Texas de Brazil - Dolphin Mall

Early this month we decided that a nice evening was long overdue. Now, if you know us, you probably know that we tag along with our tiny hurricane everywhere we go. We believe that children need to be as involved in all social activities as possible, this is why we have taken Mia with us to bars, clubs and were contemplating on Vegas until we heard about the pesky 21 and over rule....I mean, what gives??!!

All kidding aside (I WAS kidding) we believe that Mia should be exposed to different dining experiences in order to learn how to properly behave in different situations. From relaxed dining to nice restaurants, our tiny hurricane has made her parents very proud.

On a previous get together Silvia and I had stamped Sunday as "Death by Meat" day, aka Texas de Brazil. We have been there plenty of times, and we always leave with the uneasy feeling that we may just have overdone it this time. But it is so good that we keep coming back for more.

This time we made a date with the Lluberes again and brought Danny as well in order to thoroughly thank him for his help in moving us to and from Memphis. Danny, YOU ROCK!. He moves us, we buy him half a cow, and suddenly its even, this is a true friend indeed.

We headed over in the early afternoon (around 4pm) for two reasons, shall Mia act up, we wouldn't disturb a crowded restaurant but most importantly, we needed time for digestion before heading off to sleep. We met with Carlos and Silvia at the door and were promptly seated and our drink orders were taken a few minutes later. The passion fruit Caipirinha is to die for, if you do go to TdB this is THE drink to get. Its refreshing, crisp and tangy all at the same time, the nice buzz is just an added plus.

Then, THEY SHOW UP...countless numbers of sword wielding servers armed with the most debilitating weapon for a hungry person, meat. And damn good meat at that. So many of them that it almost becomes a sea of...well, cow. The meat is so tender that a knife is not needed, the fillet Mignon can be cut with a spoon, the picanha juicy, and the short ribs tasty and greasy like they should be.



By this time, Mia is off in her own little world, coloring and/or covering Carlitos with every My Little Pony sticker she can get her hands on. And this is good, because I'm too busy stuffing my face to pay attention. She actually ate very well, she had two bowls of lobster bisque and a Parmesan crusted chicken as well as some of my meat. Children under 5 eat free so this is a great restaurant to take your kids to. They will be impressed with the swords and the grown ups will be rolling out with a full belly of food. Please take the rolling out part literally.

After an hour of eating, we decide we've had enough, so we go ahead and order dessert. What?? Nothing wrong with a little sugar. Danny orders the Brazilian Caramel cheesecake and Silvia a slice of chocolate cake a la mode. We all eat. Both were scrumptious. The perfect end to a great meal.

The service, as always, was excellent. Texas de Brazil must take great pride in this and train their waiters very well as we've yet to receive even mediocre service, its always been top notch.

So we walk out to peruse the adjacent Dolphin Mall, in full hopes that this will aid our digestion...and we leave thinking, we may have just overdone it this time...

Pros: Large quantities of meat, great service, great food and drinks, beautiful ambiance, clean bathrooms, kids eat free until 5 years old.
Cons: Large quantities of meat, a bit expensive (but if you sign up for the TdB e-club they will periodically send out 50% off coupons for up to 6 people!), obviously not recommended for vegetarians!

El Senorio Peruano

I've meaning to visit this restaurant for a while since there were several people who had recommended this place to us. So after a day of lounging at the beach we decided to check this place out. We asked a couple of good friends to join us and insta-plans were made for a lovely afternoon.

El Senorio Peruano is located in 1127 N.E. 163rd Street, North Miami Beach. When we arrived, our tiny hurricane Mia was sound asleep after an exhausting day at the beach. Unknown to us, this would turn out to be a huge blessing.

We met up with the Lluberes family and sat ourselves in an almost empty restaurant. Normally this can be a bad sign, but it was around 3pm, so the lunch rush could have gone and obviously it was too early for dinner. I saw they had a ceviche that I really liked in the menu, but since nobody was willing to share with me, we all decided to get the anticuchos, which is basically a kabob made out of meat which has been marinated in a chili paste overnight. So an order of anticuchos and a pitcher of chicha, a corn based drink, was made and we waited, and waited...and then waited some more. Now, I am not the impatient kind at all, my husband may disagree, I can understand an order taking long because its a busy day. But again, it was an almost empty restaurant! There must have been two other tables (TOPS) who were being serviced!

The food and drinks finally arrived and it was very good. The chicha was refreshing and sweet and the anticuchos were seasoned and grilled so that they were juicy and very tasty. Alfredo also ordered some fried yuccas with Huancaina sauce, which is a cheese based sauce, and also no complaints there. I appropriated the corn, claiming that it would be for Mia when she woke up. It was a blatant lie, I ate that up, shamelessly denying my poor hubby of any taste.

