Bamboozles Bar & Grill / Coral Springs
Important: This article was last updated on August 7, 2009. Please call ahead to confirm hours, prices, dates and other information.
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10365 Royal Palm Blvd., Coral Springs
954-346-7260
bamboozlesbar.com
Cuisine: American
Cost: inexpensive
Hours: lunch, dinner
Tuesday-Sunday
Reservations: accepted but not necessary
Credit cards: AE, MC, V
Bar: full service
Sound level: recorded background music could be softer
Outside smoking: yes
For kids: boosters, high chairs, menu
Wheelchair accessible: yes
First Impression: This cavernous restaurant has a no-frills masculine almost sports bar feel. Tables are bare and the napkins are the heavy duty paper kind, all of which fits right into a comfy neighborhood spot where you can pop in wearing shorts and sneakers. Having been here before under other incarnations, I can't help but wonder if yet one more try, especially one with a wallet friendly eclectic menu, can hit a home room at a location carrying the ghosts of several occupants past.
Ambience: Dark and casual with tubular red lighting in one room and midnight blue low hanging lights in the other. Walls coated in navy and gold paint form the background for leather booths and a big bar where there seems to be more action than in the dining room.
Starters: Overkill on the jazzy Thai chili sauce surrounding Jumpen Shrimp ($9.95 for 4 biggies) made the otherwise nicely cooked shrimp look lost on the extra large platter they arrived on. Prince Edward Island Mussels Pan Roasted with Yellow and Red Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic ($9.95) is a signature dish with surprisingly sharp vinegary saucing. Flatbreads, as thin and crisp as a cracker, come in several variations ($6.25): Mexican taco, shrimp scampi, chicken cutlet parmesan, with sliced tomatoes with mozzarella and pesto or topped with "burnt" broccoli and roasted garlic.
Entree excellence: We'll stick with our Mom's meatloaf, thank you, since this one has pine nuts that seem out of place and was unappealing mushy in the center ($12.50). Do try the Jimmy Buff Italian hot dog ($7.95). For the uninitiated, Jimmy Buff is a Newark, N.J., spot specializing in deep-fried hot dogs topped with sauteed peppers, onions and potatoes. As a grand finale, the whole kit and kaboodle is stuffed into pizza dough bread. This one isn't the real deal, but the interpretation is admirable. The two Sabrett dogs are grilled, not fried, and combined with peppers, onions and potatoes inside ciabatta bread. The $6.50-$8.25 slider roster includes Black Angus, blackened fish, mini crab cake, chicken cutlet parmesan and — our favorite — a winning tuna melt made with white tuna on pillow-soft mini buns. Skip the penne Bolognese ($11) unless you like meat ground so fine it's almost not there and an uneventful sauce. Hopefully, some menu tweaking will turn this into a solid neighborhood gathering spot.
Sweet!: A moist enjoyable bread pudding ($5.95) is made in-house and there's a nice fresh coconut custard layer cake ($5.95) that's just as worthwhile.
Service: Sweet, but more familiarity with the menu would benefit the experience.
— Judith Stocks
Contact dining correspondent Judith Stocks at judithstocksreviews@yahoo.com.