Islamorada Fish Co.

"Keys" influenced fish restaurant attached to Bass Pro Shops/Outdoor World.

What we had:

Great bread, yet again. This bread was sweet Bimini-style bread--soft, sweet, with crumbles of brown sugar on top. Mmmmmm....

I had the grilled create-your-own combo--grilled local dolphin (blackened) and grilled sea scallops (fresh roasted garlic style).
The dolphin was light, the blackened seasoning spot-on. the scallops were pretty impressive. They were actually cooked right (gasp!). One on the end was even a hair underdone. The garlic topper made a great addition to my baked potato. The "fresh" vegetable side--not so much. Edible, but that's it.

My DH had the fried create-your-own combo--fried Florida grouper and crab cakes.
The batter was pretty good--not overpowering flaky style. The crab cake was decent, but a matter of personal/regional choice--there was plenty of crab in that cake.

Décor:

Chain fish restaurant decor with a nice vertical tank in the middle of the room.

Service:

Decent.

Overall impressions:

We were out first day of hurricane season indulging my doomsday-scenario paranoia shopping and starving. This place was a pleasant surprise. We expected frozen fishsicks, and got a decent meal. And, as a bonus, we're now prepared for the apocalypse.

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders

Grill Time

Kosher steak house on Biscayne in Aventura.

What we had:

Let's start with the bread. Our meal came with fresh pitas and too many sides to remember for the starter. Not even a starter, just with the bread. Baba Ganoush (spelled wrong, but the best i've ever had), egg salad, potato salad, chickpeas, corn relish, sliced carrots, a roasted tomato salsa thing, beets that weren't bad (I generally hate beets with a passion), and possibly more. I forget. This was amazing. I could have eaten just this and been full.

I had the Gaza Strip Steak: "A delicately prepared masterpiece, marinated in rich juices, and sizzled to a thick tenderness. Our strip steak personifies the words "Great Steak." It is served with a side of chimichurry."
Holy crap. The steak was perfectly done (rare), nearly fork tender, and one of the most flavorful sliced steaks I've ever eaten. The chimichurry was good, too.

My DH had the Beef Short Ribs: "These tender large ribs are marinated, then grilled slowly till sweet & succulent, served on our beer-battered onion bread."
This was amazing, too. The beef was falling apart tender and the collagen had fully released, giving yummy rich goodness to the dish. The ribs had a sweet glaze that set the comforting goodness off perfectly. Our only gripe was that we couldn't get the marrow out of the bones--the glaze had sealed the ends rock-hard.

The sides weren't anything to write home about (except for the rice, but we're suckers for well-seasoned white rice), but who's counting?

Décor:

Low light like a steakhouse should have, dark wood, gold walls. Pretty minimalist.

Service:

Good.

Overall impressions:

Jews rock. This is not your dad's steak house, and we are sorry we've waited so long to try this place. We left ridiculously full. We need an excuse to go back. This place is freakin great. We learned something new, too--Israel has a good selections of wines. Had no idea.

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 salamanders

Brasserie Les Halles

I had no idea this place existed outside of NYC. Part 2 of 2 of an 'appetizers in the gables' day. The goal was to meander the Mile, shop, nibble. I was not impressed by the Miracle Mile in general--I'm guessing the 'miracle' is how 575 bridal spots exist cheek-by-jowl in a one-mile strip. It was a nice day to walk around, though.

What we had:

Appetizers only.

Croutons de Coulommiers rotis eu miel et poivre: Honey-roasted peppered Brie on croutons with salad.

Too-sweet Brie on slightly burnt baguette with a nice light mixed salad. There was no real balance to this dish. The honey was a bit cloying--the pepper didn't balance it right. And, the crouton was pretty burnt.

Frites.

My DH makes great fries, so i'm a bit biased there. They were good, but I didn't want to lay down & die.

We got bread here, too. I'm pretty sure it wasn't baked on site.

Décor:

Dark burgundy paint--the latest layer of what looked like years and years of color-changes. Very French posters on the wall.

Service:

Decent.

Overall impressions:

We were excited to try this place because we love Tony Bourdain, and we're food geeks. Having said that, my objective opinion is meh. The place seems to be in love with its own mythos--Les Halle posters and all--and I'm hoping that their classic dinner of steak & frites will be better. The logo is great--french-kissing cows--hard to go wrong there.

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

2 out of 5 salamanders-- we have a difference of opinion here. My DH says 2--I was leaning toward a 3--but that's not objective. Ok, if you factor in the price ($10 for the brie appetizer worth half that at best) it's a solid 2. Hopefully we can bump that up after going back for dinner.

Por Fin

I heard about this place on miami.com, and had to try it. Part 1 of 2 of an 'appetizers in the gables' day. The goal was to meander the Mile, shop, nibble. I was not impressed by the Miracle Mile in general--I'm guessing the 'miracle' is how 575 bridal spots exist cheek-by-jowl in a one-mile strip. It was a nice day to walk around, though.

