Life is funny. It goes up, it comes down. Butter moved up to mid-town; and Asia de Cuba moved to occupy Butter’s old space. Re-located/ reopened recently, Asia de Cuba’s new place is sleek, modern. During restaurant week, we went there for lunch.
When Asia meets latin, does it gel or does it crash?
We like the calamari salad. The orange sesame vinaigrette balanced the oiliness very well. And it is a very generous portion. The spring rolls were not much of a looker, but don’t let it deceive you. The slow braised short ribs inside has great flavor, tender and moist. A great surprise! The snapper ceviche, light and bright! A great summer dish, and the fried plantains slaws on top adds a crunchy contrast to the dish.
For entrees, we chose the flat iron steak and scallops. I felt the steak could use a couple drop of lime juice. I could taste any trace of chili on the scallops, but it was a hearty dish with the beans and rice. The flavor is great, however, It could go easier without the mayo on top. The dish is heavy to begin with, and the “Japanese aioli”, aka mayo, makes the dish even heavier. I would opt for some lime or yuzu juice and may be some paprika pepper.
Desserts were great, and we love all three of them. The peppercorn ice cream was very interesting; the coconut cake is fluffy as it can be. And I love the sorbet! Fruits dices at the bottom with yuzu sorbet, sprinkled with meringue chips, coconut water poured over. Every bit of refreshing. A great note to end a delightful lunch. (August 2015)
Category: <span>South American</span>
Stone crab, interesting creatures. Tiny brownish body with unequally sized claws. A spices that no one eat until 1921. Thanks to Joe’s, we now enjoy these delicious big, jumbo, fresh, sweet claws.
Although no one eat stone crab till 1921, Joe’s opened their door back in 1913. Back then, this family restaurant served crawfish and fish. Now, it become the place to have stone crab. This place is more than just a restaurant. It plays a significant role in the stone crab history, and still influencing the industry today. Stone crab is in season from October to May. This is June, not in season, but we are going anyway. We will just have to settle with fresh frozen product.
Joe’s is old school. the space is like a huge Spanish mansion. Iron gate, front garden, it reminds me of Scarface, or some place that the mafia would meet the whole gang. Through the door, is a spacious bar. There are different dinning rooms, but we settle at a booth next to the bar.
Oysters
-East & West coast with Mignonette sauce
West coast (New Zealand) oysters are definitely better. Bigger in size and sweeter in taste.
Snapper Ceviche
-Shaken w/ lime, jalapeno, cilantro, shaved garlic, red onion, & citrus lavish cracker
Snapper ceviche came in a shaker on a little wood board, along with a shot of lime juice and some incredibly crispy crackers. Jalapeno, cilantro, garlic and onion are already in the shaker. Supposedly we should drop the shot of lime in the shaker, and shake! Shake! Shake! But silly us… we didn’t think of that, the whole “shaken” thing didn’t register to us… perhaps we are too excited for stone crab. We use the spoon to stir and serve. Amazingly sweet!!! And generous amount of snapper. This snapper is going on my top ten list. And the cracker… is like a extremely good cheese crepes.
Grilled Tomatoes
We need vegetable, and our waitress suggested this. I was a little skeptical with melted cheese. We wanted this dinner to be light. But it didn’t disappoint. Cheese and spinach stuffing was just the right amount. And tomato is as fresh as it could be. I’m happy with our choice.
Large Stone crab
Finally, STONE CRAB!!!! Just claws. Nobody eats the body. it came with house-made mustard sauce, but it honestly doesn’t need sauce, other than a couple drops of lime. SWEET!!! Yes it is frozen but still so good. Can’t imagine if we had it fresh. Little crabbies, we are planning our next visit to you.
*** 11 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL 33139
***405 Española Way, Miami Beach, FL 33139
The morning before we left Miami, we want our one last taste of cuban food. And we had planned to bring cubano sandwich for the road. We thought about going back to Putero Sauga. But the nice lady at the front desk of Surfcomber hotel highly recommended Havana 1957. we were skeptical, because it is a chain restaurant and it is on Espanola way, we thought… hmmm…. tourist place… But she is cuban, so we have to trust her, and we are glad we did.
At the start of Espanola Way, Havana 1957 dress up as an old school family restaurant. Pictures on the wall, red booth and bar. It’s cute, and charming. We sat at the shaded outdoor area. The plantain chips were very good, we couldn’t stop picking at it. With a couple of mojito, suddenly, it is not that hot anymore.
