KYU Miami — Restaurant in Miami

Kyu is a Japanese 🇯🇵term that means "grade", "class", or "rank". It's used in a variety of contexts, including martial arts, tea ceremonies, and special places, like in this case Kyu Wynwood.

As soon as you enter the place you will feel the hip vibe and live atmosphere of being in Wynwood. The decor transmits a modern sophisticated 🗿stoned/wooden🪵 sensation highlighting some Asian inspirations, thanks to the gold and leather accents that shape the silhouette of the furniture.

Now let’s go to my top picks: 🍖short rib (🔥fire roasted and served in a lettuce 🥬leaf)…it's a MUST… my favorite so far down the menu. The meat was so tender and tasty that it easily shredded in your mouth as soon as you took a bite of it. It comes with sesame sweet soy, curry, and BBQ sauce options, but it‘s not necessary to dip it in any of them, as the taste is so good that you will like to eat it raw. THAI RICE STONE POT: another MuST, it’s not the regular fried rice, instead it is boiled in a stone 🥌pot giving time for all the flavors to balance out. You can order it with 🦆duck, crab 🦀or veggies. An elevated Thai rice experience. Roasted 🥦Cauliflower: The sauce, made with goat 🐐cheese and shishito-herb vinaigrette, is really what makes the difference. I just wished it was served warmer. Korean Fried 🍗Chicken: It’s not bathed in grease like other classic fried recipes, but I assure you it is special. The red chili butter adds a notch to the crispiness and tenderness of the chicken. Before frying, the chicken is first marinated and then smoked. JAPANESE SWEET 🍠POTATO: (buttered black sugar, parmesan cheese). It is listed as a side, but it is the kind of side that you need to have with your entree or as an appetizer. Easily one of my favorites due to the toasted Parmesan spread that melts and absorbs gracefully through the skin of the potatoes, meanwhile, the black sugar highlights its sweet taste.

Let’s smash now the plates that didn’t hit the mark as they originally suggested according to the rave reviews I read: MOM’S COCONUT 🥥CAKE served with a scoop of coconut ice cream 🍨. Biggest flop. Read so much about it that I was expecting to have a sophisticated elevated sweet experience, as when someone tries the acclaimed Tom Cruise White Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake, but it was the complete opposite. The texture was stiff and rough, tasting more like a hard-shell cheesecake with a buttery cream filling and coconut zest. That‘s it. PORK 🐷GYOZA🥟: bonito, truffle ponzu. What a lame recipe, I was hoping that the truffle ponzu could smear a singular taste on it, but it didn‘t. I felt like I was eating a regular gyoza reheated in a microwave served with a citric sauce. No trace of umami flavor. DARK CHOCOLATE SMORES CAKE (banana-bourbon ice cream) 🍫🍨🍌 Even though I‘m not a fan of smores, I have to admit this dessert was way better than Mom‘s Coconut Cake 🥥, especially because of the lava 🌋surprise factor and cookie crumbles texture.

In terms of cocktails, both of them didn‘t hit the note: I ordered the Good Morning Vietnam 🇻🇳 it is supposed to be an Espresso Martini made with Vietnamese cold brew, espresso, vanilla, and chicory. It was tasteless, literally waterish, and also the portion was disappointing. You couldn‘t sip some alcohol or coffee scent from it. 🍸 The ALWAYS MONEY IN THE BANANA STAND, made of banana-infused el Dorado 15 rum, chocolate bitters, fresh coconut water ice “banana old fashioned”, is way better than the „fake“ Good Morning Vietnam Espresso Martini, where banana taste sinks deeply with the bourbon, but to be honest, none of the drinks cheered me up.

Service was timely thanks to the charm of Dominique!

Even though you will find some interesting recipes like the Roasted Cauliflower, fried chicken, or Japanese sweet potatoes, especially because of the sauces it's topped with, it is not the Pan Asian mixture I was a long...

Trendy spot that has delicious eats with huge attention to details while curating a unique menu that will surprise and wow your taste buds.