What we had:

Appetizers only.

Tuna Tartare: Ahi tuna, avocado, mango, caviar, yogurt and soy sesame vinaigrette.
This was everything you could want from a tuna tartare--well-balanced tastes/textures from the velvety avocado to the succulent mango and melt-in-your-mouth tuna. A garnish of I'm guessing radish or alfalfa sprouts lent a great little backbone to the dish. While the essence of caviar didn't come across as caviar, (we forgot it was in there until I read it on the menu just now) the dish came across as perfectly balanced while eating it. And it was pretty, to boot.

Eggs at Por Fin: Fried eggs served with potato creme, potato crisps, serrano ham and truffle oil.
This was one of those 'holy crap' dance in your seat dishes. The tuna was fantabulous, but this was freakin awesome. The eggs were perfect, pillowy, and full of eggy goodness; the potato creme was creamy, balanced velvet caressing your palate; the crisps lent body and crunch; the ham, soft saltiness. My mouth is watering writing about it, it was so good. I don't remember tasting truffle, but i don't care. it was that good.

And, we got great crusty bread with kick-ass tomato accompaniments (a grilled? tomato relaish and fresh, bright tomato relish).

Décor:

Understated elegance--bright white tables, espresso wood trim, neat b&w photography.

Service:

Good.

Overall impressions:

Must. go. back. I fell the need for a big-ass dinner cooked by this chef.

Company website; Google says nothing.

Rating:

5 out of 5 salamanders

Siam River Thai and Sushi Bar

Thai/sushi/Japanese joint on 163rd near the Intracoastal 8 theater.

What we had:

We did an appetizer night:

Mee Krob--(Thai) The lightest of crispy noodles toasted in a delicate honey sauce with shrimp, chicken and crab. This was a fantabulous appetizer; sweet, crunchy, savory... it was everything we wanted, and my favorite.

Interesting pork thing whose name I can't remember--(Thai) A bizarre (but good) ground pork/ginger/lemongrass/peanut/onion/acerbic lime + sauce mixture on a bed of iceburg with tomato and cucumber garnish. It was odd, odd but good. The peanuts (or Mee Krob) were essential to balancing the acidic pork.

Sakesu--(Japanese) Salmon, crab, cream cheese & scallion sushi roll wrapped in paper-thin cucumber with vinegar sauce. My DH was not a fan. While I enjoyed the roll, the vinegar overpowered the other tastes. I enjoyed the cucumber substitution.

Hamachi--(Japanese) Grilled fish collar with ponzu sauce. I'm not quite sure what fish this was from; some sort of flaky white fish, but it really doesn't matter. This dish was fabulous. The grilled outside leant just the right amount of smoky crispiness, giving a nice counterpoint to the buttery richness of the meat. And ponzu is awesome. This one was arguably our second-favorite, though a strong contender for first.

Décor:

We ate outside; the inside was tastefully done.

Service:

Not great at all--we waited 10 mins to be greeted. But, at least our server was apologetic.

Overall impressions:

We're totally going back. There are 2 separate menus (Thai and Japanese) and enough that excited me on both to say I need to go back at least 3 more times to fully experience the restaurant.

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

4 out of 5 salamanders

Try My Thai with Sushi

Thai/sushi joint in the trying-to-be-renovated downtown Hollywood "hip" section.

What we had:

I had a gator dish; my DH had Pad Thai. The gator (the less spicy one on the menu) was great in the first bite... fried really well, the vegetables were spot-on, but got really salty toward the end. I'm hoping this was just an off night, because the basic flavors were really good. It just got way too salty, and I couldn't finish. The Pad Thai was the same way. The Thai iced tea, however, was great.

Décor:

It's in an old building, so beware of a slight mildew smell. The decor is dark, and done tastefully.

Service:

Not bad.

Overall impressions:

I'd like to go back. Next time I will definitely up the spice quotient.

No company website; what Google says

Rating:

3 out of 5 salamanders (with reservations)

Ver-Daddy's Taco Shop

Hipster taco shop.

What we had:

A chicken soft taco, pork in chile verde soft taco and chicken crispy rolled taco. The chicken was deliciously spicy; just hot enough to sting the lips. The pork was spiced well and cooked to perfection. The tacos tasted fresh and light; the perfect balance between fast food and sit-down restaurant.

Décor:

We ate outside. We went during the MiMo festival, so there was tons going on outside.

Service:

We went during the MiMo festival--the owner or manager was walking around, passing out free rolled tacos while you waited for your order. He seemed genuinely excited about the product he was offering, and he had every right to--this place is fabulous.

Overall impressions:

Moe who? My only complaint is that this place is too far to walk to.

Company website; what Google says

Rating:

4 out of 5 salamanders