What We Ate in a Week in Miami, Florida

We recently spent a week in Miami and this is all that we ate! We’ve tried to include our favourite dishes when applicable as well as the family-friendliness of a restaurant. By family friendliness, first of all we consider the ambiance, then the availability of appropriate seating and of course, the menu options. Although our toddler tends to enjoy all sorts of food, I can see that at some of the restaurants we dined in, the menu can be limited for those with children who prefer the usual “kid’s menu” items.

Breakfast/Brunch

Cafe Papillon

Our rating: 7.5/10
Our favourite dish: French toast
Family-friendly: Not really. Long wait times can be an issue. 

By recommendation of our hotel concierge, we went to this nearby popular breakfast restaurant. We had to order at the counter and apparently there was a 45 minute wait for food. It wasn’t hard to find a table so we just waited there and it didn’t actually take as long as 45 minutes. They were very busy though, so customer service was sparse. Our little one was getting hangry and they had some bananas at the counter and it took a while to get their attention to ask if it was ok to take one. Aaron had their breakfast board with baguettes, bacon, hashbrown, fried eggs and fruits. He added on some fresh toast as well. I had their egg whites with spinach, bacon, toast and yogurt. The little one had a very loaded French toast. Interestingly, the little one’s French toast was much better than Aaron’s add-on French toast so there were some inconsistencies there. My breakfast was a little on the salty side, other than that the food was not bad.

The Local House

Our rating: 10/10
Our favourite dish: Everything! But if I had to choose one, their breakfast pizza.
Family-friendly: Yes

For our beach day brunch, we stopped by The Local House before we headed to the beach club at The Savoy Hotel. The decor at this restaurant was very nice and the vibe was very chill as well. Despite the fancy decor, they were very family-friendly with highchairs and a kid’s menu. Aaron had their breakfast pizza with sunny side eggs, bacon, mozzarella and marinara, which was absolutely delicious. I had their lobster benny which was also excellent. The little one had the avocado toast which she really enjoyed. They had a vegan option with tofu which was perfect for her with egg allergies. 

Breezeblock Coffee

Our rating: 8/10
Our favourite dish: Croissant sandwich
Family-friendly: No. No highchairs. Limited seating.

As you may notice by now, given Aaron’s love for coffee, we tend to like to go to a coffee shop for a simple brunch and coffee most mornings when we travel. This was a very nice coffee shop located in the lobby of a modern hotel. It was busy when we went and seating was limited but we eventually managed to piece together some tables and chairs for a quick sit down breakfast. Their matcha latte was lovely and their croissant sandwich was also very good. Our toddler really enjoyed it despite the fact that she was vehemently demanding avocado toast today.

Miam Cafe

Our rating: 7.5/10
Our favourite dish: Açai bowl
Family-friendly: Yes

We stopped by here on our way to the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science since it was just a block away. It was a nice and busy brunch restaurant with counter service. Their pancakes looked beautiful, so we had ordered some with our breakfast. Unfortunately despite the instagramability of the dish, it just wasn’t very tasty. I had ordered the açaí bowl and it was actually very delicious. It was beautifully presented in a coconut shell.

Cortadito’s Coffee House

Our rating: 8/10
Our favourite dish: Pan con lechon sandwich
Family-friendly: No. Limited seating. Not sure if there was a highchair. 

This was a simple but busy coffee/cuban sandwich/bowls shop. We tried the Cuban sandwich, avocado toast and croissant for the toddler. It was good but again I was expecting more from the sandwich. There was a mixup with our sandwich order but they were very nice and offered to make us a new pan con lechon sandwich. I’m so glad they did because it was delicious and much better than the turkey Cuban sandwich they had originally thought we ordered. We also had to try the cortadito which is espresso with a bit of steamed milk. The difference between this and its Spanish cousin (cortado) is that it’s sweetened with a bit of sugar.

Walt Grace Cafe

Our rating: 7/10
Our favourite dish: N/A
Family-friendly: No. Most of seating are high tops.

For breakfast, Aaron wanted to check out the Wynwood so we stopped by this cool coffee shop for coffee/breakfast. The store was very unique with cars on one side and vintage guitars on the other and a coffee shop occupying the front corner of the store. We had shared the panini sandwich and the toddler had the nutella croissant. Aaron and I both tried their coffee and the little one had oat milk. I had asked for a small cup of oat milk but they gave a full huge cup of it, which was way too much for the little one to finish and I felt bad wasting it. I need to start asking for espresso sized cups of oat milk in the future. The food itself was not bad but unremarkable. 

