Shiso — Restaurant in Miami

Wynwood needs more restaurants like Shiso, a Caribbean-tinged Asian smokehouse that strikes just the right balance of downtown edge and tropical glamour, with a menu that showcases a local chef’s depth of experience and talent for storytelling through food.

Shiso is the culinary vision of Chef Raheem Sealey, known for helming the kitchen at the award-winning KYU Miami and for his beloved BBQ concept the Drinking Pig. At Shiso, he’s teamed up with Miami hospitality veteran David Fuentes and Forward Hospitality Group to put his biggest and most personal stamp yet on the city’s dining and nightlife scene.

The darkened staircase where you enter Shiso opens onto an expansive open-air terrace of graffitied concrete, tropical foliage, low-slung seating and slatted wood alcoves all bathed in a warm, moody glow. A massive bar stands at its center, where every seat invites you to take in views of Wynwood’s ever-climbing skyline with some of the best cocktails we’ve tried lately. And that’s just Shiso’s outdoor patio.

The full space encompasses 11,000 square-feet—though Shiso still manages to feel intimate and welcoming. That’s thanks in no small part to the big open kitchen that greets you upon transitioning indoors. It’s a beautiful, synchronized chaos of dancing flames and sizzling meats, cooks and servers deftly passing off plates and intoxicating curls of smoky aromas luring you to take it all in, literally.

Chef Raheem’s menu is full of dishes that are both familiar and unexpected, merging his extensive experience at some of Miami’s top Japanese restaurants with his Caribbean roots and love of American barbecue. Miso Corn Bread with uni and ikura; Braised Oxtail Udon Noodles in jus with a cured egg yolk on top; Smoked Pork Belly served temaki-style with BBQ sauce, pickles, sushi rice and wasabi. These highly addictive combinations feel fresh and exciting, and also like they should have existed forever.

You’ll want to try it all. Everything is served family-style, centralized around wood-fired flavors, using Asian ingredients and approaches. And even tough the menu is fairly tight, you might get overwhelmed by the array of enticing options. (At least, we did.) Luckily, your friendly server is happy to take in your preferences and help curate a well-rounded culinary journey, which could be comprised of sushi, cold and hot plates, steak, smoked meats and a selection of sides—plus the Shiso Chicken, Please, a beautiful rendition of chicken and waffles served two ways.

As for the cocktails, they’re presided over by beverage director James MacInnes, a Miami native who cut his teeth around the world before leading up stellar programs at KYU and Klaw. For Shiso’s indoor bar, he’s created a distinct menu with a global sensibility, while the outdoor bar features more casual, elevated standards. Our favorite sip of the night was the Sin Sombrero, an amber-hued tequila reposado highball that’s tart with grapefruit and complex with gochujang, topped with effervescence and a tangle of ancho chile peppers.

Other drink highlights include the Vetus Negroni, a softer rendition than the original made with chamomile and ume plum that’s been aged and married in a solera barrel; and the Kohi Cobbler, a boozy after-dinner treat that combines Santa Teresa coffee cask rum, sake-based Japanese vermouth, sherry and a citrus blend. We can easily imagine posting up here during happy hours, when delicacies like the Smoked Brisket Croquettes go for just $10, to take in the bright orange sunset from the terrace. Or staying late-night, when the party vibes turn up and the Wynwood scene at Shiso...

Raheem and his team have curated Miami’s new hottest spot. Shiso is a restaurant that Miami has needed! Asian precision and techniques have taken hold of Caribbean bold flavors at Shiso.

The menu is full of exciting new takes on Miami’s eclectic cuisine from Sushi/Crudos, to BBQ that Miami has seemingly become a town, but make no mistake that Shiso is so much more than just the run of the mill “clubstaurant” that has become so popular. The food is at the forefront and so are the cocktails curated by the finest of Miami’s talented hospitality OGs. From Raheem, Monica, and Sandra running the kitchen, to James, Gio, and Drew running the bar program, the Japanese precision of making a perfected experience from start to finish is found here in every detail.

