When friends visit from the north, they almost always want to eat seafood at a place on the water. Often, especially here in Broward, this means taking them somewhere where the food is not great (hey, be happy with the view) and overpriced.
Sunday, though, we drove our guests south to the Rickenbacker Fish Company at the foot of the causeway on Key Biscayne. Open only a couple months, the place was bigger than I expected, with a large, second-story tiki hut which was already crowded at 6:30 - a sign that this is a throwback fish house, not another trendy restaurant. The music consisted of songs you knew the words to.
We started with conch fritters, conch salad (because they were out of ceviche) and steamed clams. "I don't usually eat fried food," said Lukasz, grabbing another fritter. The clams were wonderfully plump and tasty.
This was followed by various fishes - snapper, mahi, sea bass - and a delicious paella with a bit of a kick. (The paella is for one, a rare nod to the lone diner who craves Spain's national dish.)
The Key lime pie was, as co-owner Brad Lotspeich had advertised, worthy of the Keys.
But the real surprise was yet to come. On my way out, I walked into the men's room and entered a busy, black-and-white world. Every flat surface - not just the walls but the stalls - was papered with old-time photographs of Florida and fishing. You could spend an hour examining the photos individually, while the overall effect was almost hallucinogenic. It is quite possibly the world's most picturesque men's room.
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