Drunken Dragon Fires Up Trendy Korean Barbecue in South Beach

Alton Road's Drunken Dragon sits next to Domino's Pizza in an unassuming strip mall with blacked-out windows and a signless entrance that create a secret vibe — part of the calculated allure. Beyond the door lies a wait stretching 30 minutes past your reservation. Use this time to squeeze between...

By Zachary Fagenson

September 4, 2014

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Alton Road's Drunken Dragon sits next to Domino's Pizza in an unassuming strip mall with blacked-out windows and a signless entrance that create a secret vibe — part of the calculated allure. Beyond the door lies a wait stretching 30 minutes past your reservation. Use this time to squeeze between women in stiletto heels and gaudy gold tights and order floral-scented cocktails that are strained into ivory-hued skull mugs. The enticing list of sweet, tropical cocktails comes from Gui Jaroschy, a Broken Shaker bartender and one of the city's most respected tiki masters. The tart $14 Voodoo Lady deftly blends tequila with lime, grapefruit, and pineapple juices; cinnamon syrup; and the jasmine-vanilla essence of Southeast Asia's ylang-ylang tree, served in a grinning teal tiki tumbler topped with a magenta orchid.

You'll pay at least $5 more for bibimbap at Drunken Dragon than you would in western Broward, where there's a cluster of more traditional Korean spots, but the version here is just as good.

Read the full review of Drunken Dragon, Miami Beach's newest hot spot, posted on Short Order.

Zachary Fagenson became the New Times Broward-Palm Beach restaurant critic in 2012 before taking up the post for Miami in 2014. He also works as a correspondent for Reuters.

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