Shibui Japanese...nice sushi

Shibui Japanese Restaurant
(305) 274-5578
7101 SW 102nd Ave
Just north of Sunset on 102nd Ave.

We have been to Shibui with my aunt and uncle several times now, and it is their favorite sushi place in Miami. The service is impeccable, friendly and helpful. The ambiance is also very nice: dimly lit with dark, rich wood paneling. Upstairs you can eat more traditionally, seated on cushions on the floor at low tables.

Some of the appetizers Shibui does are delicious. The seaweed salad is light and crunchi, slightly sour with a nice note of sesame. We get that every time we go, and it is one of my favorite parts of the meal. The tempura dipped sweet potatos are also good, very light, with an ethereal dipping sauce. The tempura is just right, a very thin crispy layer. The gyoza (dumplings) are good, about the same as dumplings you get anywhere else.

Shibui has a wide selection of rolls (about 40), and a good mix of cooked and raw fish selections, as well as some vegetarian options. Sushi rolls tend to be somewhat up to personal taste, but I will outline the rolls I have liked. I don't care for mayonaise (actually, I hate it), and most of the cooked fish rolls have a flavored mayonaise. But the mayonaise is very subtle, it's not overpowering at all. The Futo Maki is probably my favorite so far, with shrimp and mushrooms. Others that we like (accounting for all our individual tastes) are the JV roll, the Vegetable roll, and one with crawfish (I think it was called the Creole roll?).

Of course, I can't leave out dessert. Pretty standard desserts are offered: tempura fried cheesecake (a favorite of my aunt) and banana. And green tea and red bean ice cream, of course. I love to end the meal with a simple scoop of green tea ice cream, it really caps off all of the flavors of the meal.

If you want good sushi at a reasonable price (rolls are around $9), with great atmosphere and service, Shibui is a good option. I especially enjoy the appetizers, they shine just as much as the sushi itself.

Miscellania

A few things I've discovered this past week...

A blog worth reading...
Burnettiquette, a blog by James Burnett of the Miami Herald. He's funny and insightful at the same time (a difficult balance). I've posted a link on my favorite blog menu.

Young at heart...
David will never lose his inner child, which keeps us both young at heart. We were at Target looking for a new vacuum. It was a weeknight, and we were both tired after another long day. I stopped to "aww" over some Winnie the Pooh baby sweaters with a Christmas theme...perfect for our new little nephew. David grumbled that he didn't want to spend all night at Target, he still had things to do that night. And off he marched in the directions of household appliances. After sighing over tiny socks and pants for a minute more, I set off to meet him at the vacuums.

I was passing the toy section, where I noticed David standing in front of Tickle me Elmo, mesmerized, the toy's squeaky voice laughing hysterically and screaming, "Again! Again!".

I couldn't help but laugh while I said, "Did you still want to look at vacuums?"

(In David's defense, Tickle Me Elmo has evolved into quite a captivating little toy. Check out this video of the little critter, you will not believe what he can do these days! He's a maniac!)

Armed with a sandwich

Okay, I couldn't help but comment on this tidbit of weird news from the AP. A man in Port St. Lucie (about 120 miles up the coast from Miami), attacked his girlfriend with a sandwhich while she was driving, knocking off her glasses, and almost making her lose control of the vehicle. The article concludes, "Police haven't said what type of sandwich was involved." (which is the funniest line in the article).

That left me considering what a professor told me the other day, that South Florida is full of nuts, and not just the edible kind. Like Harlan Pepper from "Best in Show", I could sit around and name nuts all day around here.

And another thing, you'd think with the inflation of food prices, this guy would be more mindful of his chow. Why use a good sandwhich toward a violent end? I find when enraged in the car, hitting the dashboard is a satisfactory outlet (just kidding of course, I never, never lose my temper--wink, wink).

In all seriousness though, it's a good thing that no one was hurt, and domestic violence is no laughing matter. Shame on this guy for hitting his girlfriend, period.

The daily grind

I went to the dentist last week for a teeth cleaning. I told Dr. K about my filling having cracked. He took a look and pronounced I was grinding my teeth, and had little holes in the enamel of my molars. He actually showed them to me in a mirror. He offered to make a mouth guard for me to wear when I am sleeping, which turned out to cost $300, so I think I will settle for one of the ones you can buy at a sporting goods store. I will go to bed every night looking like I'm about to step into the ring.

The problem is, I think I am grinding my teeth all day long. At work? yes. Driving? yes, most definitely. Whenever I have to drive in heavy traffic, my jaw is sore by the time I get home. So really, I am going to have to figure out how to relax. It's not so easy to do when surround by the hustle and bustle of a large city, when you are hardly ever alone, and peace and quiet is as hard to find as random acts of kindness.

Why is everybody so stressed out here? Why is everyone in a hurry all the time?

I hope when I move out of Miami I will still have all of my teeth.

Pizza Rustica

After spending the afternoon at the beach, there was hunger all around. We were faced with the same dilemma as always when at Miami Beach: where can we get a good, quick meal that won't break the bank? At David's suggestion, we decided to try Pizza Rustica on Lincoln Road. This is a small chain of Pizza places that started on Miami Beach, has branched out to several locations in south Florida (one is going to open soon in South Miami, and Brickell), and even in Michigan and Paris (yes that's Paris, France!).



