Black Brick
Hi Uncle Steve,
Bit of an odd one this email. Not exactly one of your dinners, as Lauren bought for my birthday. And, unfortunately, no pictures. And, who knew, but a lack of pictures hampers my writing. But I thought I'd write nonetheless.
For my birthday, Lauren and I went to Black Brick, an moderately upscale Chinese restaurant in a funky space in Midtown, north of Wynwood. Black Brick is owned and operated by the same people who run Sakaya Kitchen, a local Korean fusion favorite. And to emphasize funky, they had several portraits on the wall, which I only later realized were pop culture icons (Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, etc.) dressed in 19th century generals uniforms.
Lauren and I started with a pair of drinks and an appetizer. I ordered a Terracotta Warrior, an Asian inspired take on a Manhattan. Considering it low expectations for a whisky drink at an Asian restaurant, it was eminently respectable. Lauren on the other hand ordered a Thai Bomber, a fruity, tropical drink laced with Thai chili peppers. This drink... was exceptional and I would highly recommend it. In a strange bit about us, I don't care for spicy drinks, but Lauren loves a great jalapeño lemonade. This drink satisfied us both.
And, for an appetizer, we ordered the Sichuan peanut. These legumes had been dry roasted in a traditional Sichuan spice blend. It's unclear if the product was as intended, but it was disappointing. The nuts were so overroasted that there were crunchy to the point of brittle. Not an altogether pleasing texture, but understandable that it might be a parochial taste. As to the spices, despite being heavily loaded, they were very low in flavor. Disappointing indeed.
Fortunately, that was the low point.
And really, this lack of pictures is really cramping my style.
For the rest of the meal, we ordered two dim sum, a fried rice and an entree. For our dim sum, we ordered a char siu bao and a red bean bao. Char siu is a type of barbecue pork. Red bean is a very traditional dessert flavor in several Asian countries including the Philippines. As you may have guessed, Lauren loved the latter. ( we both found the former acceptable ).
For our entree, we ordered the General Tso's Florida Gator. Yes, this was gator, prepared in General Tso style. It was brilliant. Unlike most gator preparations, this gator was slide in long, wide but flat strips. The wok used was clearly very hot, as the gator had been dipped in a light batter and wok seared until crispy and tossed in sauce. The texture was the real highlight, as it remained both crispy and moist (sauced?) through the meal.
And for our fried rice, we ordered a kimchee bacon fried rice. While Lauren fawned over the red bean supra, I loved the kimchee bacon fried rice. A large portion of the credit clearly goes to the use of Miami Smokers bacon, i.e. Bacon from a local smoker which has become very popular. Another large portion goes to the kimchee, which was (of course) house made and served to compliment perfectly the fatty meatiness of the bacon. A bit on the spicy side, it nonetheless served us well and lasted me for several additional meals.
Speaking of leftovers, although we ordered only a few dishes, the portions were generous and we took home leftovers of everything but the dim sum. And, surprisingly, it was significantly cheaper than many other of our nice meals in Miami.
In sum, a higher end Chinese restaurant in a funky place with a few standout dishes and otherwise satisfactory food to go around.
...
In the next email, Alter: the best meal ever.
Bit of an odd one this email. Not exactly one of your dinners, as Lauren bought for my birthday. And, unfortunately, no pictures. And, who knew, but a lack of pictures hampers my writing. But I thought I'd write nonetheless.
For my birthday, Lauren and I went to Black Brick, an moderately upscale Chinese restaurant in a funky space in Midtown, north of Wynwood. Black Brick is owned and operated by the same people who run Sakaya Kitchen, a local Korean fusion favorite. And to emphasize funky, they had several portraits on the wall, which I only later realized were pop culture icons (Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, etc.) dressed in 19th century generals uniforms.
Lauren and I started with a pair of drinks and an appetizer. I ordered a Terracotta Warrior, an Asian inspired take on a Manhattan. Considering it low expectations for a whisky drink at an Asian restaurant, it was eminently respectable. Lauren on the other hand ordered a Thai Bomber, a fruity, tropical drink laced with Thai chili peppers. This drink... was exceptional and I would highly recommend it. In a strange bit about us, I don't care for spicy drinks, but Lauren loves a great jalapeño lemonade. This drink satisfied us both.
And, for an appetizer, we ordered the Sichuan peanut. These legumes had been dry roasted in a traditional Sichuan spice blend. It's unclear if the product was as intended, but it was disappointing. The nuts were so overroasted that there were crunchy to the point of brittle. Not an altogether pleasing texture, but understandable that it might be a parochial taste. As to the spices, despite being heavily loaded, they were very low in flavor. Disappointing indeed.
Fortunately, that was the low point.
And really, this lack of pictures is really cramping my style.
For the rest of the meal, we ordered two dim sum, a fried rice and an entree. For our dim sum, we ordered a char siu bao and a red bean bao. Char siu is a type of barbecue pork. Red bean is a very traditional dessert flavor in several Asian countries including the Philippines. As you may have guessed, Lauren loved the latter. ( we both found the former acceptable ).
For our entree, we ordered the General Tso's Florida Gator. Yes, this was gator, prepared in General Tso style. It was brilliant. Unlike most gator preparations, this gator was slide in long, wide but flat strips. The wok used was clearly very hot, as the gator had been dipped in a light batter and wok seared until crispy and tossed in sauce. The texture was the real highlight, as it remained both crispy and moist (sauced?) through the meal.
And for our fried rice, we ordered a kimchee bacon fried rice. While Lauren fawned over the red bean supra, I loved the kimchee bacon fried rice. A large portion of the credit clearly goes to the use of Miami Smokers bacon, i.e. Bacon from a local smoker which has become very popular. Another large portion goes to the kimchee, which was (of course) house made and served to compliment perfectly the fatty meatiness of the bacon. A bit on the spicy side, it nonetheless served us well and lasted me for several additional meals.
Speaking of leftovers, although we ordered only a few dishes, the portions were generous and we took home leftovers of everything but the dim sum. And, surprisingly, it was significantly cheaper than many other of our nice meals in Miami.
In sum, a higher end Chinese restaurant in a funky place with a few standout dishes and otherwise satisfactory food to go around.
...
In the next email, Alter: the best meal ever.
Comments
Post a Comment