A stylish Cuban-Korean-Peruvian restaurant in a strip mall, offering innovative dishes like lomo saltado risotto and katsu-style chicharrones. Owned by Eileen Andrade, whose grandparents founded the renowned Islas Canarias.
The only Ethiopian restaurant in Miami-Dade County, offering a unique culinary experience with dishes like chicken doro wat and shiro, served with injera bread. Owned and operated by Eka and Fouad Wassel.
The article also briefly mentions Islas Canarias as a pinnacle of Cuban food in Miami.
In the Where to Eat: 25 Best series, we’re highlighting our favorite restaurants in cities across the United States. These lists will be updated as restaurants close and open, and as we find new gems to recommend. As always, we pay for all of our meals and don’t accept free items.
West Kendall | Cuban-Korean-Peruvian
Eileen Andrade grew up as Cuban restaurant royalty: Her grandparents founded Islas Canarias, which remains the pinnacle of great Cuban food in Miami, down to their jamón croquetas. Ten years ago, she created a casual standby for the restaurant-starved western suburbs with Finka, where she introduced the flavors of other cultures — Peruvian, Korean — into traditional Cuban dishes. Last year, she opened Amelia’s 1931, as an elegant, sit-down restaurant, named and styled after her chic grandmother. Yes, it’s in a strip mall. Ignore the facade disguised to look like a dry cleaner. Open the door, step through the hanging racks of clothes, and into a golden-lighted room. Walls are hand-painted, and lettering is done in gold leaf. A jazz trio plays for diners sipping craft cocktails. Ms. Andrade experiments with a more robust and experimental menu here, like lomo saltado risotto, vegetarian boniato gnocchi, katsu-style chicharrones and juicy, tender mojo chicken. CARLOS FRÍAS
13601 SW 26th Street, Miami; 305-554-4949; amelias1931.com
Miami Gardens | Ethiopian
Eka Wassel and her husband, Fouad, opened the only Ethiopian restaurant in Miami-Dade County seven years ago on the Miami Gardens side of a mixed community of African immigrants (primarily Nigerian). And it happens to be great. Ms. Wassel oversees the kitchen, and Mr. Wassel is the face of the dining room. Start with crispy meat or lentil sambusas and head right toward the Taste of Awash, a bright mandala of flavors that includes meat dishes like a rich chicken doro wat and a vegetarian shiro. They’re served with a pyramid of sour-tangy injera bread. Finish with the Ethiopian coffee service. Pair it with — somewhat unexpectedly — the Matilda-rich chocolate cake, a decadent wedge of self-care, made daily. CARLOS FRÍAS
19934 NW Second Avenue, Miami Gardens; 305-770-5100; awashethiopian.com
Little Havana | Cuban
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