RESTAURANT REVIEW OF THE SEA

This South East Asian kitchen brings to west Boca Raton a Thai/Sushi cuisine that covers over a hundred dishes from soups, salads, small plates from the Sushi Bar, Asian Market Noodles to entrees, sushi rolls and sashimi/sushi treats.

This standard menu is in addition to Chef Specials that change monthly, this April featuring a half dozen chilled taste delights that set the pace for the selection of standard menu fare.

Carlene, Joanne, Barry and Marc tasted a fantastic Lobster, Shrimp Wonton soup with enoki mushrooms, scallions and asparagus in a clear broth…a perfect soup! The Tom Yum Young Coconut soup has a half dozen ingredients but no discernable cocoanut flavor. Two other soups are listed.

Of the seven salads presented, we chose the Mango Soft Shell Crab Salad with fried crab, tomatoes, mango, red onion, bell peppers, cashew nuts, mixed greens and a nice Thai lime dressing. A large portion of fresh, crisp palate treats.

“The small plates from the kitchen” list had the usual edamame, chicken or pork or vegetable dumplings… available steamed or fried with a variety of dipping sauces. All were light wrappers with distinctive tastes. We tried a Soft Shell Crab Summer Roll, a Viet Roll and a Summer Roll, all well stocked with a myriad of fine ingredients.

Three outstanding items to order are the fine lobster shrimp shumai, the tender fried calamari tempura rings with a chili sea salt and sweet chili sauce-then a superior Tamarind Glazed Sea Scallops with Thai  mango salad of red shallots, cilantro and tomato in a lime dressing- don’t miss it! The Lemongrass Mussels in broth was much too salty for us to enjoy but the standard shrimp tempura, fried giant shrimp with sweet potato slices, zucchini slices and sprigs of broccoli were just fine.

Some fourteen listings are featured as Small Plates, From The Sushi Bar. These are excellent plated dishes, both hot and cold. We sampled an unusual dish…Wagyou Beef … thin slices of superior beef which we gently cooked at tableside on a hot river stone to dip into yuzu dipping sauce – a wining “event”.

Seventeen Asian Market Noodle dishes are listed – we’ll sample on our next visit.

Of the fourteen entrees, we selected the Boca Shore…a gently steamed 8 ounce Chilean Sea Bass with sautéed ginger, red onions, peppers, shitake mushrooms, snow peas, scallions and cashew nuts – available with jasmine rice or, our choice, brown rice. This was the finest treatment of sea bass – a must try! The other entrée tasted was Blue River Shrimp. Jumbo Grilled Shrimp in Asian spices topped with a tamarind reduction, shallots, scallions and tempura bok choy shards – also a choice of jasmine or brown rice. Both these entrees were large portions with superior tastes.

We noted 29 sushi rolls, 4 cucumber wrapper rolls and 7 small rolls in addition to a roster of single- portion fresh fish cuts of the day.

FYI – each dish was an artistic presentation - each dish was an ample portion and each dish had a distinctive flavor. We cannot recall tasting better.

The Sea is located at 16950 Jog Road in Boca Raton (561-270-3569), seating 100 diners inside and 24 on patio. Luncheon is served from 11:30AM to 4PM Monday through Friday, from noon to 4PM on Saturday. Dinner hours Monday through Thursday from 4PM to 10PM, Friday and Saturday from 4PM to 10:30PM and Sunday from 5PM to 10PM. Reservations suggested.

The Sea serves wine, beer and sake only. It is a lively modern bistro, opened in December of 2013 with a caring and informative staff and management. We suggest you…Go and Enjoy!