We’re still thinking about our previous restaurant review of the Cheese Course in Coral Springs and decided to try lunch again, but this time at their Boca Raton location. Mizner Park is always a fun place to shop…and eat. Locals like us know to skip the paid on-street parking and to head right to the FREE and shaded parking garage around back.
The Cheese Course is a ‘fast casual’ restaurant that specializes in cheese, duh. They offer a ‘bistro’ menu with sandwiches, soups and salads and have an impressive retail shop for those that like to take some home. The interior is more ‘market’ than restaurant, but they do a great job making the place feel cozy and unique. There are some tables for private dining as well as a few ‘communal’ tables for those that like to be social (or larger groups).
Ordering seems a bit cramped as there really isn’t much room to line up at the register. If you arrive at peak lunch times, you might find a bit of a wait for both the market and café side. We got in line and it gave us a few minutes to review the menu board on the wall. The first thing we noticed with this location is that their popular ‘cheese boards’ are no longer grouped into pairings. The Coral Springs location has plates grouped with an assortment of regional cheeses at one price. That really made ordering simple. At this location, the cheese boards seem to be ‘build your own’ with all kinds of add-on pricing. This is great for serious cheese lovers, but not so good for the rest of us. This can get expensive as you have no idea how much it costs until it’s totaled at the end of the order.
The setup is like most ‘fast-casual’ spots where you pay, get a number for the table and your food is delivered to you. We took our number and headed outside to sit on the patio to enjoy the South Florida weather. Our orders came out in maybe 20 minutes.
Half Sandwich & Cup of Soup combo ($10.99) – The menu board listed the combo as ‘Any Half Sandwich & Cup of Soup’ for $9.99, but adding Serrano ham added another $1. This combo had a half Spanish Serrano Ham with manchego cheese, black olive tapenade, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and greens. While not a huge portion, everything was very fresh. The thick manchego cheese was the star of the sandwich and I could have easily gotten a double portion. The Serrano ham was tasty as well and gave the right amount of saltiness. The baguette was fresh and crisp, but the black olive tapenade and balsamic vinegar seemed to get lost. The greens were vibrant and fresh and definitely a sign that the salads must be very good. The cup of soup was Mushroom& Brie Bisque – Brie and Swiss cheese, mushrooms, potatoes, chopped onions, shallots and chives in a vegetarian veloute, topped with a amontillado sherry cream. The soup was rich and had a smooth texture with a nice cheesy flavor. The soup was actually quite good and I liked the mushroom flavor. The cup was a bit on the small side, but considering the richness, it was probably for the better.
Half Sandwich & Cup of Soup combo ($10.99) – This combo contained a half Prosciutto (extra $1) sandwich with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil, basil pesto, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Chris was a bit disappointed with the size of the half sandwich, but said it he liked it. The cup of soup was Asiago Cheese Bisque – Asiago cheese, carrots, celery, shallots and onions in a chicken veloute with shredded potato, julienne tomato and ham with sweet cream and chives. He really liked the soup and while the ingredient list seemed a bit long, it all worked well together. The soup had a great cheese flavor and we loved the saltiness of the ham.
The Cheese Course Boca in Boca is definitely heaven for Cheese Lovers. Yes, the prices may seem a little higher than normal, but remember you have a large selection of high quality cheeses. We don’t mind paying a little more for quality. The large selection of cheese can seem overwhelming but this is the place to try something different and maybe find a new favorite. We hope they bring back the cheese board combo selection as that really helps newbies like us. The portions sizes seemed a little on the lighter side, so those expecting huge portions might not leave satisfied. We still prefer the Broward location but this Mizner Park Boca Raton location is still a solid cheesy choice.
The Cheese Course is located in Mizner Park at 305 W Plaza Real Boca Raton, FL 33432