No longer are kosher restaurants in Miami just about Jewish deli. Now there’s a new slate of offerings ranging from Israeli food, French brasserie and Eastern Med to Southeast Asian meets Hibachi Grill in Street Hibachi that recently opened in Aventura. It’s the first kosher hibachi in Florida. We went there recently to check it out and felt like we were traveling through the culinary capitals of Asia, enjoying delicious food, good service and a talented and very personable Executive Chef, Hezi Bedein.
Street Hibachi is the work of Chef David Benrey. , Grant Dinner and Offy Shifman that owns and operates restaurants in both Miami and Cleveland, OH. In Miami, they own Street Kitchen, KooLuLu (click here to see my earlier review), Backyard BBQ and Bamboo. Kosher ingredients are sourced from the Far East and fish is flown in weekly from Tokyo.
You’ll be hard pressed to choose what to order, there are so many enticing sounding offerings in the extensive selection. The menu is divided into hibachi, chop chop, pok pok (Thai salads), buns and dumplings (mostly Vietnamese), Japanese josper charcoal grill (meats and chicken), tandoor (Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean), street wok (Chinese, Korean,Thai), Maki rolls, Sushi and sashimi, poke bowls and chef’s signature selection of Japanese dishes.
The restaurant has an indoor and outdoor seating area, the latter waterside on the canal, several hibachi tables and a sushi bar. There’s indoor seating for 350 people and a private dining room. it’s spacious, airy and bright, part of a small mall so there’s free parking.
We decided to try a dish from each of the ethnic cuisines. We started with the jalapeno hamachi, a standout for its freshness and flavor. then it was onto the som tam salad, a take on green papaya salad with green beans and cherry tomatoes. It had a welcome crunchy texture and the vegetables tasted as if they were just picked from the farm ($16). I can never pass up bao buns. The chef suggested the beef buns with slow cooked beef, zasai aioli, black sesame paste and Korean kimchi. The dressing had a refreshing tang to it, and they didn’t skimp on the flavorful beef which happens in some places ($26 for two buns).
Mr. W was happy to see a fave which is infrequently on menus, the prime rib, here served with Asian truffle sauce, wasabi mashed potatoes and sauteed baby vegetables. It was tender, perfectly grilled and very tasty. Depending on how big an eater you are, it can serve one or two people ($69).
For our “taste of India” we had an excellent rendition of the tandoori cauliflower, baked with Indian spices, masala sauce, fresh herbs, chili, yellow curry and an addictive roti bread. The cauliflower was tender, which is difficult to find (it’s often undercooked), and the chef had a deft hand with the spices ($24).
We ended our selection with the papa noodles beef which also comes as chicken and tofu options. It features egg noodles, assorted mushrooms, broccoli, green onion, chea sauce and truffle paste ($26-$32). The sushi and sashimi we passed on. Though we like both, they are less unusual, and our capacity had just about reached its limit (of course had to leave some for dessert).
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The hibachi came with a show like preparation and we would also have liked to have tried it, but that will have to be for next time, along with their omakase experience which is coming up. People at the tables were loving it.
For dessert we opted for the banana roti, street food Thai dough filled with caramelized banana and toffee sauce. Yummy, and definitely worth the calories ($18).
A glass of wine starts at $9 and a bottle at $22. Cocktails are $14-$22.
They also offer delivery and catering, and will be hosting festival meals in their waterfront Sukkah for the upcoming Sukkot festival. They’re open Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to Midnight
Street Hibachi, 3599 NE 207th Street, Aventura, FL 33180
