"Miami restaurant review"

Secret Door to Unique Experience inside Xino Modern Chinese

August 28, 2026 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

If there’s one thing I enjoy about dining out is discovering something unique! And I don’t mean just the food but the way the restaurant makes you feel. Xino Modern Chinese has succeeded in both. And Miami Spice was a perfect time to experience this. Wow, more unique ideas! There were two restaurants inside the main central restaurant, Reunion Ktchn Bar.

Watch Reels at the bottom of this post!

First the decor…

Spoiler Alert! Tammy, the GM greeted us and led us through a secret door! As I enter the dimmed red room, a neon red Chinese character looms BIG. The owner, Cezar said it represents “heathen”.

What a lovely and relaxing place to enjoy a cocktail before dinner. It’s a small, cozy and intimate dining room with a bar at other end.

Cocktails…

There were about 7 exotic cocktails on the menu served with Asian spices and herbs!

Forbidden Garden cocktail was a Jasmine infused vodka with refreshing mint and cucumber and a hint of elderflower and lime juice.

Surprise, surprise, Carolina @karolicchia is our server. She was my assistant many years ago when I was giving my Wok Star cooking classes. It was so lovely to catch up. The owner didn’t realize Carolina is a famous Pastry Chef and chocolatier and won many awards in London and USA. Had to give her a plug, she’s so talented.

Our Spice Choices

Appetizers

Japanese Wagyu Tiradito with Kizami wasabi and yuzu kosho sauce was so balanced.

Steamed Bao Bun stuffed with Braised Short Rib, pickled onion and hoisin sauce were great appetizers to open up our appetite!

Mains

Grilled 8 oz Wagyu Bavette seasoned with a bold Szechuan spiced red sauce went well with the ginger-sesame chive sticky rice.

Chan Branzino roasted whole, had an interesting and tasty sauce. No Bok Choy that night and replaced with Napa Cabbage.

Dessert

Profiteroles pistachio cream & hot chocolate fudge. Perfect end.

Blind Tiger

Tammy took us to visit Blind Tiger, a Japanese restaurant with an omakase bar with 3 Tasting Menus to choose from.

Reunion Ktchn Bar

And the main restaurant, Reunion Ktchn Bar had a global menu, so something for everyone.

Best time to visit Xino

If you want to impress your first date or celebrate a special event, this is highly recommended.

The Miami Spice dinner menu starts from 5pm – close. The cost is $65 per person and continues through end of September, so don’t miss this wonderful treat!

Enjoy!

Have you been? What have you tried?

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New Upscale MiMi Chinese Perfects Regional Chinese Cuisine Favorites!

January 17, 2025 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

New Upscale MiMi Chinese Perfects Regional Chinese Cuisine Favorites! Choosing MiMi Chinese to celebrate our anniversary was the best decision ever. It had all the elements we enjoy about dining out…it’s new (opened Dec.21, 2024), it’s got beautiful ambiance, quality food, excellent service, low music and an extra bonus, a little theatrical presentation.

Beautiful red plush sofas and banquettes set the scene!

Started by cofounder and Culinary Director, Chef David Schwartz and Executive Chef Braden Chong. The first Mimi Chinese opened in Toronto, Canada under Big Hug Hospitality Group and was an immediate success. Their decision to open sister restaurant, also called MiMi Chinese at a very iconic Firestone location in South Beach shows they have what it takes to open a restaurant! Don’t be tfooled by a very unassuming entrance with a neon MiMi sign and lush plants.

We got the VIP treatment, thanks to the adorable Freya, their Operations Manager who I met at a Sake event.

Wok Star Eleanor And Freya, Mimi’s Operations Manager

DECOR
You’ll immediately notice a very glamorous and stylish room anchored by red, plush velvety sofas and banquettes against a back wall with contrasting black chairs. The wall murals were lit up and looked like an illustration of birds. The whole design of the long room was very well laid out. It appears to be one of the bays of the Firestone tire shop and what a transformation.

AMBIANCE
The muted lighting creates an intimate surrounding which is very South Beach. Happy to report the music was low enough so we didn’t have to shout at each other.

Here’s link to Instagram videos of Chef Braden explaining the dishes and theatrical presentation for Four Foot Noodle Belt!

PERFECTING POPULAR CHINESE FAVORITES
Executive Chef Braden Chong greeted us with an Amuse Bouche (watch video) and also returned several times to explain the dishes.

Shrimp Toast (Guandong, woohoo, where I was born!) This was the best I’ve ever tasted and definitely a MUST order appetizer.

Freya sent over Shrimp Toast and Chef Braden brought us Ginger and Scallion Scallop and as Braden says, “reimagine it in Mimi style!” Watch videos on all three explanations.

I love that they served food from different regions like Northern China with more spicy food from Sichuan to Japanese food where Braden had worked at several restaurants.

The dishes I ordered were…

Crossed Arm Chicken Dumplings (Sichuan) nice and al denté with roasted sesame, special soy sauce and red oil.

Very tender, Stir Fried Lamb Leg (Xinjiang) with Chinese Celery, Onion, Green Peppers, Cumin, Cilantro.

And the theatrical presentation, Four Foot Noodle Belt (Sichuan) with grass fed beef, black sesame and long beans. Our lovely server, Hayleigh insisted on bringing Smashed Cucumbers to balance out the spicy Noodle Belt, but we were fine with the level of spiciness. She did a wonderful job (watch video) and of course I discover we have mutual friends.

The service was impeccable, so well trained. The first time I’ve ever experienced serving utensils with spoon and fork automatically laid out on our table whether we had sauce or not! It’s a pet peeve of mine when there’s sauce and not provided a spoon, then wait for it to be brought and the food is not piping hot.

