Alma

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  My wife and I dined here while staying at the Hawks Cay Resort.
  
  We were promptly seated after checking on our reservations and offered table inside or our. The outdoor dining was great. It was not too hot nor humid.
  
  Donalene was our attentive and friendly server. She came by serveral times to check on us.
  
  Bethany, the manager, stopped by in the middle of dinner to ask how everything was. It's always nice to have a visit from the manager.
  
  We started with the Truffle Mariquitas ($7)
  Crispy fried plantain chips tossed in black truffle oil. These were delicious! It came with a cilantro olive oil dipping sauce. I could have eaten 5 plates of these!
  
  My wife and I shared the Latin Wedge Salad ($11)
  Baby iceberg, red and yellow tomato pico, chopped chives, queso fresco, plantain crisps, cilantro dressing.
  They were nice to split the salad for us onto two plates. This was a very light and refreshing salad. The cilantro dressing complemented the salad perfectly.
  
  I ordered the Alma's Seafood Paella ($39)
  Fresh Florida catch of the day, shrimp, lobster, clams, Spanish chorizo sausage,
  Calasparra Spanish rice, fresh peas in a saffron and sea food broth, caper and piquillo aioli.
  Huge portion enough for two. The dish was very flavorful and the seafood was fresh and plentiful.
  
  My wife ordered the Pan Roasted Scallops ($19) sans scallops, vegetarian style. They charged $19 instead of the normal $28 because we didn't get scallops.
  Bronzed potato gnocchi, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes, exotic mushroom fricassee
  
  The Key Lime Pie was the perfect dessert to end the meal. I loved how crumbly the crust was.
  
  I would definitely come back!

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  Posted on 06.10.13 Tim Y.

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  Welcome to the best (and only good) restaurant at Hawk's Cay Resort.  The food was delicious and the setting was upscale. Prices were high though, as one would expect (entrees started at about $30). And thankfully, they had a kids' menu too (with kid prices).
  
  After being seating at a table outside, I immediately tested the bar by ordering a Pisco Sour. Ooops...no could do, though the bartender came out to the table to offer some alternatives. I chose a green grape Calparinha, which he invented during our discussion.  It turned out to be very sweet but tasty.
  
  My pan-seared scallops were excellent, though an amuse bouche that came out beforehand was very clumsily done - a shrimp salad and cucumber thingy that tasted 100% of cucumber; nothing of shrimp.
  
  Nevertheless, everyone liked their meals and it was a enjoyable evening overall. The night sky was beautiful and a guitarist played by the fire pit just outside the restaurant patio.
  
  One slight oddity was that the staff here seemed a strange fit; it appeared almost everyone was plucked randomly from the general resort staff list.  For example, one guy bussing tables that night I saw doing cleanup around the resort pool the next day. Our waitress was also our waitress at breakfast two days later, but at a different restaurant.
  
  Tips and Tricks
  -- The interior of the restaurant is connected to the lobby, which is air-condtioned to the point of freezing; make a reservation for an outside table; or bring a sweater
  -- Only open for dinner; no lunch or afternoon cocktails
  -- Like most restaurants at the resort, meals and drinks can be charged to the room card

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  Posted on 04.28.13 Dan B.

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  Short and to the point. If you are staying at Hawks Cay this is the ONLY place to eat on the property that can actually be considered food. And it is quite delicious!
  
  The prices here are high but the food is well worth it. Excellent service too!

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  Posted on 03.04.13 Ryan H.

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  Very nice ambience and a delicious paella. Nicole was our waitress and she was wonderful and very attentive. Great experience overall.

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  Posted on 11.30.12 Pablo D.

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  Extensive breakfast buffet, at a pretty good price; maybe very good considering it is at a fancy resort. At lunch we had a Cobb salad and a taco salad and liked 'em a bunch. All in all, a good place to eat when staying at a great resort.

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  Posted on 11.10.12 alamedabrian m.

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  I was staying at the resort so the first night I decided to eat at the Alma restaurant rather than drive somewhere farther to eat. Turns out that was a bad decision, as the food is extremely overpriced and the menu is very limited. I opted for the entree sized scallops with mushrooms instead of the appetizer size, and it came with four scallops. How much does the appetizer come with? 2? The food was ok but for the price I would expect much better. I think the lounge area outside has a different and more affordable menu, but I'd skip the resort restaurants all together.

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  Posted on 06.09.12 Kristen R.

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  So, being 1 of 2 places to eat dinner at Hawk's Cay resort (see separate review), you are bound to stop in here if you stay for more than 2 days and don't want to go into Marathon (which you should do for better dining).  
  
  Do yourself a favor and order the pizza.  Best pizza I have had in a while.  Thin-ish bottom crust with a little bit more doughy crust around the outside of the pizza.  Loved it! Definitely exceeded my expectations.

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  Posted on 05.02.12 Sarah H.

