The Florida Foodie
Fusion Fantasy: A Tale of Two Dinners at Kontiki
By Saucy Sarah
Kontiki Wine and Raw Bar
13860 Wellington Trace Wellington, FL 33414
561-296-0404
Kontiki Wine and Raw Bar, located in the Courtyard Plaza in Wellington, is a land filled with harmonious tangles of flavors. A fusion of culinary influences from Asia Minor, Europe, and the Americas, Kontiki lives up to its website claim of being “the jewel of Wellington”. I don’t want to gush—All respectable food writer’s aim to be fair, yet discerning—but I have to admit, I visited Kontiki twice in one week. Why did I go back so soon, you may ask? It was love at first bite. I couldn’t stay away. I had to return and try more offerings on their vast and intriguing menu. You can find selections from Thai dumplings to baked brie on their “Tapas” menu. Select some sushi from their impressive raw bar or have a ham and cheese baguette. There’s even a Greek salad. Kontiki is a global bazaar of tastes and textures waiting for you to try them all.
At first encounter, it seems hard to pin this place down. Even the front entrance makes you pause and wonder, “What will I eat inside there?” A pair of stoic horses – almost life-sized—and two carved Geishas guard the gateway to this culinary adventure. Go in, you won’t be disappointed. That first night at Knotiki, my dining companion and I chose to order several dishes and share them in traditional Tapas fashion. Kontiki lends itself well to this type of communal eating with its variety of plates of one or two bite offerings. We 
ordered the Spring Rolls ($8) stuffed with juicy chicken, rice noodles, and fresh vegetables. Served with a sweet/sour sauce, they arrived first to our table, piping hot and perfectly fried in a thin, crunchy spring roll shell. Next to appear; the Thai dumplings ($9); full of moist chicken, shrimp, and crab and gently steamed. They came nestled in a bamboo steamer with a delicious soy based dipping sauce. The highlight of our dinner was the Sushi Bomb ($15). It is a unique roll filled with tuna, salmon, and whitefish with a crunchy panko crust coating the outside. My dining companion is not the biggest fan of sushi, but she admitted, this was delicious and something she would eat again.
On my second dinner at Kontiki, my raw bar loving family was in tow. I was on a mission to see if Kontiki could score high once again. We started with the Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella salad ($11), wanting to try some of the non-Asian influenced dishes this time around. I’ve had this salad many times and I must say that Kontiki’s version is now in my top five. The tomatoes were sweet and the mozzarella was super fresh and creamy. The balsamic reduction and basil pesto that accompany the salad were good enough to merit licking the plate. We then tried the Shrimp Tempura ($18) which came out stacked in teepee-like 
fashion of lighter-than-air fried vegetables and shrimp. Every bite was utterly crunchy and made you want another bite. A plate of crab cakes ($15) arrived at our table sporting big chunks of sweet crab and little binder to hinder the delicate meat. I do suggest you may want to ask for the mustard aioli on the side. It’s a powerful sauce and overwhelmed the delicate crab a tad.
The finale of our meal was an array of sushi offerings; The Dragon Roll ($15), The Wellington Roll ($13), and the nine piece sushi combo platter. My brother, an avid sushi enthusiast, said it best. “I’m ruined. Sushi anywhere else will never be as good as Kontiki.” I have to agree with him. Each piece was perfection. I was particularly impressed with the Wellington Roll which consisted of tempura snapper, avocado, cucumber, spicy mayo, and crusted in masago. There was a slight sweet nuttiness to the roll and the tempura gave a nice crunchy contrast to the soft rice and succulent fish.
My new goal is to try everything on Kontiki’s dizzying ride-through-the-world of a menu. Your goal is to visit this gem of a restaurant and take Kontiki’s global culinary adventure. You won’t be disappointed.
In her previous life, Sarah, a Palm Beach County Native, spent ten years working in various high-end eating establishments around South Florida. She is currently a fiction thesis candidate in the MFA program at Florida International University where she also teaches creative writing and rhetoric. If that is not enough, Sarah is also the owner of Cakes by Sarah, a local custom cake shop. Sarah lives in Lake Worth with her husband and two beautiful boys. “Food, fiction, and family are my life.”