This week on check please South Florida, elevated comfort food paired with unique craft cocktails in Boynton beach.

Just beyond amazing.

It's I've never seen anything like it.

A satisfying spot to get your ramen fix in Southwest ranches.

There's a lot of work that goes into that food, and I know that, and you can taste it when you eat the food.

And a traditional steak house with exceptional service in Boca Raton.

People go to eat, this place you go to dine.

[woman] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.

[woman] Additional funding for check please South Florida, is provided by George and Helen Weaver.

And the friends of South Florida PBS.

You will look at food differently, when you leave.

One, didn't really help the other.

I just know it was the best.

It was just the perfect dish.

Prepared to perfection.

Hello, I'm Michelle Bernstein and welcome to check please South Florida, the show where regular people from all over South Florida recommend and review their favorite restaurants.

So this is how the show works.

Every week, we have three guests, each recommends his or her favorite spot, and then the other two got to check them out and see what they think.

This week, nurse anesthetist, Chris Ruehlmann is curing us of our ramen cravings.

He says his was Broward pic delivers traditional Japanese dishes, with just the right amount of spice and superb flavors.

And director of customer service Linda Farley is pointing us in the direction towards her favorite steak house.

She calls it her go-to place for any special occasion, celebration, or just a great steak dinner.

But first retiree Roe Fraumeni from many recommends you drift on by her Palm beach County pick.

She says, it's the perfect place if you're looking for a quaint restaurant with diverse and unique menu.

From their craft cocktails, to their delicious desserts, Roe says you'll love the whole experience.

And you won't go home hungry.

It's located in Boynton beach, and it's called Driftwood.

I'm Jimmy Everett, the chef owner of Driftwood restaurant in Boynton beach.

Driftwood is a small restaurant.

It's just me and my wife.

We been working.

We worked years on getting things together, organizing to create our own restaurant.

And this is that's what Driftwood is.

What we're trying to do is, find a way to make good quality food accessible to people.

Without them having to spend a ton of money or dress up fancy, like, you know, it's a very casual atmosphere here.

So we, that's a big part of... We want people to feel comfortable you know, whether it's the atmosphere, or things that certain dishes remind them of.

We do have a few signature dishes that have been on the menu since we opened, the chicken and dumplings, we hand roll all of our dumplings, we use really good quality chicken, and it's a simple thing but it's one of those things that people come back for people love it as simple as it is.

We also have our QS pink shrimp grits.

That's, another thing more of a comfort food, Southern roots, but that's something that you really it's really hard to find.

You know, there's not too many places you can go and get good quality shrimp grits to ingredients.

I think eating is a very mental is a very psychological thing.

I think it's something that... That's how you can really blow somebody away is when you krieger things.

It's not necessarily always what you put on the plate, and how you cooked it or seasoned it, when you can trigger something that's strong in somebodies mind when they're eating something, I think that's when you can really impress somebody.

And so that's something I always really try to do.

So Roe, tell us about Driftwood where in Boynton beach, is it and is it easy to get to?

Yes, Michelle is right off 95, it is on Federal Highway, and is quick to get there but you must keep your eyes open.

It looks like a quite little house, so you might just pass it by.

So go slowly.

So what did you have the last time you went?

Well, I started with a wonderful craft cocktail, which was called simple pleasure.

Which had lavender added to it.

It was quite delicious and goes down rather easily.

So be careful.

Then I had the cauliflower, which is sweet and sour.

And if you don't like cauliflower I would advise you to try it, because the flavors are just perfect.

And I went onto the crispy Brussels sprout.

Which were truly crispy and truly delicious.

Linda, what did you think?

What did you have this last time you went?

Well we had a martini and an old fashioned martini glass.

And it was one of the better martini I've had in a long time.

We had the sweet and sour cauliflower that everyone adored, and I had a hamburger with truffle fries, that was very good.

And it was as big as Texas.

So it was tremendous.

Anytime anybody talks about a burger, especially a cheeseburger, I just, my knees get weak.

Was it great?

It was very good.

And when I go back, I'll order it again.

Nice, hey Chris, what did you have this last time?

For the appetizer we had the, cauliflower also, very, very good.

We had the homemade sausage which they make in house, which is really good.

It was a good sausage and there was a lots of potatoes with it, and everything else.

It was great.

It's called cotechino.

And it's funny it was the first sausage I ever learned how to cook.

We used to make them fresh when I worked in DC, and it just, when I read that you had that it just bring back so much.

It brought back so many memories for me it's just delicious.

The sausage was amazing.

And there was a lot of flavors.

And I couldn't pick it out.

I was trying to tell my friends, it was cinnamon.

