Lan, a bizarrely located but most excellent pan-Asian spot. It's ensconced in Dadeland Station, the gaggle of discount stores on South Dixie, hidden from the street but worth seeking out.
Miami's significant dining development of the late '90s has been theproliferation of Asian restaurants, and we're not just talking Sushi Hut onevery corner, but high-quality Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese. One of thoseplaces is
Lan, a bizarrely located but most excellent pan-Asian spot. It'sensconced in Dadeland Station, the gaggle of discount stores on South Dixie,hidden from the street but worth seeking out.
Enter and be greeted by a smiling server and a bewilderingly large menu, 72items in all, including a large array of sushi. Your menu will bepaperweighted with a decorative stone, which you can throw at anyone at thetable who insists on talking about work, or just kind of toss around as youwait for your food.
Lan attracts a South Beach-style crowd, meaning that you are liable to seeindiscriminately placed Spandex, piercings and tattoos, all of which appearedduring our visit, and all of which make for a surprising juxtaposition withthe Target upstairs.
You realize that fabulosity is not restricted to the Beach. It is evidentall over South Florida; you just have to look for it.
Begin with a nifty snack, a bowl of steamed soybeans ($3.75). These arequite simple but delicious, just beans steamed in the shell and sprinkled withsalt, a typical Japanese starter.
Satays and satays
You can choose from among five satays, the skewers grilled over miniaturehibachis that you see in every Thai place. Here, they don't go through therigamarole of delivering your own personal grill, but they do bring on a tastytrio of skewered pieces of chicken ($4.95), glazed with a tamarind marinadeand served with a sweet and spicy roasted peanut sauce.
The scent of green papaya arrives with a refreshing and delicious appetizer($6.95), seafood and green papaya salad: five shrimp, plus bits of unusuallytender calamari, a couple of mussels and fresh tomato, plus a hay field ofshredded green papaya, all unified by a puckery lime vinaigrette dressing.
Fiery spinach ($4.95) does not have to be so. Garlic and sesame oil drivethe flavor of the wok-seared greens, but lethal Thai chilis are readilyidentifiable in the mix. Bite into one and face the exciting flavor, but alsothe consequences. The spinach is fragrant and flavorful, with or without thepeppers.
Creative sushi
Sushi here has imagination, beyond the usual. The Thai bomb ($6) is a rollof shrimp and calamari, dressed with a chili-lemongrass marinade, then rolledwith cucumber in sesame-seed coated rice. The candle roll ($9) featuresgrilled salmon skin with surimi, lettuce and cucumber, rolled with spicy mayoin rice and a seaweed outer coat. The tropical roll ($4), a vegetarian one,features mango with a strident dose of cilantro, red bell pepper and cucumber.Good stuff.
Kimchee Chige ($9.95) is a dinner-size soup with a fiery, red chili broththat features slices of pork tenderloin, soft tofu, napa cabbage, spinach andcellophane noodles. It's a very light but interesting dish.
A moderate-size fillet of salmon ($12.95) is glazed with soy and Thai-stylekaffir leaf and lime, arrayed over ton choy (similar to bok choy) and servedwith rice. It's a mild and satisfying dish.
That luscious wok-seared spinach returns as the nesting point for steaktataki ($11.95), pieces of seared skirt steak arranged over spinach withplenty of garlic, shredded daikon radish and reddish and spicy tataki sauce.
Desserts are no red-bean ice cream afterthought; they are artwork. Trycreme brulee with mango and fresh fruit ($4.95), a sweet-tart delight. Orspring rolls stuffed with pumpkin and served with vanilla ice cream andcaramel sauce ($4.95), an unusual treat - one you cannot find at Target.
