Do I feature the best dishes in Miami 2026 before year end or in January? I decided on the former. Why? Because now is the time most people go to dine out,before and during the holidays, so you may be looking for places to go. All of the restaurants whose dishes are featured have been recommended by me this year so are good bets for a special dinner out. This is in effect at “go to” list as well. I have put a link to my review in the name of places I’ve written up so you can learn more. Enjoy!
The spicy rigatoni was super delicious with the right amount of “picante,” al dente pasta, and a very tasty sauce. Happily they sell the sauce.The spicy rigatoni sauce is available for purchase online and nationwide at select retailers: https://www.carbonefinefood.com/shop/sauces/spicy-vodka
This baked stuffed potato scored super high on taste and presentation. It featured seasonal black truffle and wild mushrooms with the black truffles grated on the top once served, a sight to behold.
Corn fritters as a best dish of the year! Yes! . They were incredibly light thanks to a tempura dough, and given a light yet tasty flavor with scallions and kecap manis, a sweet Indonesian soy sauce. We couldn’t stop eating them. Hopefully Wayan will return.
WAYAN (This popup closed in May)
Branzino is often boring. But not this one. Lavraki fillet scored high marks, branzino in a divine preparation that combined smoky melitzanosalata, tomato olive vierge and Meyer lemon condiment. It was very fresh and expertly and unusually seasoned.
BEST DISHES IN MIAMI 2026
For meat dishes the prize goes to the A5 Wagyu hot stone that was torched tableside and so tender it melted in your mouth
Leave it up to Massimo Bottura to come up with a unique stone crab salad. His Crab in Saor is a very tasty Florida stone crab salad made with sweet and sour onions and parsley with a colorful crispy polenta top lightly covered with lemon gel. Lovely presentation wouldn’ t you say?
All the pastas we tasted at PASTA were standouts. That being said, our favorite was the pici with marjoram, crispy garlic and Parmigiano Reggiano that was creamy and melted in your mouth.
Though I’m not usually a lover of arepas, small corncakes made from white corn, we really enjoyed, these original arepas in four different flavors, including classic, pork rind, sweet aji (chili pepper) and anis con papelon. They came with a selection of sauces.
BEST DISHES OF MIAMI 2026
Poulet & Caviar These house made chicken nuggets were addictive, and more so since they were accompanied by a caviar tin with caviar on top of crème fraiche.
Roast leg of lamb: The specialty of Posada de la Villa in Madrid is baby roast lamb cooked on a wood burning fire and served with roast potatoes. I seldom eat the whole thing but I did in this case it was so delicious.
On our tour in Cairo we were scheduled to eat in a local restaurant but we opted instead for a falafel sandwich with fresh mango juice. That was day one. Day two we repeated it. The falafel was like a burger with delectable seasoning and served on a thin bun. Soooo good.
EGYPT STREET FOOD
Temaki rolls – The best temaki in town.Choose your temaki selection from a wide selection of 28 in the categories of original, classic, plant based and crunchy, but much better to me are the curated samplers of five pieces: starter set, signature set and vegetarian set. In most hand roll restaurants the temaki comes ready to eat, already wrapped and made into a cone. Here, they give you a wooden box filled with square sheets of dried seaweed. Then you get the sampler with each piece separate. You take the seaweed sheet, put it under the nigiri, pull out the wooden slab that supports the nigiri and voila, ready to eat. Novel and fun, with each bite being a discovery as well. The ingredients were first rate and dominated the rice rather than vice versa.
Seafood tower. This was on my best dishes in Miami last year, but I decided it was worth repeating. The fire-roasted seafood tower—a combination of Maine lobster, king crab, scallops, prawns, oysters, and Manila clams, all hearth-roasted and finished with garlic butter and chili oil. After you eat much of the seafood, the waiter brings out house-made conchiglie pasta, which they mix into the remaining sauce—a welcome surprise. Alongside that, they served a shot of botanical herb Chartreuse with an oyster topped with caviar.
I can’t conclude this without mentioning my best dessert of the year — bubbling halva in Turkey. It’s called Sicak Helva or Firinda Tahin Helvaesi (baked tahini halva). It has an intense, nutty sesame flavor and cooked in the clay dish it has a gorgeous golden brown crust. The best. Anyone know if you can find it in Miami?.
3 Responses
What a great idea to publish now! So much to choose from but I think I’ll start with the lavraki fillet…
Good choice!
Yummy