! He was asking if either of us wanted to split it with him but Chloe and I both wanted something seafood. They had a Wagyu steak as the special of the night so Alex was able to pick the number of ounces he wanted so he did this. I learned my lesson to pay attention to the prices when they are explaining the specials. That one hurt the wallet! But Alex loved it and the small bit he gave me I see why. It was delicious. He also got a side of parmesan fries.

I wasn’t quite sure what Chloe would get but I did have an idea. She asked about why they didn’t have crab cakes, which they do, but she wasn’t seeing because it was on the appetizer menu. She was mentioning how she was hungry as she only had a single slice of pizza for lunch at school, so I pointed her towards the bowl of lobster bisque too, which I know she loves. When the meals came out, they brought her crab cake first and put it in front of her. Then they brought out a bowl with just a bunch of lobster in the bottom. She looked at me confused, and I looked back just as confused. Then the person delivering food returned with a carafe of the soup that he poured into the bowl. Had I known the presentation, I would have been camera ready. Chloe loved the presentation and the taste of the soup and crab cake.

I knew I wanted seafood but really had no idea what. Megan was talking me into the sea bass prior to going. I was between three or four different dishes and I think ultimately came down to the sides that were paired with each one and what I was feeling at the time. Given this, I decided to go with the Blackened Snapper. It came with Corn Spoon Bread, Swiss Chard, and Corn Emulsion. I had both kids try it as it was so good! They both loved it too.

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