Not knowing that Brosia held its official opening party Thursday, D and I headed there for dinner last night. What first strikes you about this latest addition to the Design District is its interior — and exterior. The restaurant’s outside plaza, which is surrounded with walls lined with turquoise and green mosaics dotted with star-shaped lights, is beautiful. Oak trees form a canopy above the dining tables and couches. Perfect for last night’s good weather.
Brosia’s menu is a mix of dishes influenced by Greek, Italian, Spanish and North African cuisine. The menu is small but it offers a good selection. I was excited by the prospect and after my initial “this is so pretty” reaction to the restaurant hoped the food would match the aesthetics.
To start, our waitress brought us what she called a white bean cream (think hummus made with white beans), served with thin slices of crispy garlic bread. It was tasty and it was probably one of my favorite bites of the night.
As we waited for our wine by the glass (they have a decent selection), I settled on the pomegranate glazed crispy duck leg on the menu, except when it came time to order I was told they were not serving it. Our waitress apologized for not having told us earlier and I went with the grilled pork tenderloin served with braised greens, caper berries, cornichons and a dijon mustard demi glace. The meat was a little dry but not bad. D, surprise, surprise, ordered the New York strip, which at $26, was the most expensive item on the menu. On a craving, I ordered a side of bistro fries, seasoned with sherry vinegar and sea salt.
The truth is that while the food at Brosia didn’t blow me away, it wasn’t bad. It was the service, however, that made what could’ve been an okay — albeit not great — dinner, a frustrating experience.
When our server asked if we wanted dessert or coffee, I asked to see the dessert menu. She told us our options: flan, chocolate mousse and capuccino panna cota. We asked for some time to think about it. About 20 minutes went by before she returned to our table. One of the bus boys even approached us to ask if we were okay because we “looked restless,” he said. We were. Especially as we saw our server come by the two tables next to us several times before she returned to ours. By the time she came back, I think even she had forgotten where we left off. Most people would’ve just gotten the check, but I asked for the mousse. Which wasn’t quite a mousse. It was rich, almost like fudge.
The anticlimactic wait (it took what felt like another 10 minutes to get the mousse) already had us eager to head home. And we did, disappointed. This could’ve been an isolated incident or a symptom of Brosia’s youth (it’s been open for three weeks), but the wait gave us a chance to observe. The staff seemed confused and disorganized at times. The chef kept getting pulled out of the kitchen by the manager and another woman to meet people. The general manager approached every table asking if things were okay (too bad he came before our long wait) but was more attentive to his acquaintaces failing to notice what a bus boy did: restless customers looking to get the attention of their server.
Brosia definitely has some things to work out and this is the time to do it, for this is when they need to grab their customers.
Paula,
We were there last night as well. My party met at the bar, but decided after a few drinks that the vibe was not exactly what we were looking for (a little too laid back) so we walked over to Michael’s. I can report, that like Micghael’s, they have a solid beer selection at the bar.
I’m surprised the service was not that good at Brosia, because when we were there at 9:30 the place was pretty empty.
When I do eat there, it will defintely be outside at one of those little tables on the far north wall. It looks pretty nice out there.
I didn’t really like the space inside.
Michael’s was good as always, except when the waiter mistakenly brought me a Bezelbuth. Not s good beer at all.
When we first arrived there on Friday, it was empty too. Maybe that explains why the service went downhill after our main course (the place had gotten much fuller by then).
D commented on the vibe that night. He felt given the outside space it could have beeen a little more upbeat. The space inside was OK but the outside definitely makes the place.
I’m going back. I feel it has potential. I want to try some of their appetizers. The Catalan-style shrimp and clams appetizer looked pretty good.
My experience at Brosia, thought not as bad, was very similar. The food doesn’t blow you away, but it’s extremely reasonably priced for the quality and the outdoor setting. They definitely have service issues though. During our meal we saw waiters, busboys, managers, cooks, heck even bartenders arguing with each other. Not one employee looked as if they were having fun or enjoying their job. All of them looked stressed, hurried and angry. Something’s gotta change there and in situations like these, it always seems to be someone at the top making life miserable.
The food definitely has potentional and I’ll go back for that. But if service continues like this, Brosia is in trouble.
