Sugarcane Raw Bar & Grill, Miami

If your taste runs to little rings of squid battered and deep-fried beyond recognition, you’re at the wrong address. But if you love the sweet, tender seafood lightly kissed with batter and sautéed in garlic and butter, you have found nirvana. You see, South America has moved up north. Well, to Miami anyway. That’s the primary focus behind the new Sugarcane Raw Bar and Grill in Midtown.

The kitchen has three parts, the environment has multiple feels, and your plate may be shared with others. Nothing here is done in singular, that much is evident. The menu is divided into items from the hot kitchen, raw bar, and the robata. One can assume what the hot and raw food is, but robata is the special grill they use for preparing meats, fish and vegetables in front of the customers.

For those of you raw fans, your meal could look something like white water clams, king crab legs, shellfish, oysters, or sushi rolls (Tai Florida Snapper, or Unagi Freshwater Eel, anyone?). So far, they’ve found the crudos to be the most popular raw item. Raw fish lovers will want to try the Atlantic salmon with fennel pollen.

The hot kitchen and robata are ready to fill the void for those who prefer your food cooked. Flavoring up the South American menu with a North American twist is the tapas menu, which showcases plates like the bacon wrapped dates, yukon gold potatoes and golden beets. As for the food that you watch as it cooks, the chef recommends the octopus, cauliflower with bagna cuda and Korean style short ribs, although the lamb chop and Japanese eggplant sound like a good route too.

Shared plates are the hipsters of food industry, and Sugarcane has picked up on the growing popular concept. Each dish is served in small portions, so even if you don’t feel adventurous enough to try the raw dishes you can still steal a nibble from whoever ordered it at your table. Wash it all down with a drink from any three of their drink lists, and savor a dessert treat for a happy ending. Even if said dessert menu has no traces of South America in it.

Address: 3250 NE 1st Ave, Miami, FL 33127
Contact: 786-369-0353
Cuisine: South American
Area: Midtown
Venue: Sugarcane Raw Bar And Grill
Hours: Sun-Wed 11:30am-12am
Thurs 11:30am-1am
Fri-Sat 11:30am-2am
Price Range: $$$ (Expensive)
Payment: Cash, Visa, American Express, Mastercard, Discover Card

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