Recs. in Miami for NY foodies?

[morningsidelisa]

Hi Miami-ers,
My husband, self and teenage son will be in Miami late August. Any suggestions for great food near Marriott Biscayne Bay (near Venetian Causeway)? We like spicy, Cuban, other ethnic, seafood--not formal or very pricey but doesn't have to be cheap. Open to other locations also. Will only be free for 3 lunches, 2 dinners. Thanks

[Frodnesor]

Nearby ->

Enriquetas on 29th St. for cheap Cuban breakfast or lunch.
Bin No. 18 on Biscayne & 18th for bistro / tapas style food, wine, beers.
Little Lotus in downtown Miami for Japanese (izakaya style food & sushi).
Nemesis Bistro 10th St. & Miami Ave.
Sakaya Kitchen, Sustain, Gigi, Sugarcane in Midtown.
Red Light further up Biscayne at 78th St.
PubBelly across the causeway in Miami Beach.

Lots more recommendations on this board if you do some searching, particularly if you decide whether you're limiting yourself to downtown / Biscayne area, or including Midtown / Design District an dSouth Beach.

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Red Light
7700 Biscayne Blvd, Miami, FL 33138

[Fineas]

Those are all good choices. A few others to consider nearby:

City Hall at 20th and Biscayne -- upscale comfort food. Some things are overseasoned in my opinion, but its pretty good overall and within walking distance of your hotel.

NoVe Kitchen -- half a block from your hotel. A hodgepodge of a menu with sushi, bugers and thai food, but most of it is actually pretty good.

Bengal Indian -- Right next to City Hall. Decent Indian food, but I find it needs to be ordered hot/spicy or can be a little too mild.

Ceviche 105 -- Good Peruvian/ceviche downtown. The causa with chicken and tiradito Inti Raymi are very good.

Fratelli Milano -- Very good Italian downtown.

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Fratelli Milano
213 SE 1st St, Miami, FL 33131

[Frodnesor]

I've only been to City Hall and Bengal once each, but was fairly disappointed in both. Bengal - which I visited some time ago - was OK, but the flavors just didn't resonate in the right way. If there was heat, it was a simple chile heat and not really any depth of spice that I expect from Indian cuisine.

My visit to City Hall could have used some overseasoning. Everything was bland and boring, several things verging on out-of-place sweetness. The gumbo was particularly disappointing given Chef Azar's background.

[mialebven]

I second Frod's list and of Fineas' list, Fratelli Milano and Ceviche 105 are good bets. But I should point out that Ceviche 105 is not always consistent since the head chef is not always cooking in the kitchen. Also, you could do Michael's Genuine for brunch (the Design District is less than a 10 minute drive now that the Biscayne construction is complete).

I went to NoVe last week on Thursday and left disappointed - had two different drinks and they looked the same and tasted almost the same and could be made better. The two sushi rolls I had , while sounding more inventive on paper, were just okay, nothing that would make me return more than any other "regular" sushi place.

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Fratelli Milano
213 SE 1st St, Miami, FL 33131

[LargeLife]

If Frod recommends it - - - that's where you should be going. This guy knows.....

Emac
Ft. Pierce, FL