Steak omakase to Peruvian Nikkei: These restaurants bring the many flavors of Asia to Miami
Asian cuisine is taking over in Miami.
As dining trends go, it’s swiftly becoming a favorite in the Magic City, from Japanese omakase experiences to Peruvian Nikkei to Chinese-Latin fare (ropa vieja spring rolls, anyone?).
Here are a few places to check out on your quest to find the best Asian food in the city.
Benh Mi
The underground pop-up Benh Mi served Vietnamese home meal kits throughout the pandemic, drawing the attention and loyalty of customers who found the Vietnamese specialties on Instagram. Now, joined by his New York-based friend Michael Kaplan, Executive Chef Benjamin Murray is opening a brick and mortar restaurant on Española Way in Miami Beach. Benh Mi restaurant serves the popular sandwiches, which come on baguettes with fillings like lemongrass meatballs, herb roasted pork and char siu mushtrooms. You can also order sides like spring rolls or green papaya salad with mango. All ingredients are made in-house except the bread. Read more
Buya Izakaya & Yakitori
There’s a secret cocktail den at this spot created by the founders of Asian wood-fire spot Kyu, bringing Miami Japanese pub food. Call it Japanese soul food. Here’s what you’ll find on the menu: items like yakitori and wagyu kushiyaki grilled over binchotan charcoal, duck dumpling hotpot and Tokyo street corn. Want to watch how the magic gets made? Buya’s exhibition kitchen will offer diners a view. That secret cocktail den is called the Golden Gai, named for the 200 micro-bars tucked along the dark and narrow alleyways of a district in Shinjuku, Japan. Read more
Ch’i
.jpg "CH’I_DINING%20ROOM_PHOTO%20CREDIT%20MICHAEL%20PISARRI2%20(1).jpg")
Ch’i, a dining-and-nightlife venue from the locally-based Grove Bay Hospitality Group and Breakwater Hospitality Group, offers four concepts: an outdoor garden, an Asian-themed marketplace, a cocktail lounge and — most importantly, say its creators — a dining room with a menu highlighting Chinese-Latin cuisine. “We’re a restaurant first,” says Emi Guerra, co-owner of Breakwater, the group behind The Wharf and Rivertail. “We’re a restaurant that happens to throw a good party.” Read more
Cote
New York steakhouse Cote specializes in the Korean tabletop grilling experience and is the only Korean steakhouse in the world to earn a Michelin star. Highlights include American Wagyu with a Beef Marbling Score of 10 or above (trust us — this is good). You can choose between dry-aged New York strips or ribeyes or the Japanese A5 Wagyu from Miyazaki Prefecture. Diners can also choose from two different tasting experiences: The Butcher’s Feast, four selections of the chef’s favorite cuts, or, for the true aficionado, a 10-course Steak Omakase experience. This is the sort of swanky spot that has its own signature salt and 1,200 wines on the wine list, including a few from the 1870s. Read more
Itamae
Brother-and-sister team Val and Nando Chang opened their culinary celebration of all things Japanese and Peruvian across the courtyard from its original spot in Mia Market (formerly Politan Row and St. Roch Market). Good news: A larger location means a larger menu. Appetizers include smoked fish dip and torrejitas de choclo corn fritters, a wide selection of tiraditos, ceviches made with daily catches, signature sushi rolls and bowls, and a broad selection of wines, including low-intervention natural wines. Read more
Ke-uh
Sunny Isles Beach’s award-winning resort Acqualina Resort & Residences has opened this spot in the former space of AQ with indoor and outdoor seating areas that overlook the ocean. Its menu concentrates on tapas-style shareable plates. Expect imported Japanese Hamachi yellowtail, uni, octopus and sweet shrimp, Scottish salmon, Yellowfin and Bigeye tuna from Central and South America and Bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean. There are non Japanese menu items — sliders, baby back ribs, even pizza! — as well as vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Read more
Lil' Laos
