Dined solo here last night and it was quite the experience. I haven’t been to Miami in a minute so hard to say whether the clientele was typical Miami or particular to this place. I was the only solo diner, but the rest of the restaurant was pretty evenly split in thirds between couple(s) celebrating things like birthdays and anniversaries, older gentlemen/sugardaddies being entertained by young women, some of whom may have a nightly rate, and groups of young, for lack of a better word, bimbos. By this I mean that every body part was fake from head to toe and they were wearing so little clothes than most asked for blankets almost immediately as they sat down.
I was hoping to have an aperitif to start the evening, but there was nothing on the menu that tickled my fancy so I went with a dirty martini instead. The Filthy Martini at Leopardo is probably the best martini I’ve had lately and this was nowhere close to that, but it wasn’t a bad drink by any means. They did ask if I wanted a garnish which was a nice touch. The 3 speared olives were nice, but I probably should have asked for an onion too.
Bread service was the first plate to be dropped and it was a delicious compound butter served with a flatbread of sorts pretty similar to naan. Very good bread service and I would have asked for another piece of flatbread if I weren’t about to each so much more food.
To start I go the Main Lobster which was excellent. Cooked perfectly and chilled before being chopped up and mixed with vadouvan aioli and tarragon. No complaints on this dish and I would happily order it again. I think MP was $56 on the night if I am remembering correctly. Unfortunately, they decided to drop the Beef Carpaccio at exactly the same time which I asked them specifically not to do. This dish was not as good as the lobster, but it was still delicious. The beef was sliced nice and thin and dotted with labneh and mint while the japanese eggplant was cut into rounds and served at 12/3/6/9 on the plate. The server is who talked me into the Carpaccio, but next time I think I will go with my gut and order the Mushroom Millefeuille.
For the main I went with the Duck A L’Orange which is a dish I have read/seen/heard about, but never had the chance to have. It was amazing. The duck was cooked perfectly. The meat was nice and tender, the fat was perfectly rendered, and the skin was crisped up nicely. Give me this plate over a steak any day of the week. I went with a side of Dirty Rice to accompany it which worked out nicely as the meat in the rice was offal and trimmed parts of the duck. Excellent side dish to accompany the main. I also got a wedge salad at the same time which was a mistake. I should have had the salad in between courses. The presentation was excellent as it was half a head of iceberg with the cut side up. The ingredients like blue cheese, bacon, onion, etc were each in their own little line top to bottom one next to the other. The dressing came in its own pourer. Lovely presentation and a delicious salad after everything was cut and mixed up.
Unfortunately, the dessert course was a total bomb. The server said the beignets were the way to go, but they were bready and overcooked. They were fried too long as the middle portion of each one was bitter to the point of almost being burnt. The caramel that accompanied them was also taken a bit further than I like so it was bitter on top of bitter which was a bummer of a way to end the meal. It might just be better to skip dessert next time.
All in all Major Food Group just makes good food and I wish they would open in LA.