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  Okay so not like anyone really reads Yelp in the Keys... (do they?) but it seems like Hawks Cay is set on it so here I go.
  
  I came to Hawks Cay last week and tried this place.  It's the first time I've been back since Hawks Cays' major renovation.  My parents own a villa at the resort so I used to come all the time.  So I'm well versed of the keys.
  
  So my friend (a vegetarian) and I decided to try it after reading a bit online, and seeing their sample menu which looked good.  
  
  When we got there, (a Tuesday night around 8:30) the menu was sort of sparse.  They only had 5-6 entrees and only one of them was fish.  Swordfish.  Really?  It's the keys.  Grouper?  Mahi-Mahi?  Stone Crab?!
  
  They were out of the vegetarian item my friend wanted, the veggie pasta or something?  So they just brought him a plate of veggies.  I got the swordfish which really didn't have much flavor and the black pepper sauce with it was not good, and was very overpowering.  The veggies were just boring.  Just steamed veggies.
  
  They were also out of the vodka in the raspberry drink I ordered... ahh the music was too loud, it was too expensive for what it was.  I liked the old place better before they renovated the resort.
  
  I really think this is one of many problems the new resort has.  They took a keys resort that needed some updating and made a modern South Beach type of place that doesn't fit in well.  
  
  I certainly won't be eating anywhere at this resort at any return trip to the keys.  There are too many good places in Marathon.  
  
  And this isn't just my experience.  I've asked a few people that have been here and their experience all echo the same thing.  
  
  Total flop.

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  Posted on 06.07.10 Jonathan S.

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  For the record, I am doing this separate from a review of the entire Hawk's Cay resort because I think people who come to this area in general need to know about this place if they wanna have a drink.
  
  Why?  
  
  Because it is Unlike Any Other Place I've been to on these islands. I appreciate the swarthy sailor dive bars, and the Conchyness of the more fine establishments that still retain that "Island" appeal, but in the long run, It gets really old and my heart wants to see a swanky lounge with big couches, and a classy appeal that I thought was only available in cities.
  
  Well, it's not.  This is a trendy looking lounge that someone stole out of the city and transplanted into this Hawk's Cay resort.  I scouted it out the other morning, just by chance - I'm like, "What is this island all about?"
  
  So I went into this resort, which, by the by, looks to be f---ing amazing!!  But let's not lose focus.  My gal wanted an espresso martini.  She swears the one she had from Alma was the best she has had; better than some other place she said made the best one up until last night's visit.
  
  I, being the guy I am, had one of my own, a little tweaked since I like them a little less sweet and not chocolaty or vanilla-ee.    The gal behind the bar knew her stuff.  I was so pleased with her I let her make me a second drink of her choosing.  I said, "I don't care what you make, I'll drink it."
  
  So she hooked it up and made me her Signature - The Pink Diamond.  Sure sure...  It sounds girly, but It was really good!  Props to her.  Then the "Euro Guy" bartender arrived on the scene.  He was a little too confident, not quite a chach all the way but just like he was confident in what he was doing but insecure about it at the same time which made him try to SEEM a little more confident.
  
  The thing is, he wasn't really annoying with it.   He was capable.  I taught him how to make a Peacock and he did it well.  The only thing he did wrong was when I was trying to tell him to flame an orange peel on top of the drink.  That's when I noticed his "Euro Guy" behavior.
  
  (PS - Google "Conan Euro Guy")  That's the Conan O'Brien skit I'm referring to when I use the term.  ;)
  
  He was like, "Of course...  I would know how to do it because I am from Europe."
  
  I was like, "What does that have to do with it?"
  
  "Well of course," he said, "Since most of the cocktails come from Europe It is natural I would know how to make them."
  
  I was like, "Did Vodka and Redbull come from Europe?"
  
  He just kind of chuckled but wasn't sure what to say.  I was having fun with him.
  
  But then after all that he Orange Flamed the Martini glass with no alcohol in it, and he did it behind the bar.  I decided to just let him do it because I was having a good time regardless.  The drink was good but the FLAIR he was missing was that you make and pour the drink FIRST and then orange flame the drink to finish it to add just a touch of flavor and a wonderful smell of orange effervescence to the part of the bar where the person is drinking.
  
  Still I liked this place.  We decided to sit back in their couch section and chill, which was really nice.
  
  Meanwhile let me mention something else - their Bar Mix.  It was almonds and corn nuts and some other stuff but it was delicious!  I swear it was the best bar munchies I've ever had.
  
  Lastly there's this option - right outside the bar door is this schmancy brick fire pit with a fire going.  You can plastic-cup your drink and go have it out there and chill, it's a beautiful view of this beach-resort type atmosphere right off the Atlantic.
  
  If you wanna see the coolest bar I've been to since I came to the Florida Keys, make a stop.  I need to get another Camera.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 01.17.10 Ronnie L.

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