I was in Miami last week and happened by Brosia, which we heard had just opened. Our experience was excellent all around. The food was great, the atmosphere was very nice and our service was exceptional. Someone came by our table also to ask if everything was fine and we appreciated that extra attention. Keeping in mind that the restaurant just opened, of course there will always be room for improvement as far as service is concerned. After all, they had only been open for a few days. As I mentioned, our experience there was great and I highly recommend it.
That’s good to know, Syl. I feel like the restaurant can do well and it’s a welcome addition to the area. I’ll give them a few weeks and give it another try.
Wow, I was there Friday night! I we had known, we could have had a blogmeet.
I was disappointed. Table of four, so we sampled a lot of the stuff:
Duck: same thing, not available
Rabbit estofado: that was the lone highlight. It was juicy, on the right side of gamy and the sauce was fragrant and thick like a mole.
Catalan shrimp and clams: watery. The chorizo should have added more kick but didn’t.
Salmon: just adequate.
Half-roasted chicken: I ordered this, because I’m a sucker for a good roasted chicken. This particular one wasn’t. Bland and dry. The spices tasted like they came out of a decorative spice jar. But the spring greens and fennel salad it came with was good.
Fries: those were good. We devoured them.
Chocolate mousse cake and flan were both good but unremarkable. Nothing like the cremoso at Michael’s with the olive oil and the salt.
The menu was disappointing. I was expecting either more variety or some specials. We asked for the specials, the waiter said “none”.
The service was pretty good actually. Our waitress had a lot of patience with my group, we kept talking and asking for more time to order. I would have forgiven her if she ignored us, but she kept coming back.
Decor A+. We ate outside. It’s a beautiful courtyard, hard to ask for a prettier spot. It was relatively empty for a Friday night.
I hope Brosia makes it, but the WOM so far is not good.
I have been to Brosia a few times, and although the service is not exceptional [yet], I find it friendly and attentive. The food and atmosphere are spectacular…I am not sure if there is another place that compares in the Miami area.
The outdoor area is expansive which makes the vibe more tranquil as opposed to high energy. The music is fantastic as well and lends the perfect compliment to the space.
On my last visit, there were some timing issues with the food coming out of the kitchen, but not too bad. When I saw how big the kitchen was, I was very impressed with the quailty and volume that is produced out of such a tiny space.
By the way…nobody has mentioned the fact that the Sangria that they serve there is amazing.
As Alex says, the Fries are good and I think they have a top notch rating with the sherry and sea salt.
The Lamb Skewers are perfectly seasoned and they come with possibly the best Tzatziki Sauce I have ever tasted.
They need to figure out what to do with the bread service though. Maybe some hummus or olive spread.
All in all, I think that this is a great addition to the Design District and Miami for that matter. They have been at it for 3 weeks now and will no doubt improve with time. I remember when Michael’s Genuine was open for a month and they still had their own issues.
Oh!!! …and they have free wireless internet access in their plaza!!!
It’s good to hear that perhaps what we experienced was not the norm. The fries were great! As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to have them. I have a thing for fries with vinegar. And they were very good. I didn’t try the sangria but I will next time.
We all seem to frequent the same places. MBV, Design District. I really hope the district keeps growing, because I really like it there.
As for Brosia, I plan to eat there one night this week. Will definitely try the Sangria. Love that stuff.
Had the Cremoso desert this time at Michael’s. Never ordered it before. Was excellent.
Finally ate at Brosia this weekend. I thought it was good for the price.
We sat outside. Was a beautiful night to sit outside and eat. As I wrote in an earlier comment, I’m not in love with the inside space, and would not eat there on a rainy night.
We started with the croudo appetizer. Basically, raw tuna. The tuna was sushi grade and tasty, but the lemon kind of overpowered the fish. Still good.
We ordered the NY strip and Duck (yes, they had it this time). The strip was cut into pieces and was juicy. It came with grilled tomatoes filled with some sort of blue cheese paste. Was good, not great. The duck looked great on the plate, but was a little dry. It came with a very fresh leafy balsamic salad, on a bed of lentil beans.
We also ordered the polenta and french fry sides. Both were great.
The service was very good. Our waiter, although shy, was attentive and the food came out fast.
I would go to Brosia again. For the money, it’s pretty decent. There are not many options in that neighborhood. It’s a price point above Soyka, with much better food.
Forgot to add. Was very disappointed with the sangria. For 8-bucks, you get a small glass. Tasted ok. Not worth it.