We put in our orders for the main course (we Peruvians eat ALOT) and I shared a Jalea, a plate of fried seafood, with Silvia, Alfredo got a Lomo Saltado and Carlitos a Fish and salad. Now, this is probably my own pet peeve, but I HATE it when restaurants bring the food separately. It puts everyone in a bad position, the person who got the plate first is hungry, but wants to be polite and wait for everyone to get their plate...but really who wants to wait and then eat a cold plate of food? Well, they brought in Carlitos' food first, we told him to eat while we...waited....

Finally our food arrived, and Mia woke up on cue. Had our tiny hurricane been awake the entire time, we would have had a horrible time with a hungry, bored and irritated toddler. But the food was there and she ate up, shrimp, scallops, fish, calamari all perfectly fried to golden perfection served with yucca fries and a onion/cilantro/lime sauce on top. YUM.



I asked for some tartar sauce, and our waitress actually looked at me blankly and asked Carlitos (to whom she had brought some tartar sauce earlier) "Was your tartar sauce OK?" why? was it supposed to be bad? whatever the reason of her question, it was just awkward. We also asked for another pitcher of chicha and she said that there was no more.

Gluttons for punishment that we are, we decided (actually, it was Silvia and I) to get dessert and got some Picarones which are basically Peruvian doughnuts. Again, very good. Somewhere between the food and dessert Mia needed to use the restroom, which was located in the back of the restaurant and was not very clean.

While we had a great time with Team Lluberes (we always do) it was just a shame that a restaurant with such good food had such poor customer service. I really wouldn't go back there because of this. I can cook Peruvian food at home, if I'm going out to a restaurant what I am expecting is a certain attention that I can't get at home, and unfortunately for us, this time such attention was not given to our table.

Regardless, the company rocked and we made plans to see the Lluberes again, over a plate of food of course!

Pros: Good food
Cons: Poor service, slow, bathrooms were not clean

Flanigans - West Pines

So, when I was young-er, Flanigans was our meet up spot, our "go to" place when we had no plans, or just a place to get some decent ribs and beer. This past weekend, hankering for the good ol' days I ventured back.

The hubby was working the night shift this specific day so it was just Mia and I, but not to fear, two additional parent re-enforcements were joining us with their tiny hurricane. We outnumbered the tiny hurricanes 3 to 2, not excellent numbers, but still a hand up.

Upon arriving I realized that poor Mia had not taken a nap due to her being overly exited and playing with her buddy all day long. I had a chance to take her home and nap, but decided a girl convo with the Archbold's main lady was a much better way to pass time. Will she be cranky and ruin dinner? Will she pass out and let me eat and drink to my heart's content? Its such a toss up in times like these. Its like Russian roulette...minus the bullets of course.

We were seated fairly quickly for it being a weekend game night, but its the location that makes the difference. Had we gone to the Flanigans in Hialeah, we would have waited at least 45 minutes, no doubt about it. That is "the" Flanigans, that was the hangout spot I spoke about earlier. All the young kids go there. Its like Mecca for college students and college drop-outs alike. Alas, we are not that cool anymore, waiting anywhere for 45 minutes with a hungry sleepy child is not highly recommended in any of the parenting for dummies books I've skimmed through.

Quickly seated, we knew what we wanted, an all out consensus of wings. I liked the Archbold's even more when the adult drink orders all contained some percentage of well earned alcohol. Kids will drive you to drink.

Drinks and wings at hand we dug in. Juicy and hot, freshly fried. Mia also loved the chicken and the fact that she got to dip it into blue cheese all by herself. Next up, Ribs. Now, I've lived in Memphis, who claims to be the BBQ capital of the USA. I'm probably going to get hell for this, but Flanigan's ribs totally rock. Maybe its the fact that they take me back to my college days, maybe its just that they really are plain ol' good, or maybe a combination of both. Fall of the bone, saucy, finger licking good. Mia seem to like them also, as after not paying any attention to her for a few minutes I found her sucking on a meatless bone.

There were no complaints from our table in regards to food. The Archbold's also seemed to enjoy their plates as all was quickly consumed and no to-go boxes were needed.

I know that Flanigans is a chain restaurant, but sometimes you just want to go somewhere where you know they have both crayons for the kids and a cold drink for you. On Saturday night, this was the place for us.

I'd like to take this time to say thanks Angelo for the tomato slice that Mia swiped from your fish sandwich, I hope the experience was still enjoyable without it.


Pros: Consistent food and service; good beers.
Cons: It is a restaurant/bar, so if you don't want your kids to hear the occasional sh!t or f@ck when the game is on, I suggest you stay away; no drink specials!; the bathrooms could have used a clean up.

