Komodo Miami

Miami is a world of its own. The sun is always shining, the Latin culture is intertwined in the daily lifestyle, and people live for the nightlife. Komodo Miami was a perfect mix of all those factors. Located in Brickell, as opposed to South Beach, Komodo is a three floor indoor-outdoor expanse, with a lounge on the top floor. Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow partnered with the creator of LIV nightclub, David Grutman. The combination of excellent food and prime atmosphere was evident right as we walked into the restaurant and the bar was buzzing with well-dressed people. On the way in, visitors are greeted with a row of about twenty Peking ducks hanging from a window. The Asian inspired menu is designed to be for sharing small plates. We ordered several absolutely amazing appetizers (including divine salmon tacos that I somehow did not photograph!) and followed it up with an order of the Peking duck. The duck comes with sauce and accompaniments to make your own pancake! It's really difficult to pick highlights since everything was so wonderful. If I had to choose I would say my favorite dishes were the lobster dynamite, the seabass skewers, the salmon tacos, and the crispy brussel sprouts. 

This dinner also marked the start of my birthday celebrations as my friends surprised me with 3 (!!!) desserts and sang to me. The desserts didn't disappoint either but the savory food was definitely the highlight. We were later escorted upstairs by one of the managers of the lounge, Miguel, who was kind enough to buy us watermelon vodka shots. The lounge is smaller than what you would expect for Miami nightlife and I think still needs some fine-tuning before it becomes a Miami hotspot but regardless, we had a great experience overall and enjoyed dancing to some Latino music. I would definitely make reservations to dine at Komodo if you will be in the Miami area!

Peking Ducks all lined up

Two Ginger Passion Fruit Mules, Watermelon Basil Mojito (Back), Dragon Punch (right)

Lobster Dynamite with crispy quinoa (it really was dynamite!)

Miso Chilean Seabass Skewers

Burrata with miso eggplant

Peking Duck, served with cucumber, scallion, hoison sauce and pancakes

Close up of the amazing Peking Duck

Charred Brussel Sprouts with pineapple kabayaki, currants and coconut salt

Another favorite!

Super Sweet Potato with shaved black truffle, wasabi butter, tobiko and gold leaf

Towel service before dessert

Complimentary Birthday dessert - Baked Alaska

Zen Garden - chocolate semifreddo, raspberry sorbet, and cherry pop rocks

Bananas in a Pagoda - bruléed bananas, salted dolce caramel, chocolate sauce and candied hazelnut

Presented and served by our wonderful waiter, Valentino

Karyu Tokyo

I can't say I had much experience with Wagyu Beef before eating at Karyu in Tokyo. Karyu is a sixteen seat restaurant with Chef Katayangi at it's helm, creating a kaiseki menu centered on Wagyu Beef, accented by seasonal ingredients. It was such a fun experience to experiment with the different ways beef can be prepared. Plus, the sake selection was absolutely wonderful. Some of my favorite dishes include Sirloin Sukiyaki style steak served with an egg yolk (I'm still dreaming about this dish) and the really unique dessert of sweet noodles in syrup and soy flour. I also couldn't help but notice the beautiful presentation and tableware each dish was served on. Tokyo overall did not disappoint in the presentation of dishes, included the unique and vibrant plates and bowls. It's clear that taste is not the only priority of Japanese chefs!

Sake in unique pottery glasses

Beef Stew

Top right: lightly seared chuck wrapped around sea urchin with wasabi

Top left: Beef nigiri sushi with shallots

Bottom: The third stomach, Warabi bracken & Japanese honeywort with miso

Different angle of the beautifully displayed trio

Roasted "Miyazaki-beef" with white asparagus, green peas, "Sakura" shrimp & green onion sprouts

Sirloin Sukiyaki style steak with small rice and fresh egg

This was my absolute favorite dish of the night. You eat it by breaking the egg yolk with the beef and allowing the yolk to coat the beef slightly, and dumping the rest of the yolk onto the rice and mixing it up.

