Restaurant Review: The Whale in Parkland, Florida

My son in law is a real foody. He began telling us about The Whale months ago so finally we decided to give it a try. It is newly opened on State Rd 441 in Parkland, Florida, in a clean wide open strip mall. Because it is in a mall like area there is ample parking.

We were seated inside since it was a bit cool out but from what I gathered it is on the water. It's actually on a little canal. There is seating outside out back and front. It used to be owned by the people who owned the Whale's Rib a very popular beachfront restaurant in Deerfield, Beach Florida. It's a clean, tightly packed restaurant. It was some what noisy but this is great if you plan on eating out with the kids.

It was fairly packed even though we went on a Sunday,early, around 5:30. There was a special on steamers. They were only $10.00 instead of the usual $12.95. The bucket was small, about 7 or 8 " high but it was enough for my daughter. Two of us had the steamers and loved them. Originally we'd planned on sharing but I really think one bucket isn't enough to share. My son in law an husband had mussels. They come in white or marinara sauce. They got one of each and both said they were each absolutely delicious. The soup was great. I ordered a sub sandwich, I have no idea why I would do that in a fish place but I did and it was excellent. The bread was full of big seeds, very healthly looking and it was a very thick sandwich for $7.99. I brought half home. Hubby also had soup with his mussels and he's watching his weight so he was quite happy with his meal, low calorie and delicious.

When you walk in on your left is a mid size tank with smallish lobsters in it. There is a claw game. The kind that you play by maneuvering the claw until you pick up a lobster. I am an animal person. Watching this go on was pretty awful. Kids would get a lobster and drop it. One was dropped outside the tank. Granted they will all be someone's dinner but I felt there was no need to torture them first. There was absolutely no fishy smell to the place and there basic menu is fish.

There is a large selection of burgers and a kid menu so you don't havwe to steer clear if you aren't fond of fish. There is something for everyone.

The waitress was terrific. She was very friendly and very fast. She stopped back numerous times to make sure we had what we needed, she gave us extra napkins, kept the bread bowl full and was very pleasant. We saw her deal with a problem at the lobster tank very gracefully. A child had snagged a lobster and dropped it. The waitress attempted to help the little child retrieve the runaway lobster and actually got pinched in the process. She was trying to prevent the child from getting frightened or pinched.

The rest rooms were nice and clean.

Price wise you needn't worry.They have regular specials so your meal doesn't have to cost a fortune. We were a party of four and ate for under $50.00.

I'd certainly give The Whale a thumbs up