Miami Restaurant Reviews

Lan Pan-Asian Cafe

8332 South Dixie Highway
Outside Dadeland Station
(305) 661-8141

An Asian-themed restaurant that's really good.
Stopped in for lunch and were welcomed by a courteous staff.
Lan's has good seating space plus a sushi bar.
The food was wonderful, the taste not over or underdone.
Most of the lunch dishes on the menu have a decidely Japanese touch.
Went to dinner and was still impressed. Winded up talking to the sushi chef (interesting guy).
Below is a listing of the dishes we've tried
and what we thought of them:

Potstickers - Chicken and mushroom, spinach and chive, or two of each pan-steamed; garlic-soy dipping sauce.
Decent, but not traditional
Crispy Calamari * - Calamari with dry-rubbed spices wok-fried; fresh mango sauce.
Thought it was a wee bit salty (but, hey, what do I know?) but nevertheless tasty and crispy all the way.
Miami Heat (roll) * - Fried conch, lettuce and mango rolled in rice and seaweed with spicy sauce.
Everything blended well together, had no real complaint about the overall taste.
Seoul Surprise (roll) * - Tuna, flounder, kimchee sauce and cream cheese rolled in rice and masago.
Liked it for its harmonious blend of Korean and Japanese tastes.
Crab Rangoon (roll) * - Crab, cream cheese and wonton crisps rolled in rice and sesame.
Good appetizer and ingredients work well together. One of Lan's most popular rolls.
Thai Bomb (roll) - Lemongrass-chili shrimp, calamari and cucumber rolled in rice and sesame.
A bomb. Couldn't really taste the spicy lemongrass-infused shrimp and squid in the roll.
Rising Sun (roll) * - Salmon, tuna, avocado and spicy mayonnaise rolled in rice and masago.
Not too bad, quite tasty.
Butterfly (roll) * - Shrimp tempura, lettuce, asparagus, avocado and spicy mayonnaise rolled in rice and seaweed.
Not too bad. Another popular roll.
Futomaki (roll) * - Crab, spinach, cucumber, tamago and kampyo rolled in rice and seaweed.
Well made roll, didn't fall apart
Beef Udon * - Fresh thick noodles with tender stewed beef flank and broth, yum!
Ramen with grilled beef * - Japanese-style ramen with pieces of grilled beef, not as great as the udon
Overall = *** 1/2
* - Yuck - Okay * - Good - Yummy * - You've got to try it!

Rock A Bangkok Thai Restaurant

A surprising find. Small family-owned and run Thai restaurant in a strip mall.
The food may not be like the stuff you get in Bangkok,
but it's sure better than most of the Thai restaurants in Miami.

Chicken Satay - Needs to be more flavorul on all counts.
Mee Krob * - Just right sweet, crispy fried noodles with shrimp
Gai Yum * - Spicy grilled chicken salad, always better the next day.
Dancing Shrimp * - Spicy shrimp salad, ditto.
Twist & Shout Squid * - Spicy squid salad, ditto.
Shrimp Pad Thai * - Your average Americanized dish, but much better than most, asked for it Thai-style.
Soy Sauce Noodle * - Unorthodox but still good.
Pad Prik Gatiam * - Shrimp with peppercorn and garlic, good even while I had the flu.
Overall = ***
* - Yuck - Okay * - Good - Yummy * - You've got to try it!

Jumbo Restaurant

1242 NE 163rd Street
North Miami Beach, Florida 33162
(305) 956-5677

This is the restaurant where the Chinese go to eat.
They serve dim sum daily and beyond the afternoon time limit.
Safe bets from the dim sum menu: shrimp dumpling, crab flavor siu-mai,
stuffed shrimp eggplant, fried shrimp dumpling, taro shrimp,
fried spring roll, fried shrimp ball, pan fried dumpling,
shrimp rice pasta and seafood noodles.
Seafood noodles was loaded with large scallops, shrimp,
squid, and octopus.

The Cheesecake Factory

Dadeland Mall

Typical mall restaurant that serves good food, and lots of it.
Below is a listing of the dishes we've tried
and what we thought of them:

Fire-Roasted Fresh Artichoke - Ho hum
Hot Spinach And Cheese Dip *
Vietnamese Spring Roll - Don't chill the spring rolls!
Thai Lettuce Wraps - Refreshing and delightful
Straw & Hay - Overall taste a bit heavy
Chicken And Biscuits *
Bangkok B-B-Q Chicken - Doesn't taste like real Thai BBQ
Bang-Bang Chicken And Shrimp
Crabcakes
Pasta With Four Cheeses
Thai Chicken Pasta - Liked the peanut butter sauce
Kahlua Almond Fudge Cheesecake * - To die for
Key Lime Cheesecake
Overall = *** 1/2
* - Yuck - Okay * - Good - Yummy * - You've got to try it!

Viet Family Restaurant

15892 SW 137th Avenue
Miami, FL 33177
305-259-8508

From what I ordered out, a really mediocre Vietnamese restaurant.
Food was greasy, relatively expensive and highly forgetable.
Real Vietnamese food is focused on light and healthy.
Skip this one.

Butterfly Shrimp *
Seafood On Fried Rice Noodle *
Shrimp On Sugar Cane *
Overall = *
* - Yuck - Okay * - Good - Yummy - You've got to try it!

Copyright © 1998,1999,2000 J. T. Hill
No reprint without the express permission of author

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