Lunch

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

Our rating: 7.5/10 
Our favourite dish: Coconut shrimp 
Family-friendly: Yes

When we first arrived in Miami, we wanted something walkable and easy, so this was a good choice. If you haven’t been Bubba Gump is a standard, family friendly chain restaurant. We ordered their clam chowder shrimp special and fish and chips off the kid’s menu. Overall, the food was actually not bad considering it’s a chain restaurant. Of note: they we’re not super careful with regard to allergies. We had informed them of our raw egg allergy but the meal came with a tartar sauce which from my understanding is usually made with raw eggs, so we avoided this sauce.

The Empanada’s

Our rating: 7.5/10
Our favourite dish: N/A. They were all comparable.
Family-friendly: N/A. Not sure as we did not eat in.

We grabbed a few empanadas to go after our boat cruise to eat at the hotel while the toddler napped. They were not bad but we still enjoyed the ones at La Cañita (see below) the best.

Ben’s Pizza

Our rating: 6.5/10
Our favourite dish: N/A. They were all unremarkable.
Family-friendly: N/A. Did not eat in.

We kept walking by this pizzeria everytime we were in Bayside Marketplace so we thought we would give it a try for some takeout along with the empanadas we got above. We tried their pepperoni as well as their Hawaiian pizzas. They were unremarkable thin-crust pizzas. We do have a lot of amazing pizza choices in Ottawa so this felt lack-lustre.

Dinner

Pollos y Jarras

Our rating: 8/10
Family-friendly: Ish. Can be a bit dark and noisy little ones. No kid’s menu.
Our favourite dish: Pollo a la Brasa – their signature rotisserie chicken

We checked out this Peruvian restaurant our first night in Miami. We received a complimentary shot of their house soup which was very tasty. For appetizers, we tried their fried yucas, which was not my favourite. For mains, we shared the 1/2 pollo a la brasa, which we really enjoyed especially with their signature sauce.

La Cañita

Our rating: 9/10
Family-friendly: No. Loud music and no kid’s menu.
Our favourite dish: Creamed spinach empanadas

This Cuban restaurant had nice ambiance with live music, although a little noisy for those with little ones. We were very impressed by the food here. We particularly enjoyed the octopus and empanadas (we initially tried the creamed spinach and fell in love so got the creamy corn as well.) The lechon asada was not bad. The miss for us was the oxtail. We had the coconut ice cream for dessert which was not bad in taste and was nicely presented in a coconut shell.

Bali Cafe

Our rating: 7.5/10
Our favourite dish: Nasi goreng special. 
Family-friendly: No. Highchair did not feel safe (rolled around) and no kid’s menu. 

For Aaron’s birthday dinner, he wanted to go back to his Southeast Asian roots and we had Indonesian food at Bali Cafe. For starters we tried their house salad, lumpia/spring rolls, fried shrimp siumai, and chicken satay. I was skeptical about trying sushi at an Indonesian restaurant but according to the internet, apparently they had one of the best sushi’s in Miami so Aaron ordered a roll (spicy tuna?). Was it decent sushi, sure. Was it the best? Far from that, but I am a bit of a sushi snob, given I grew up in Vancouver and I’ve been to Japan multiple times. For our mains, we tried their beef rendang (unremarkable), nasi goreng special which came in a nice bento with shrimp chips, chicken curry (yum), salad and more beef rendang (overall lovely), their soto (which was not bad but very different than the soto we’ve tried in Malaysia) and their laksa (which again was different than we we had imagined based on the laksa we’re used to each in Malaysia). Of note, they were not super careful with allergies, we had notified them of our egg allergies and they still left the egg in the nasi goreng even though they said they would put it on the side for us. For dessert, we tried their es Bali which reminded me of cendol but the taste was unremarkable. Overall, pretty good mom and pops Indonesian restaurant in Miami if you’re craving some Indonesian food.

Shake Shack

Our rating: 8/10
Our favourite dish: Cheese fries
Family-friendly: Yes

I know. I know. This isn’t a local restaurant by far, but Aaron really wanted some good old Shake Shack, so we stopped by here one evening as it was close to the Brickell City Center where we had an appointment. Their specials at that time are Korean BBQ flavoured burgers and fries so we tried it. I would skip that. I was not fan of the sauce. We also had their ShackBurger (solid as usual), Shroom Burger (excellent) and their Veggie ShackBurger (also excellent and great for those eating a vegan diet). I also tried their yuzu lemonade which was not bad and not too sweet. Of course, we had to get their fries and cheese fries. You can rely on chain restaurants to have good allergy practices. They had allergies noted on their menus (when ordering at the kiosks) and you can specify allergies and customize your meals by removing ingredients and ask for sauces to be on the side if needed.

