SoBe Dinners @ Cecconi’s & Hakkasan | Miami Beach, FL

Although my favorite cuisine to eat in Miami was Cuban, for dinners I enjoyed Italian and Chinese.  To share with you are dinners at Cecconi’s @ Soho Beach House and Hakkasan @ Fontainebleau.  Both restaurants offered great ambiance and service.  Enjoy!

1. Cecconi’s @ Soho Beach House (dinner)
Classic!  Romantic!  Beautiful restaurant with the most amazing Italian food.  The Tres Leches here is divine despite it not being an Italian dessert.  The service is outstanding.  Make reservations ahead of time. 
p.s. Since the restaurant was so dark, my food photos turned out horrible, and thus I improvised with a few pictures I found online - image courtesy of Cecconi’s, Yelp, Google Images.
Cocktails
Cocktails for my husband and I while the rest of the group enjoyed a bottle of red + complimentary bread on the side.
Entrees
Tagliolini, Mushroom, Truffle (left) – my dish… unbelievably good, the truffle and mushrooms together complimented one another.
Ravioli, Ricotta, Spinach (right) – hubby’s dish… very tasty, but a small portion.
Other dishes ordered that I did not try…
Rigatoni Bolognese (left)
Spicy Salami, Red Onion, Mushrooms Pizza (right) 
Desserts
Tres Leches (top) – exceptionally good.  Why?  Because it was completely soaked in cream sauce.  The best I've had to date!
Tiramisu (bottom) – very good, light and creamy.


LOCATION: 4385 Collins Ave @ Soho Beach House, Miami Beach, FL.
MENU: Cecconi’s menu
COST: $$$
CUISINE: Italian
VERDICT: 5 / 5  
Perhaps I’m being too generous with my rating compared to some of the reviews I found on Yelp, however I thought everything at Cecconi’s was perfection.  I was thrilled with my drink, my meal, the desserts, the ambience, the service, even the value.  Given a restaurant of this caliber, one that is so elegant and romantic, I found the prices to be quite reasonable.  I loved Cecconi’s and this is one place I will return to the next time I'm in South Beach.
Food: Excellent | Drinks: Excellent | Décor: Outstanding | Service: Outstanding | Value: Excellent

2. Hakkasan @ Fontainebleau Hotel (dinner)
Hot & Swanky restaurant.  Good for Cocktails and Dim Sum, but save yourself some bucks and skip the mediocre, flavorless entrees.
Drinks
Muga Rose Wine from Rioja, Spain – we each had a glass and some.  Light and fruity wine, loved!
Appetizers
Dim Sum Platter (top left) – consists of 2 vegetarian dumplings, the rest are seafood.  Delicious platter, worth it.
Crispy Almond Prawn w/Pear (top right) – almost like a fried shrimp dumpling, crunchy, unique, tasty.
Grilled Shanghai Dumplings (bottom left) – chicken dumplings were bland.  Let down!
Roasted Mango Duck (bottom right) – although I’m not a fan of duck, our group still ordered it.  I didn’t like the taste or texture, nor did it pair well with the mango.
Entrees
Rice Noodle Vermicelli w/Shredded Chicken (main) – this noodles were good, but again didn’t have that wow factor.
Sautéed diced Chicken w/dried chili in “Szechuan” style (top right) – sorta like Kung Pao Chicken, but underwhelming.  It was good, but not good enough.
Tofu Claypot in Black Bean Sauce (bottom right) – there was no flavor in this dish, a total waste of money.

Sanpei Chicken Claypot (main) – not a bad dish that consisted of basil, but not enough gravy, and the chicken had bones.  Not too impressed.
Roasted Chicken Satay (top right) – total failure, boring dish, this is not what we expected.  Chicken Satay should be grilled with those grill marks.  Misleading name!
Jasmine Rice (bottom right) – perfection!
Dessert
Mango Custard w/grapefruit, calamansi, and coconut – out of this world.  Just tasted like a mango mousse with flavors of coconut.  Outstanding and gorgeous presentation!


LOCATION: 4441 Collins Ave @ Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, FL.  (global locations - London, Mumbai, & more)
MENU: Hakkasan menu
COST: $$$$
CUISINE: Chinese
VERDICT: 3 / 5
Man, what a huge letdown!  Given the quality and décor of this gorgeous restaurant, one would expect nothing short of perfection, however to my dismay that wasn’t quite the case.  Every single of the 5 entrees ordered were underwhelming.  The appetizers were hit or miss with my favorite appetizer being the Crispy Almond Prawn.  I would have loved to try the Wild Mushroom Lettuce Wraps, however since we were in a group, I had to be conscientious of other people’s taste palettes.  On the other hand, the dessert here was outstanding, simply out of this world.  It was the perfect ending to an otherwise average meal, a light dessert with a mousse-like texture that almost melts in your mouth.  Heaven!

Despite my harsh review of the food at Hakkasan, I’m not completely ruling it out, this sexy establishment would be a great spot for Cocktails and Dim Sum before heading out to a lounge/club.  However, DO NOT SQUANDER YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON DINNER – IT IS A TOTAL WASTE!!!  Unbelievable how they get away with serving such mediocre, flavorless entrees at high prices just because they can.  Unfortunately, this was the worst meal on the entire trip, and yet the most expensive.  Shameful!
Food: Average-Below Average | Drinks: Excellent | Décor: Outstanding | Service: Excellent | Value: Average