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South Beach Suggestions


Ron Johnson

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Although I've loved Rascal House for years, I was there twice around Thanksgiving, 2004, and the food was just hideous! I mean, it was horrible !!!

I posted about it at great length, and there was some discussion.

Rascal House on eGullet

In particluar, the pastrami was dry, synthetic, and rubberized to the point of elasticity. When I complained to the waitress, she told me "take it or leave it - we haven't made our own pastrami in years".

I read the above post and thought I might post a contrasting point of view.

Overheard at the Zabar’s prepared food counter in the 1970’s:

Woman (noticing a large bowl of cut fruit): “How much is the fruit salad?”

Counterman: “Three-ninety-eight a pound.”

Woman (incredulous, and loud): “THREE-NINETY EIGHT A POUND ????”

Counterman: “Who’s going to sit and cut fruit all day, lady… YOU?”

Newly updated: my online food photo extravaganza; cook-in/eat-out and photos from the 70's

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I'll throw in my two cents since I was there last fall essentially researching restaurants (primarily for design).

The Delano is very cool, but the bloody mary I had on the patio was poor.

Miss Yips (off Lincoln St.) was very good. Pretty interesting interior and very solid Chinese food.

Prime 112 Steakhouse was entirely average. We spent a fortune there (about $650 for 3 of us) and nothing was really all that great.

The Shore club was also a very beautiful scene. I'm not sure what there is to eat in there, but it's certainly a great place to grab a drink.

Tantra was silly. Nothing more pathetic that someone putting a ton of energy into trying to make a place super exotic and sensual and ending up with silly.

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We had a memorable meal at Wish in late December. The vibe was as good as the food - outdoor tables under twinkling lights amid lush landscaping, with attentive service, outstanding foi gras and sea bass and an interesting lobster soup/salad. And it's in the middle of the South Beach scene but away from the restaurant barkers on Ocean Drive. As for Cuban, head to Calle Ocho and try Versailles; it's humble, noisy and a Miami landmark (be sure to have some after-dinner cafe con leche from the sidewalk window to get the full Little Havana experience). Tap Tap on Miami Beach is also worth trying; not upscale at all, but great food at reasonable prices, with excellent mojitos and colorful Haitian murals. You should have a blast, the weather's great this time of year....

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As for Cuban, head to Calle Ocho and try Versailles; it's humble, noisy and a Miami landmark (be sure to have some after-dinner cafe con leche from the sidewalk window to get the full Little Havana experience).

Versailles is THE classic Miami place for cheap Cuban food, but IMHO there are other hole-in-the-wall Cuban places where the food is much better. One is a market/restaurant called El Palacio De Los Jugos, at 57th and Flagler. It's not a sit-down restaurant; the style is more like a cafeteria with big outdoor tables.

Another is Havana Harry's in Coral Gables. I heard (don't know whether this is true) that it's owned by a married couple--one Cuban, one Anglo--that wanted an authentic Cuban place where both of their families would feel comfortable dining.

David's on South Beach is also good for authentic, hole-in-the-wall food. They have one restaurant on Lincoln Road and another on Washington. At least the Lincoln Road one is open 24 hours a day.

Speaking of Lincoln Road, the Lincoln Road Cafe is around the corner from David's. They serve Cuban food that is good (not great) but has the best people-watching in town.

And a slightly trendier version of classic Latin cuisine is in Coral Gables at Chispa. None of these are landmarks in the way Versailles is, but I think Versailles sometimes coasts on the fact that it's a landmark.

On a separate note, the other night I ate for the first time at a place called Shoji Sushi. It's on Collins Ave. between 1st and 2nd. Innovative food, high-quality fish, and not so expensive that it has to be postponed for a special occasion. They had these lychee cocktails that were just fabulous. The restaurant is next door to Nemo, which is another high-end South Beach favorite.

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  • 3 months later...

On a separate note, the other night I ate for the first time at a place called Shoji Sushi.  It's on Collins Ave. between 1st and 2nd.  Innovative food, high-quality fish, and not so expensive that it has to be postponed for a special occasion.  They had these lychee cocktails that were just fabulous.  The restaurant is next door to Nemo, which is another high-end South Beach favorite.

Not so expensive???? Dinner for 2 w/tip was $150. I thought that was more on the expensive side than not expensive. Our meal was pretty basic and we had about a $30 liquor bill.

