Miami fare

My family and I went on vacation to Miami after Christmas this year. The weather was too cold to swim, but that gave us a chance to go sightseeing and eat out. Here are some of the things we had.

First, in typical Miami/South Beach fashion, we had healthy food at Pasha's, a Mediterranean place on Lincoln St. on South Beach. This place was recommended to me by my friend Vivmuk, so I knew it would we good. We all started with a Greek salad to share. It was nothing special compared to other Greek salads I've had. The only plus was the feta cheese, which seemed more moist that most Greek-style fetas. (Bulgarian feta is much creamier and moister, and that's the type of feta I like.)

I also got the freshly-squeezed apple-pineapple juice. That thing was amazing! There is such a difference when the juice is fresh and made with real fruit, not concentrate or some synthetic crap. This juice was so thick, it was hard to drink it with a straw. I think all fruit juice should be just like that :)

For actual lunch, I had the spicy chicken wrap, Pumpkin (my sister) had the paella and chicken wrap, my mother had the grilled meat sampler platter, and my father ordered the lamb chops. We were so hungry by that point, that we devoured most of the food before I remembered to take pictures... Sorry about that... I'll just say that everything was great. The wrap was too small, but it's supposed to be healthy, I guess...

We also went to Key West since we were so close to it. I thought it would be some kind of tropical paradise, with tropical food and all, but instead it was very touristy. The food scene wasn't very impressive, and I didn't see anything special. We ended up eating at a place called Mangoes. Despite what the name might suggest, it was mostly a typical American restaurant. Well, they did try a little. I had a crab, tuna, and guacamole salad that had the most interesting presentation ever. The crab meat was pretty tasteless, but the salad was good overall.

Pumpkin decided to try the Jumbo burger, which was indeed jumbo! She finished only half of it. My mother ordered some kind of steak sandwich. The description on the menu was misleading because we thought it was an actual steak instead of a sandwich. Oh well... My father got the sesame spare ribs and a side of French fries.

Finally, we had to have the mandatory Key West food: key lime pie! I'd never had key lime pie before then, so I was very curious to try it. The one they were serving at Mangoes came drizzled with honey. That did seem like a good idea, but it completely overpowered the taste and tartness of the pie itself. I could feel the real taste only on the last few bites. I don't know if it was because of the honey, but the pie wasn't as tart as I expected/hoped it to be. I kind of hope that this is not what real/good key lime pie tastes like because if it is, I don't see what everyone is so excited about.