March 2022 UPDATE - since this original review I have come back four times and I am even more impressed with this establishment. They are consistent, always attentive, personal and now I’ve even met the owner and he is a very down to earth person considering his level of success and achievement. The employees have a similar mindset and I can see how it comes down through the chain of command, if you have a chance to stop in this place you won’t be disappointed!

The food ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ultimately no matter what a restaurant scores in each category…the food is the most important review because it is at the core of their existence. To be completely honest I’ve been in many places where it is a beautiful space and the food looks beautifully plated but when it comes to the taste I’m just bored or disappointed, this is not one of those spots! Their dishes are unique, inventive, delicious, properly prepared and beautifully played it. No disappointments here!

The service ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The service at KYU is out of this world, I specifically stopped in a second time because I didn’t believe that their team could be that knowledgeable, friendly and attentive, but on my second visit I was even more impressed than the first time!

The bartenders are all extremely personal, attentive & speedy while still serving amazing drinks. My second visit I sat at a table and our waiter was Derek and his level of patience, friendliness and knowledge was extremely impressive! He’s a keeper! You don’t run into this level of service add an establishment often enough and when you do it really stands out and makes a huge difference in your experience, you will definitely appreciate it!

Ambiance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The place is beautifully decorated in a very modest Napa Valley meets Miami’s vibe. KYU uses REAL FIRE wood to cook some of the dishes and the smell lingers in the air and it’s just beautiful.

Cleanliness ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The establishment overall is neat and tidy and clean, I observed the open kitchen and I saw prep staff and chefs utilizing good hygienic habits. The bathrooms were clean and tidy.

Anything you try on the menu I feel very confident that it will be delicious, fresh, and properly prepared with a twist of creative elegance! Try the Guatemalan tradewinds drink, after having it the first time I could not get this drink out of my mind, it is so delicious and properly prepared and exceptionally beautifully presented that you will want to have this be a usual! The Korean fried chicken is insanely good! The pork belly buns are also a favorite and a must try item as well! But truly you can’t go wrong with any of...

Wow, what a wonderful experience from start to finish! Make sure you make a reservation! We made a reservation the day before and had no issues! We went there on a Friday evening at 6pm. This place was packed already! Loved the ambiance. I really enjoyed the low lighting and it fit the restaurant very well. It was a bit loud in there, but it didn't bother us. We didn't have to shout at each other while having a conversation. Really enjoyed the view of watching the kitchen staff mame a the dishes. It was nice to see the kitchen staff working well together and making sure things were cooked to perfection and coming out at a timely manner. We came hungry and wanted to try a bunch of different items from the menu. We noticed that the portion sizes of some of the items weren't huge, but just perfect sizes for sharing. We first started off with tuna crispy rice. I enjoyed the crispiness of the rice and paired well with the tuna. The tuna had just enough flavor and portion to the rice. For two people, this was definitely filling, but for the price, I'm not complaining! Secondly we ordered baby bok choy, smoked bone marrow, and duck breasts to share. The duck burnt ends was tender and the sauce under the dish had great flavor. It balanced out the dish very well and making you want more. Bone marrow was delicious! Lots of different flavor profiles, but not too much. It all mixed well together. I actually enjoyed it on its own without the toast. Lastly, the baby bok choy was exactly what you would expect. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite out of all we had to eat. Since it was busy, our food took a bit of time to come out. Our server was apologetic, although we were just enjoying our time and not in any rush. Because of the delay in service he offered us the roasted cauliflower. Very kind of him to offer that to us and this dish was amazing!! I am a cauliflower lover and it was cooked to perfection. The goat cheese and shishito-herb vinaigrette went perfectly together. My boyfriend is not even a cauliflower fan and actually enjoyed this dish! But our favorite dish of all was the beef short rib! Wow, this was super tender and melt in your mouth. There were a few different sauces you could dip this in and that enhanced the flavors of the beef! It's definitely a must try! Let's just say we haven't had great food like this in a really long time. And we have been all over the world trying different kinds of foods! We really enjoyed this place. We praised this place and told others about it. We can't wait to come back to visit and...