Warm, cozy environment and food make Icebox Cafe a Sunset Harbour fave
Icebox Cafe in Sunset Harbor was such a welcome surprise. I love the neighborhood, it's such a quiet change from the other South Beach. The cozy environment they've created in their recent re-vamp of the interior gave me an instant warm, fuzzy feeling. Like I was dining in someone's home.
Aside from the snazzy new decor (I immediately fell in love with those chairs and the gorgeous pattern they're covered in), they've got several new menu items that are part of their $33 three-course Summer Lovin' dinner menu, available through Sept. 30. Even when this special is over though, you must try Icebox Cafe because the whole menu is worth a try.My husband and I tried a variety of small plates, a couple of entrees and one very decadent dessert.
Those small plates included the perfect, silver dollar-sized crab cake made simply with lump crab meat atop a cilantro aioli. They were barely fried which I loved and the crab meat was the star, nothing else. The creamy, light aioli was the perfect sauce to swipe them through.
Who needs chicken wings when you can have their Buffalo cauliflower wings with gorgonzola and shaved celery. We could not stop eating these, they were amazing and so meaty you'd swear you were eating meat. They're so good that when I posted them on social media a fellow Instagrammer foodie who lives in Sunset Harbour was inspired to order them for take out!
A couple of lentin packed small plates were next. Given that lentils are some of my favorites legumes, I thoroughly enjoyed the Celeriac lentil bowl with roasted hazelnuts and mint, the crunch of the nuts and fresh hint of mint made every bite a nice surprise. The mejadra, a spiced rice with lentils and fried onions was just like the furniture, warm and comforting with a nice light bite from the fried onions.
One of my husband's favorite dishes is Chicken paillard so he ordered it grilled with a mixed salad. The portion was so generous we took about half of it home. Same with my entree, the curried chicken breast topped with Madras curry sauce over jasmine rice, roasted vegetables. I love the flavor of curry and the floral notes of jasmine rice and you can never go wrong with roasted veggies.
For dessert, I couldn't resist the chocolate delight, layers of dark chocolate, creamy cheesecake brownie and chocolate mousse filling with dark chocolate ganache. One word...chocolate, and it was everywhere in this dessert and I was fine with that.Icebox Cafe, 1855 Purdy Ave., Miami Beach, 305-538-8448
