If you’ve got relatives coming from out of town and want to give them the perfect South Beach dining experience, take them to A Fish Called Avalon. The historic Art Deco setting and the street-side elevated patio would be enough, but there’s also the creative menu from Chef Kal Abdalla, offering diners a satisfying blend of cuisines at this celebrated South Beach landmark.
Regular readers know I judge a seafood restaurant by how well it prepares octopus, and the dish I had at Avalon, grilled and served over shaved fennel salad, was the best I have had in South Florida. Bang Bang Shrimp presented four jumbo crustaceans dusted with brown sugar, sautéed in butter with turmeric and curry on a cucumber-mint yogurt sauce with a pepper relish. A classic Caesar consisted of baby romaine leaves, shaved Reggiano Parmigiano, and anchovies, with a delicate dressing. Perfect in its simplicity.
For our entrées, sesame-crusted ahi tuna, served over sushi rice and an Asian slaw tossed in a ginger-mango emulsion, was as pleasing to the eye as the palate. A swish of wasabi cream sauce and some tamari were all this dish needed. Crab and herb-crusted black grouper was cooked perfectly and served with gigante beans, wilted spinach, and citrus beurre blanc. Both fish dishes were $39. A 16 oz. Rib-eye, pan-seared and then grilled, was cooked to the specified medium-rare, for $56. We ordered a side of mashed potatoes with leeks, $10 for a large bowl.
As you can tell, prices aren’t cheap, but the food is of the highest quality. If you’re looking to save a little money, order one of the pasta dishes, priced less than $30. The wine list offers nice wines by the glass. The Pinot Grigio was so good, I had two glasses. Whatever you do, save room for dessert. The award-winning pecan-crusted Key Lime pie (that’s not hyperbole, it was named “Best Pie in North America”) is worth the hype. Not as hyped, but just as much a delight for the chocolate lover, the Grand Marnier chocolate mousse is served in a pistachio-maple syrup tuile. Savor those last bites and watch life stroll by on Ocean Dr. as your cares drift away.
A Fish Called Avalon
700 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach
305-532-1727
afishcalledavalon.com
Photo courtesy of Avalon.
Located on the border of Miami’s Design District and Little Haiti, Shokudo is an unassuming storefront that you could easily drive past. In fact, I did three times, because Waze kept missing it. Once inside, the rustic interior still doesn’t give you a clue to the truly outstanding, classic Japanese fare to be had (with other Asian influences thrown in for good measure).
Service is friendly, if not always efficient (we had to ask for our cocktails three times). Since we were dining early, prior to the theater, we decided to take advantage of the special happy hour menu with some distinct dishes not on the regular menu and bite-sized offerings of regular menu items, priced at $7, $8, or $9. From the $7 menu, the tempura shrimp are a real bargain with five large, crisp pieces. The spicy cucumber might seem a bit pricey for about half a cucumber, but it was a real flavor bomb and among our favorite dishes. Miso corn was tasty, but difficult to eat as we were only given chopsticks. So, one kernel at a time?
The $8 selections included two beautifully fresh slices of salmon nigiri that were slightly torched, a take-out box filled with Korean-fried chicken nuggets, and a full-sized tuna roll. The $9 dishes really blew our hair back. Takoyaki, a ball-shaped batter filled with minced octopus and topped with spicy mayonnaise, wasn’t the least bit fishy tasting. Thai deviled eggs featured tempura battered fried hard-boiled egg-whites, with a slightly spicy deviled egg filling on top. Scrumptious beyond belief, but the best, by far, was Dynamite Crisp, which featured a cold crab salad served atop a crispy rice cracker. There were only two, but there was plenty to share between the three of us.
We also took advantage of the happy hour drink menu. My niece Juliana had a Matcha Colada, her boyfriend had a Matcha iced tea, and I had the Mangosama, basically a Negroni with frozen mango juice as ice cubes. We shared two entrées. Juliana is a pescatarian, so she ordered the Thai red curry with crispy tofu, and I ordered the Korean beef short rib kalbi, and her boyfriend shared with both of us. They proclaimed the curry tasty. You’ll have to take their word on that, I hate coconut, and there was plenty in that dish. The Kalbi were charred, yet tender and very flavorful. We ordered Thai donuts. They were perfectly prepared, but our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, and in my case, that’s saying something.
Shokudo
4740 NE 2nd Ave., Miami
305-758-7782
shokudomiami.com