Cocktails like the Martinelli sling bring fun and approachable options while a more exciting Puro Italiano is the savory cocktail that can only be conjured up by the palette of a born and raised Italian. This unique beverage program can only stand alongside a titan of a food menu. Miso cornbread that has a cult following from drinking pig days now has been transformed into a vessel for Briney Uni and plump ikura! The Japanese sweet potato croquettes with brisket are only Croquetas that everybody in Miami will ever speak about and crave from the regular 2pm cafecito shot time to 5am after space hours. A menu that has something for everybody during a time that feels like dining out is exclusionary. Even with all technique including dry aging their fish in house, It’s approachable, and it’s even affordable for those on a budget, you can choose the adventure you want when you come here. Ball out and buy as much A5 and king crab legs as you want, or buy a pork belly platter on the lower end that can feed you and your friends. There’s options in all the price ranges and an even better happy Hour that lets you try almost all of their cold section, multiple hot foods and sushi at a fraction of the price.

Shiso is the kind of place that welcomes anybody, and their venue portrays that just as well as the menu. The outdoor fitted to the most with fans for optimal temperature control and a bar that is Miami casual with a lot of the perfect photo ready ambiance that Miami warrants features a beverage selection fit for dealing with Miami’s weather and vibe check. The Inside is more sultry, more mysterious and feeds into to the alluring charm of Miami’s flashy, but sexy and sultry culture. It’s fun, it’s luxurious and it feels opulent. Whether you’re trying to be seen or not, trying to splurge, or just have a lowkey catch up, Shiso has a multitude of vibes for you to catch including the best happy hour...

Wynwood hot 🔥culinary and social spots are blooming nonstop and Shiso is here to prove that their smokehouse 🌏Asian fusion style will leave a footprint 👣in the district. The wide-open Terraza serves as the perfect environment to gather the very best selection of gastronomic recipes, fancy 🍸🍹cocktails, and social hype. Top picks: - their Smoked Sticky 🍖Ribs charged with juicy meat and topped with crunchy puff rice that will crack on each bite; joined by the Sweet Potato 🍠Croquette with smoked brisket, white BBQ, and Parmesan, which easily shreds into your mouth if they are served to you right after is fried. The Shiso Chicken🍗 is right behind, thanks to the perfectly fried and smoked blend, with scallion 🧇waffles taste. The sweet-savory asian american 🍯southern mix clearly stands out in this recipe. Even though I was expecting the rolls 🍣to leave a stamp on my taste buds they were just ok, it was an exotic surprise to taste the 🐂Toro piece with tobiko and uni, but it felt a little bit short in size and flaming taste, same happened with the unagi roll, that was supposed to blast your buds due to the puff rice, but the sparks just stayed at the first bite.

Sipping on their variety of cocktails, I could easily narrow it down to their Martenilli Sling which stirs Bombay 💎Saphire Gin, Hana🍏 Apple Sake, Falernum, and allspice dram, it evokes 🫚ginger flares, which might be because of the apple sake. Another refreshing sip was delivered by their Wasabi🌼 Margarita with Patron Reposado, Yuzu liquor, and wasabi lime, twisting a new version of this classic 🇲🇽Mexican cocktail with Asian inspirations. The third choice would have to be their Ume Old 🥃Fashioned which personally I’m not that much of a fan of because of its bitter taste, but had to admit it looks very sexy because of its orange 🍊peel decoring the iceberg🧊 cube. The last and one which I wouldn’t like to try again is their Rum 🍹Cocktail, maybe because I’m not that much of a fan of their recipe, or maybe because I just had too much drink. Separate mention to their Espresso 🍸Martini version the Churro Carajillo, which I expected to have a signature taste, but it was just like a sweeter version of a traditional Espresso Martini. A sweet Shiso kind of ending, their Miso Flan 🍩Donut, is gently glazed and filled with a creamy whip that will foam your mouth all around.

Thanks Miko and Sean for you on the spot attention, very Japanese representative.

So Shiso your Wynwood visit by hitting this Asian fusion 💨smokehouse, that will unhook you with some interesting wood-fired BBQ 🍖🍗cooking techniques with a 🎌Japanese base and Caribbean🇯🇲 Soul...