The Best Thing I Ate This Week: Lamb Cigars & BBQ Sushi

Plus, spinach-crusted branzino

Photo by Matt Meltzer

Lamb Cigars from Cleo

Given the aromas that waft up from Ocean Drive onto the patio of the Balfour Hotel, this dish really should be called the Lamb Blunt. The simple appetizer is flaky phylo dough stuffed with spiced lamb, almost as generously as the fattys you used to buy off that dude in deep West Kendall. Unlike those spliffs, Cleo’s cigars are deep fired - like taquitos - brilliantly cooled by a tangy yogurt sauce that isn’t quite tzatziki, but not quite plain yogurt either. Together, the create the kind of starter that makes you say, “What else can these guys crank out of that kitchen?” Which, knowing your average kitchen staff, could just as easily be an L as a labneh. - MM

@cleomiamibeach // 350 Ocean Drive, SoFi

Photo by Olee Fowler

BBQ Short Rib Roll at Shiso

Shiso’s BBQ short rib roll isn't technically a sushi roll, but it's not not a sushi roll either. It's finely chopped short rib mixed with puff rice and negi, wrapped in seaweed, and topped with a quail egg that's so perfectly gooey it should probably be illegal.

Two pieces come to an order, and both disappeared embarrassingly fast. The short rib was tender and rich, the puff rice added unexpected lightness and crunch, and that quail egg coated everything in silky richness when you bit down. What's smart about this dish is how it bridges worlds. Sushi lovers get their fix, but people who are weird about raw fish can still play along since everything here is cooked. At a restaurant where there are plenty of sushi options, this roll manages to be the thing that makes everyone at the table happy. —OF

@shisomiami // 239 NW 28th Street, Wynwood

Photo by Erin Nerberg

Branzino in Crosta at Mano Libera

In the heart of South Miami’s most beloved street for shopping and supping sits an epicurean destination for all things Italian and gastronomy. Opting for Mano Libera’s chefs tasting menu, where every single dish was more creative than the last, the branzino that stole the show. Baked in a crust with salt and spinach (that’s a first!), it was a buttery, light and heavenly delicacy - especially when drizzled with a rare EVOO straight from Puglia. The maitre’d also filet’ it bone free. It was peppery post-olive-oil and perfection. —EMN

@mano_libera_restaurant // 7201 SW 59th Ave, South Miami