But I'm not sure if it was cinnamon.

There were so many good flavors.

Yeah, it's funny that they do make it with a little hint of clove and sometimes a little cinnamon.

Yeah, I'm amazed that you pull that out of there, but yeah, it's a wonderful sausage.

And I think you had chicken and dumplings, right?

And a shrimp and grits too correct?

Correct, chicken and dumplings, shrimp and grits.

They were both really good as well.

Everything was great.

The food was all amazing.

That desserts were the best thing though.

We had the banana cream pie, and the chocolate waffle desserts were amazing.

Roe you also have the chocolate waffle, correct?

Yes, amazing, chocolate waffle is just beyond amazing.

It's I've never tasted anything like it.

Okay, so Linda, what did you think about the prices at Driftwood?

Did you think that they, you know that the food was worth the price?

Yes, I think the food is well worth the prices.

It's reasonable the service is great, the food is good.

I would recommend it.

When I find unique is that have pictures of 1950s, people at the beach in bathing suits.

They were all over the restaurant.

It was a nice touch.

That would not make me wanna eat a big burger.

Well, yeah But I didn't have the desserts.

Oh, there you go.

There you go.

Well, Roe Driftwood was your pick can you sum it up for us?

A great place to go, whenever you just want to get out and have something good to eat.

Linda, give me a summary.

I think it's a great place if you want an afternoon of a hamburger, or the short ribs or the sweet and sour cauliflower or just playing great drinks, this is the place to go.

Chris.

Great atmosphere, great drinks.

[mitchelle] For unique dishes and craft cocktails drift on over to Driftwood.

Located at 2005 South Federal highway in Boynton beach.

Open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday, reservations are accepted and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $35.

Now nurse Chris and anesthetist, Chris Ruehlmann has the perfect prescription for traditional Japanese cuisine.

Between their appetizer and Roman specialties, he says this place is definitely a foodie's dream and it reminds him why he enjoys eating out.

It's located in Southwest ranches, and it's called Shimuja.

Hi, my name is Michael, I'm the manager of Shimuja.

First of all, Shimuja like the meaning it's like without wicked thought.

It's very pure, basically the owner started off in Japan.

He has a very pure heart he's very prideful of the food and everything in the restaurant business that he's trying to come up with.

We are just like traditional Japanese, we have our dumplings our porkling and everything, but you know he's trying to get a little bit of an American twist sometimes, our key lime ramen is very good.

That's actually something he went to the keys and had key lime pie and literally got the idea for a key lime ramen.

It was cool.

That's the one of the type of American twists that he puts onto the menu.

The chicken petain ramen.

That one is another one, we actually take the chicken bones and everything, and like beat him down.

Petain is a broth that has a lot of depth to it.

So it's not relying so much on the soy sauce that is added to the base of the ramen.

I feel as if the atmosphere really puts off like a very mellow, like any bad energy or anything is left on the other side of the door, it's very peaceful and calm.

You eat, you enjoy yourself, smiles, laughter and everything.

And then you go home happy, you know full stomach.

Shimuja is all about changing the ramen game.

Literally we want to be on top of anyone else in South Florida, which I think in my opinion, we are there.

Just basically changing the ramen game.

So Chris, this is your favorite spot for ramen.

Tell us what you enjoy about it and why that is.

The food has great flavors.

They definitely put a lot of time into it.

Well tell me what it is that you have when you go there.

I have the chicken ramen, my partner had the spicy ramen.

My friend had a different ramen.

We had all the different ramens and they're all amazing the egg noodles are perfectly cooked, the flavor's amazing.

And it's just unique.

But I've note for the spicy one, we added the habanero sauce and we added it to the ramen and it made it really spicy, really spicy.

How about the appetizers?

I know that you had some fun appetizers when you went, you had some adamames, some shishito peppers, you had gyoza, the dumplings, tell me a little bit about each of those.

Well, the gyoza was really good, I love Japanese gyoza.

Traditional Japanese we had a steam not fried, and.

Okay It tasted amazing.

So that was one of my favorite.

The peppers were amazing, the edamame, edamame is edamame.

But however some restaurants can cook it better than others.

The edamame was super fresh, and really good.

Linda what'd you think about Shimuja?

When we first walked in this smells was just absolutely fantastic.

We couldn't wait to sit down and ordered.

We ordered a bottle of wine, and then we ordered a chicken pop plus shrimp dim sum, and they were fantastic.

They would be delicious.

Then we ordered our main dish, and I think I ordered the wrong dish.

Because I didn't care for mine.

And the next time I go, I'm gonna ask the way to help me pick out a dish for myself.

But I would recommend and I would go back.

