Miami Beach Restaurants

This is a little whole in the wall type fast food place which looks more like a trailer turned food service. You order your meal at the counter and can be seated among the few little stools located along the counter, we decided to take our sandwiches to go and eat while we walked to Ocean Drive.

It's a really good place for sandwiches, salads, smoothies or even some yummy shakes. We were enjoying our walk along Collins and decided to stop and have a bit to eat.

Favorite Dish: I ordered the prosciutto and fresh mozzarella with lettuce, tomatoes, black olives and vinaigrette dressing all on a French bread. My sandwich was very good.

I also had a very yummy smoothie called the Bora Bora, its a mango, banana, pineapple and orange smoothie. Quite refreshing on a hot day. Ferni had the boring ham sandwich on French bread and a strawberry shake which was quite thick and yummy!!

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I've been to the News Cafe a few times during my trips to Miami Beach and although everyone knows about this restaurant, it is always a great place to grab breakfast or brunch. On my first visit we had Saturday brunch. The weather was perfect and made for some really great conversation and people watching on Ocean Drive.

Recently I returned, this time for Sunday brunch and it was just as fantastic as I remembered it. The wait staff are so perky and friendly and found us a really nice table so we can enjoy the great weather and some people watching.

They have a very large selection of dishes to choose from and some very yummy pastries, like their flan or crème brule!!

Favorite Dish: On my two visits to the cafe I have ordered the breakfast special which is a two eggs (over easy for me), news fries, sausage, oj, coffee and whole wheat toast dry. Ferni ordered the same breakfast special but with bacon instead.

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Ferni and I loved this place so much that we chose to eat here twice, even though there are tons of other places to eat. There is an indoor or outdoor seating, but when in Miami Beach, always choose to sit outdoors, you can enjoy a great meal and do some people watching. There is a pretty large selection of dishes to choose from and the prices are so affordable, it amazed us.

We received excellent service, the meals are really good and the drinks even yummier, this is a restaurant we will definitely return to!!

We've returned to this restaurant during our trip in May 2011 to find the food and the drinks still very good. This time we ordered an appetizer of chicken tenders and Ferni had his Heinekin and I had a Mojito!! Wow, the mojito here is so good.

There is a happy hour every day (will have to check on the times).

Favorite Dish: We ordered the hummus both times, its that good!! For lunch I had the burger which was so, so juicy and the huge steak fries, which are my favorite. On our second visit for an early dinner I ordered the pork chop, which also came with the steak fries, so, so delicious. Ferni ordered pasta and chicken parmesan both times, it was that good.

For drinks I had the mojito, so, so good and Ferni had the Rum & coke. We also ordered dessert and both times had the Tartufo, which was quite heavenly!!!

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This is a larger and in my opinion slightly better version of the longstanding Soho restaurant and bar that is a bit of an institution among some of the trendy types in London's gay scene.

I stopped in here for a coffee and some water while doing a bit of a self guided walking tour. Eating in there from a mainly mediterranean and European style menu were a mix of business people, trendy locals and some tourists. Prices were maybe a little higher than usual but not by a massive amount. They offer breakfast, lunch and dinner menus to suit most tastes.

The outdoor seating out front is a great place to people watch.

I actually preferred this to the original London version as the staff were a bit less pretentious and seemed friendlier. Also gets quite busy in the evenings, a place to be seen I suspect.

The food looked great but was really disappointing. The plantains were too ripe. All the meat was really greasy. The ceviche was giant chunks of fish with a bit of cilantro. The service was quite poor. We forced the food down.

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The 1220 Restaurant is located in the lobby of the Tides Hotel, on Ocean Drive in South Beach. Open throughout the day, it is a stylish but relaxing place to eat. There are also outside tables if you want to soak up some sun or enjoy the balmy Miami evenings.

We dined here on our first night in Miami. There was a chill in the air, so we chose to sit inside near the bar. Service was friendly and the menu interesting.

Favorite Dish: For starter we shared the Crab stuffed Mussels which were really delicious. Main courses - Alex had the Jamaican Seafood Curry which he deemed excellent, and I had the Scallops wrapped in Prosciutto, which was quite good, but nothing to write home about. We just had a glass of chilled white wine with our meal and surprisingly couldn't fit in dessert.

We also had breakfast at the restaurant one morning, sitting out in sun on the patio. The breakfast was fine, but the setting was better, though the service was a little too cheerful before we had our coffee!

On the weekends they have a Mussel & Wine special deal which seemed to be very popular with guests and visitors alike.

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We went shopping at Aventura Mall around lunch time one day, and thought we would eat first and shop later. We had a craving for some sushi, so headed to Sushi Siam, which is located on the Third Level, just near the AMC Theatres.

This large restaurant was filled with lunching locals. The food looked amazing and the menu was huge - a selection of both Japanese and Thai dishes to tempt us.

Favorite Dish: We both settled on a lunch box, that had a variety of sushi, sashimi, chicken teriyaki and miso soup. The lunch box choice was a good one...but we should have just shared one serve, because the amount of food they bought to us was incredible!! There was no way we could eat it all.

They bought out two large platters of sashimi and sushi - beautifully presented and colourful. Then there was 2 plates full of chicken with teriyaki sauce. And this was supposed to be a light lunch!

The food was very good quality, in particular the salmon sashimi just melted in your mouth.

I would really recommend Sushi Siam....but you may want to share!

There is another branch on Lincoln Road Mall.

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On our final few hours in Miami, Alex's Aunty Lee took us on drive through Coconut Grove and Coral Cables, so we could have a look at some of the other areas that make up the Miami region.

Driving in Coral Gables, we came across the huge Biltmore Hotel. This Mediterranean-inspired hotel is a five star resort, with a spectacular pool, several restaurants and a golf course.

It is certainly a stunning building, inside and out, and we stopped off to have a closer look...and to have afternoon tea - a traditional afternoon tea is served in the hotel's lobby each day.

Favorite Dish: After a not so great lunch earlier, we were keen to enjoy some tasty treats. A tea trolley was brought over to us with an array of different teas to choose from. We all made our selection and enjoyed the background music.

To eat, we were first brought out a selection of sandwiches, which was followed by scones with jam & cream and then we could choose a couple of mini cakes from a platter that was bought to the table.

The food was quite nice, but to be honest we were a little disappointed about the presentation of the food....it was certainly not on par with an afternoon tea in London!