PB Station

It's hard to follow up a meal--or a review--like the last one. You ponder whether there's anything left to say. You hem and haw. And then you say, fuck it, and make a reservation anyways. 

PB Station is an excellent restaurant. It is definitely one of the top restaurants in Miami and I would highly recommend it. I would also recommend you go in costume. 

PB Station is a new restaurant from the guys behind PubBelly, a little place just off the Venetian Causeway as you hit Miami Beach. PubBelly has generated considerable buzz since it opened in 2010 and has been so successful that it has morphed into its own culinary empire. An Asian-inspired gastropub, I would highly recommend you go there as well, but that's not what this review is about. 

Instead, this is their Americana take. And it begins with location:

PB Station is located within the Langford Hotel, a boutique hotel in downtown Miami. The hotel is in the old Miami National Bank building, a beautiful 1925 Beaux-Arts style building that would fit perfectly in New York. And the 1920s it continues to echo as the valet (and perhaps the staff) are period dressed in newspaper caps, vests, etc. 

As you walk in, the bar runs along the left to the back and the main seating area. It's a square space and doesn't hold more than 20 tables, but it is fascinating. And oddly reminiscent of a train station in 1920s New York. 

But enough! What of the drinks? 

Okay! Fine!

Lauren began with a Damned and Beautiful: champagne, St. George Vodka, a blackberry gastric, topped with a pink peppercorn rim. An excellent cocktail. I went with the cracker jack inspired Manhattan called Yogi Berra (ok, the NY references are tiring). Templeton rye whiskey infused with actual cracker jack and peanuts, mixed with Antica vermouth and walnut bitters. Definitely tasted like cracker jack. A little sweet for my taste, but probably one of the more tolerable drinks for people who don't care for whiskey. 

We began with three appetizers and surprise biscuits. 

Lauren of course loves a good lobster roll, so we ordered one. The bread was too crusty (or shall we say toasty), so it fell apart, but otherwise the filling was great. The side chips were fantastic. 

Oh wait that's not a whole meal???

I wanted to order the octopus pepperoni,* but instead we ordered the french onion soup dumplings. Take an escargot platter, fill with braised short rib, ladle over french onion soup, top with gruyere and broil. Oh so good. 

*You may wonder what this is. Don't worry, I asked. When they make their pepperoni, they add octopus as one of the main meats. 

I also ordered four oysters, two east coast, two west coast. Course, they ran out of west coast, so I had one west, three east, but that's neither here nor there. The oysters were very fresh and well selected. The brininess inherent in raw oysters shone through all contenders, though in variation between the two varieties.  

And then the surprise biscuits. Which is to say, they surprised us with biscuits. We're still not sure what they're coated in (honey butter?), but they were delicious. 

Fortunately, when we began ordering, we realized that we were going to quickly run out of room. So, we split a salad and an entree as our main course. And yet, on the other hand, the meal was proceeding at such a nice pace we both ordered additional drinks. This time, I went with a regular old-fashioned. I wanted to test their bartenders to see just how up to snuff they were. Lauren on the other hand got hit by a tropical storm: Brugal Anejo infused with dry bananas, thai tea syrup, evaporated milk, and Fever Tree ginger beer. It was one hell of a drink.

Oh yeah, and the old fashioned passed muster. And with an excellent selection of the base whiskey I might add. 

For our entree, we had the PB Station burger: bacon confit, gruyere cheese, and smoked bordelaise. 

Now, you may be wondering as I did: Wait, isn't confit "fried in duck fat"? Well, no, but frankly, this tasted so rich we wouldn't be surprised. It's a meat-lovers dish and it really knocked it out of the park. 

And then we shared a celery caesar salad: celery root, romaine, celery leaves, anchovies and the biggest croutons in the world. 

Really unnecessarily large croutons. Soft, buttery, but large. 

Finally, we somehow managed to have room for dessert, to split: Granny Smith's bread pudding. Caramel custard, green apple compote, coconut granola, and a graham streusel. Damn it was good. 

In short, a rich, fantastic meal paying tribute to America. I salute you PB Station and wish you well. 

Stephen

P.S. And this time, it was cheap enough to fit on the card! Thank you Uncle Steve!

{P.P.S.  The images ended up breaking on this post, so they have been removed for now.}