La Tremenda - Best Spanish Restaurant in Miami — Restaurant in Doral

I never would have imagined that in a random shopping center such a gem of a restaurant exsisted! I happened to find out about it through my friend who’s son lives near by and raves about the food and ambiance. Upon entering through the doors you are transported into a hip and beautifully designed restaurant.. The ceiling/wall murals, bar design, multiple orchid bouquets throughout the restaurant shelves and music felt like I was in Brickell, Midtown or the Design District. Definitely not a shopping center in the Doral. The service and attention we were given by Tianna was excellent . She was welcoming had a pleasant demeanor and regularly checked in to ensure that all our dinning needs were being met and that our experience be exceptional. She truly seemed to care and was very eager to please. I decided to order from their special pink signature dinner menu, which was $60 per person. Quite frankly, I gotta take my hat off to a restaurant that offers a special menu for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Just that alone deserves a 5 Star rating! These Good people! Surpringly, this menu included an alcoholic beverage, ( which was a nice surprise, although I don’t drink, my friends husband enjoyed my beer!) It includes an appetizer, a salad, the main course and dessert. I started with the fish, Coqueta that was recommended to me by our server, Tiany. It was creamy delicious and definitely did not look like a croqueta, It was a perfect round little shere lightly breaded the size of a golf ball. Next, I had the Peach and Goat salad. This was served with arugula, walnuts, and creamy goat cheese, beautifully arranged with three large peach slices . I had never had peach on a salad. Pear, Yes, peach, never, this was creative and it was definitely delicious!! The main course that I chose was the Grilled Pecan Steak served with homemade chimichurri, roasted potatoes and mushrooms . I was pleasantly surprised to see that the portions were not tiny like they usually are on most of these type of menus . The steak and the sides were quite tasty. Although the steak had been described as being tender, I found it to be a little bit tough but still delicious. For dessert, I had the Basque cheesecake which was a rich, flavorful cheesecake that resembled the texture of a flan, but fluffier. It was draped with some sort of crumbled, crunchy graham cracker type crunchie crust which added to the experience. Overall, I have to say I really enjoyed every aspect of this restaurant and was pleasantly surprised at not just the service the ambience, but the amazing value of the food these folks serve. Everything was delicious and moderately priced. Oh, and let me not forget how they display the food. My dish came in a red skillet, which I thought was very creative and fun and kept my food warm too! I’m definitely looking forward to going back and bringing some friends so they too can experience this amazing little gem of a restaurant hidden in a random shopping center...

Participating Miami Spice restaurant and one of the best on the list without a doubt. I’m so glad I chose this as my first option because it set the tone for the rest of the month and upcoming dining experiences. I was treated like family from beginning to end and if that’s weren’t enough the food also was phenomenal. Ambiance was welcoming and warm and it got even better with the Flamenco show after 8PM so keep that in mind to make your own experience a whole lot better. Having said that, service was amongst the best I’ve experienced in Miami. I chose to sit at the bar and the staff was delightful and extremely personable. So in the Miami Spice menu you also get a complimentary glass of wine of your choice but I wanted to at least try one signature cocktail and the “Spanish Cooler” was recommended. To make it short and simple, think of it as strawberry daiquiri or maybe even possibly a rum punch. Sweet, rich, refreshing and packing a good punch to get me started with this dinner. Made friends with the Flamenco singer, Salva and quitar player as well as the wife so it was a bonus to already incredible evening. Ok let’s talk about these dishes, shall we?

OCTOPUS SALAD: if you’re big on octopus like I am this is the best option out of the two. Refreshing, light and octopus was perfectly cooked, not rubbery at all. If presentation is your thing, then you get a double whammy because the plate looks like a pillow and it’s made out of porcelain, talk about clever ideas.

COCHINILLO LA TREMENDA: now I had every intention of going for the paella but bartender asked me if I wanted to try a less traditional dish and I said why not. Glad I did though. Crispy on the outside, tender in the middle and the sauce, my god the sauce was to lick your fingers or grab a whole basket of bread and clean the bottom of that plate. Nicely golden potatoes on the side for carb intake and 24 ounces of porky goodness.

BASQUE CHEESECAKE: if you know you’d know I don’t have a sweet tooth and I’d rather have two apps and skip dessert altogether but again, the bartender advise me wisely and boy am I happy I listened. This cheesecake is like nothing I’ve ever tasted. Decadent, creamy, not overly sweet but addicting at the same time, I almost took one home. This is one dessert you cannot leave without ordering, it’s a must.

This is one of those hidden gems, literally tucked in at a shopping mall and easy to miss but a hidden gem nonetheless. I have to come back for that paella and more of that flamenco show but honestly the attention and treatment is reason enough to come back. So spread the word and come visit another fine establishment...

This place was so great! I’m gonna say all the positive first and leave the negative to a last paragraph. I’ve been getting emails on this place and decided to try it out today. My mom and I went for the lunch special. She had the fish croquetas and the paella. I had the patatas bravas and the short rib. First, the fish croquetas were absolutely amazing, I do not like fish and I thoroughly enjoyed these. It doesn’t have a repugnant fish smell or flavor. 10/10 will do again. The patatas had an awesome sauce over them and it’s double fried potatoes. I mean, who doesn’t like fried potatoes. Hard to mess that one up. The short rib was amazing! The flavor was out of this world. It was super sweet. We also ordered the fabadas. I probably could have eaten like 3 of those orders alone. So tasty. At the end we shared the Basque cheesecake. Holy cow what a home run. 12/10 need to do so again. My mom had a sangria, she loved it. I had their happy hour 2$ sparkling wine.

Now for the bad. First and for most, this place is an open kitchen. We LOVE that, you can see the action inside. But that’s also the problem. There was a woman in the prep area that was just eating the entire time we were there (about an hour +). It made my mom really uncomfortable. She put our food up to the window and for my mom it just made it seem like she was eating from our plate before serving. We’re all human, we need to eat, but I think it should be further in and not at the sight of your guests. I mean my mom at one point looked at the woman and she stared at her back just chewing. It was weird. We ordered Camarones Al ajijo and although the flavor was there, they over did it with the salt this time. They were very kind to quickly fix the error and offer a solution and for that I appreciate them. Last, the lunch special is 17.95. The app is 7.95 and the meal I guess 10. My short rib was charged at 13.50 which is 3.50 above the promised cost. And the cheesecakes is at 15$ on their menu but said 16 on the receipt. So 4.50 was charged extra than anticipated and tip is included automatically. Plus the taxes. So a total of about 6$ was charged that I don’t think was fair. (That’s the only price discrepancy I saw from skimming through the receipt. If there’s more, I haven’t cared to verify)

In all,...