Sakhone Sayarath and her husband, Curtis Rhodes, catered Laotian food occasionally while she was an ad exec and he was the chef at Café Roval. When the pandemic hit and both were out of a job, they started selling their menu at pop-ups before finding a permanent home for Miami’s only Laotian food at The Citadel food hall. Their entire menu is a showcase of the unique flavor combinations you’d expect from cuisine influenced by bordering Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. Bright lime and cilantro, pungent fish sauce, tangy soy and lemongrass all come together, nowhere better than in their homemade sausage and dipping sauce. The menu invites pairing it with their spicy cold papaya salad and pork ribs with a tomato dipping sauce. It’s hard to pick a favorite at this restaurant that is worth the drive. Read more
Momosan
Chef Masaharu Morimoto’s Momosan menu focuses on ramen noodles, grilled skewers and the kinds of comfort food dishes you’d find at an izakaya, a sort of Japanese pub. So also expect Japanese beers, sakes and whiskeys. Read more
Mr. Omakase
It was a match made in sushi heaven. Andrew Mayer and Ryan Leto, the founders of Poke OG, have teamed up with master sushi chef Ryo Kato. The restaurant offers three different levels of the omakase (chef’s choice) experience: a 10-course meal for $69 per person; 14 courses for $89; and 18 courses for $119. You’ll feast on premium sushi such as uni, chu-toro, A5 wagyu, ikura and hotate, plus sashimi. There’s also a miso soup with a top secret recipe. Mr. OmaKase seats only eight guests at a time for social distancing purposes. Read more
Paperfish Sushi
The cherry blossoms are always in bloom at Paperfish Sushi — and so are the mingled flavors of Japan and Peru. The new Japanese restaurant, which opened April 23 in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, serves Nikkei cuisine in a modern Tokyo-inspired izakaya style. Think Japanese pub ambiance with Japanese-Peruvian flavors. In a dining room lined with cherry trees, diners can share plates of Peruvian and Japanese favorites, such as Nikkei tuna, smoked ceviche, tiradito and hamachi crispy rice. There are also signature sushi and hand rolls that blend Japanese and Peruvian influences, such as the San Snow (crab, smoked rocoto, Parmesan and bread crumbs) and the Torch Wagyu (uni and ginger wasabi). Read more
Saka Mori
The owners of North Miami Beach’s Yakko-San have opened this new fusion restaurant in the Trump International Beach Resort Miami. Expect appetizers like seaweed salad, rock dynamite shrimp and crispy bok choy — but also innovation. Specialties include Toro Carpaccio with apple salsa, wasabi crunch, caviar and truffle ponzu and Wagyu Kushi, featuring Australian Wagyu and green tea salt. There’s plenty of sushi and sashimi, as well as four different types of ramen, wagyu and hibachi steak and ebi tempura. Read more
Salvaje
Japanese fusion restaurant Salvaje is internationally famous in Spanish cities like Ibiza, Barcelona and Madrid, as well as in Panama and Colombia. The restaurant, in the Hyde Midtown Miami, features a retractable roof and includes a 170-seat garden with bamboo daybeds, tables and an omakase sushi bar. The menu includes octopus from Galicia, Alaskan King salmon, Japanese tuna and Wagyu beef as well as a seasonally shifting sushi and omakase menu. Specialties include lobster dumplings and wok rice with duck, and meat lovers can try the grilled and glazed lamb shank with teriyaki sauce. Read more
Uchi
With a sushi bar and an outdoor patio, this Austin,Texas-based brand serves sushi and sashimi as well as specialty rolls like thinly sliced flounder, candied quinoa and olive oil or bigeye tuna, goat cheese, apple zu and shiso. Hot dishes include pork belly, wagyu ringo with smoked apple butter, candied garlic and apple kimchi and Sasami Yaki (chicken breast, coconut and cilantro). Signature plates include Japanese pumpkin tempura and the deep-fried Karaage (chicken thigh, sweet chili and pickle). Diners can also try three different omakase tastings: a 10-course Chef’s Tasting, a six-course Signature Tasting and a six-course Vegetarian Tasting. Read more
The Den at Azabu
Azabu Miami Beach’s The Den has reopened its doors with the launch of Now & Den: A Wagyu Series, a two-part dining experience where guests can savor the highest grade Japanese Wagyu through July. Wagyu master Chef Tadaaki Ishizaki, one of Japan’s leaders in Japanese-style dry aged beef is helming the den for three months wiht an intimate omakase dinner utilizing several different types of Japanese Wagyu like Miyazaki Gyu, Satsuma Gyu, Premium WAOH Wagyu, and Tokachi Poroshiri Wagyu. There are two available seatings at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Saturday for $220 per person during his three-month residency.
This story was originally published June 8, 2021 at 6:00 AM.