March 24, 2014

Buns and Buns Miami Review

Buns and Buns has been on the tongues of foodies (no pun intended) across Miami for a couple of weeks now. After hearing so much buzz about this recently opened restaurant near Sunset Mall, I decided to take a gander for myself. Saturday night seemed a bit hectic for the restaurant, but the girl at the register seemed unfazed by the full house. How it works: you order at the counter and take the number assigned to your table; various servers will deliver the food to you, and you pay after you eat.

I had order the potato bites and spinach poofs for the appetizer, or as they endearingly call it, “bites.”For the entree, I chose the short rib with the brioche bun, with an herb bun, and a Funky Buddha wheat ale to wash it all down. Shortly after I sat at my table, my beer was brought to me and then followed by the spinach poofs. The menu describes the poofs as tahini, chives, and manchego cheese. There was a serving of five little balls of spinach on top of a small pool of tahini sauce garnished with chopped chives. Initially, the taste put me off because my palate was trying to adjust to the taste of spinach and manchego, but after a couple of bites I deemed them okay. My potato bites were yet to be served and the waiter told me it was going to take about three minutes for it to come out. Three to five minutes passed and there was no sign of potato bites anywhere. I was served my short ribs before I got my bites. The short ribs platter is described to be cooked in a red wine demi glaze, accompanied with portobello mushrooms, onions, and egg on top of everything. I was extremely disappointed with this meal. The wine sauce was watery and tasted more vinegary than anything. The onions were cooked to the point of mush, and the mushroom was so charred that I couldn’t even tell what it was. The short ribs had a very poached egg on top that was not seasoned with salt or pepper; parts of the short ribs were passable, and then fatty parts that didn’t do anything for me. My favorite part of this meal was the brioche bun; it was warm, soft, and salty. My herb bun was also very good, soft and full of flavor for a piece of bread. After I was done with my meal, they finally served me my potato bites, which was approximately 20 minutes after my entree was served. The potato bites was described as just queso blanco, aji amarillo, tomato, and bacon. What they served seemed to be a couple of baked petite yellow potatoes on top of a chunky yellow sauce covered with chopped bacon strips and grated cheese. The potatoes were very firm, possibly undercooked; the sauce seemed to taste a bit like the peruvian Huancaina sauce because of the aji amarillo, but much grainier with an unpleasant aftertaste. The bacon was tough and tasted like it came stored and packaged. This dish was another disappointment.

Overall, the restaurant appearance was inviting with unconventional ordering protocol and courteous staff, but I would not revisit this restaurant again. All three dishes were a letdown, alongside with their promptness. I only recommend their buns.