Few things get dinner off to quite the great start as arriving at a restaurant where you have reservations, standing in the entryway looking at a half-empty room, and having a young girl (they always are young girls, seemingly in their first jobs) say: "It will only be a few minutes, would you like to have a drink in the lounge."

The unhappiness must have been visible on my face, and fortunately on this night at the Indigo Room in the Vero Beach Hotel and Club, the maitre d' stepped up and brushing aside the murmured objections of the hostess, offered to immediately escort us to a table.

We would parenthetically note that between the time we were seated at 7:30 and our departure at 10, the busload of guests that would have been required to fill the remainder of the 100+ attractively set places in the spacious restaurant never arrived.

But this mixed experience was the prelude to a night of ups-and-downs at the Indigo Room, which has the potential -- alas, on this visit unrealized -- to be one of the very top dining spots on the Vero Beach barrier island.

The ambience, let us start by saying, is spectacular. The dark-paneled grill room, which looks out through a 15-foot-high glass wall on the sea, is perhaps the most fashionable dining venue on the beach. And from the adjoining lounge, the non-intrusive stylings of the cocktail pianist provide a very pleasing accompaniment to dinner.

Our waitress, though a bit over-extended on this night, was also first-rate -- suggesting that the erratic service which drew a rash of complaints when the restaurant first opened in December 2007 has at least partially been rectified.

But the dishes, while well conceived and very attractively presented, were not up to the standard one would expect from a restaurant of this caliber and price.

A cup of she crap soup ($6) was sweet and very well prepared. But the warm butter poached lobster salad ($13) -- an extremely tasty mix of wilted spinach, smoked bacon, corn and sweet grape tomatoes -- came with even traces of lobster nowhere in sight.

My main course of Chilean sea bass ($42) -- which the Indigo Room touts as one of its specialties -- was seared perfectly and served with a tasty "tiramisu" risotto, and my companion's entre of dayboat scallops ($33), also nicely seared, was served with an excellent bouillabaisse pan sauce.

But notwithstanding the chef's creative preparations, the scallops lacked the sweetness of fresh scallops, and the sea bass (which should be firm and flaky) was close to mushy.

Earlier, the waitress had cheerfully brought to the table bite-sized chunks of the poached lobster for on-the-spot addition to the lobsterless salad appetizer, and these too were mushy and tasteless.

In reflecting on the taste and consistency of the scallops, sea bass and lobster, one could hardly escape the suspicion (strongly rebutted by the waitress) that we were seeing seafood that had all too recently emerged from the freezer.

Ultimately, we concluded our meal with a sinfully rich chocolate dessert ($8) which was dramatically presented on a plate adorned with a crystalized sugar sculpture.

But points for presentation -- at which the Indigo Room excels -- in the end simply do not outweigh points off for food that leaves a something to be desired.

Hopefully, this was simply an off night. But with a bill for two that included a modest bottle of wine totaling $145 before tip, we think you have a right to expect better.