Better late than never . . .

Exactly two months ago in my last post (I know, shame on me. . .I've been a busy little bee!), I wrote about Miami Spice. Miami Spice is now over :( Unfortunately, we were not able to hit all the fabulous restaurants that I had initially wanted to go to. I couldn't leave you hanging. . .wondering where we dined at on August 1st . . . cause I know you want to know! Ha-ha!
We ended up picking Joely, located in the Astor Hotel on Washington Avenue in South Beach. The food was absolutely delicious, our only qualm, was that the restaurant was basically empty! We sat at the adjacent bar and had some drinks while we waited for our friends Gina and Ernie to join us. I had the Basil Martini that the bartender recommended. I had never had one, so I thought, "what the heck"! It was "interesting" to say the least, I felt I needed a Caprese Salad to help me swallow it down! Here's a pic of it, the only semi-decent "food" pic of the evening.
Our friends arrived and the restaurant was basically still empty, only two tables were being served. My husband wanted to leave, there's something about an almost empty restaurant that can give you the hibbie-jibbies! Nonsense! It was the first day of Miami Spice and maybe the restaurant would fill up as the night proceeded. . . that didn't happen, but by the time we tasted our appetizer, we didn't care! The food was exquisite! The service was perfect, we felt like we had our own set of waiters just for us. . . well, we kinda did!



My Appetizer : Romain Salad, Salumi, Artisan Formaggi, Aged Balsamic, Olive Oil (the "Artisan Formaggi" was a little stinky! Go figure! Other than the toe-jam smell (lol) this was delicious!

My husband and our friends Gina and Ernie had: Crispy Kataifi Prawn, Chorizo, Sweet Potato, Cilantro

My husband, Ernie, and I enjoyed our entrees: Grilled Flat Iron Steak, Caramelized Pearl Onions, Red Beets, Sauce AuPoive

Gina had: Seared Tuna, Sicilian Peperonata, Tomato Broth

For Dessert I had: Fresh Fig Tart, Charred Goat Cheese, Organic Honey
(I thought it was delish, hubby though didn't care of it)

My Husband and Gina had: Chocolate Sundae, Summer Cherries, Vanilla Ice Cream

Ernie chose the BEST dessert by far: Chilled Lemongrass Soup, Pineapple, Coconut Ice Cream(Holy mother of desserts, this dessert was outrageous, luckily Ernie let us all try a little!)

I would definitely recommend Joley, hopefully it will have more patrons next time we dine there ;)