gigi--the Best in Miami Gourmet

I can always find things wrong with a restaurant, but lunch today at gigi was as close to perfect as I can imagine. The only thing I could find wrong was the acoustics; it gets pretty loud when it fills up, and it was close to filled the entire time we enjoyed our long lunch.

The idea behind gigi is fresh, small, tapas-like plates. If you're dining with friends, you order several different dishes and share, which is my favorite type of dining (even if I'm in a fine restaurant, my fork has been known to show up in my dining partner's plate). With a little help from my dining companion, we ordered the tandoori chicken bun (the bread was a cross between Naan and a chinese bun and was heavenly, filled with chopped cucumber, tandoori chicken and a fresh mint flavor); a local greens salad with a mild miso vinaigrette dressing; Homestead Heirloom tomato salad (colorful heirloom tomatoes with cucumber, hearts of palm, thai basil with a dressing that I couldn't get enough of; fresh tuna salad plate--my least favorite dish, but I don't care for tuna so I'm not much of a judge to rely on; shitake mushrooms in a sticky soy sauce with a hot aftertaste, and the Florida fish (cobia) in black bean sauce, jasmine rice and spring vegetables. It sounds like a lot of food but it was light and refreshing.

gigi is at the corner of N. Miami and NW 35th Street in Miami with plenty of free parking in the back. The decor is funky, as you would expect it to be, planted in the middle of Miami's Design District, and it's just a fun place to be. One of the contrasts that I liked that wine was served in water glasses and water was served to the table in wine bottles. Jars of huge cookies were offered on the bar as well as a regular dessert menu.

Would I recommend gigi? Oh yes! Again and again!

Something is ALE-ing the Carolina Ale House

The Carolina Ale House is another eatery off Weston Road in Weston, and we’ve eaten here on numerous occasions. Generally on a scale of 1-10, I’ve normally give it about a 6. It’s a good place to drink beer, eat a burger and watch a game on one of their many large tvs. This time I’d rate it a bit differently. My husband had a rib-eye steak that was ordered medium rare and was served very rare. It was so full of stringy fat he couldn’t eat it. Although the manager took it off the bill, it left a bad taste. I had a sirloin steak that was cooked perfectly and tasted great. However, the mashed potatoes were like gobs of paste and the vegetables served on the side were inedible and cold.

It’s a fairly large restaurant and acoustics are a real problem. You get 10 tvs on and 100 different fans cheering and it’s hard to enjoy a quiet dinner.
I’d recommend this ONLY as a place to go to watch the game, have a burger and a beverage. Not a good place for a first date, to bring your parents (unless they’re real sports fans) or for a romantic anniversary dinner.

Date of visit: March 24, 2011

Carolina Ale House, 2618 Weston Rd, Weston, FL 954-217-1233

Lurio's--I'd Expected Better

The location of Lurio’s, at the corner of Blatt Blvd. and Weston Road is perfect. Their restaurant has the corner location allowing patrons to have plenty of light from the windows, although the view is of a parking lot.

Reservations aren’t needed for dinner here, especially if you eat dinner early, like we do. We arrived at 6:30 and were told to seat ourselves, so we took an intimate table by a window. They offer very few wines by the glass, but you do get a good pour.

The menu said the salad I ordered had lettuce, dried cranberries, walnuts and friend noodles, but there wasn’t a noodle in sight.

I ordered the Lasagna Bolognese, since the menu said it had bechamel sauce, which I thought would be nice. No béchamel sauce ,and way too much of the tomato sauce which had no flavor except tomato. I expected to taste a bit of oregano or basil, so I went away disappointed. There seemed to be only two servers and they pulled double duty getting drinks as well, so maybe that’s why the didn’t come around with grated cheese or fresh pepper.



Maybe it was a bad night; I know they’ve been around for a few years, but I doubt very strongly that I’d give them another shot.

Date of visit: Monday, March 28, 2011 6:30pm