Pao by Paul Qui — Restaurant in Miami Beach

Started by Chef Paul Qui (winner of the Best Southwest Chef- James Beard Award 2012 and Season 9’s Top Chef), and locally led by Chef de Cuisine Benjamin Murray, PAO by Paul Qui continues to climb the culinary ranks and position itself as one of Miami’s best. And with good reason. The goal? Modern Asian cuisine with a side of spunk and surprise.

PAO brings its own kind of marvel to the table to match the Faena Hotel’s wow factor. Enter the lobby and head towards the right side. Pass the private wine cellar/dining room and take the winding staircase up to the second floor where the host/hostess will greet you. The not-to-be-missed ‘Golden Myth’, by Damien Hirst (a $6M golden-leafed unicorn), sits center stage in the oval shaped room and officially welcomes you.

I first visited PAO shortly after it opened in late 2015. I loved the food and vibe, but I felt the service was hit or miss most of the night. That was then, this is now. Every subsequent visit has impressed me to no end.

What I’ve tried:

Sweet Greens Salad Binchotan Diver Scallop Kinda Toro Unicorn Peanut Gazpacho Foie Gras Terrine Wagyu Carpaccio East Side King Fried Chicken Katsu Sando- Kurobuta Pork Milanesa Smoked Heritage Chicken Pork Adobo Rice Short Rib Rice 3lb Côte de Boeuf: Wagyu beef bone-in rib-eye Japanese Sweet Potato Purée Cheddar Cheese Ice Cream Sandwich Crispy Fried Leche Flan Cashew Tart

HITS: The ambitious menu reads as a never-ending carousel of standouts dishes; it’s almost impossible to choose. The visually stunning combination of PAO’s Unicorn (think uni + corn) dish (grilled sweet corn pudding, kalamansi, chile de arbor, and lime) hit all the right notes at once: elegant, hearty, and soulful. No unicorns were hurt in the making of this dish, I promise. I also loved the tender Smoked Heritage Chicken (cucumber salad, soy caramel, garlic-ginger rice), fiery East Side Fried Chicken (sweet chili sauce, roasted banana ketchup, jalapeño), and the homestyle Pork Adobo Rice (ginger-jasmine rice, pork adobo, fried duck egg, cilantro, green mango pico). Offering adventurous and heavily seasoned dishes with a dash of sass, boring does not exist at PAO. You want them. All.

Service has dramatically improved. Perhaps one of the -few- best I’ve experienced in Miami. I especially enjoy the tableside wine service; a rolling cart is used to decant and display the wine throughout dinner. Judging by my last post on Los Fuegos and now PAO, it’s safe to say that if you need me, I’ll most likely...

We found out by chance that Paul has a restaurant in Miami Beach, so we thought we’d give it a visit after he was “evicted” from the Austin food scene. We came here with some hope because he used to cook good food, and it’s in the faena so we should expect good service too. But oh man was it ridiculously bad. We waited outside 5 mins past opening to get seated for our 7pm reservation, the girl at the front clearly does not care about who comes in first, and when “it’s your turn”, she’ll holla you over and try sit you at worst seat possible. After asking if we could seat by the window, we were given the opportunity to sit by the exit sign. Our waitress came by quick enough, though she appears to be either drunk or high (very strange), and we ordered food. The amuse-bouche came, and it was so bad. It’s some orange jelly on a round piece of your-grocery-store French toast. We didn’t think it was a good sign but we continued anyways. Then our hand roll (wagyu and otoro) came. Now the waiter did not apologize for the look of the dish, so I think this must be normal at this restaurant, which then led me to think, what kind of expeditor let this trash out of his kitchen??? The wagyu taste like your grocery store bought usda prime ground beef with poor seasonings, and the otoro roll, lol, I’ve had better quality’s at 1/5 of the price 😂 Now, we think there still might be hope because the waitress highly recommended the aguachile. But aguachile came, and ewe, it’s uncured salmon in unseasoned cucumber water with some hint of acidity (and where is the jalapeño that I was promised of?). I have had better lacriox than this disgusting thing. At this point we decided to cancel the bigger item we ordered and just get out of there as quick as we can to eat some decent human food.

If you, like me, who’s just a normal person trying to get some good tasting food and have a good night with your loved ones, run if not fly away...

James Beard winner Paul Qui is serving up a pre-theatre pre-fixe at his gold unicorn and banana leaf laden eponymous modern Asian eatery Pao.

A condensed version of the regular menu, the pre-theatre menu gives you a choice of first course, rice, entrée, and dessert. But these are no blasé or boring selections. First course features Hiramasa Kinilaw, a refreshing mélange of hearts of palm with coconut milk and vinegar, red onion, coriander and arbequina (a fancy tree from the Mediterranean) olive oil, or a potpourri of Grilled Greens, bitter and sweet greens with pine nut praline, green apple, charred onion sour cream. Both are a bracing precursors to the rest of the meal, though if you want to round out your experience go off theatre menu and order the Unicorn a la carte. The elusive started combines sea urchin with grilled sweet corn pudding, kalamansi, chile de arbol, and a sake aioli for a result that’s as unbelievable as its moniker.

Second course features two rice and two entrée options. Go with a date and try them all, which include palate dropping Wild Mushroom Koshihikari rice with aioli, pickled onions and bitter greens for good measure and texture; Pork Adobo ginger jasmine rice with cilantro, dried shrimp, green mango pico, and a fried duck egg on it; melt-in-your-mouth smoked 72-hour Wagyu Short Rib Asado with seasonal pickles and a velvety and heavenly sweet potato puree; and cooked-to-flawless-perfection Market Fish with cilantro, chile patis, atchara, and garlic-ginger rice just in case the other rice dishes weren’t enough.

Sweet and happy endings come in the form of a Halo Halo with kaffir milk, fresh seasonal fruit, coconut, tamarind and fermented banana sorbet, or a Champorado (translation: Filipino chocolate rice pudding). Because too much rice is never enough, especially when it...