La Estancia Argentina

On Saturday, Team Gambarina decided to take a trip to BrandSmart to finally buy the over-the-range over I've been salivating over, uhm, I mean badly needed. First, I wouldn't recommend taking a 2 year old there. If it weren't for the help of my mother in law and (thankfully) the loop video clip of Michael Jackson's songs I may have gone insane at trying to keep my hurricane's little hands off of EVERYTHING.

After this, we decided to reward ourselves with something to eat. With Mia passed out in the car, we contemplated different restaurants. Ice cream? Father in Law didn't want any, Cuban pastelitos? I wasn't feeling it. All Mother in Law wanted was coffee, and the Husband is easy to please, so we pondered. I remembered La Estancia Argentina, on Miramar and a bit past Dykes. In the same shopping plaza as (ugh) Chili's.

I've been here before, but it was the Hubby's first time, so I hoped it impressed him. It did. I ordered a Chicken/Avocado/Bacon sandwich, he got a Choripan. MIL got an Empanada and shared FIL's Choripan as well as my chocolate cake dessert, which was moist, and not too sweet. Everything was really good. The sandwiches are served on baguette bread, which is crusty and soft at the same time, and is able to suck up all the juices from the chicken or Chorizo sausage. I call it juice, but yeah, I know its fat. Whatever.

This is a little quaint store, they have empanadas, all kinds of desserts and wine. They also have a bit of specialty items from South America such as Mate, spices and such. The hubby also purchased some Argentinean Salt for BBQ, because as you all know, American salt is so inferior... actually, I have no idea what the difference is, but when he bbqs it saves me from cooking (plus he's real good at it) so if he wanted to buy a golden grill, I think I'd let him.

La Estancia also sells special cuts of meat, sausages, cheeses and other butcher items. As an added bonus, on Monday and Tuesdays, they have a 20% off deal.

Upon leaving, we noticed that they have Happy Hour everyday from 5 to 8pm (our bedtime :)) where you get 12 empanadas and a bottle of wine for 25$, which given that its close to home and so good, we've penciled it in for next week.

Pros: A family owned place in suburbia, clean, friendly, excellent sandwiches, Illy coffee
Cons: A 10$ corkage fee seems too high for this kind of establishment!

El Fogon - Miramar

During the week, out of sheer exhaustion and not having an iota of desire to even think about cooking, I decided to go El Fogon, located in Miramar Parkway (2930 SW 160 Ave, Miramar FL) in the Home Depot Shopping center. This is a family owned Peruvian Restaurant whose specialty is Pollos a la Brasa or Rotisserie Chicken but Peruvian style. Different herbs and spices = delish flavor!

Now, my family likes this restaurant, I really think that it is mainly because of convenience since they are the closest Pollo a la Brasa restaurant to our house. Don’t get me wrong, I like it too, I’ve just had better. But better = further and on a weekday, this is just simply impossible sometimes.

The service is friendly, but not the fastest, so if you want to get in and out, call and place your order ahead. They even had an advertised special that stated that you get some % off your meal if you order on line, so problem solved for you impatient types.

I placed my order, waited around a bit and was able to get out. Now, for all you newbies to this kind of food, the sauces that are available are definitely part of the meal experience. They have a green, red and white sauce, try them all. I would describe and/or name them, but they are available on all the tables so there’s no need to. My favorite is the white one, it’s a mayo based sauce that goes very well, with the salad, and the chicken, and the fries and … well, you get the point.

This time though, I thought the chicken was salty, and, as my husband would quickly point out, that is a tough task, since I love salt. The salad was ok, nothing extraordinary can be expected from onions, lettuce and tomatoes, but the freshness goes well with the chicken so it’s a plus. The fries were also good, golden and hot, but there is very little you can do to mess up fries right?

All in all it got me out of thinking “what’s for lunch/dinner” , but it was not an impressive "OMG I want to go back and eat there tomorrow", or next week … or even next month for that matter. I guess we’ll be back when, once again, I lack the desire to cook.

Graziano's Meat Market

Ok, so we are in the process of moving back home. Fun Times. Crazy times. But I’m not complaining, I am glad to be back, even if means I have to live in a house full of boxes and clutter… not complaining, not complaini… oh who am I kidding, I AM complaining! I want to get my house back in working order, PRONTO!

But, this is not a home remodeling blog, so back to what really matters… FOOD!
This is not a restaurant, (although there is one next door ran by the same establishment, but we didn’t visit it) so this review will be short and different (just like me!). We were invited over for a BBQ at a dear friends house, where they bought the meats and other yummy treats from a Argentinean butcher shop, Grazianos. I’ve been in this store/shop before, but it had been a while since I had gone back, and I don’t really ever recall specifically buying meat there, so when we hosted our Labor Day BBQ we decided to get our grilling items here.

Graziano’s is located on 5993 W 16th Ave in Hialeah, tucked in a corner in an old shopping center.

