Two nights in Miami, husband's birthday & Dining

[Inthemood]

I'm planning a surprise trip to Miami in June (2 nights), for my husband's 30th. He likes the beach and boxing, the water in NYC is still on the cold side in the beginning of June and there aren't any live boxing events. Miami it is.. I've been been doing research pretty much daily, trying to decide on every singly detail (This darn indecisiveness of mine!).

The boxing event is at the James L Knight Center. 400 SE 2nd Ave, Miami. I hope that some of you reading this are familiar with the location. I am still not sure if I should order tickets with dinner. Somehow devouring steak and watching two men violently beating the crap out of each other seems a little too savage. But I am not sure if men find that ok. Can't ask my hub-dub. If this is not an option, perhaps dinner nearby before the event will be more appropriate? And where would be a good place to dine. He likes Sushi, Italian, Steak, Seafood, Mediterranean and Russian, Mexican is good too.

The hotels I am thinking of are:
- Sanctuary South Beach
-Courtyard by Marriott Miami Beach Oceanfront
-South Beach Hotel
-Bentley Beach Hotel (my first choice, but it seems really expensive)

And we have one more night (Saturday) to spend in Miami before we fly back. Can anyone recommend a place we must must visit?

We are both young people who are basically like grandparents. We like jazz, swing, old and foreign movies, quiet and intimate dinners with interesting and creative food and pleasant ambiance. We would like to go dancing, but don't really want to be bumping into the techno, overly hyper and drunk crowd. God, we are such old fogies!

Can any of you wise locals give me some guidance? How far would Porcao or Rosa Mexican be from the JLKC? Are they worth trying?

By the way, I am not planning to rent a car. Should we?

[Inthemood]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. Frod and tp - you were right on the money! I tried to make reservations for my husband's birthday at Talula, but they were booked for a rehearsal dinner, so I pushed it to the day after.

On Friday we dined at Ola. It was a delightful experience. The place wasn't full, the weather was breezy and in the 80s, so we were seated outside, surrounded by the bushes. The service was impeccable, they remembered my requests, including my husbands birthday and brought a dish with a candle and "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate. The food was good, but not as great as Talula's. We had foie gras with fig empanadas, a duck salad for starters, and shared a rack of lamb with a plantain. Empandas were a little too sweet, the salad was flavorful, the plantain too dry and the lamb was succulent. The whole experience overall was fantastic and we were so glad we tried the food.

Talula delivered an exceptional meal for another beautiful evening. It was closer to 80s with a pleasant breeze. We really enjoyed our walk to the restaurant, which was tucked away from the "trendy" and popular strip. Inside was quiet and romantic, we sat in their outdoor garden. The service once again was impeccable, thank you so much for suggesting. We ordered an octopus and artichoke salad and grilled foie gras (waiter's suggestion) which gave me wings and propelled me to gourmet heaven, the foie gras was from another planet! I had a red snapper and my husband had hanger steak which was so moist and flavorful that my tongue wanted to cry. The service was once again absolutely flawless!

Thank you guys so much for your recommendations. We will definitely try Sardinia and Osteria next time we are in Miami. Hopefully it'll be sooner than later, we really enjoyed our visit!

[TampaAurora]

My husband just surprised me with a trip to Miami for our anniversary this past weekend and took me to Hiro Yakko-san in North Miami - Japanese and open late! Apparently, this place is where chefs go after work. The best tuna tataki I have ever eaten and the yaki-udon is amazing! It was definitely worth the drive for us.

[Inthemood]

These are my selections:

- Macalusos
- Talula
- Bond St.
- Ola
- Alta Mar
- Sardinia

Since we are staying there for 3 days, I need 3 restaurants. The first night should be the most extraordinary selection, since it's for his 30th.

[tpigeon]

In order of food quality
Talula
Sardinia
Macalusos, Alta Mar - tie. Alta mar is a better value but your husband may prefer the cuisine at macalusos.
Ola, Bond st. tie. Bond st is a better value than ola.

[Frodnesor]

Bond Street is not much of a value either. It's the best sushi on the beach (which is not much of a competition) and is pretty good (though I haven't been since Chef Mike came over from Bouley) and the basement lounge vibe is sort of cool, but it's fairly expensive for what it is.

[tpigeon]

Ola aint cheap either :).