Bamboo shoot soup

Beef tongue with lemon

Palate cleanser: boiled edible wild plants with bonito flakes

Beef Chateaubriand with grilled eggplant and avocado

Starting from bottom left, clockwise:

Steamed rice with bamboo shoots

Miso soup

Pickled vegetables

Beef cooked in soy sauce - another favorite!

One of the most interesting desserts I have ever had.

"KUZUKIRI" starch noodles (top left) with brown syrup and soy flour

You take a noodle from the bowl (filled with ice water), dunk it in the syrup then coat it in the soybean flour. It had just the right amount of sweetness and nuttiness and was absolutely excellent!

Sushi Masuda - Tokyo

Chef Masuda used to work for Jiro, of famed documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, before branching out and opening his own restaurant. Located in the basement of a small building in an alley, Sushi Masuda has only six seats at the sushi counter, and a small private room in the back. Our neighbors at the sushi counter were amused by how two young white girls found themselves in one of the most exclusive sushi restaurants in Tokyo. What can I say...I go to great lengths for good food! The meal at Sushi Masuda included some amazing appetizers, before moving on to the sushi portion of the meal. Due to the language barrier, we weren't always sure what type of sushi we were eating (denoted by question marks on this post). The appetizers were truly the highlight of this dinner, my absolute favorite being the miso squid. I also really enjoyed the unique tableware here, from the crystal sake glasses to the decorative plates. In terms of the sushi, I enjoyed Kyubey Sushi better. There, each piece of fish or seafood was seasoned perfectly and served individually to enjoy fresh. At Masuda, they were served in bulk portions and left up to us to add soy sauce. Our dinner here was also more expensive than the evening prior, so I am not sure if the amazing appetizers alone were worth it!

Clam Shabu-shabu (you dunk the clams in the broth on the right to be cooked for a few seconds)

Rock fish with ponzu sauce

Baby squid with miso - absolutely amazing

Sea Eel (I loved this clover bowl)

Broccolini (or so I think...)

Monkfish that was incredibly tender

Swordfish (also wonderful)

Two of the sushi chefs

Our friendly Japanese neighbors

Personal trays for our sushi

?, Nettle fish, squid

Tuna, Sea Bream, ?

Tiger Prawn

Sardine

Clam Sushi

Uni and Tuna Roll

Eel with egg custard

A picture to show how small the sushi bar is

Ginza Kyubey Sushi

Kyubey Sushi restaurant was first opened in 1932, by the father of the current owner, Yosuke Imada. It has clearly withstood the test of time. It's main location, where we had the pleasure of dining, is located in the Ginza district of Tokyo, with five different floors. We sat on the third floor at one of the sushi bars. Although not an inexpensive meal, this was our cheapest dinner in Tokyo, and worth the price for both the quality of sushi and the experience. Each sushi chef, trained by the owner himself and having to work up the food chain for years, serves only six diners at a time. We ordered the omakase (chef selection) twelve sushi course meal, which also includes a roll and soup. It was a lot of fun to see each course being prepared right in front of us, especially when it was the live shrimp squirming around just minutes before it was served. Instead of dunking the sushi in soy sauce, like we are used to doing in the US, each course is perfectly seasoned and eaten as is. I really recommend having your concierge make reservations here if you are planning to go to Tokyo. The owner even came around and introduced himself to us about halfway through the meal. Everything from the cold sake to the melt-in-your-mouth tuna was superb.

Salad with fresh seaweed and radish

Tuna

Sea bream

Squid

Umber Jack

One of the sushi chefs, who worked his way up for 22 years, preparing our next course

Uni (Sea Urchin)

The shrimp still moving around on the plate before being served

The raw shrimp sushi

The head and tail cooked and served to us a few minutes later

Scallop Sushi

Mackerel

Sardine with Ginger and Scallion 

Toro

Eel Two ways - With special sauce (left) and lemon zest and salt (right)

Daikon radish with sour plum sauce and sesame seeds

Soup

Tuna sushi roll being prepared

Three different types of rolls

Rolls include - Toro with scallions, Cucumber-sesame, and pickled squash 

Sweet egg custard (with rice on the left, plain on the right)

Chef-owner Yosuke Imada who inherited the restaurant from his father