RESTAURANT REVIEW: Beach Walk Cafe offers wonderful food, view

In April, Henderson Park Inn’s Beach Walk Café re-opened under the direction of chefs Greg Dupas and Charles Lee. Both were formerly with Marina Café and Beach Walk Café.

The food

After taking our drink order, our server, Bernadette, brought us a basket of rustic Tuscan bread and prepared a dipping sauce of Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic and spices.

We have been to quite a few restaurants that do this, but no one’s dipping sauce has compared to Beach Walk’s.

We finished the first basket of bread, and Bernadette was happy to bring us more.

We chose the special appetizer of the evening, stacked portabella mushrooms, to begin our meal. A mixture of sautéed spinach and goat cheese was placed between two grilled portabella mushrooms.

Other choices included a tomato and shrimp soup, crab meat spring rolls, tempura lobster tail, Kung Pao shrimp, eggplant medallions with crabmeat, crab cakes and grouper cheeks.

Beach Walk offers a classic Caesar salad, a house salad, romaine wedge and a caprese. Our choices were the House and the caprese.

If you have ever ordered a house salad and been disappointed with iceberg lettuce and a wedge of tomato, this definitely won’t be the case at Beach Walk.

Their house salad includes Boston bibb lettuce, Kumato tomatoes, Vidalia onions, carrots, cucumber, purple cabbage and, feta cheese and is served with a cilantro and sundried tomato vinaigrette.

The generous caprese salad, with house-made mozzarella, is also a wonderful option.

Beach Walk Café offers 10 entrees including fish, shrimp, chicken, venison and beef. There are also several specials each evening.

The evening of our visit, we chose one of the specials, the grilled duck breast, and a menu item, the filet and lobster tail.

The perfectly grilled, soy glazed duck breast was served sliced on a bed of basmati rice with wild mushrooms and broccolini.

The chargrilled 8-ounce center cut filet was paired with a broiled 7-ounce lobster tail. The filet was perfectly cooked and melt-in-your mouth tender.

Fingerling potatoes and broccolini completed the plate.

Although entrees are complete meals, side dishes are also offered at Beach Walk. They include grilled or steamed asparagus, marinated bok choy, garlic spinach and mashed potatoes.

Jumbo crabmeat is offered as an add-on.

Make sure you leave room for dessert. The night of our visit, a bread pudding had been added to the menu.

Since we were the first guests to order it, Chef Lee himself brought the dessert to our table.

A delicious warm apple cinnamon bread pudding was served over a thick berry puree with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

The atmosphere

The color scheme and furnishings at Beach Walk are understated.

With one of the most beautiful beaches in the world just outside your windows, you don’t need a lot of decoration.

The colors of the sunset wash over the room and create a soothing ambiance.

If you prefer, there are tables on the veranda with even more amazing views.

Lingering over your meal at Beach Walk is more the rule than the exception.

The service

Our server was knowledgeable about the food and enjoyed talking about its preparation when asked.

Attention to detail and the fact that everyone goes out of their way to make your dining experience special makes for excellent service.

For example, when the bill was presented to the gentleman, each lady was given a long-stemmed red rose.

A final taste

If you are looking for a dining experience with wonderful food in a beautiful setting with excellent service, visit Henderson Park Inn’s Beach Walk Café.

QUICKBITES

Beach Walk Cafe

Location

Henderson Park Inn

2700 Scenic Highway 98

Destin

650-7100

Hours

5:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Reservations

Recommended

Handicap accessibility

Good

Children’s menu

No

Price range

Appetizers $8 - $16

Salads $8 - $10

Entrees $22 - $49

Sides $5 - $7

Dessert $8 - $10

Payment

Credit cards accepted