Dinner at The Breakers

After the first day of driving north on the A1A Florida coastal highway, I ended up in Palm Beach around dinnertime. There’s a grand historic hotel here, The Breakers, built by Henry Flagler back in 1896. I’m no stranger to wandering around expensive hotels I’m not staying in, so I thought I’d have dinner here and take a look around. Most places like this have some sort of cafe that’s not too crazy expensive.

Outside The Breakers

There is no denying The Breakers is a stunning hotel, especially from the outside. When driving in like me, you are directed to a parking lot to the left of the main drive and entrance.

Around the side, there’s a beautiful walk back to the beach and the pools. There are five pools here, none large, but very stylish. I didn’t get pictures since there were people in them.

Inside The Breakers

The lobby of The Breakers is a long hallway perpendicular to the entrance. As you enter, your eyes are magnetically drawn to the Italian-style ceilings and massive chandeliers.

Down the North Loge to the left is a large bar room, the historic Florentine Room. Massive wine storage dominates one end of this room, just so you know what you’re here for.

The restaurant/club in the Florentine Room is called HMF, for Henry M. Flagler.

Down to the right of the lobby is the South Loge which takes you back to the Seafood Bar and lots of meeting rooms.

The Seafood Bar

I ended up eating at the Seafood Bar, a restaurant in the back of the resort. It’s a beautiful, slick space that makes me think of the interior of a luxury car. Leather booths, inset ceilings, spherical lighting, and the showpiece, a bar top that’s actually an aquarium.

It’s on the ocean side, so there is a fantastic view if you’re near a window.

The Food

SO, was the food as good as the scenery? Unfortunately not. And it was expensive! Had I paid less, I might have had a better opinion.

For just under $85, I got a grapefruit margarita, a swordfish sandwich with fries, and a slice of their original, 125-year old key lime pie recipe.

The margarita was all alcohol with a salt rim – I really missed the sharp grapefruit taste. I would have preferred a bigger glass with the same amount of alcohol and more juice. The blackened swordfish sandwich was fine but I felt that the main flavor profile was the salt from the blackening. I found myself wishing for some special sauce to bring some actual flavor. After eating about half the fries, which came with Old Bay seasoning, I was feeling a major salt overload.

I thought maybe I’d redeem my meal with the “original recipe” key lime pie and it was good. But I prefer more tartness in this pie and this was definitely on the creamy and sweet side. (I will say that the crust was amazing.) So overall, my meal was expensive and bland! Maybe I just ordered the wrong things – I was trying not to be too expensive.

At any rate, it was fun to walk around The Breakers and see it even if I didn’t enjoy my meal so much. I’ll leave you with a photo from the back of the resort.