Stir Moon/Tongue & Cheek

Hi Uncle Steve,

We've finally gotten around to using the American Express gift card you sent for my birthday. Thank you again and I wanted to keep you apprised of our continuing culinary exploits. 

We actually had two meals on it this weekend. First, on Friday, just after picking Lauren up from work, we went to Stir Moon, which specializes in Asian noodles. Second, with Lauren and I both having a day off today (!) (Lauren is a manager at a J Crew Men's and of course retail is retail), we went to brunch on Miami Beach at a place called Tongue & Cheek.

At Stir Moon, we started with Fish Balls and a cup of miso soup. The miso soup was very fresh and highly recommended. Fish Balls appear to be some sort of seafood mix wrapped in dough and steamed while on a kabob. After the fact, Wikipedia seems to confirm this, but makes it sound more appetizing than it was. But, having never had them before, I won't judge. 

For the main and final course, Lauren had shrimp pad thai. It was excellent. I, on the other hand, had spicy kimchee ramen. This ramen came in a large, 10 or 12" diameter cast iron pot, like you would imagine would hang over a campfire. When I removed the wooden lid, the steam from the soup blasted me for 10 minutes until it cooled down. The ramen was very good. The broth itself was spicy and very flavorful. In addition to the noodles, the ramen also had.... many ingredients (should have taken a picture). Working off memory here, I would say it included beef, tripe, and various vegetables, some I could not identify. In any event, it was also delicious and highly recommended. Of course, it was far from a quick meal as that volume of soup takes a while to cool.

Tongue & Cheek on the other hand is a far more distinctive restaurant, if but only for its name. But, it also has a habit of employing barn animals dressed to the nines. E.g.:

Please see their website for additional images.

As to the restaurant itself, I can't recall if you have visited Swine or Yardbird, but I would describe the theme of the restaurant as a more sophisticated take on either of those restaurants. 

As to drinks, Lauren had a mimosa. It was good. Not much to say about a mimosa. The Bloody Mary I had, on the other hand, has quite a number of words to follow it. It was an outstanding Bloody Mary, one of the best I've ever had. The vegetable ingredients shown through, while it was, for once, adequately seasoned to balance the blandness that can come from underseasoned tomato. It was spicy. It had kick.

For starts, Lauren ordered the house made donuts. Oh lord. This single order was two donuts. Each donut was the size of a grapefruit and lacking the characteristic hole. Both were fluffy and just a little chewy. One a cinnamon and the other stuffed with lemon curd and covered in powdered sugar. 

I also ordered two West Coast Oysters. Oh lord. Again. Now, I don't know what west coast these West Coast Oysters were from, but I feel I strongly should know. And I also have not had a lot of experience with different varieties of oysters, but I hope these oysters are but the beginning of a bivalve adventure. 

These oysters were amazing. Smaller than I expected; perhaps the size of littleneck clams. But these things had an amazing flavor. The brininess of the sea shown through in them and uncannily conjured up memories of the oceans. After each I had to take a little while to savor them and, more importantly, compose myself. There was a little eye-watering a(nd Lauren laughed at me).

Now, of course, these were the only oysters on the menu. And I have not tried many oysters. But these were certainly the best I've ever had.

Turning to our main and final dish, Lauren ordered the Avocado Tartine while I had their Pastrami Reuben. The Avocade Tartine consists of toasted multigrain artisanal bread topped with an avocado spread and goat cheese. The bread was the real star of that dish and would have been good in any way. 

My reuben was also delicious, with the quality of the ingredients particularly impressive. On the other hand, I was not impressed with how the sandwich was constructed from these admittedly great layers. To begin, we again had a very nice artisanal bread, though rye this time, and cut thick (~1 1/4"). The pastrami and the sauerkraut within, were also a very high quality. And while the ratio of sauerkraut to bread was correct, the balance between the pastrami and the remainder of the sandwich was seriously lacking. On a sandwich of nearly 3", I had perhaps 1/4" of pastrami, if not less. And while the pastrami was excellent, I could hardly taste it as there was so little of it. Come on people, it's a reuben not BLT! So, while the sandwich was certainly good, with the quality of the ingredients, it had the potential, but only that, to be great.