February 19, 2014

Foodies Apply Here; Brickell Kitchen Hop

The past weekend I went to the “foodies crawl” Kitchen Hop. This being my first food crawl, I enjoyed it very much. I went thinking I was going to leave hungry, but boy, was I wrong. I checked in at 2pm sharp and the first place I went to was Brother Jimmy’s.

The employees were serving the samples in little cups, and I started to despair, thinking I was going to leave the crawl famished. The first cup had a serving of brisket, which was very good; I did the mistake of drenching in their original bbq sauce, which was too vinegary for my taste. The other cup was filled with their pulled pork, and that was amazing. I can confidently say that was the best pulled pork I’ve ever tried; it was faintly sweet, almost with a sausage-like underlying flavor.

Next stop was Dolores, But You Can Call Me Lolita, and there they were serving their famous ham croquettes. They definitely were tasty, but it was more of the paste than ham in that croquette.

.

Then, the Oceanaire was serving shrimp tequila ceviche. If you’re into Mexican ceviche, then you might like this dish. It had tomato, cucumber, and a side of chili-dusted tortilla chip.

At Balans, they were serving fettuccine with salmon, which was basically just that. The salmon had no particular flavor, and the fettuccine was plain with the exception of some sautéed spinach mixed in.

Next on the list was Toscana Divino; I believe they were serving pork belly white bean soup. I wasn’t crazy about that idea. It was 80 degree weather on that particular Saturday when they decided to serve piping hot bean soup. The soup wasn’t bad, more pork fat than actual pork, but I couldn’t enjoy it due to the climatic factors.

Let me just pause and to say that at this point at the fifth stop I was getting full, regardless of the small portions. So, to continue this, I went to Tapas Benidorm, which was one of my favorites. This time, a waiter came around with what was essentially served pigs in a blanket. on a platter I think the reason why I like it so much was because of the blanket. It was a buttery, flaky crust, with possibly some cheese in between the layers. The sausage was mildly spicy, and placed on top was a blueberry!

Baru was next, and there they served a delicious white fish ceviche on top of a tortilla chip.

At Fado, they served salmon on top of a crostini with capers and horseradish sauce. Now, I love salmon, but I was not too keen on the horseradish. The crostini was really good, though.

Taverna Opa had amazing wings, which were seasoned with oregano. Last, but not least, at Blue Martini they were serving grilled chicken on skewers.

Overall, I left pretty stuffed. The crawl was not guided, and the crawlers were free to roam wherever they pleased. Each participant had a wristband and a card where the restaurants would mark off when you’ve visited them. The restaurants sectioned off a part of their establishment to the crawlers so that their regular diners can eat in peace. The lines weren’t terribly long; maybe a 5-6 person line. The worst wait was probably Baru and Blue Martini, and that was because they opened after 4pm. This crawl gave me an insight to what these posh restaurants in Brickell had to offer. I’m glad I got a taste rather than spending big bucks on a place that I wouldn’t have liked!

I am definitely looking forward to the Coral Gables Kitchen Hop.