We don’t eat out a lot these days (prices, eep!), but it was a special treat and I wanted to take the opportunity to stretch the kids’ palates a little. They are not the most adventurous eaters most days. But both of them agreed to taste everything we ordered, and Kavi said she was feeling adventurous, so at Essensia at the Palms Hotel in Miami we got:
1) Homemade Spreads & Artisanal Breads ($12)
beets hummus, olive tapenade, eggplant carponata
— kid review: they were agreed that the eggplant was fine, the olive tapenade was okay, they didn’t like the beet hummus (I did, so I think that’s mostly their unfamiliarity with beets and hummus), and they tore through the bread.
2) Fried Calamari ($26)
fried zucchini, saffron spicy aioli
— kid review: Kavi adores calamari, so I knew this would likely be a hit, and it was. Anand liked it fine, which is good to know, as it makes it more likely we’ll order it in the future if both kids will eat it. Kavi also loved the saffron aioli, which I expected, but was nice to have confirmed. Though it was funny her description: “It tastes like deviled eggs!” (She loves deviled eggs.) I see where she’s coming from, but I wouldn’t have come up with that! The fried zucchini they were both willing to eat, though not excited about (me ditto), though I suppose it’s good to have confirmed that they’ll eat zucchini if it’s deep-fried….
3) Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina ($30)
Slow Roasted Florida Heirloom Tomatoes, Capri Organic Burrata, Basil
— all three of us really liked this, but Kavi noted that it was a pretty small portion, which it was — more of an appetizer than entree size. There were a lot of tomatoes and yummy sauce left after she’d finished the gnocchi, so I asked for some extra bread to sop it up. The waiter apologetically wanted to confirm that it was okay there was an extra charge for the bread? And I said yes, it was fine, but I admit, I was wryly amused that this expensive a restaurant didn’t give you bread when you arrived, OR give you extra bread when asked. Chintzy, IMHO.
4) Lobster Cavatappi ($38)
Florida lobster meat, bechamel sauce, lemon, chives
— kid review: Kavi was excited to try lobster, and she liked it! She said it was “like fish, but better.” Anand liked it too, but didn’t know why lobster was so expensive. I didn’t really have an explanation for him, esp. since I wanted to refrain from calling it the ‘cockroach of the sea’ in front of Kavi. 🙂
5) Lake Meadow Natural Chicken Breast ($35)
olive oil mashed potato, aromatic jus
— kid review: “it’s fine, it’s chicken” I agree, though the mashed potatoes were quite good. Not really worth the price; we only ordered it because it was one of the few things on the menu I was confident Anand would eat.
Total bill (no drinks): around $200
***
My review: It was all reasonably tasty, but for this price, I could eat better AND feed more people at various Chicago restaurants. But hey, it’s a tourist strip of hotels in Miami Beach, what do you expect?
Main utility to me is getting the kids to try a variety of new things that they tend to be resistant to trying at home. That’s definitely worth paying a little more! Maybe I can teach Kavi how to make a nice garlic aioli with roasted potatoes before she goes off to college, and perhaps a lobster bisque? Mmm…
As a funny final note, as we were leaving, Kavi said she thought it was a nice place, but not very warm or welcoming. She felt like they thought we weren’t fancy enough to be there.
I didn’t notice that particularly, but I rarely notice that kind of thing, probably because I am arrogant enough to think I belong in fancy places even if I can’t actually afford them. 🙂
