Costa d’Este is one of those resorts, even though it’s in our own backyard, makes you feel as if you have been transported to a tropical vacation destination far from Vero. As you walk up to the resort, the unique waterfall architecture unmistakably draws your eye. The grounds are very well maintained and quite tropical with lots of large palm trees all around. As you pass through the front door, you step into a modern chic sitting area in the lobby highlighted with blue accent lighting. The restaurant is just a few steps to the right and through a stone arch with only their logo to identify what it is. As you enter the dining room, you will notice a large table surrounded by a chainmail wall. This is their VIP table that can be used for special occasions & events. With the push for more outside dining options during the pandemic, they have made accommodations to add additional seating on the patio around the pool. You can now choose to sit at a few high tops just outside of the restaurant, or you can now sit in the ocean front cabana bar area and order from the full restaurant menu.
Now let’s dive right in and see what this place has to offer and what I had to eat and drink!Resort Front EntranceInside Dining RoomNew High Top TablesOutsideCabana Bar – You can now dine out here with full menu from The WaveIn House Branded WhistlePig Single Barrel Rye Whiskey – Special in-house private label whiskey. It was strong, yet smooth. I enjoyed it served over ice.Baby Spinach Salad – Apple Chips, Walnuts, Apple Smoked Bacon, Red Onion, Cherry Tomatoes, Radicchio, Hardboiled Egg, topped with an Apple Cider Vinaigrette. All ingredients were very fresh. The vinaigrette was light and flavorful!Grilled Octopus & House Cured Pork Belly – Garbanzos, Parsley, Charred Lemon, Blistered Tomatoes, Fennel, Garlic Confit, and topped with a Salsa Verde sauce. Both the Octopus and Pork Belly were fork tender and just melted in my mouth. The tomatoes were tender and sweet, and the Salsa Verde added a fresh & tangy flavor to the dish.Saffron Tomato Seafood Stew – The stew included clams, Mussels, Calamari, Octopus, Shrimp, White Fish, Pernod, Rouille, Saffron-Tomato broth, and topped with Grilled Bread. Due to the amount of dishes served during a review, I normally only take a few bites and take the rest home with me, but this stew was so fantastic that I ate the whole thing! The seafood was perfectly cooked and that broth was so tasty! That bread was the perfect vessel to help soak up and enjoy even more of that broth!Truffled Crab & Shrimp Scampi – The pasta dish is made with Shrimp & Crab, Garden of Esther Squid Ink Linguini, Tomatoes, and the sauce is a Truffled-Herb Butter, Shallot, and White Wine Sauce. This is a unique twist on such a classic dish and it works very well. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the sauce was light and flavorful! This was my first time trying Squid Ink pasta. It imparts more color than flavor to the dish, so don’t hesitate to try it next time you are here!12 oz Australian Wagyu New York Strip – While this happens to be the most expensive steak on the menu ($65), it’s worth every penny! The steak arrived on a wooden board sitting on top of a hot stone, and it was still sizzling when it arrived. The aroma when they sat it down in front of me was intoxicating. The stone stays hot for quite a while, thus allowing you to enjoy your steak at temperature. My first bite was salty (perfect amount), fatty, and it had a wonderful char flavor that I can’t stop thinking about. Hands down, one of the best steaks I’ve tasted in quite a while.Tres Leches Cake – Sponge cake is served in a pool of milk and topped with whipped cream & strawberries.
Thomas Miller, known as “The Treasure Coast Foodie” and “The Foodie Guy,” is a celebrated food blogger, owner, and Editor in Chief of The Treasure Coast Foodie Blog, as well as the host and producer of Holy Grail Eats, where he spotlights one-of-a-kind restaurants and exceptional “Holy Grail” dishes. With ten years of experience, he has reviewed over 300 local restaurants, and his food photography captures the appetites of tens of thousands of followers each month. As the Official Foodie Insider for Visit Indian River County, Thomas champions local dining culture, sharing his insights with a loyal following of over 125,000. His expertise has also been featured in the luxe publication Coastal Drive Magazine. A Google Maps Level 8 Local Guide, Thomas has shared more than 4,000 photos, viewed over 100 million times, and his Foodie dining events rank among the Treasure Coast’s top culinary experiences.
