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Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty is “Can’t Miss”
  By Rich Stringer, InsideTrack Almanac Food Critic

A star quarterbacks always has a “go to” receiver – a high quality option that always comes through, often spectacularly. My “go to” restaurant for entertaining is Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty on Vero’s Royal Palm Point. From start to finish, the food shines.

A basket of corn fritters, a signature of Lobster Shanty, is put on the table for starters. These balls of fluffy, fried sweet corn cakes, dusted with powdered sugar, explode across your taste buds. It sets the bar pretty high.
Appetizers usually give you a fair idea of how dinner will fare, and one dish I use as a standard for judging the skill of a kitchen is Fried Calamari. It is so easy to overcook this dish; first the flavor flattens out and then it turns tough. The batter was light and crispy, allowing the focus to be on the sweet juiciness of the calamari, prepared as it should be.

The Rock Shrimp, which was also available in an entrée portion, proved that its nickname of “poor man’s lobster” actually sells the dish short. This offering had more flavor than usually found in its larger cousin. I satisfied my taste for the restaurant’s namesake, however, with a cup of the creamy Lobster Bisque, which I highly recommend.

Having an urge for red meat yet unable to resist the delectable aroma of seafood wafting from the kitchen, I went for the Ribs and Shrimp. First I savored the seven fried shrimp which were rather large, moist and succulent. The fry cook knows exactly how long to cook the seafood…The freshest I understand available in the area.

The rack of baby back ribs piqued my curiosity because it appeared to be free of any sauce. I pulled one rib away from the rack – no knife needed – and the meat was indeed falling off the bone. I had been fooled. A deep barbeque flavor that had been grilled into the meat spread warmly across my mouth. It takes both talent and a good sauce recipe to leave such an imperceptible glaze of caramelize richness without either scorching the sauce or leaving the ribs bland. Having grown up with the backwoods rib shacks and back-road smokehouses of the Deep South, I was amazed to find such good barbeque work at a waterfront eatery.

My companion’s Snow Crab Legs were piled high. When done right, crab legs have a rich melt-in-your-mouth quality. As a seafood restaurant, Lobster Shanty should be held to a higher standard on their specialty. These were indeed done right. The crab legs were cut open for your convenience, though it would be well worth the trouble to dig out these tasty chunks of crabmeat.

We finished with Key Lime Pie, which had just the right balance of tart with sweet, and Chocolate Chip Layer Cake. If you have a weakness for chocolate, this dessert presents four different embodiments of the cocoa richness, so by all means throw your restraint to the wind and indulge.
Too many waterfront restaurants are content to let the ambiance do the work and the food suffers. Even blindfolded, you will be delighted by Jack Baker’s Lobster Shanty. The beautiful view is a bonus.