The best dish was their "shishito" which is a Japanese pepper which they steamed and salted like edamame.

Where are the Miami "traditional sushi places?" The concierge at the hotel told us this was traditional sushi, right after he recommended Sushi Samba which is also not so traditional.

Shoji Sushi was a good meal, but not at that price level.

:wink:

Paul

猿も木から落ちる - Saru mo ki kara ochiru

(Even monkeys can fall from a tree)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...

Just another thought on Joe's Stone Crab: http://www.joesstonecrab.com/

We ate there for the first time a couple weeks ago, it was very good. Enjoy things that are better than you expect them to be. Stone crabs, of course, but don't miss the potatoes Lyonnaise.

On the waiting issue, we had heard about that. Drinks are pricy in the bar, don't want to wait too long unless on expense account. We went at dinner opening time (5:00 PM) on a Monday and walked right in. It's a big place and still wasn't full when we left about 6:30, so if you go early on a weekday, the wait shouldn't be TOO bad!

We have also enjoyed meals at Grillfish: http://www.grillfish.com/miami.lasso

Good fresh fish simply grilled. Nice and simple, not too pricy.

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  • 2 months later...

Just got back from Sobe and we ate at Pacific Time, AltaMara and Sushi Samba. Best meal I had was from Pacific Time. I had a scallop dish that was excellent. The diced vegetables in a curry sauce was even tastier than the scallops.

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  • 8 months later...

I'll give this a lil' New Year's bump...we're heading to South Beach and points south for two weeks on Saturday. We used to spend quite a bit of time in South Beach but haven't been in 5 years or so.

This time around it's proving unusually difficult to find consistent reviews of non-silly SoBe eateries. In the past, we've had great repeat eating/hanging out experiences at Wish, Tap Tap, Nemo, News Cafe, and Pacific Time...but as I said it's been 5 years and I'm sure things have changed (a la Mark's on South Beach, where we had a truly fantastic meal back in 2001...too bad it seems to have fallen apart), particularly in the areas of fresh fish, Cuban, and sushi are welcome (I've seen this thread on Cuban recs). We will not have a car. Thanks!

ETA: By the way, I've found this Google Maps app very helpful. Thought I'd share: Click.

mark

Edited by markemorse (log)
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Hope this isn't gratuitous, but after some research I wanted to see if anybody had any "yes, definitely"s or "do NOT go there"s for my current list of potentials, such as it is. Pretty tough going so far, I've mostly ended up with old favorites:

Nicer:

Nemo

Wish

Escopazzo

Less So:

Talula

Tap Tap

Doraku

Front Porch

News Cafe

Chalan's on the Beach

Could stand a couple more in the "Nicer" category, requirements are: dining at the bar, a front of the house that cares if you come back, and non-pedestrian food.

thanks for any input.

mark

Edited by markemorse (log)
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Is taking cabs an option?

Overheard at the Zabar’s prepared food counter in the 1970’s:

Woman (noticing a large bowl of cut fruit): “How much is the fruit salad?”

Counterman: “Three-ninety-eight a pound.”

Woman (incredulous, and loud): “THREE-NINETY EIGHT A POUND ????”

Counterman: “Who’s going to sit and cut fruit all day, lady… YOU?”

Newly updated: my online food photo extravaganza; cook-in/eat-out and photos from the 70's

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chefAZ: thanks a bunch for the new recs, I'd heard great things about Michy's and Casa Tua...

markk: cabs are an option, but i'd like to keep them to a minimum....

thanks again,

mark

I recently started a thread about Michy's after three stupendous meals there. I'd certainly consider it worth a cab there and back. It's also a very happening place (not necessarily my own style, but the food's spectacular) so you probably won't even miss South Beach.

Overheard at the Zabar’s prepared food counter in the 1970’s:

Woman (noticing a large bowl of cut fruit): “How much is the fruit salad?”

Counterman: “Three-ninety-eight a pound.”

Woman (incredulous, and loud): “THREE-NINETY EIGHT A POUND ????”

Counterman: “Who’s going to sit and cut fruit all day, lady… YOU?”

Newly updated: my online food photo extravaganza; cook-in/eat-out and photos from the 70's

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks to all for their input. I just wanted to post my results, the writeups are here on my blog, but in short we ate best at Talula, Mark's South Beach, and this little place called Fifty. Moshi Moshi was very good as well, if a bit weird on the service side.

mem

Edited by markemorse (log)
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