Note Dec.2017: The restaurant is closed.

Finding a very good restaurant where the prices aren’t budget busting on South Beach is a challenge. And finding one with not your usual menu selections,  very creative without sacrificing taste, even  harder. Think carrot and  beet tartare with tomato sorbet instead of the trite tuna tartare; corn 4 ways – grilled sweet corn, cornbread butter, cornbread rumbles and lemon popcorn; and pork bun with housemade bacon. All  of that is just in the “American” dim sum trolley, a clever conceit for serving light bites. That’s one of the new South Beach restaurants,  The Sarsaparilla Club, the work  of chef partners Jeff McInnis (formerly of Yardbird)  and Janine Booth who both also own New York City’s Root & Bone.

It’s in the former space of Morimoto in the Shelborne Hotel and a world away from its predecessor, except for some of the Asian influences in the dishes. The décor is about comfort and feeling at home, with its couches, plates with mismatched patterns,  upholstered chairs, soft lighting , low decibel music and welcoming service.  The menu has serious Southern comfort food, but always with a twist.

McInnis, formerly of Yardbird, does fried chicken marinated in green curry, topped with toasted coconut and dusted with kaffir lime powder giving it a distinctive citrusy taste. Deviled eggs, served in a ceramic egg carton (you do a double take on it as at first it looks like a paper carton) are super fun. The whites are made pink by beet juice and garnished with sun choke chips.

Or take the pork tenderloin served with delicious kimchee rolls that would have made  a perfect dish on their own.

You’ve probably deduced by now that the chefs have a special talent and flair with vegetables, both as accompaniments, and as small and medium plates on their own. Loved the grilled graffiti eggplant, a super tasty preparation with black garlic aioli, tarragon, basil and pinenuts. Also worth mentioning was the dish “roots & soil”.Would you believe a “garden of baby heirlooms “planted” in pumpernickel soil in a clay bowl with a dollop of yuzu crème.  I was glad to hear that, coming up on the menu are purple, green and yellow sugar snap peas and English peas, which are all too often overlooked on restaurant menus.

Lest you think the menu is all mostly about vegetables, there are other enticing selections.  A fave of both my friend and I was Asian inspired steamed snapper with garlic and herb chimichurri and spicy miso beans. It was perfectly cooked, very fresh, and moist. For carnivores, top choices include a short rib meat loaf and what is called a “ really big steak on a plate” — a 24 ounce cowboy ribeye. Whichever large plate you get do not, I repeat, do not miss the sweet corn “grits”. They are the best creamed corn ever, made with green onion and arugula mascarpone that gives them some zip, and garnished with crisply choclo corn and pecorino cheese.

I wish we would have had more room to try several desserts, but we were at capacity, so we only could try the banana cake with meringue, to which we both gave high marks. Also enticing were the sarsaparilla float with a scoop of toffee ice cream and filthy cherries, and the ginger almond apple pie.

Dim Sum range in price from $2.50 to $8; medium plates are $12-$15 and larger mains in the $20’s.

Wine prices are very reasonable. Glasses (6 ounce pour)  start at $8, bottles at $29 and corkage is $25.  There’s also a resident mixologist who should be a professional copywriter, judging by his names for drinks as in “Pappy was a Pistol”, “The Last Thyme” and “No Money No Honey”.

With its friendly, unpretentious atmosphere and décor, flexible menu that offers dining at different price points, and creative, tasty food, The Sarsaparilla Club, one of the new South Beach restaurants,  is a welcome addition.