Over the last year or so, every time I see something on a food show about Miami, I try to make a note so that the next time I go, I will check it out. My husband and I have had horrible food experiences in Miami over the years and always look out for better places to eat. Again, we're spoiled because of our NYC experience and realize not everyone thinks the food in Miami sucks, but we do! LOL
Anyways, on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, I saw an episode about a Haitian restaurant called Tap, Tap. It has very mixed reviews online and on Yelp, but I saw it on Food Network and wanted to check it out. We're so glad we did! We had the fried Boniato, the Shrimp in coconut, and the Mango Salad! All three were fabulous and we would eat there again! However, the inside was old and shabby looking, it could really use a makeover, but as far as the food - definitely try it!
Here's the info on Tap Tap from Food Network:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/fl/miami-beach/tap-tap-haitian-restaurant-restaurant.html
The original reason we went down to Miami was for the 1st annual Grenada Day festival being held there and so of course, we had to get some West Indian food. We were told about a place called Joy's Roti Shop near the festival grounds and decided to check it out. The place was PACKED, the line was out the door, soca was playing, there was no air conditioning - the perfect experience. We took it to go because of the 2 girls and it was around 9pm and we were all exhausted, but it was REALLY GOOD! My husband had the chicken roti and I had the shrimp buss-up-shut (it's called this because it looks like a "busted up shirt"....lol). We got some doubles for breakfast the next morning and they did not disappoint! If you're ever in the Fort Lauderdale area, go check out Joy's!!!!
Here's the link to Joy's:
http://www.joysrotidelight.com/
Now, all that being said, we decided to drive back from Miami around 6am Monday morning and got home around 11am. After a 5 hour drive in the car with 2 kiddos, we were tired and HUNGRY. A friend of ours had brought over frozen Alaskan Pollock burgers last weekend and we hadn't tried them yet, so we decided that would be our quick meal when we got home. My husband had visions of it on a nice bun and a memory of a really good Asian slaw he had once and so I looked one up on Pinterest and made that to top our burgers with.
Here's the Pinterest recipe I used for the Asian slaw:
http://www.feastingathome.com/thai-turkey-burgers/
It was actually VERY good, but I felt like it was missing something and ended up adding my "special sauce" on the bun! Every time I make something with this "special sauce", people love it. The secret is Marie's Cole Slaw dressing! There's a picture of it below. It's amazing stuff! Here's what our meal ended up looking like:
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| Homemade Asian Slaw (We used regular cabbage instead of purple because we didn't have any in our fridge, used sesame oil instead of olive oil because we didn't have any, and added some cilantro because we like it!) |
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| Pollock Burger with Asian slaw |
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| This is the "Creamy Ranch" dressing, but the "Coleslaw" one is the BEST!!! |
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| Here are the burgers our friend got us - not sure what store he bought them from, but they were good! |
Miami with kiddos!
First of all, we went to the BEACH. We're fans of South Beach (especially before we had kids!!!). We used to love to walk around and people watch, but now it's a different experience with kids! LOL. Our 2 year old absolutely LOVES the water and sand and we realize, it doesn't matter where she gets the water and sand, as long as she has it, so we still go to South Beach! The clear, blue water is spectacular and was as warm as bathwater! There are also showers there (even though there was a line to use them).
http://www.miamiandbeaches.com/places-to-see/south-beach-art-deco-district
Next, we like to walk, so we walked to the Bayside Marketplace. This place is like an outdoor mall on the water! There was sooooo much going on there! Our 2 year old loved the guys with the parrots, the ice cream, the rides, and all the action. There are lots of nice stores to shop in, restaurants to eat at, and even a live band/karaoke. We ended up getting some amazing popsicles made with all natural ingredients and just walking around for a while!
https://www.baysidemarketplace.com/en/visit.html?intcmp=bayside-marketplace-events;globalnav;visit
Our 2 year old also loves anything to do with transportation and we were lucky enough to be staying with my husband's cousin who lives on one of the canals on the 42nd floor. She could have spent hours watching the boats go back and forth, the bridge go up and down, the mono rail train go back and forth, the airplanes flying overhead, and the cars just driving through traffic! It was a great added bonus for us!
Finally, we spent the last day at the pool. Again, our 2 year old is a fish and LOVES the water. We just let her be in the water and play while one of us stayed in the shade with the 2 month old. It was great!
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