Listen, you never know.

You know, sometimes the things that you like are not necessarily what the waiter likes or vice versa.

So, you know, you tried and now you learned what to get the next time.

Roe what did you think about the experience?

So it was my first time having ramen, and I took the waitresses advice and I had the key line ramen, which I have to tell you is absolutely delicious the flavor was amazing.

I also had the pork buns, and that was really, really good.

And the gyoza.

What did you think about the atmosphere?

I wouldn't say there was much of an atmosphere.

Okay.

It's a pretty undecorated kind of place.

What, you know, you going there for the food.

I don't disagree with her.

The atmosphere needs a little work, however, there's a lot of work that goes into that food and I know that, and you can taste it when you eat the food.

The chef came from Japan, and it's a very famous ramen noodle place that's in Tokyo actually.

And so he actually came over here to make the ramen noodles down here.

There's a lot of labor and time that goes into it.

It's like 30 hours that the pork broth has to brew and everything like that.

So it's not so much about the ambiance there, because I also kind of got on that too.

There's not that much ambiance.

However, it's the taste of the food.

The food is amazing.

I'll tell you something a good ramen broth will heal everything.

Just so you know.

So Linda, was it easy to find?

How was the location?

It was a little far for us cause' it was 50 miles from my house.

And I went with several people and everyone loved their dish and everyone wants to go back.

They don't, they call it a road trip.

I will try it type of fish next time.

Okay, well Chris, Shimuja was your pick, sum it up for us.

Amazing flavors, very authentic.

And a place to try again for sure.

Roe.

All the best flavors in one bowl.

She has the best one.

Linda, it's a very nice place.

The great appetizers, I had good service.

And if you like ramen noodles, that's what you need to... You need to go there.

Satisfy your ramen cravings, when you head on over to Shimuja located 4921 Southwest 148th Avenue in Southwest Ranches.

They're open daily for lunch and dinner, reservations are accepted and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $30.

I am so excited.

We are going to make gyoza, which is a Japanese dumpling.

The filling is, and I'm just gonna jump right in here, this is ground pork, some sliced scallions, some very small fresh dice shatakis that have been cooked in oil.

Some minced garlic, some ginger that is either minced, or as we did it, peeled it and put it on a microplane.

I have a little bit of saki, which is rice wine.

A little bit of soy sauce, a little bit of sesame oil, these are really all the aromatics, all the great flavor.

Finally, I've got some cabbage here, chopped up and salted.

And if you can see there's actually water on the bottom of the bowl that has just been gathering from curing that cabbage.

So all you have to do is squeeze out the water, and add that cabbage into your pork.

All right so we're just gonna mix that all together really well.

So what you wanna do is take a spoonful of the filling, and put it right in the center of your wrapper.

Have a little bowl of water ready, because you're gonna need it.

Put your fingertips in the water and just kind of brush around the filling.

So you'll push all the filling down, so that you can close your wrapper like, so.

All you have to do, is pinch a little bit, and push it down like, so.

Take another quarter to half inch and do the same thing you're making pleats is what you're doing.

And then you have a beautiful user, look at that.

It's a gorgeous little package.

I have some over here, we're going to take a saute pan and I'm going to add a little bit of cooking oil to the pan.

All right, so let me add all of my dumplings in, so while my gyoza caramelizes, I just wanted to show you a very quick and easy dipping sauce to make for it.

Here I have some garlic chili sauce, that you can buy at any good grocery store, Asian market.

I'm just going to add the tiniest bit of rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce into that.

And just mix it up and there is your dipping sauce for the gyoza.

So as you can see, they are beginning to caramelize beautifully.

We're gonna go ahead and add water and cover it.

We're gonna allow that to steam for at least a couple of minutes.

By that time, the water should go ahead and evaporate, thus leaving us with a beautiful caramelized dumpling.

They should be ready.

This is really just the most perfect snack for the kids after school, or for the adults with a glass of saki or maybe a beer.

And there you have it gyoza.

You can find this traditional gyoza recipe at check PleaseFl.com.

And finally director of customer service Linda Farley knows good service when she sees it.

And she says, you can find it at her steakhouse pick.

She says, the staff makes her feel like she's the only one in the place and not to mention their delectable stakes are presented beautifully.

It's located in Boca Raton and it's called Abe & Louie's.

Hi, I'm Lew Langer, I'm the general manager of Abe & Louie's in Boca Raton.

Were originally a Boston based steakhouse, We have two locations, in Boston, still in here in Boca Raton.

We're truly a world-class steakhouse, but with somewhat of a traditional feel with rich leathers, and mahogany woods, and a little bit of Sinatra in the background.

