Azul

[lulamishka]

I’m SO late in doing this, but better late than never!

Last month I went to Azul for a Miami Spice lunch with some coworkers. I have been to Azul once before and had a really enjoyable dinner there. In case you’re not familiar, Azul is one of the restaurants at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Brickell Key. It overlooks Brickell and Biscayne Bay. Beautiful view!

So upon seating, we were given their normal lunch menu, as well as their Miami Spice lunch menu. While browsing the normal menu, one item piqued our interest: The Crab Falafel. So we just had to order it for the table as an appetizer (it’s really an entrée). Our waiter had said it wasn’t that big and we could easily share it. Well, it definitely was easy to share, but oh my, was it a big portion! It didn’t come the way we had imagined it to come. As in, the way a typical falafel looks like. Instead, it came looking like a wrap. It tasted like the crab was lightly fried and had lettuce, I believe tomato, some sort of creamy curry dressing in it and if there’s anything else, forgive me, I don’t remember. All served nice & warm! I’m not a huge fan of curry, but it didn’t detract from this dish for me at all! It was delicious.

For my Miami Spice appetizer, I ordered the corn soup with crab fritter and cilantro crema. Let me tell you, that soup was also delicious! Had a slight kick to it. Perhaps it was because of the cilantro. I couldn’t really put my finger on it. And the crab fritter was half soaked in the soup and didn’t taste greasy at all. I ate the entire bowl of soup. It was so yummy. Had I not wanted to save room for everything else, I would have wiped the bowl clean with a piece of bread. But by this point I was already starting to feel full!

For my entrée, I ordered the Baked Ricotta Gnocchi with Sausage Bolognese and Fontina & Parmesan cheese. Oh man, this was absolutely delicious. Hmm, “delicious” seems to be a running theme here. It was so unfortunate that I was already stuffed by the time I was in the middle of this dish, but it was so good I had to keep on. The sausage helped to add a kick to the Bolognese and the ricotta in the gnocchi helped make a normally heavier dish a little lighter. My mouth is watering just by thinking about this dish again.

Once I was finally able to give up and put my fork down, I was ready to take on dessert with whatever room was left in my stomach. ‘Cause isn’t there always room for dessert? And so for my dessert I chose the “Tanariva” Milk Chocolate Terrine with Coconut Gelee and Rum Ice Cream. The best way I can describe this dish, and this is really not giving it the kind of credit it deserves, but… It’s as if you had a Mounds bar wrapped in a cold & light milk chocolate, which was wrapped in a thin layer of a Crunch bar with rum ice cream on the side. It was something like that! I could not have asked for a better ending to my meal. I seriously could not stop saying, “oh my god”, as I kept eating it until it was all gone. I would have licked the plate clean if I could, even, which is surprising since I’m more of a dark chocolate kind of gal.

Overall, the service was good, the view was beautiful and the meal was… you guessed it, DELICIOUS! It was totally worth the Miami Spice lunch price and then some. I highly recommend you check Azul out. I’ve had two great experiences there and I’ll definitely be back for more.


Azul
500 Brickell Key Drive
Miami, Florida
305.913.8288

----------------------------------------------
Azul is usually pricey, so if its out of your budget, I highly suggest fitting in lunch this week, as it’s the last week for Miami Spice 2007.

[ramon]

sounds lovely. thanks for the review michelle.

[JMT]

that gnocchi sounds divine.

this place has been on my extended list for awhile, might be time to bump it up to the short list.

nice review.

[Electric Eel]

I have been there for dinner before and i highly recommend it as well

[klubveteran]

I was there this past Saturday. took some friends. Thier first time.

I keep coming back there all the time as its one of the top places i think of when i want a great place to go and eat.

I wont dare make an attempt at a review after the standard set by Lula. but its amazing.

[lulamishka]

Originally Posted by klubveteran

I was there this past Saturday. took some friends. Thier first time.

I keep coming back there all the time as its one of the top places i think of when i want a great place to go and eat.

I wont dare make an attempt at a review after the standard set by Lula. but its amazing.

Aww, no, please DO post a review! I'd like to hear about the dishes you've tried there! There is no standard here on Food Junkies. Don't be afraid!