November 18, 2010

2b Asian Bistro In Little Havana

I love random things; comments out of place, drunk people at work, blond people with dreadlocks... and the flair that the new 2B Asian Bistro brings to Little Havana. I am in this neighborhood quite a bit conducting the Little Havana Food Tour, and I know pretty much everybody around Domino Park. The 2B Asian Bistro bunch are new to the hood' and I like them, not sure why because I have not talked to them, but I think they bring a je ne se qua to the area. One Saturday afternoon I called my foodie buddy who is always up for a nice glass of chilled white (as I am also that type), and I brought him down to Little Havana. He was like "what?"... "Little Havana for Asian?"

2B Asian Bistro restaurant in Little Havana

A paint by "Julio Pichon" is the only element that pays tribute to the neighborhood as that name is in Spanish and they are operating in an area that you won't get far if you can't spell "CALLE. OCHO"

Bags of gold, delicately fried parcels stuffed with shrimp, shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts

I loved these little bags, they were quite tasty and well prepared, you can definitely tell the restaurant' primarily expertise is Thai cuisine. They were crispy on the outside and juicy in the inside - which it's pretty much what you should get when you order this type of dish.

Tuna Salad

Although the tuna was fresh and of good quality (I'm gonna give them that), the salad lack of flavor was impressive. This is not a dish I ordered (my friend did), but after watching him pouring the amount of yuzu and soy sauce I was feeling his desperation (see it the "reality way" on the video below). I took a bite and I think what this dish lacked was a bit of creative talent in the vinaigrette department. I would have stand up and loudly said "just whisk some sriracha sauce with rice vinegar" but I keep my composure, I don't like to be thrown out of places. Needless to say, the tuna was good which is the most important factor after all.

Tom kha gai

I love Tom kha gai soup when it's well prepared and I must say the one at 2B Asian Bistro is probably the best one I have had in Miami (well that's not very hard to beat because Miami doesn't know much about good Asian cuisine - in my humble non-book culinary expert opinion). All of the ingredients had the perfect balance, the lime/lemon juice was present yet not overwhelming, the coconut milk was not too dense and the shrimp where the big juicy ones as opposed to the popcorn type which I hate.

Thai pork pot sticker

I can't leave an "Asian-inspired" restaurant without trying their dumplings (you call them pot stickers?). The ones shown in the picture were fantastic, and I asked our (insanely beautiful) waitress if the dough is made by them and she answered... yes (thank you) which was as you can imagine music to my ears.
The owner can stand outside with his spiky hair, chatting on his cell phone wearing a black suit among the Domino Park viejitos and I'm okay with all that now that his dumplings are... homemade.

Cuba ocho tuna, chopped tuna mixed with crab spicy mayo, layered with rice and guacamole served with crispy wontons and eel sauce

Oh no please don't order this one - this was a disaster at a $14.95 a pop it was a crime. Too much rice, not too much flavor on the Asian guacamole and please don't put eel sauce on top of my fried wonton chips because it makes them soggy! Can I get my $14.95 back? I took this to go because I hate leaving food behind but it went nowhere at home but the trash, this is too sad, not even my dog Jack gave this one a second look.