Cuban at De Rodriguez Ocean

After a delicious lunch at Joe’s Stone Crabs, can’t believe it’s still day one in South Beach….. we decided to head back and relax…. hot tub? Helllllzz yeah!!! Craving some good Cuban food, Z and I set on an adventure to get some good Cuban… we found a few places to go to while we were enjoying the hot tub and a bottle of champagne upstairs…

Herro Kitty

Still in my bikini, we headed down to Mojito Happy Hour [Fridays from 5-6 at the Hilton Bentley]

Horrible Shirt – Just had to share :D Cuz I’m a creeper like that….

They had some snacks… cheese, salumis, puffs, tacos, etc…. nothing too amazing but just some salty nibbles to go with the mojitos [which were extra strong…] We ended up talking to the manager of the hotel and got reservations for the Cuban restaurant in the hotel for 830 [recently re-located De Rodriguez Ocean]… we had an event at 10 [Let Them Eat Cake[ for SOBEWFF we our schedule was tight.

After mojitos we both took a nap. We overslept so didn’t make it downstairs til about 9 or so…. we were in a rush and had to finish dinner in 45-50 minutes or less and the staff was really good with helping us out with that….. we had to wait a few minutes but still got seated pretty quickly [despite how late we were to our resos] We got seated by the music performer of the night [good stuff] and decided to just order a few appetizers since we’d be eating cake all nite and I was mainly craving light ceviches…

Cheesy Cuban Sweet Bread…

Yep SWEET bread… not sweetbreads – a common mistake, the other way around, when I was younger ;D The first round of bread they weren’t warm… so we asked for fresh ones…. but they weren’t gooier when fresh… need more gooey cheese when you crack it open.. reminds me of a mantou but thinner, harder and with some cheese in the middle.

Instead of Tortillas.. they gave us Plantain Chips with Salsa – cleverrrrr :D

Rainbow Ceviche

Salmon/Tuna/Hamachi/Citrus Soy/Jalapeno/Sesame Seed
This was super asiany – Tasted straight out of a Japanese or a Fusion restaurant… which in a way was unappealing but it was one of the better dishes we got…

Big Eye Tuna Watermelon

Kumquat/Yuzu/Thai Basil/Tarragon/Compressed Watermelon
The waiter actually recommended this but I wasn’t a fan… it was too… watermelon-y/sweet? I duno something was off about it…. I had been opting more towards the Thai Lobster Ceviche, but ultimately we ended up with this.. and mehhh… Z was a trooper tho and ate it all…

Smoked Marlin Tacos

Rum Cured Marlin/.Crispy Malanga Shell
Definietely the best dish of the night [even tho we only got appetizers] I added a bit of their hot sauce on them [even though they come with a jalapeno slice or two on them] The taro shell was delicious, crunchy and a great concept!!!! Great execution.. I could’ve eaten SO many of them….

Craving some now… you could order these for room service and I kept trying to, but it was always past room service times :[ Boo….

Oxtail Empanada

Braised Oxtail/Pineapple Marmalade/Black Olive Mayo
I did NOT like these at all, I only took a nibble of one piece and bleh. It just didn’t taste right to me, PLUS the filing fell right out when I picked up a piece… lame.

See the innards all fell out.. Z wasn’t too into them either but the preggo lady next to me seemed to love their empanadas cuz she ordered like both kinds [there was some chicken one] and was eating MAD fried food.. hahahah – her bf/hubby got some salmon dish that smelled like Indian curry hahaha…. wait, isnt’ this Cuban food?!?!!…

Conch & Snapper

Estiradito Snapper/Sour Orange/Diced Conch/Red Pepper/Roasted Grape Tomato/Crispy Onions/Garlic
Not bad, pretty good :] I think the crispy onions COVERING the sapper/conch may have been a little overpowering and masking the fresh flavors OF the seafood itself [which I usually don’t like] but it had a great variation of textures…. and compared to the tuna it was yummy…

It was getting late so we decided to wrap it up and grab some dessert and head out to Lincoln Rd for the party…. SO glad we stayed for dessert….

Cuatro Leches

I think this may be one of the best cakes I’ve ever eaten…. can this be my wedding cake?! FOUR milks… omg <3 It was soooo gooood… the only weird part was that they put some sprouts on the top. It wasn’t too sweet and had raspberries and this caramel-y frosting on top. SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD…

After a quick touch  up in the bathroom we were off to Lincoln Rd to the “Let Them Eat Cake” Moet party in a parking garage [badass]

Mental Note: I think our first meal ever without booze hahahaha….