Pizza Rustica on Lincoln Road is small with no pretentions. Behind a large glass counter are twenty plus pizzas for you to choose from, with very fresh ingredients and lots of vegetables. Things like potato pizza, three-mushroom, barbecue chicken, Caprese, and also all of the old standards. I tried the Spinach blue cheese, which was very good, and also the BBQ chicken. The barbecue sauce adds a nice tang to the overal flavor. The crust is fairly thin and crispy. Overall the flavors are really vibrant.



You can sit at a table and order from a waiter, or just walk up to the counter and order a whole pizza, or even more popular, by the slice. A "slice" in this case is a loose term; it's more like a little personal pizza, which they cut into 8 little slices for you. And most pizza "slices" are under $5, which is really a great deal.



I was worried when I ordered that the pizza wouldn't be hot enough, since it is just sitting on warmers behind the counter. But as soon as you order, they throw your slice into an oven, and it comes out tasting fresh and hot.



Overall I was really satisfied with Pizza Rustica. It's the perfect food after a day at the beach. Let's face it, not all of us feel like sitting down to an $50-plus meal with sand in our hair (if we can afford a $50-plus meal in the first place). The only downside to Pizza Rustica is the lack of seating. Most of the tables are for customers being waited on, so you may have to settle for a ledge or a bench. Service at the counter is fast, and matter of fact, and you better know what you want to order when you get to the front of the line.

I recommend Pizza Rustica to anyone who finds themselves wandering around Miami Beach in search of a quick, cheap meal.

Trattoria Sole

Trattoria Sole

5894 Sunset Drive



We went last night to Trattoria Sole on Sunset Drive to celebrate a friend's birthday. The ambience was nice, sitting outside right on the sidewalk, watching people pass by. The menu itself is expansive, and our party found it confusing, as it features a three course meal deal with a separate menu that is not even offered on the weekends. And there was a lot of text to sift through.



So once we figured out which menu page we could choose from we got down to it. Our party of six ordered things like chicken marsala (an Italian-American staple), risotto with asparagus, spaghetti with littleneck clams, and rigatoni with pumpkin and pancetta. Because the menu described the ingredients used to make the pasta, it would be freshly made, but it was definitely not. My rigatoni was cooked just a smidge too al dente. But the flavor of my creamy sauce with large bits of pancetta and diced pumpkin was really tasty. I wished there was more pumpkin and sage to balance the mound of pasta on the plate. The risotto was fairly good, with a nice amount of asparagus, but I thought again, it needed some more ingredients mixed in to balance the starchiness of the rice. The chicken marsala was very tender, but lacked some seasoning. And although I only tried one of the clams, David reported they were silty, so perhaps weren't cleaned properly?



I liked my own entree, but it didn't wow me. And having tried everyone else's dishes, I thought mine tasted the best. The food lacked seasoning, and could benefit from the use of more fresh herbs and vegetables. The descriptions on the menu list a lot of ingredients in each dish, but they came in miniscule amounts and so the pasta wasn't well balanced. Perhaps the meat dishes are better executed.



The highlight of the meal was dessert. I had the sambuca flavored panna cotta, and it was absolutely delicious (but I love panna cotta to begin with). I was disappointed that it didn't come with the cherry compote listed in the menu. If you can't provide ingredients all the time, why list them on the menu?



The service was just fine, the staff was attentive and professional. For the quality of the food and ingredients, the prices were a little steep, entrees were $16-22. Overall I was disappointed because the restaurant boasts numerous awards and reviews, and I thought it fell a bit short.

Voting Miami style

6:30 am-Things seem eerily calm today. I wake up to an overcast, cool morning and think I should get to the polls as early as possible, before the lines got too long. I had heard horror stories of five hour lines just this past weekend at the early voting locations, so I thought I would get up around 6:00 and be at the polls when they opened at seven. Of course this was overly ambitious, but I do manage to arrive by 8:05, with a bottle of water, a granola bar, a novel, and all the time in the world.

8:05 am-I arrive at the church and am not too horrified. A quick count reveals that I am about 80th in line. About half of my fellow voters look like they are on their way to work (in slacks and/or high heels), an the other half looks more like me, students and homemakers, etc., dressed in jeans or sweats, or leggings. We are not a very diverse group, but neither is our neighborhood. I settle in with my book.

9:05 am-There are now only about 24 people in front of me, the home stretch. My back is a little sore, but my spirits are high. The overall line is much shorter now, so I guess I should have come a little later after all. On the other hand, waiting in line with fellow citizens is part of the voting experience right?

9:30 am-I enter through the doors of the church and cast my vote, laboring over filling in the bubbles completely (just like taking the ACT!). The scanner swallows my ballot, and out the door I go with my "I voted today!" sticker. I hear that Starbucks is giving free coffee to voter, maybe a caffeine kick is just what I need...

I spent about 105 minutes voting today, the least I can do to fulfill one of my civic duties. Everything went very smoothly, a pat on the back for the poll workers. And the weather was great (sorry to all of you up North who had to wait outside in the cold). How long did you have to wait? Answer my poll on the right hand side. Also, please comment on your voting experience!