Reccs. in Miami, South Beach, Hollywood, PSL?

[raji]

Hey Miami egulleteers -

NY-gulleteer here, (some of you might know me from my posts in the NY forum) down for a few days for conference, looking for what's hot locally, not necessarily at the upper end of Miami Beach and Downtown prices, great local gastro-pubs and representative of the best the area has to offer. Not necessarily looking for anything I can readily get in NYC with the exception of needing a few very solid, very authentic Japanese restaurants. I'm as pickier if not a lot pickier than a native Japanese in that aspect.

staying in Hollywood, will probably catch a spring training game in PSL

TIA for any help!!! Pointing to other threads in this forum also very helpful!

[weinoo]

You're probably gonna hear Michaels Genuine, Michy's and Sra. Martinez.

All in Miami...but not on the beach.

[richw]

Never been personally but Matsuri in Miami is said to one of the few authentic Japanese restaurants in South Florida.

Matsuri

5759 Bird Rd

Miami, FL 33155

(305) 663-1615

The only other interesting Japanese choice that comes to mind is Yakko San in North Miami.

http://yakko-san.com/

[drosendorf]

For Japanese the place to go is Hiro's Yakko-San in North Miami Beach. Izakaya style, no nigiri or maki but they do have sashimi and onigiri, though the real draw is the many different small dishes. My favorite sushi place - and this is one of those closely guarded secrets I'm almost reluctant to part with - is at a little Japanese market on the 79th Street Causeway to Miami Beach called "Sushi Deli", a/k/a "Japanese Market."

Yes, the "cream of the crop" of Miami restaurants would include Michael's Genuine, Michy's and Sra. Martinez, but that's not the entire universe. At a lower price point and with a somewhat funkier vibe (though the execution is not quite as reliable and the service is certainly not at the same level, I like Red Light. Good focus on local ingredients, a bit of New Orleans flair (excellent bbq shrimp), neat place in a slightly dodgy section of Biscayne Blvd, good value. I also like Pacific Time in the Design District.

For some local flavor, if you're a carnivore you might enjoy an Argentine parrillada, the high-end version can be had at Graziano's (nicest location is in Coral Gables, original is in Hialeah), lower-end at Las Vacas Gordas on Normandy Island (a/k/a North Beach, which is north of South Beach and north of North Miami Beach around 71st Street) or several other places. This little pocket of Miami Beach, stretching back over to the mainland, has a number of interesting, lower-budget dining options, and I've made a Google Map with locations and descriptions of many of them.

Or if you're more of a seafood person, go Peruvian. Francesco in Coral Gables is generally regarded as the best (though I don't think as highly of it as some do). They also do very good ceviches at Jaguar in Coconut Grove.

You mention South Beach in your title but the reality is that South Beach is not where the best food is to be found in Miami these days. However, if that's where you're headed, I think the best and most interesting food on South Beach is at Talula, which is one of my favorite local restaurants. It's a bit pricy but certainly not the most expensive place on the Beach. I also like Sardinia for good regional Sardinian dishes and also very nice antipasti. For somewhat lower budget, Indomania does interesting and good Dutch-Indonesian food.

If your home base is Hollywood, you're also pretty close to Timo in Sunny Isles, which is another of my favorites. Also, perhaps not responsive to the somewhat down-market focus of your thread, but they do a very interesting restaurant-within-a-restaurant thing at the Trump hotel in Sunny Isles called "Paradigm - The Test Kitchen," a once-a-week set menu with a focus on current cutting edge cooking techniques and concepts.

And at risk of breaching etiquette by mentioning another site, I think you'll find that the chowhound Florida board is often a good bit more active than this particular eG forum.

[joiei]

Your in Hollywood, does that mean you will have a car? Hollywood to Miami can be an hour drive in heavy traffic.

[JosephB]

We're in Manhattan, but get down to Miami with some frequency. I just wanted to add that I agree that Hiro's Yakko-San in North Miami Beach (very convenient to Hollywood) is excellent, and very completely local, and always busy. I also think Francesco, in beautiful Coral Gables, is superb, though a bit pricey. My everyday place for Peruvian ceviche, arroz con mariscos and parihuela is Chalan. I also love Garcia's on the Miami River for stone crabs and grilled whole fish. Get a table right on the river-- very casual and local. Finally, on a recent visit, 18 of us dined at Creek 28, and discovered excellent food and wine in a charming little hotel away from the craziness of South Beach. The price point was extremely reasonable. This is a real find.

[raji]

Hi guys - thank you for all the recommendations!! (Especially Mr. Rosendorf!)- Yes, we're staying in Hollywood but have a car. Not that getting around Miami Beach is any fun during WMC, but it's the quietest (relatively) that I've ever seen it -

Thursday night was hectic so didn't get to dine selectively.