The market is not big, but it is stocked with items from many countries from South America. Being an Argentinean market, they make pretty good empanadas. Not the best I’ve had, but good enough to satisfy a craving. But the topic here is meat, so let’s get back to the cow.
The husband was actually on meat purchasing duty, again the whole male-food-gatherer role from the cave years rears its head. But I gotta give it to the Hubby, he is exceptionally good with a grill and he knows about meat like nobody’s business. So I am confident to send him to this meat Mecca to make the final choices.

Their meats are very good, I don’t think it’s the meat as much as it is their cuts of meat, which are different than say Publix or Winn Dixie. But it is their other items that I personally love! Next time you are out grilling, try some Sweetbread on the grill, it goes by “Molleja” to Argentineans (an I believe to all Spanish speaking people) it’s delish! It has a chicken-y taste, but the texture is so soft, truly a treat! Don’t be scared by the looks of it, the flavor will more than make up for this! It takes a while to grill, I would say almost the same time, if not a bit more than a bone in chicken thigh. Then, you must try the blood sausage, I know, I know…BLOOD sausage??? Yes, I said blood. The red stuff that circulates the veins of the delicious cow you probably savored last night. If the animal is dead, might as well make the most of it right?? Yeah, don’t get all PETA on me now…

This sausage is almost black in color, and goes by the name of Morcilla or Relleno. Again, a slow cooker, but the taste is like an explosion of flavor in your tongue.
All in all, Graziano’s is a great place to get some grilling items for your next BBQ, plus the butchers know so much about meat, that they will make you look like a pro, even if it is your first time firing up a grill.

I’m happy to say that I will continue to shop there for specialty items and even happier to know that the Hubby’s culinary dreams are lived in our backyard! Truly, the best BBQs I’ve eaten have been at the hands of my hubby…I know, I know sappy…but I gotta make sure my chef is happy!!

Silver Spoon Japanese and Thai - Miramar

Silver Spoon is located in the Home Depot shopping plaza off Miramar Pkwy and I75, next to Coldstone.

Mom, Mia and I found ourselves hungry in the middle of the new Miramar Park playground the other day (did I mention that playground rocks? Just one thing, why are the benches outside the gated area? Are parents not allowed to sit down? Whatever, I digress), actually, to be completely honest, it was almost 6pm and Mia came up to me and stated "Mia numy numy peeeze" which translates to "I want food oh sweet, caring and fair mother of mine" or something ...

Mom said that there was a real good sushi restaurant nearby, and since I love sushi, we headed over. This is a fairly new place, at least it seems to be, the whole area is I think. After a quick look at the menu I decided that Mia would have some shrimp dumplings and I the Alaskan and Dynamite roll (I was also starved). Mom got the ginger duck with rice.

While we were ordering, hurricane Mia decided to unleash her wrath onto the poor and unsuspecting bottle of soy sauce, so by the time we looked over, she had poured almost the entire bottle onto a small saucer. I was the one who knocked it over. "No, no, no mami... no play food" Yeeeeeeahhhh, obviously MY mistake. I continued to apologize for making a mess (it was all over the floor) but the waitress was really nice and sweet and cleaned it all up in a second.

Mia peeled the wrappers off her chopsticks and proceeded to have a drumming session on the table. "Look bongos", "Mami, cool bongos", "Mia bongos"... I didn't have the heart to tell her that bongos were not played with drum sticks, much less sushi ones. Really, who am I to ruin my child's possible future career in music?

Our drink order came out alongside some fresh and delish ginger salad. The veggies were crispy and juicy and the dressing was to die for. Mia loved it as well, she ate all the cucumber and tomatoes in both (My mom's and I) salads. Just as and FYI they have a pretty good children menu, with shrimp and fish as options, alongside either rice or fries.

Just before the usual "more tomatoes" breakdown, our food arrived and it looked and smelled great. My mom's duck was juicy and crispy at the same time and my sushi was also very good. Mia's appetizer was ok, steamed dumplings filled with shrimp...which is exactly what I ordered, but I guess I was expecting something else... two out of 3 ain't bad. And the two that were good were really good.

I hate to be the one to say this, but whenever I go into an Asian restaurant (be it Chinese, Thai, Japanese etc...) I don't expect good service, I actually expect mediocre service at best. But I love this kind of cuisine so much that I am willing to put up with this low point (in my opinion). This restaurant was the opposite. From Mia's spilled soy sauce fiasco to how attentive our waitress was during our meal, I was pleasantly surprised. I will definitely return, and, since its in our neck of the woods, I expect to return soon and often.


Pros: Not too pricey for the quality of food, big portions, clean, great service.
Cons: Don't order the steamed dumplings for a kid, without the chili sauce, they are kind of bland.