I can't spend $22 for lunch (even if it has three courses). And $35 is a full tank of gas, so dinner at Bond Street Lounge is out, too. What's a Miami Spice reject to do -- cower between stale caprese salads and shrimp tempura globs?

Here's a gourmet grunge dining guide for the white truffle-underdogs. You'd be surprised at what you can find around town for $20 or less.

Visiting Al-Salam is like stumbling into a Damascus stall in the middle of Plantation. This is the real thing -- no faux belly dancers, colorful drapery and hookah gimmicks, just authentic dishes set in a cafeteria-like setting. The platter of mixed appetizers includes hummus, baba ghannoush, moussaka, tabbouleh, two falafel balls, two kibbehs and two grape leaves ($12.99). The hummus glistens with lemon juice and olive oil, smells like roasted peanuts and tastes like it was made by Mother Earth. The piping hot kibbeh is like a crunchy meatball. At the platter's center is the tabbouleh salad -- an ode to parsley. For carnivores, there's the mixed grill platter of lamb, chicken and kafta kebobs and grilled chicken that lie on a red rice rug that smells of cloves and cinnamon ($13.99). The meat is tender, slightly blackened and resonates flavors of fennel and anise seed. Large, iridescent onion-pearls are grilled to candy perfection. Portions are substantial, so one platter can feed two. Plenty of sandwiches and meals range from $3.49 to $4.99, so you can mix and match meat and vegetarian dishes and still stay in your $20 budget. Glasses of mango, guava and apple juice are available for $2.49. Desserts include the Warbat ($1.50), a flaky, sweet, pistachio-studded triangle with a cream-like center drenched in what smells like a lavender-infused, simple syrup. Bonus: everything tastes better the morning after.

FRENCH BAKERY

Twenty dollars goes a long way at French Bakery -- a tiny, Parisian-style hideaway in a North Miami plaza. The smoked ham and leek quiche ($5) is a puffy, buttery cloud. Scoop the chunky, creamy, earthy chicken liver pté ($4.50) with a warm white baguette ($1.50) or choose from demi-baguettes that include flavors like walnut raisin ($4.50). Specials include the toothsome lamb shoulder ($14) that is slow roasted for four to five hours, seasoned simply with salt and pepper and served with a vegetable stew that includes zucchini, turnips and carrots. Owner Raphael Cohen is passionate about food. No Publix, Cohen said. ``It's more cost-effective to grind and prepare my own meat,'' he said. Cohen added that he boils tuna belly for the tuna salad ($7), but I didn't taste a perceptible difference. There are penny-friendly dessert options: a slice of banana-chocolate-chip coffee cake costs $1.50, and petit four is like a chocolate coconut shot (think bon bon) at $1.50 each. The serene atmosphere is captured by cream- and cerise-colored wicker chairs, ceramic plates and warm, one-on-one customer service. It's perfect for tea-and-cake lovers who can order the small rain forest ($14) -- an addictive, baby's breath-light, chocolate cake drenched in high quality kirsch and lathered with a fresh, sugar-infused whipped cream (one cake can feed four). Manager Ismat's hot sage tea is delicious ($1.50). Drink options range from sparkling pomegranate ($1.60) to Red Bull ($2.50).

DiLIDO BEACH CLUB

Torch lights, cabanas, telescopes, mellifluous ocean waves, coquettish nymphs and a full moon are part of the menu on The DiLido Beach Club's Full Moon Thursdays. And the food is good. Season 5 Top Chef contender and the restaurant's chef de cuisine Jeff McInnis prepares Crudo Tuna ($9) made with fresh, local yellowfin that is saturated in a sweet, red pepper jelly. The tuna is served with ice-cold avocado sorbet that's so creamy and rich, it tastes like ice cream. The DiLido Riblettes ($9) are soaked in a ginger-scallion brine for hours before they are grilled and finished with a Moroccan barbecue sauce that smells of cinnamon and anise. You get nine chunky, falling-off-the-bone pieces. Other items include french fries ($5) spiced with garlic chili aioli, dill, mint, cilantro and parsley. Drinks include $5 beers and $7 cocktails. The Cucumber Mojito is tricked-out with nitrogen, so it arrives like a smoky, double-digit cocktail, but it tastes like (and is priced like) an adult lemonade slushy.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@