Terrazza, the Shore Club's fine Italian dining restaurant, is digging on the seafood and meat for this year's Miami Spice menu.
This year Terrazza rates as "luxury" dining for Miami Spice, which means their three-course dinner menu is $39. Out of the nine (supposedly) dishes that they serve, four of them involve seafood. Click through for photos of the Spice selections.
And should you love seafood that doesn't involve the usual fare, you'd be pleased to know that all of the appetizers satisfy this most basic criterion.
There are three choices for appetizers: the Crudo, Ahi tuna and avocado tartar with ginger, lemon and Filoncino chips; Coppaccia di Polpo, steamed octopus salad with julienne vegetables, cherry tomatoes and salmoriglio dressing; Carrozza, crispy buffalo mozzarella and puttnesca dip and anchovies, kind of like a traditional Italian grilled cheese sandwich but with anchovies (available without anchovies upon request).
The octopus wasn't chewy, but tender. The Crudo comes with a generous portion of tuna, but the dish needs more chips. The Carrozza is as good as the flavor of anchovies and mozzarella can be, if the salty, fishy taste of anchovies appeals to you.
With the entrees, you get three choices of meat: filet mignon (Filettino), grilled sea bass (Branzino) and grilled chicken (Pollo Mattone). There is a fourth menu option -- Garganelli or San Daniele prosciutto served with radicchio, peas and a parmesan truffle sauce -- but it was not served, for some reason.
Each entree has a generous portion of meat, particularly the pollo mattone, which comes with two chicken breasts with a light crisp on the outside and a plate rimmed with spicy oil that enhances the flavor.
The filettino is cooked to your preference with a side of gnocchi, and is easily the best entree on the menu. Kudos to the chefs for mastery of this most basic skill. And the sea bass filet would be better with a bread item.
The best part of the menu just might be dessert. There are four choices: chocolate, vanilla and hazelnut gelato; fruit sorbet; Amaretto tiramasu with espresso-soaked lady fingers, espresso beans and mascarpone cream; and a huge slab of ricotta cheesecake.
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Happiness culminates with the slab of ricotta cheesecake, which is almost bigger than both of your fists combined. It's huge and delectable like dessert ought to be. The tiramasu is sweet, creamy and crunchy with the espresso beans. The resulting food coma will require additional caffeine in the form of a much needed cup of coffee.
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