Ended with a very special soft serve swirl with mochi and peanuts (watch video)

What a special and spectacular Anniversary dinner, thank you MiMi!

CONCLUSION
I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect from MiMi Chinese. We are lucky to have MiMi in Miami as there’s not many good Chinese restaurants. I’ve mentioned I’m working on a roundup of Asian restaurants I like in Miami and beyond, stay tuned.

ENJOY!

Do share in comments what dishes you had there and your POV or if you’re going to visit MiMi?

New Miami food hall, Julia & Henry’s serves up Asian cuisine, all on one floor

June 19, 2023 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

Ding, ding, ding! New Miami food hall, Julia and Henry’s serves up Asian cuisine, all on one floor. The newest curated food hall with a lineup of numerous celebrity chefs finally opened in downtown Miami in the iconic art deco building that housed Walgreens. Story goes this food hall was named after Julia Tuttle and Henry Flagler, considered “the mother and father of Miami”!

About the decor:

Your first impression of Julia and Henry’s is, WOW! You’re immediately hit by the multi level, colorfully lit up wine cellar (I’ve only seen it blue and pink).

It’s MASSIVE, I like that there’s an atrium in the middle that spans all three floors. With “balconies” on each floor, this makes the food hall very open and light. There’s a modern, see through staircase and walkways which lets light in also and regular staircase in the rear back wall. The design is modern, whimsical, industrial with hints of colors especially with the bar lounge sofas and wall art.

Currently open in the food hall: ground, mezzanine & balcony third floor. Future will be a floor dedicated to music and “experiences”. The third floor balcony showcases SIX Asian Food Concepts and a craft cocktail bar, The Lasseter and that’s where we went straight to! I mean food not bar.

Scout, then action:

I loved visiting with my foodie buddy @epicurean305 we enjoy the same pacing and like exploring new flavors, do check him out on Instagram. We took a quick tour of the SIX Asian food concepts before settling on two: Fried Snapper bowl from Achar and Pork Lechon Gyozas from Hitchi Haika.

We did end up getting a third dish from Osso on the Ground Floor but that’s for another post.

About the 6 Asian Food Concepts:

@Acharstreet.kitchen
Created by restauranteur, Maher Murshed, who also opened Byblos in South Beach among many others. His vision with Achar was SPOT ON! He nailed it with all aspects for a fantastic dining experience. I mention this constantly…ambiance, presentation and of course, delicious food. Interesting Achar is tagged as Burmese but Murshed is Bangladeshi and the chef is Peruvian??? I don’t care as long as the food is tasty!

About Achar’s food:

Fried Snapper Bowl, $18 came with basmati rice, turmeric cauliflower & potato, mashed tomato with onions & a gorgeous colorful, chopped salad. I loved this complete meal and it was great value. The fried snapper was dipped in a chickpea batter so it’s gluten free and seasoned with a house mix. The snapper was perfectly executed, moist and tender. You could taste flavors of each ingredient in that beautifully presented bowl.

There were options of tandoori grilled, beef or chicken skewers which looked very tantalizing. I got to film some fiery grill action there. Definitely going back to try those! There was also a Tamarind tossed Chick Pea Bowl for vegetarians.

I managed to have a brief chat with Chef Marco who had worked at Byblos & Bazaar by Jose Andres. Chef definitely has operations organized, you could see colorful bowls laid out ready which just needed the skewered protein. Our dish was ready quite quickly.

He gifted us Sweet Rice Pudding (Firni) served in a traditional earth clay bowl. It’s made with chinigura rice, rose water and pistachios. A flood of food memories rushed at me in the first bite, this dessert reminded me of a semolina dessert my mom used to make in Hong Kong. I loved this sweet end to what was a well thought out concept and most importantly, our Fried Snapper Bowl was really very delicious. Well done Achar!

@Hitchihaika
Japanese Gyozas filled with 7 flavors from around the world by Chef Jose Mendin (Pubbelly & many other food concepts) & Chef Jorge Mijangos. Between $14-$16. We tried Pork Lechon Gyozas with citrus mojo, green herbs. 5 in an order, very tasty and lovely presentation, maybe a little bit teeny.

Lucky @epicurean305 scored a fantastic window seat right next to Hitchi Haika, it was PERFECT for photo taking.

Now, for the other 4 Asian Concepts:

@shimujaflorida Master Ramen Chef Kei San was serving authentic ramen bowl made fresh in front of you. I’ve heard so much about this restaurant. I can’t wait to try, my only issue is I can’t eat a lot of starchy noodles.

@palmarmiami described as “Dim Sum” by Javier Ramirez who also opened Alter, Bachour and Palmar in Wynwood where I’ve dined several times. Described as “blending Latin flavors with modern Asian street food and tropical Miami vibes”! The spicy pork noodles and papaya salad looked scrumptious.

@sankuay by Chef Charles Thomson. A Peruvian-Cantonese Chifa Wok concept and Asian street food. Lomo Saltado looked delightful, priced at $22. I need to try one of his Wok dishes, hey, I am a wok cooking teacher and know a thing or two about this!

@yabairolls serves Japanese hand rolls. Yabai brings the vibrancy of Kabukicho, an entertainment district in Tokyo known for their neon signs!

Conclusion:

I would love to hear what Asian dishes you’ve tried or want to try!

Julia & Henry’s is definitely a fun food hall to check out with so many options. Maybe weekday? We went Saturday, around 1:45pm and only waited 5 minutes in line to get in. However, when we came out, the line was half a block long! Or wait a couple more months when it’s not the newest and latest food hall to try?