COTE Miami

Our rating: 8/10
Our favourite dish – Doen-jang stew
Family-friendly – No. Ambiance is more like a lounge/fine dining with dim lighting. No highchairs. No kid’s menu. 

Since we weren’t able to make reservations to this popular Michelin-starred Korean Steakhouse on his actual birthday, we went to Cote another evening for second birthday celebration for Aaron. To start things off we tried their various cocktails. They did not get the order right for Aaron, and we had to ask a few servers before we were able to confirm what was actually given vs. what we had ordered. Eventually, they gave us the correct one. I ordered the Esteban, which was a bit too smoky for my taste but perfect for Aaron. Aaron ordered the One Way Ticket which I really enjoyed so we switched and it all worked out in the end. We decided to order the Butcher’s Feast so sample various cuts of meat. We also ordered some A5 Wagyu on the side to end things off. Unlike other Korean BBQ places, although the meat was cooked at table side, we did not need to cook it ourselves. Their staff was diligent in making sure our meat was cooked to perfection and served it to each of us. My only disappointment is that they seemed to ignore my toddler for most of the meal and did not serve her food. The side dishes that came with the feast were good and I really enjoyed the doen-jang stew and scallion salad. Overall, I think my expectations were set too high. The food and ambiance was great and the service was in general good (except for the drinks mixup) but I was just expecting more from a Michelin-star restaurant. I keep thinking back to when we had splurged on high-end (although Japanese not Korean) BBQ at the Singapore Jewel Changi airport last year (Wa-En Wagyu Yakiniku) and THAT I would’ve given a 10/10.

Garcia’s Seafood Grille & Fish

Our rating: 9/10
Our favourite dish: Lobster ravioli in a pink vodka sauce. The sauce was so tasty, I wanted to dip everything in it.
Family-friendly: Ish. High chair available. Lots of seating. No kid’s menu.

After our meat feast the evening before at COTE, we decided to have a seafood feast this evening. We took the Metromover but there was some distance to the restaurant. It was getting late and it was a windy evening so the walk to the restaurant felt very long and unpleasant. Uber would have probably been a better option. Downstairs, there was a storefront selling seafood that you can cook at home. Up a narrow staircase, there is a main indoor dining and an outdoor dining area. We took a table outside where a big bench provided the perfect seating arrangement for our family. For food, we started with some crab cake (singular, it only comes with one apparently!), fried fish roe (not a fan), and their grouper chowder (think not creamy but more spicy/sour like a gumbo). For mains, we had their famous snow crab (so good), the grilled seafood platter (pretty good),  grilled fish (excellent), lobster ravioli in a pink vodka sauce (delish!) with sides of grilled veggies and yellow rice. They were able to substitute grilled calamari for fried for us instead of grilled, which we appreciated. The service was excellent and they provided us with great suggestions for shareable plates for a family (other than the singular crab cake – wish we knew to order more). We were too full for dessert but they gave us shots of their Cuban coffee which was delicious! It was getting late and we knew we shouldn’t be having caffeine but it was too good to give up on – highly recommended!

Julia and Henry’s

Our rating: 9/10
Our favourite dish: Vegetable noodles from Palmar – Asian Street Food
Family-friendly: Yes.

For our last dinner in Miami, we decided to go to Julie and Henry’s for dinner. It was walkable but we decided to take the Metromover for 1 stop to get here. After a short walk from the station we found this multi-story food court. The best part of this is that they have an online ordering system, so you don’t need to walk all around the entire building to decide what to order. You can order from multiple restaurants and they will text you when you food is ready. Aaron chose the fried chicken sandwich from Michy’s Chicken Shack. It was pretty good. For myself, I ordered the Peruvian-Cantonese chicken fried rice from Sankuan-Chifa and for the little one I ordered the vegetable noodles from Palmar – Asian Street Food. I enjoyed the fried rice and the little one loved the noodles and I would have to agree. She didn’t want to share with anyone but the few bites I got were delicious!

And that is all we ate in Miami, Florida. We got to enjoy the various cuisines from various cultures, even if some of the restaurants were not catered to families. We would definitely want to come back to try some more food – especially the Cuban food in Little Havana! 

Happy eating!