And also really a family restaurant where we're really a part of this community.

We celebrated the milestones from kindergarten graduations the hundredth birthday parties and everything in between with this week.

We primarily are a USDA prime steakhouse but we do offer cuts of different grades as well often featuring an Australian way rule which goes off at different whole marble score system.

Buying the best possible quality products allows us to serve the best possible quality products to our guests.

My favorite steak in the restaurant is definitely the bone-in rib-eye.

Because you get that marriage between heavily marbled steak, and the flavor coming directly off the bone.

Abe & Louie's is really about an emotional connection that we have with our guests.

You know, dining has become somewhat pedestrian in our community and in our world.

And Abe & Louie's is really a throwback to that connection you have with a place.

A place where you come into and you immediately feel at home, you immediately feel at ease.

So Linda, tell us about the experience and Abe & Louie's and what stands out to you.

Abe & Louie s is a excellent steakhouse that you go to either a celebration, or you want a good steak dinner, or just a plain dinner.

People go to eat, this place you go to dine.

So tell me what you ate this last time you went there.

We started off with a caesar salad, it's so big you have to share it.

A couple of my friends had a onion soup, which they said was the best day ever had and a crab, a fresh crab.

They absolutely adored it.

We then had a bone-in rib-eye steak, that was cooked to perfection.

Hash Browns, sauteed spinach, it was amazing.

You just made me very hungry.

Yeah taste the mouth the smells.

You could just bottle it.

Nice Roe, tell me about your experience at Abe&Louie's.

It reminds me, of an old world steak house.

And from the moment that my daughter and I sat down, we actually bought our own bottle and paid a corkage fee.

And a waiter was nice enough to decant it for us.

And we went on to order the porterhouse for two which was presented beautifully.

It comes cut from the kitchen.

We asked for medium, I would ask a medium plus.

Now I know why people were saying plus because it was a little on the raw side for us, and we ordered their Brussels sprouts.

And I will tell you the meal was just perfect.

And the service was really impeccable.

I couldn't have asked for a better waiter.

So was good piece of meat.

Oh yes, tender like butter.

So Chris, I know you went for brunch, and you liked it but I feel like you could have loved it.

So what do you think you could've done differently?

So I think differently that it's a steakhouse you're meant to go there at night.

I think that they probably have amazing steaks at night as everyone else has said.

However I went for brunch.

And the brunch was good but not something I were return to.

But I needed to try it again at night.

So tell us what you had.

We have the bacon for the appetizer and we also had the crab cocktail.

The bacon was great, really thick slices of bacon with blue cheese on top of it, very good thick bacon that, you know it's a big rage nowadays.

And then for the appetizer we had the crab cocktail, which is really good also.

It was very fresh very good.

Okay, you had a turkey sandwich, correct?

Yeah, the turkey sandwich was really good.

It was a good turkey sandwich.

I mean, but it's my fault I ordered turkey sandwich.

Right, I ordered these great steaks, and you're talking about, you know the blood of the steak and everything else.

So ordered a Turkey sandwich.

Roe, tell us a little bit about the prices.

You did order a big steak and you did pay a little corkage.

So did you find that the food was worth the price?

Yes, I really did find it to be worth the cost.

The corkage fee was fine for me.

We took a very, very nice bottle of wine with us.

And you know, when you're gonna have a perfect steak like we did, you're going to pay for it.

So it's pricey, I wouldn't be able to go there weekly, but I would definitely go back with special occasion.

Well, Linda, Abe & Louie's was your pick.

So sum it up for us please.

If you want fine dining, in a great atmosphere with excellent service and fantastic food be either a celebration or a wonderful dining experience.

Abe & Louie's is the place to go.

Chris, can you sum it up for us?

I think it would be a great steakhouse.

They probably have amazing steaks at night but I went for brunch.

So it was my mistake completely my mistake.

Chris, I just think you need to eat a steak for brunch and get over it.

I should have, but I didn't so.

Okay next time.

Roe give me your summary.

Old world charm, and a wonderful steak experience.

Definitely going back.

Well, you can meet your friends and family for an upscale treat when you visit Abe & Louie's located at 2200 Glades road in Boca Raton, open daily for lunch and dinner reservations are accepted, and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $85.

Well, we've had a wonderful time, I wanna thank my guests Roe Fraumeni, Chris Ruehlmann, and Linda Farley.

For more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, or if you'd like to apply to be a guest reviewer, visit us at CheckPleaseFl.com and remember find us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending three of their favorite restaurants right here on check Please South Florida.

I'm Michelle Bernstein, and I will see you then.

[woman] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

We have a passion for blending ingredients and seasonings from around the world.