When in Miami... Eat Seafood

It wasn't until I was looking through pics for this post did I realize that when I was in Miami last week, I had seafood for almost every single meal.  Even breakfast. 🙊  So, if you're not a seafood lover, you'll probably want to skip this post.

Here were some of my absolute favorite meals in and around Miami...

The night I arrived I just ate at my hotel (Embassy Suites).  I find most of the restaurants to be really good.

This was a shrimp cocktail with an avocado cocktail sauce (yum!)...

And a spinach artichoke dip that I ate with my turkey club below...

My meal was a turkey club sandwich, no bread.  It had gouda cheese, a fried egg, and bacon which was more like pork belly.  A few asparagus and strawberries on the side.

My breakfast each morning at the hotel looked something like this (remember to ask for omelets to be made from cracked eggs!)...

Let's see... ok, I went up to Ft. Lauderdale and just hung out at the beach one day.  Getting hungry for lunch, I Yelp'd "restaurants near me" and found a gem right in front of me, ocean view, with outdoor seating.  Score!  Started off with a shrimp cocktail.

Then had an awesome blackened grouper sandwich (no bread), served with slaw and a very fresh side salad topped with a new-to-me almond from Spain called Marcona almonds.  They're really delicious and I found them at Whole Foods down there.

One morning I left really early to head to Key West for the day.  In Marathon, FL, right before you get to the 7 mile bridge, there is a restaurant called The Stuffed Pig.  It has an adorable patio hidden behind the building.  I had their 3 egg omelet with lobster, crab and baby shrimp.  It was LOADED with seafood!.  It must have been great fuel, because it was so hot and there was so much walking, I really didn't feel like eating until the drive home.

Which lead me here.  Next up was a fantastic, relaxing oceanside restaurant in Key Largo.  Lobster, steamed mussels, grilled shrimp, grilled scallops, stone crab claws.  Side of grilled zucchini and squash.

Oh, and a cup of conch vegetable soup.  A few potatoes, but chunky so easy to avoid.

And a cup of lobster bisque that was really unique... it had a bit of a curry taste to it.

Ask locals where they go!  That got me to this fantastic Columbian restaurant.  I honestly couldn't tell what I was ordering... I mean I knew it was swai, but not how it would be prepared other than broiled.  This had to be one of the simplest, yet most delicious preparations of fish I've ever had.  It's a very large swai filet broiled in some sort of broth/butter sauce with cooked onion and pepper.  

This day I was in Boca Raton and was at yet another oceanside restaurant with impeccable views, food and service.  This was grilled scallops, shrimp and the catch of the day, which was mahi mahi.  My sides were grilled asparagus and riced cauliflower, which is the first time I can recall finding riced cauli at a restaurant.

So the one thing I haven't mentioned so far is fantastic Cuban coffee.  It is crazy strong and out of this world.  There are specifically 2 drinks I loved.  Hopefully I get these right...

Colada = it's a Cuban espresso made a very specific way, served in a small container (equivalent to 6 strong shots of espresso) meant to be shared and you get little thimble-sized cups (demitasses) to sip from. Or you down the whole thing like me.  A few locals freaked a bit at the amount I drank. 🤣

Cortadito = basically a colada, but topped with steamed milk, which dilutes its potency a bit.

In Miami, they will almost always add a good amount of sugar when they make either, but I learned you can ask for no sugar and then add your sugar-free sweetener of choice!  

At the airport, waiting at my gate to fly home with my farewell Cuban coffee... 

a colada AND a cortadito...... all for ME!