The Bazaar At SLS Hotel Review (South Beach, Miami)

The recently opened SLS Hotel in South Beach offers two great dining options: Katsuya and The Bazaar by José Andrés. As I had already dined at Katsuya's in L.A., I opted for the Bazaar.

First off, I have to say I really like the overall design of the hotel. You can see Philippe Starck's touch everywhere and although it is not as original as it once was, it still is very pleasing to the eye.

The Bazaar is supposed to be less adventurous in the molecular gastronomy field than the chef's signature restaurant Minibar in Washington, DC. It, however, doesn't cease to surprise.

One great example is the cocktails menu. I ordered a "clean and dirty Martini" as a pre-dinner drink and was not disappointed. The salt air (the foam on top) combined with the liquid olive at the bottom made for a very original taste for this classic cocktail:

Fine Dining: Hakkasan Restaurant At Fontainebleau Hotel in South Beach - Miami

The famous Fontainebleau Hotel, where both Goldfinger and Scarface were filmed, was recently remodeled and it does seem to be in the same league than a Las Vegas Hotel. I must say that this property does look very sleek and features fabulous restaurants.

As one of those restaurants is the much hyped Hakkasan, we had to try it out. Keep in mind that  this restaurant offers a Miami Spice Menu on certain dates (for more information click here) which is undoubtedly a great value. We were amazed by the setting of the restaurant, its vibe, the service and of course the food. We had the chance to be welcome by the manager (thanks to our friend Mihai at the Delano Hotel) and had a fabulous and perfect dinner there.

Here are some pictures of the food that we had:

Perfect Dim-Sum (the best we had in our lives):

Their signature dish: Peking Duck with Caviar: a very inventive and divine combination. Here is a picture of the caviar:

The Peking Duck:

Peking Duck and Caviar combined in a pancake (my personal advice would be not to use the accompanying sauce and go easy on the cucumbers and scallions):

If it were not for the food, the whole restaurant decor would be worth a visit. So, it does qualify as a must-go place on a trip to Miami!

Fine Dining: Meat Market Restaurant - South Beach (Miami)

When you are on vacation for two weeks in the same city and you go twice to the same restaurant in two days, I think it tells a lot about how satisfactory the food must be.

This is what happened to us at the Meat Market restaurant on Lincoln Rd in South Beach, Miami. We did take advantage on our first dinner of the Miami Spice Menu. For those of you not familiar with it, let me explain what Miami Spice is all about. Every year in August and September, most of the best restaurants in Miami offer on certain days a set menu priced at US$ 22 for lunch and US$ 35 for dinner. This is, in most cases, an absolute bargain. Of course, we found it to be extremely valuable at Meat Market where the food as well as the setting and service are close to perfection.

We so much enjoyed our Miami Spice menu that we had to go back the following day although we knew the Miami Spice menu wasn't available. Here are pictures of the great food we had there:

Kobe Beef Sliders (one with cheese, the other one with Foie Gras):

Kobe Beef Skewers:

Lamb Chop Duo:

20 Oz. American Kobe Beef with Mac & Cheese (not on the Miami Spice Menu):

Key Lime Pie:

On the must-go scale from 1 to 10, this restaurant is a solid 10!

Food Porn & Cheese Bukkake At Their Finest

What better way to represent food porn than with this beautiful Philly Cheesesteak that can be had at Van Dyke Cafe in South Beach, Miami. The cheese Bukkake explosion featured on this plate couldn't be linked to anything else than food porn!