La Mar Miami by Gastón Acurio — Restaurant in Miami

OoooooooOOOOOOHHHHH this one might’ve took the title for me. On the final stop of the LA MAR WORLD TOUR, I was joined by my lovely sister at the Miami location at Burlingame Island in downtown. Of course I had to get a snap of the iconic LA MAR entrance with the blue lighting. I had just touched down at MIA and the front of house staff were so accommodating in storing my bags during the meal. I know I looked wild walking in suitcase and all, baggage tags flapping in the breeze 💀😭😂 we were then taken to our table on the patio, and the view speaks for itself. I was told that no one makes reservations for inside, and I get it now— the view of Brickell is stunning at night. There are also several umbrellas and adjustable shades so the daytime dining experience is probably very nice.

Now let’s talk FOOD. We started with a Negroni and the passionfruit pisco sour… wow. I don’t even like Campari but this one did something special. The “LA MAR” on the sour was a little faded but the drink was GOOD so I wasn’t even pressed. Whewww then we got into the food yall. I was a little bummed that there were no chips or sauces available, not even a la carte, but they did have canchitas and were kind enough to bring me a big bowl of it cus those little cups just were not cutting it chile 😂😂 we started with the tiradito laqueado with tuna and tamarind leche de tigre, and the quinoa caprese with heirloom tomatoes in an ají amarillo broth. This is when I knew the meal was about to be an experience. That tiradito CLEARED. The BEST I have had not only at La Mar, but PERIOD. 30 out of 10. The caprese… say less. That broth was so complex and flavorful and the cheese just melted in my mouth, and with the contrast of the crunchy quinoa???? WOAH. 20 out of 10. We followed with the coconut curry udon noodles as a veg dish…. 100 OUT OF 10. 😭 I don’t know what to say. We chewed that up so slowly cus we were getting full, but so flavorful and so savory. Oh I’m on the plane rn thinking about those damn noodles… whew 😮‍💨We did have to take home the cream at the the bottom of the bowl so we could make some more noodles 😂😂 our waitress Stacy was like… say less. We had no business ordering more food but we did 💀 next came this beautiful plate of charred vegetables (broccolini, asparagus, choclo, potatoes) with a sauce that I can’t remember what it contained, but it was GOOD. 10 out of 10. We packed that up with the Thai coco cream and I know it’s about to be good reheated. We also had the anticuchos de pollo which made me feel like I was in Peru again eating pinchos on the street corner. Very authentic. 10 out of 10 baby. We got some more drinks, the Curandera with Belvedere and chamomile, and the golden Inca (basically a spicy mango margarita). 20 out of 10. Every drink was a hit for me, and the mango marg kept tasting better and more complex as I got closer to the bottom. We wrapped up our food in these luxurious looking togo bags, canchitas and all 😂😂 then we had to move into dessert. I wanted something light and citrusy and sweet and they had the perfect option: yuzu curd with chicha morada sorbet and merengue. You see that picture chile?????? We went right in I forgot to even get a picture 😭😭💀💀💀💀💀 TOO good. 20 out of 10. With the exception of no chips to start, every single dish was 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯💯💯

oh, I will be back. Everyone was NICE and KIND and FRIENDLY, which is so refreshing. There’s no need to be pretentious. We interacted with Stacy, Valeria, and Christopher, and a couple other staff who I did not get to meet by name. ALL NEED THE BIGGEST RAISE QUICK. GASTÓN 🗣️🗣️🗣️ YOU HEAR ME????? GET THEM A CHECK FAST!!!! 🏃🏾💨💨

For me the ranking personally has to be: MIAMI Santiago SF Buenos Aires Lima Bogotá, from A+ to A+++++ honestly. Whew I...

There were a series of unfortunate incidents that occurred during the celebration of our Lunar New Year at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Miami over the weekend. Having grown up celebrating many milestones in my life, as well as my family's, at the Mandarin Oriental hotels in Asia, we were all too familiar with the top-notch service and experiences offered by the Mandarin Oriental Hotel chain and its restaurants. Last weekend however, the La Mar restaurant missed the mark tremendously.

La Mar Running Out of Food

Having made the reservation at the La Mar restaurant several days ago, I indicated under our order notes that we would be celebrating Lunar New Year 2022 at the restaurant, and likewise, will be there for the Chinese menu. The waiter did not advise us when we sat down, that the restaurant had run out of food — the duck ragu and the dimsum basket. We placed our order thinking everything was fine, but it was only after we placed our orders and were waiting, did the waiter let us know that the kitchen ran out of the above-mentioned items. It suffices it to say, we were very disappointed.

Food at the La Mar

My significant other is European, and is thus all too familiar with smaller portion sizes when consuming food, whereas I grew up dining at some of the finest restaurants. When the Tiradito Duck dish arrived, we were utterly surprised to see the portion size of the dish. Normally, smaller portion sizes form but a segment of a 10-course meal for example, but seeing that this was featured on the menu as a "plat principal," I had expected a larger portion. Imagine my surprise when the dish arrived; I was speechless in front of my fiancé, very embarrassed that the dish that I had selected for him for his first Lunar New Year dinner was measly. It was at this point when I had tried to order more food, were we told that there was no more, but were only advised because we summoned the waiter.

This was the very first time in my life that I had to write about the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in a less than stellar light. It seems as though the standards set by the Mandarin Oriental Hotels that I have been all too familiar with, are but...

We had a reservation at 8:45PM; 4/6 people are Peruvian. We arrived at 8:15PM and was unable to be seated until 8:45PM. For the 30 minutes of waiting, we sat outside at a table connected to the restaurant.

After being seated outside, our waiter explained the menu extensively. The service we would rate as overall average. Our waiter forgot to put in our order for one of the appetizers, so we finally got it once our main dishes came out.

Ambiance is nice of course and met our expectations. You can't go wrong with a beautiful view of Brickell. Inside is very clean aesthetically pleasing to the eye. There was a firework show coming from one of the nearby yachts which was cool to see from the restaurant.

For drinks, we ordered a total of 7 Pisco Sours and 1 Negroni. For food, we ordered 1 chicken causa, 1 anticucho octopus, 1 anticucho corazon, 1 chicken empanadas, 4 lomo saltados, 1 el achupado, and 1 chaufa aeropuerto. Pisco sour; for the price of $18-25, we rate it an overall 7.5/10 Negroni; for the price of $18, we rate it an overall 8/10 Chicken Causa; for the price of $25, we rate it an overall 7.5/10 Antichuco octopus; for the price of $32, we rate it an overall 7/10 Anticuco corazon; for the price of $18, we rate it an overall 8/10 Chicken empanadas; for the price of $15, we rate it an overall 7/10 Lomo Saltado; for the price of $40, we rate it an overall 7/10

While the presentation of each dish was gorgeous, the amount of food received and taste of food were just average. None of us were super impressed by this restaurant, and we were all blown away that the total bill was over $770 after tip. We did receive a free dessert (chocolate cake with strawberry ice cream) since we were celebrating my in-laws anniversary which was nice.

For parking, the only option is "discounted" valet for $18.01 per car. This is just too expensive when you're already spending a hefty price at the restaurant. We had to wait about 5 minutes for our car to arrive.

All in all, we will not be back and don't recommend this restaurant as a representation of a good Peruvian restaurant compared to others in the city. Overpriced...