September 19, 2012

Zen Sai At The Essex House In South Beach

Every time there is a new restaurant opening in South Beach all of us at Miami Culinary Tours get so excited because is like a new neighbor moving in. We all want to greed them with apple pie and hope that they will make it up to the promise, after all this is Miami Beach, we try trust as much as we can but we have seen so many coming and going - we are always skeptical.

This time the review came from Mirka, well, Mirka is our senior tour guide and she is the best guide in South Beach (period, it has been proven over and over), but Mirka does not like to write or she doesn't have time because she has a son and she works - plus she is a single mother.

She was at the Essex House and texted me the image above. We always manage to try every single restaurant in South Beach in between the 4 of us at Miami Culinary Tours. We like the Essex House (by the way is Nautical Art Deco architecture), and we have been going there since we opened to describe an Art Deco lobby at our South Beach Food Tours.

Zen Sai restaurant at the Essex House

Garbanzo Spring Rolls $7

Mirka mentioned they were excellent. Crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, hot right out of the oil (I know, that sounds bad that is so good!). It came with a cilantro curry cream sauce that was smooth, not spicy just perfect.

Zen Sai is small, with just a few tables next to the bar area. The more seating happens outside on the patio which you can enjoy during winter months. The Essex House is a beautiful, unique and precious Art Deco building one block from Ocean Drive. It is a must see when you are in the area and now you can sit down and zip on an electric cocktail at $5 during happy hour - doesn't get any better than this!