Mojito Clásico(right) 12.95
– With Bacardi Superior, sugar cane, and yerba buena
Fresh Kiwi Mojito(left)
– Bacardi Limón, Razz, crushed kiwi, sugar cane, and yerba buena
Cubano 14.5
Of course we are having Cubano sandwich. Ham, cheese, roasted pork, pickles, and mustard on bread. Oh juicy salty meat meet with pickles and mustard. Melty cheese holding everything together. And the bread, so crunchy!!! May be a little too much cheese, but really great sandwich. I have to say it is better than I expected, and may be even better than Putero Sauga. We shared a sandwich at the table, and so greedy that we each order 2 more sandwichs for the road!!! Yum!
Tasajo con Boniato 9.99 (the day’s special)
– Salt dried beef with criolla sauce. Served with white rice and sweet potatoes
No oxtail today, it is only available on Sunday. Looks like we just missed it. 🙁 our waitress recommended the salt dried beef. And so far we haven’t been disappointed by anyone’s suggestion in Miami, why stop now. Strong, bold flavors. Salty beef is really well balance by the criolla sauce- red pepper, onion and tomato, great for anything!
With our belly full, and two sandwichs in hands, we left Miami satisfied. And we are coming back for more!!! (June, 2015)
It is a lounge setting, festive place with a live band performing. It is dark but lively. With a couple bottles of wine, it’s a party!
Hamachi Tiradito
– Sliced hamachi with yuzu citronette, sweet peppers, shallots, and jalepenos
There seems to be a lot of sauce. Looks A little excessive too. While it does have the citrus taste, it wasn’t sweet as its look might appear. It was actually quite good. And I love the jalepenos and shallots that gave it the little kick and crunch.
Pulpo a La Gallega
-Saute Octopus, galician ajada and potatoes
Octopus was very tender. There were a lot of potatoes, and it’s rather salty. It would go very well with a couple of beers, or in our case, with some chilled white wine.
Rabo Encendido
-Tender slow braised oxtail, fiery rioja wine sauce, roast garlic-goat cheese malanga mash
Yes, we have a thing for oxtail. When it is on the menu, we couldn’t or wouldn’t restrain ourselves to not order it. Because when it is done right, it is irresistible. And this one is spectacular. Tender, meaty oxtail slow braise in red wine. It is rich, juicy! And look at those big chunks of meat!!! What a cow!!! That potato goat cheese mash was amazing too. And seriously, the portion here are ridiculously generous. Look at that plate, it is portion for two!
Chilean Sea Bass
-Fresh fillet pan seared, lobster cream lobster mashed potatoes
To balance the heaviness of oxtail, I thought we would order a fish. However, the sea bass is quite filling too. Large fillet of sea bass perfectly cooked, topped with lobster cream. YUM! The mashed potatoes, hidden with chunks and chunks of lobster. Oh I don’t know how to stop eating. Sorry, no dessert… I’m stuffed! (June, 2015)
*** 501 Lincoln Road, Miami Beach, FL 33139
I honestly do not remember the last time that I had 3 meals a day. But since we only very few days in Miami, not only 3 meals a day are jammed packed, we even squeezed in a fourth – afternoon snacks… a thing I never have… as far as I recalled. However, once I had the taco from Taquiza, I found myself back for more the next day. That’s right, two day in a row. Couldn’t have enough!
Just a short walk away from the beach, a tiny place tucked underneath a hostel on Collins Ave. a place that would go easily unnoticed if one weren’t paying attention. But if you do, you would have found treasure. And we did. Just a service counter, and a little patio out front. I felt like I was sitting at a friend’s backyard, just chilling. And of course, with very very good food. All menu items are written on the chalk board hanging over head. There were appetizers then tacos. For drinks, there were house made sangria, and coke from Mexican, and of course, a varieties of beers. Cozy little place for light lunch or snacks. I wanted to hit them all. But eyes always want more than my belly could.
We had the Al Pastor, which is pull pork, achiote, guajillo, sour orange, and topped with pineapple. Soft, tender pork, balanced well with sour orange. And that pineapple was like the cherry on top of the sundae. Also Taquiza use blue corn for that house made tortilla. Soft and fluffy, like little pillows.
Then there was the Lengua. Big chunks of beef tongue, marinated by Mexican beer, with toasted bay leaf. Such tenderness, and succulent.with a couple drop of lime juice, and hot sauce to brighten the notes. Oh… I can have this everyday!
And yes, we went back the next day. At around 3p, I was dreaming about that beef tongue taco. Its so hard to resist. And why not, we are on vacation. Let’s pig out. This time we were even more greedy. We also ordered the totopos with guacamole and the Elote. Both were very good, but can’t top that beef tongue taco. I found myself still thinking about it weeks after we came back from Miami. (June, 2015)
