Banyan Restaurant

Gem hidden inside lobby of deserted Bonaventure Resort. Tables inside, outside, and bar seating. Live Piano music on select evenings. Dress up a little, make reservation if u can. $39 three course meal was perfect. Pick a salad, entree with sides and dessert for set price. After dinner take a stroll around the pools waterfall and backwater path. Ceaser salad -ask for it without the sardines on top! Too fishy for me! Summer salad is sweet and very citrus. Rolls come with 3 butter flavors including orange. NY Strip was good but I am not fond of the really aged flavor. Salmon was thick and moist. Brownie dessert is big, warm, and a scoop of icecream. Creme Brûlée is extremely small! Strawberry-Pinapple mojito is minty and fruity and good size glass for $13.

I don’t know how nobody ever told me about this place, considering it is less than 1 mile from my house. But we had a date night tonight, and wanted to stay local. The crowd was subdued, but the place was very upscale, and at least half full. What more could you expect during a pandemic? The service was fast, attentive, and on point. Drink menu had plenty of options. We both ordered the French onion soup. For my liking, it could have been a bit hotter. But it was delicious nonetheless. Not too salty and not too onion sweet. I also had the crab cake appetizer, which was perhaps the best crab cake I have ever eaten. Cooked perfectly, pan fried and crispy on the bottom with a Cajun pizazz. For entree I ordered the filet mignon with garlic mash. I’m from NY, and have eaten at the best joints NYC has to offer. And up until today the best steak I have ever eaten was at Prime 112 in South Beach. This one was at least as good, if not better. Only downside is that it’s as pricey as Prime 112 without the SoBe scene. Which can be a good thing depending on your perspective (and age)! Ireland does have a poolside bar outside in the resort area. It appeared to be open with a few people. I was very tempted to hang out there. But it was late. Seems like a chill, poolside place to hang out. We will be back with friends to enjoy dinner again, and hot that poolside bar for some after dinner drinks!

All I can say is WOW! I can't believe this place has been here all along and I never been. I felt like I was royalty eating here. The food was delicious. The servers were great and constantly kept the drinks topped off. My steak was amazing. After we sat down to order, eventually every single seat in the place was completely full. I will definitely be going back.

Fantastic meal! So glad they reopened. Very safe. We had the price fixe meal: Caesar salad, a 9 ounce filet, and creme brulee. Only $39 and very filling. Steak was prepared perfectly. Staff was so inviting. Our first time out in 2 months and we are so glad we went here. Can't wait to go back!

Unfortunately was not able to try the food as I was told they only accept reservations. I did not see mention online of reservations, nor was I told about reservations when I checked into the hotel. I was actually hoping to sit at the bar (which only had 2 people seated there, and the restaurant was half empty btw) as a solo party but that requires reservations also. Oh well... Addendum: Ended up making a reservation and actually ate there on a different evening. The food and drinks were great. Good atmosphere. I have changed my rating to 4 stars (would have given 5 but the reservation issue). Recommend.

I don't often go in for fine dining, largely because I'm a casual dresser, and partially due to the expense. A friend and I were in town for the Queen concert, and she asked me to pick a good steakhouse near the venue for dinner. Bases on reviews, I choose Ireland's. We were not disappointed. Reserved thru Google via OpenTable, and twisted a table rather than a both. The hostess actually acknowledged the request you out arrival. Huge bonus points. Atmosphere is upscale but casual. Service extremely prompt throughout our entire meal. And the quality of the food was impeccable. Prices are high, but the entirety of the experience made it well worth the cost. Note that there was also a prix fix menu that was about the cost of going to a chain, but we were here for the good stuff! We shared a bottle of Merlot, but I did not think to take note of the name. I am terrible at describing wine flavors, but this had a medium body and very smooth finish. Very versatile. 3 types of bread were served with 3 butter options. The breads were fantastic. 1 was a thin crisp. Another was a soft, dense and chewy pretzel roll, and the 3rd was a light, fluffy sesame seed roll. In addition to standard butter, we had garlic butter and orange blossom butter. All were subtle, but delicious. I had the red bell pepper soup with asparagus tips and lump Crab in mascarpone cheese on the side. It was a hearty, nicely spiced beginning. My friend had the French onion soup, and I could feel the decadence of it just looking at it. She had the Wagyu steak and I chose the buffalo tenderloin. Both were perfectly cooked medium rare and seasoned to perfection. There were 4 salt options on the table that I wanted to sample, but there was simply no need. The buffalo tenderloin came with a small bit of arugula and cherry tomato on the side and fried onions on top. I found them to be unnecessary with such a wonderful steak, but they are easily put aside, unlike a sauce, so they were really no bother at all. We shared 3 sides. I chose sauteed mushrooms and sauteed spinach, and my friend chose the au gratin potatoes. I'm usually lukewarm on au gratin potatoes, but they were the star of the sides. I could have made an entree of those alone! The spinach and mushrooms were well prepared, with the spinach needing a touch more seasoning, but the potatoes stole the show. Sadly, due to time constraints and the fact that we were legitimately full, we did not try dessert here. Maybe next time I'll get smart and save room. They did bring out a small sweets plate with dark chocolate dipped orange slices and coconut macaroons (is that the right term? Pic below) that were a very pleasant finishing touch. I can't think of a single thing that was lacking in this meal. If I ever have another special occasion in this area, I will remember to return to Ireland's!

Wife and I visited to celebrate professional license. Experience was overall positive. Cocktails on point. Steak was cooked properly. Salad excellent. Service was somewhat lacking, considering the price. No specials were offered. The server paid more attention to another table and explained specials to them so I thought that was odd.