Review: Miami Spice Month at Wish

My wonderful friend Pinc took me out to dinner the night before my birthday to Wish. It was the official kick-off to the birthday celebrations!

Wish is located at The Hotel, 801 Collins Ave. in South Beach. The cuisine is mostly an American style with the decor styled by Todd Oldham. Bright tropical colors and dim lighting make it a lovely and comfortable place to dine.

On their regular menu there were some interesting offerings but the spice menu has plenty that I wanted to try. We actually picked Wish because of the rocky road cake dessert. Rocky Road is my favorite ice cream so I had to see what the cake variety would be like.

We did try out a savignon blanc by the glass. I believe it was from Richard Hall. Very good wine and the price was not bad.

Their spice menu:

APPETIZER (choice of one)
-Crispy Chick Pea Ravioli
With Greens and Sweet Ginger Dressing
-Golden Beet Salad
With Curried Goat Cheese, Raisins, and Radicchio

ENTRÉE (choice of one)
-Seared Organic Chicken
Lemon-Basil Spaetzle and Vietnamese Black Bean Sauce
-Australian Sea Bass
Japanese Eggplant Griddle Cakes with Bell Pepper Nage and Marjoram
-Roasted Pork Chop
Chorizo-Clam Hash, Sweet Potatoes, Corn, and Thyme

DESSERT (choice of one)
-Crème Caramel
Florentine Cookies and Basil Anglaise
-Molten Rocky Road Cake
With Vanilla Milkshake

Pinc and I both had the chick pea Ravioli salad. There was a hot fried ravioli filled with creamy chick peas (a la hummus) on top of a simple green salad with tomatoes and a light creamy dressing. A good start to the meal. The ravioli was the best part (can't beat anything fried) and the salad was simple and good.

For the main meal, Pinc had the Sea Bass which looked really yummy. She says she enjoyed it and by the looks of her empty plate at the end, I don't doubt it. The fish was on top of an eggplant cake which I tasted and was very good.

I had the pork chop. I must admit, I have never actually had a full fledged pork chop before. (Blame it on the jewishness) But over the past few years, with thanks to Pinc, I have opened my eyes to many varieties of pork. Oh, how did I live so long without all those yummy baby back ribs? Anyway, we were talking about pork chops. And specifically this one, albeit my first ever, was so yummy! It was tender and roasted simply with salt and pepper and maybe some other simple spices. The chop had a lot of flavor and was a huge cut. Very filling and satisfying.

On to the much anticipated dessert. We both went for the rocky road cake. And of course Danya thought ahead and when she made the reservation with Open Table* she noted it was a birthday dinner. So out came the cake with a candle and in chocolate it said "Happy Birthday" on the plate. So cute! The dessert came with a little vanilla milkshake served in a shotglass. Nothing fancy, but still it was good. And the cake. THE CAKE! It was rocky road in the hot version. There was chocolate. There were nuts. There were even marshmallows! And it was all in a round shaped cake with a gooey chocolate center. Kinda like a molten cake except it had the rocky road flavors added in.

Overall, my experience at Wish was excellent. The food was great, the portions were perfect, the atmosphere was lovely and of course the presence of Pinc and celebrating my birthday made it all that much better!

*By the way, Open Table has a special page just for Miami Spice. You can just type in the time and date you want to eat and they will tell you what Miami Spice restaurants have openings. Just remember that not all restaurants participate in Spice every night of the week, so make sure to confirm what nights there are spice menus at the Miami Spice website.