[Frodnesor]

- Do not eat at the Knight Center.
- Conversations about hotels quickly garner a stern warning from the Chowhound Content Police.
- Across the street from the Knight Center is Il Gabbiano, which has been getting raves for its Italian food (original owners of Il Mulino in NY). In the same building s Prime Blue Grill (not as many raves). Not much else for dinner in downtown proper.
- Across the Brickell Bridge and about 5 blocks south are several options in the Brickell area. These are discussed extensively in other threads, here's a start ->
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/501984
- Porcao is not great - for Brazilian rodizio I've heard better things about the newly opened Grimpa, also in Brickell area.
- I thought Rosa Mexicano was only OK, plus you can get it in NYC, no?
- Sadly, one of the only jazz clubs in town, Arturo Sandoval's, which also served dinner, recently closed.
- Miami is a very tough town to get around without a car. If you are staying on South Beach and going to events/dinner in downtown, you will probably quickly pay the equivalent of daily rent on a small car in taxi fares.

[Inthemood]

Speedy and informative!

1. Check! I needed a push to make up my mind.
2. Hotels - duly noted. I guess I also wanted to give an idea of the location, for any possible restaurant recommendations in those areas.
3. I'll look into Il Gabbiano or we can just eat something closer to our hotel at 5pm. :)
4. Brickell Bridge looks like it can add on some additional time.
5. Again, I am not sure about the distance with Grimpa.
6. Rosa is Ok but definitely better than than some tex mex chow. I am not familiar with the downtown area at all. I visited SB five years ago and we stayed in that central area without a car. A friend later showed us around.
7. How about another dance club without techno or hip hop?
8. If we are going to be there only from Friday - Sunday, is it really worth renting a small car? I think that we'll be mainly at the beach, go to the even and dine. Perhaps some dancing if he wants to. So I don't know if it's worth it. But perhaps considering the distance it would be best to rent a car? I have to think about that one.

Thanks so much for all of your detailed input... and for helping me make up my mind about eating at the Knight Center.

[Frodnesor]

Brickell Bridge is not very big at all. Walking to the Mary Brickell Village area from Knight Center is probably a 10-15 minute walk (which you very well may decide is too much in June - I might too). Knight Center is one of the few places it's actually easy to catch a cab. There's not much in the way of dinner in downtown proper (the area north of Miami River), many more options in the Brickell area (south of Miami River).

If you're planning to spend most of your time on South Beach, then you can skip a rental car and walk to most places and cab it to others. Tons of South Beach suggestions elsewhere on this board if you search. If you're planning to go to other parts of the city (Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, etc.), public transport is not terribly effective and taxis will quickly add up.

[Inthemood]

So...we are staying at the Sanctuary South Beach Hotel which houses the Ole restaurant. I think we'll dine there one of the nights, but what about the other nights? Which restaurants around that area guarantee a gastronomic feast?

I would greatly appreciate more suggestions.

[tpigeon]

I would do talula (first choice) or macalusos if I were you. Ola is good but overpriced - I like macalusos too (better than ola) but it is overpriced as well. You could also do Nobu or Bond st but you are from ny so I doubt you would be interested.

If he is a boxing fan there are good fights on TV on 6/21 and 6/28, 6/28 is not to be missed for a boxing fan...

Edit - if you are willing to cab it you pretty much have the whole beach. I picked places you can walk to on a hot summer night.

[Inthemood]

Terrific! Thanks so much! He's a huge boxing fan, but I don't know if I would want to tell him, he would barricade the TV. :)

So you would recommend Talula for the birthday dinner? We have that boxing event on Friday, the same day as his birthday. I thought of having dinner at Ola and then going to the event, but perhaps Talula would be more appropriate since he is nuts about Italian food.

[Frodnesor]

I'm a big fan of Talula but I must caution you it's not really an Italian restaurant. You can check out menu here ->
http://www.talulaonline.com

Note also if you need to eat early before the boxing, I don't think Talula opens for dinner until 6:30.

If you're looking for Italian I'd recommend Sardinia first. My wife is also a fan of Macalusos (more of a "red sauce" place), and Osteria del Teatro also has its fans here.

[tpigeon]

Actually Osteria is probably the best of the bunch foodwise and is within walking distance. Good suggetsiton frod.

Sardinia which is my favorite restaurant on the beach is not a red sauce kind of place and is not within comfortable walking distance (it gets really hot here).

[tpigeon]

Macalusos is the italian place. Talula is upscale american.

[Frodnesor]

What is this, "Who's on first?"
Talula = "upscale American" "modern American" "whatever you want to call it, it's good"
Sardinia = regional (i.e. Sardinian) Italian with some stretching into other regions
Macalusos = red sauce Italian
Osteria = I'd say more Northern Italian.

TP, the way you rave about Sardinia, I'm amazed to hear you say you think Osteria is even better!

[tpigeon]

I think the food at osteria edges out sardinia but since osteria is not an every day place, I like sardinia better as a restaurant.