For tonight I think some of the options on Normandy are looking good. Also from your map, Red Light sounds good. Parillada sounds like a good idea, i think it's the same thing as churrascaria, no? Don't know if we have the appetite....

Last night we did manage to make it to Hiro's Yakko-san and I appreciate the recommendation. I was glad to see a Japanese chef cooking Japanese, so rare outside of a few of the major cities. I know I'm completely spoiled up in NY but it was good for such a far-reaching izakaya menu. I thought the sashimi moriawase would be a good choice, hoping that the fish had been sourced locally, and it was pretty good for the most part, but I have to admit that something in there DID cause me some intestinal distress... It might have been the beef tongue salad, i wish they served that yakiniku style with a dip of sesame oil and salt. Vegetable Tempura was all good and correctly prepared. I was stuffed by the time the kurobuta belly arrived, i thought it would be more of moist preparation, so was a bit surprised how tough it was. I probably should have asked for recommendations first! because it would really benefit repeat visits to see what they do really well. But definitely did the job - if it's good enough for Ichiro and Matsui, good enough for me!

[markk]

I'm from NY, spend several weeks a year in Hollywood, and eat most of my meals at Michy's.

The subject just came up with a foodie, and I would say that Michy's definitely has qualities that you can't get in New York. I think it's well worth going to for dinner. I've been known to be in Miami (Holllywood) for ten days at a time and eat 7 dinners at Michy's.

[drosendorf]

For tonight I think some of the options on Normandy are looking good. Also from your map, Red Light sounds good. Parillada sounds like a good idea, i think it's the same thing as churrascaria, no? Don't know if we have the appetite....

←

I like Red Light and go often, but you need to be a patient person. Service is hit-or-miss and it often takes a good bit of time for food to get out of the kitchen. But it's good, it's got a solid local focus, and the price is right.

Parrillada and churrascuria are the Argentine and Brazilian takes on grilled meats, and there are similarities and differences. I'm not an expert on either, but the cuts of beef used vary, and while many of the Brazilian churrascurias I've been to make a production of bringing the meats about on gigantic skewers and carving at the table, Argentines make no such fuss. I've also seen more sausage and offal in the typical parrillada than I'm accustomed to seeing at Brazilian places - a typical parrillada may consist of a few different cuts of steak, a chorizo, a morcilla (blood sausage), mollejas (sweetbreads) and chinchulines (pig intestines). The Argentines also have the ubiquitous chimichurri (a sauce predominantly of garlic, parsley and oil) while I'm not sure what the Brazilian equivalent is. Many Argentine places also often have a number of Italian style dishes on the menu (in fact, there are many "Italian" restaurants in Miami run by Argentines) and I'm not sure you see the same Italian influence in Brazilian places.

[Steve R.]

We were in Miami a month or two ago and really liked Michy's. Half orders of a lot of interesting food, although I thought it wasnt really so non-NY'ish. Our favorite, hands down, was Talula and we ate there twice. Very impressive.

[LPShanet]

Hi guys - thank you for all the recommendations!! (Especially Mr. Rosendorf!)- Yes, we're staying in Hollywood but have a car. Not that getting around Miami Beach is any fun during WMC, but it's the quietest (relatively) that I've ever seen it -

Thursday night was hectic so didn't get to dine selectively.

For tonight I think some of the options on Normandy are looking good. Also from your map, Red Light sounds good. Parillada sounds like a good idea, i think it's the same thing as churrascaria, no? Don't know if we have the appetite....

Last night we did manage to make it to Hiro's Yakko-san and I appreciate the recommendation. I was glad to see a Japanese chef cooking Japanese, so rare outside of a few of the major cities. I know I'm completely spoiled up in NY but it was good for such a far-reaching izakaya menu. I thought the sashimi moriawase would be a good choice, hoping that the fish had been sourced locally, and it was pretty good for the most part, but I have to admit that something in there DID cause me some intestinal distress... It might have been the beef tongue salad, i wish they served that yakiniku style with a dip of sesame oil and salt. Vegetable Tempura was all good and correctly prepared. I was stuffed by the time the kurobuta belly arrived, i thought it would be more of moist preparation, so was a bit surprised how tough it was. I probably should have asked for recommendations first! because it would really benefit repeat visits to see what they do really well. But definitely did the job - if it's good enough for Ichiro and Matsui, good enough for me!

←

Hey Raji,

How long you in the area for? I'll be headed down there from the 2nd through the 6th. Let me know if any of the places you tried were outstanding....

[drosendorf]

...which is north of South Beach and north of North Miami Beach around 71st Street) ...

←

Sorry - meant "north of South Beach and south of North Miami Beach" (but hopefully this was self-explanatory from the map I linked to).