Islas Canarias is a Cuban restaurant in Miami that is known for its croquetas and more.



"Islas Canarias Restaurant is a family owned and operated restaurant, established in 1977 by the late Raul and Amelia Garcia and currently ran by their daughter Nancy Andrade along with her children Eileen and Jonathan Andrade. Raul’s family recipes have been preserved throughout the years under the careful watch of his children and grandchildren. The family has served generations of locals and tourists alike with the same quality service and attention to detail as its founders. Using the finest ingredients, Islas Canarias Restaurant aims to prepare quality, traditional plates from the family’s original recipes from Cuba. With a casually elegant atmosphere inspired by the European architecture of 1950s Cuba and the friendly ambiance of personnel that always recognizes a familiar face, every experience is pleasant when complimented by deliciously authentic Cuban & Spanish cuisine."



I ordered a strawberry shake to begin with. It was refreshing, which was so nice in the warm Miami sun. Kaitee went for a Cuban coffee.



Complimentary Cuban bread was served - nice crisp texture gives way to a soft interior.



Croquetas are a popular Cuban appetizer made of ground ham mixed with a creamy bechamel sauce that is shaped into an oval, coated with breadcrumbs, and deep-fried until golden brown. Islas Canarias offers ham, chicken, and fish varieties. I tried the ham and fish ones; what stood out to me is how almost creamy the interior was.



I also tried a Cuban sandwich with potato sticks. The Cuban sandwich has pork, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles, and it is pressed. this version had potato sticks on top, which gave a little extra saltines and crunch.



Grade: A

Located in Miami, Stiltsville Fish Bar is a relaxed and casual neighborhood restaurant serving up quality seafood & Key West inspired drinks.



Executive Chef Jeff McInis is a Top Chef alum, so that was a fun little aside that made me interested to check out this place.



I ordered the 1/4 lb. crab cake, which has local blue lump crab, crunchy slaw & horseradish remoulade. I love a good crab cake. The sauce took away a bit of the sear, but there was tons of crab meat.



I also ordered a cocktail: Purdy Lil' Thing - Vodka, Chinola passion fruit liqueur, St. Germain, vanilla syrup, lemon, East Imperial soda, pineapple, bitters. Strong! But still fruity.



Grade: B

1-800-Lucky is Miami's first Asian food hall, spanning 10,000 square feet in Wynwood and featuring a vibrant mix of pan-Asian cuisine from six restaurants, including Taiyaki, which has fish-shaped ice cream cones.



"What is Taiyaki? The most literal translation of taiyaki is fried fish! Tai (sea bream) is a type of fish often considered king among fish in Japan, and yaki can mean fried, baked, or grilled. In our case, we bake our taiyaki

Taiyaki and its origins can be traced back hundreds of years ago to the Edo Period (1600s to 1800s). Before taiyaki took its shape, taiyaki was first imagawayaki, a round-shaped cake similarly served warm and filled with azuki sweet red bean paste.

During this era, under the shogun rule founded by Tokugawa Ieyasu, tai was some of the most highly prized seafood and was presented as a gift to the shogun himself. To this very day, tai is still incorporated into Japan's food culture and way of life. It is customary to hang a picture of tai at the entrance to a home or shrine, and tai-shaped pastries are often given as thank-you gifts to guests at wedding parties as a common gesture of celebration and luck.

In addition to good luck, the Japanese word tai is similar and closely associated with the Japanese word medetai, meaning auspicious, prosperous, or happy. Medetai fish is can be referred to as taiyaki.

During the springtime, red-tinted tai, also known as madai (true tai), can be found throughout Japanese waters. Similar to colors of sakura (cherry blossoms), their symbolic meanings are closely knit and hold special significance in Japanese culture and traditions."



I tried a vanilla ice cream with custard taiyaki cone, cotton candy sprinkles, unicorn ears & horn plus rainbow mochi.

This was like an even better ice cream cone because it had a variety of textures. And, it was unique.

Grade: A

Here's my latest column for the WV Gazette-Mail:

Creamed, chipped beef on toast, often referred to by the military nickname “S.O.S.” — a shorthand for “Stuff on a Shingle,” with more colorful interpretations in less formal settings — is both a nostalgic comfort food for some and a chided necessity for others.

This humble dish is made of thinly sliced dried beef served in a creamy white sauce over toasted or plain bread.

As a quick aside: What IS dried beef? Just like it sounds. It’s a form of salted and dried beef that is sliced into small, thin pieces and sold in jars or small packets. It is also a common ingredient used to coat a cheeseball.

The dish has roots in military mess halls. The dish’s affordability, ease of preparation and long shelf life made it ideal for feeding large numbers of soldiers.

The recipe appeared in Army cookbooks as early as World War I, but it became particularly associated with the lean years of the Great Depression and World War II. When soldiers returned home, they brought the recipe with them, embedding it into the culinary traditions of their communities.

For Appalachia, a region often shaped by economic challenges and a culture of making do with what was available, creamed, chipped beef on toast fits perfectly into the local food culture.

The dish can be made from pantry staples like dried beef, flour, butter, and milk, ingredients that were often on hand and not dependent upon seasonal produce.

In Appalachia, S.O.S. found a home as a hearty breakfast or dinner. The region’s labor-intensive industries, from coal mining to farming, demanded meals that were filling, affordable, and quick to prepare.

Families embraced the meal for its ability to stretch a small amount of meat into a meal that could feed everyone around the table. It remains a memory — for better or for worse — for those who grew up with it.

It’s a dish that tells the story of perseverance through tough times, creativity in the face of scarcity, and the deep connection people have to food.

Bloody Mary Bar at Barkadas I am such a sucker for an interactive dining experience. I like being able to have a hand in my meal – or in this case, drink. and, I am paying to do some of the work myself, so I hope the staff likes it, too. Barkadas has introduced a bloody mary bar, where you receive a base bloody mary drink and can garnish it with a number of toppings. There's cheese and pickles and shrimp and celery. Plus some salt and peppers and salami. Did I mention it is all you can drink? It was fun and tasty alongside my chicken and waffles dish, as well. Hot Pot at East Flavor Hot Pot is a dining experience where a diners cook their own food in a simmering pot of broth at the table. At East Flavor, you are seated at a hot pot table that has a circular hot burner in front of each seat. There's a button on the front of the table to turn it on. You only have to pick your broth and protein. The rest of the accompaniments come out on a platter. I went for tomato and beef. The server brought a giant platter full of bok choy, mushrooms, taro, noodles, lotus root, corn, tofu, sausages, rice cakes and fish/beef balls. The server placed the broth on the burner, and we turned it on. And it was pretty much ready to go. He suggested starting with the beef and corn because they take the longest to cook. So, I plucked those in with my chopsticks in waited for them to cook. I alternated between adding a few items in the pot to cook, and then transferring them to my bowl along with some broth to eat from, but I also ate directly from the pot. And, I put the noodles in at the end to absorb all the remainder of the broth. I used just about all of my vegetables, except for the bok choy simply because it was so large. So, by the end, this huge pot of soup filled me right up. I didn't see additional sauces, so I'll have to check those out next time. More fun finds:

Birria Ramen at Cozumel Express
Cryptid Sodas from Mythical Pizza
Dubai Bars from Sugar Shenanigans