Suviche

Photo Credit: Trip Advisor.

Suviche. I’ve seen that name many times before, but never had I ventured to try it out. It was only recently that I realized the name stood for “sushi” and “ceviche.” So I went on to try the one at Mary Brickell Village on 49 SW 11th Street. My table ordered several ceviches including the Suviche Ceviche, Aji Amarillo ceviche, and Suvama Ceviche. We also ordered the Perfection roll. The Suviche ceviche was spectacular! I loved the rich sauce and small and tender fish cuts. It’s sauce consistent of japanese mayo and generous servings of leche de tigre, according to our server. The Suvama ceviche was also good, but definitely didn’t top the Suviche. It had a sprinkle of japanese spices, which changed the traditional ceviche taste. The Aji Amarillo was the one I liked the least—and unfortunately was my dish!—but it was no bad. It was merely too simple; it felt as though it was missing a condiment or spice. Finally, the Perfection roll was not bad either (the rest of the table loved it), but I’m very particular with the type sushi I like. So the Perfection roll passed the flavor test in a 3-1 vote. For dessert, we ordered the Nutella pie. It was spectacular!! I like nutella a bit, but that pie blew my expectations. Funny enough, my table-mates wanted to return the next day again to have some more of the Suviche ceviche. I must admit I also wanted to go to try the lomo saltado. I have my very own quest of finding the best lomo saltado in Miami.

Photo Credit: Zoom Into Miami.

Hence, we ended there again for lunch and I ordered my lomo. It was very good, the meat was tender and juicy, even though it had an Asian-style flavor which wasn’t entirely to my preference. I have also been used to having the meat mixed with the fries, onions and tomatoes. In Suviche, they serve the fries separate and in a thick cut, so I ended up having more like a side of fries (but were very good). Finally, the dish in itself was a reasonable size, but I still prefer my lomo in Sabor, with its quite generous servings and mixed-in fries. Also, the chef on the second day was different and, according to my table-mates, the Suviche ceviche tasted completely different and not as good. However, (if you do get the good chef), the place is good overall, especially if you’re interested in the mix of the Japanese and Peruvian cuisines.

LoKal

Photo Credit: Localeur.

LoKal is located in 3190 Commodore Plaza, Coconut Grove, right around the corner from the neighborhood’s local veterinary. The outside is reminiscent of a dinner, but the high chairs and tables and the graffiti on the sidewall tell another story. It has a variety of burgers, ranging from the Frita—a guava-topped burger—to My Childhood Dream—a burger that uses a donut cut in half instead of burger bread. All the burgers can be accompanied by one of multiple sides, such as the sweet potato fries. Although I still haven’t gone for either of those, I have tried The Classic and the Fidy-Fidy. Both of them have great flavor, but my favorite part is going half-and-half with sweet potato fries and normal fries and dipping them in the two sauces that accompany every dish. The Classic is self-explanatory, it’s the typical American burger, but with sharp Wisconsin cheddar. The Fidy-Fidy is more exotic, with the meat being half ground beef and half ground bacon, topped with even more bacon and sweet onion marmalade.

Photo Credit: The305.

If you’re a bacon person like me, go with the Fidy-Fidy. A very interesting thing that LoKal does, is that in the menu, it states the city where some of the ingredients that they use come from—sometimes it even mentions the farm’s name. So if you’re not certain that you’re getting local and high-end ingredients, look it up. Some of the best-selling plates include the LoKal burger, the chicken and waffles, the key lime pie and the doggie chicken and rice. The restaurant does not only provide meals with quality ingredients for its human customers, but for their dogs as well. LoKal’s clientele ranges from dog-lovers to business people to college students. It’s a comfortable environment open to anyone who wants a taste of clean proteins, grass-fed beef and good beer. So if you do plan to go to LoKal, expect seeing at least one of man’s best friends relaxing by a table or devouring its meal.

Batch

Photo Credit: Miami.

Yesterday for the boxing world's big match Pacquiao v. Mayweather, my friends and I headed to Batch. It's located on 30 SW 12th Street, on the first floor of the Hampton Inn and Suites. The place is quite visible, but you don't realize it's there because it has no banner or sign saying, "Hey, this is Batch!" What gives it away is the music and loud chattering of a crowd in a great environment. Batch has two areas, an exceedingly nice terrace at the front and the inside bar with booths along the edges and high tables in the midst. In the very back, there is even a "dance floor" that, if you're into Latin music, proves to be the best place to be in. If you're not a Latino, don't despair either! Batch makes sure there is a variety of music throughout the night. As for the food, it's great. The one small problem is that yesterday they seemed to have a special menu with items I believe I haven't seen in their everyday menu. Nonetheless, they might be offering them, so it does no harm to ask! As for the items on the "ordinary" menu, I've had the truffle fries, Margherita pizza, Dry Rubbed Hanger Steak and Pulled Pork Sliders. As a standard, it's a bit difficult to go wrong with fries, but these are substantially good; although I wouldn't mind some extra cheese! The pizza is delicious. Suffice to say we had to order another one before the last slice started WWIII among members of my table. The hanger steak: wow. It was amazing. The meat was tender and juicy and it just made a great appetizer. Finally, the sliders were too darn good. The pork was seared in BBQ and topped with onions and pickles to make the perfect slider. I would absolutely recommend ordering these if you visit Batch.

Photo Credit: Urbanspoon.

As for items I am not certain are on the normal menu (which if I am wrong please let me know!!), I'll start with the wings. They had a very sweet sauce and a touch of a spicy aftertaste. As I've said before, I'm more into straight-up buffalo style wings, so these turned to be too sweet for me. The steak tacos that we ordered came with the meat in a bed of lettuce and on a flour tortilla. They were good, but they could have included a light touch of sauce that would have added the flare it was missing. However, the quesadillas absolutely made up for both the tacos and the wings. It was a burst of flavor between the cheese and--surprisingly--veggies. They definitely rank among the top quesadillas I've tried. The thing I would recommend for this restaurant, as I have for several others, is to order to share. There are so many good things to try that it's great to be able to have a little (or a lot) of everything. But if you don't feel like giving away part of your food, there's also several burgers I've heard are great. Before you go, you have to know Batch offers great happy hours on Fridays and Saturdays after midnight. You get a pretty good deal on the beers--and this comes from experience!!