This week on "Check Please!

South Florida," heaping portions of Cuban comfort food from a true Miami landmark.

It's been around for 45 years and it's known for its croquetas.

[michelle] An awardwinning chef with a menu that will impress Miami Beach.

The branzino, forget about it.

It was moist inside, it was amazing.

[michelle] And seafood dishes straight from the Portuguese Riviera in Miami.

I thought it must have been for another table, 'cause it was enough for six people.

[announcer] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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

[announcer] Additional funding for "Check Please!

South Florida" is provided by George and Helen Weaver and the friends of South Florida PBS.

I was actually really surprised by how tasty it was.

My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

It was nothing like I've ever had before.

Feels like a taste of Florida.

It was the size of a bathtub.

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 go to check them out and see what they think.

This week, Art's Nonprofit CEO, Dennis Scholl, paints us a picture of his perfect night out, which would include a visit to his pick for pasta on Miami Beach.

He says the festive upscale vibe of the place draws a hip young crowd who line up for the creative Italian inspired dishes served up with flare at this family owned hotspot.

And Public Adjuster, Wendy Coffee makes a claim that her choice for authentic seafood dishes served up in a warm and friendly atmosphere will transport you to the Iberian coast.

She says the unique Miami mainstay brings us a taste of the authentic food and wine from the Portuguese Riviera.

But first, School Board Member, Marta Perez, loves the old school charm and Awola approved Cuban recipes served up at her goto spot for huge portions of comfort food at a great price.

Locals and tourists alike congregate at the South Florida Institution, which has been serving up authentic family recipes since 1977.

It's in Miami and it's called Islas Canarias.

My name is a Eileen Andrade and I'm third generation owner of Islas Canarias.

Islas Canarias, we serve traditional Cuban fair, no frills, traditional Cuban food, traditional Spanish food.

All of our recipes have been handed down from my grandfather.

You come here, you bring your family, you're gonna get a really good wholesome meal.

The service is quick.

I'd say we serve the best croquetas which we serve in all the other the restaurants, but this is more just sticking to tradition.

We just renovated a couple years ago.

We wanted to give it a light old school Cuban, 1950s vibe.

We have a beautiful mural where it depicts a lot of Latin singers, not only Cuban, but Puerto Rican as well, Dominicans.

Islas Canarias is tradition, family, and value.

Wow.

I have to hear what you have.

I have to hear how long you've been going.

It's been around for 45 years and it's known for it's croquetas, that people drive all the way out West.

croquette nation.

Croquetta nation, right.

It's been written up about, and I went for breakfast.

The breakfast is fast and a lot of local people, I really like to go by and enjoy.

It's a great restaurant for that community and for tourists as well.

They're really wonderful.

In fact, I took Anthony Bourdain there a few years ago when he did a show on Miami 'cause I thought it was that important.

So tell me a little bit about your breakfast that you had.

I'm always counting calories, so they have a vegetarian omelet.

Very good, delicious.

[michelle] But all the breakfast are completa.

So they all come with.. Come with fries or whatever you want.

I don't eat gluten.

[michelle] Okay.

So I don't eat the bread, but I went with... [michelle] Which is really hard not to [marta] Which is hard not to [michelle] because it comes crusty and delicious.

[marta] But I went with someone and they had the Abuela omelette, which has sausages and plateins and it was quite delicious.

He also ordered Edamame milkshake that is staple in the Cuban Restaurant, [michelle] But six tier ribs.

[participants laughing] [marta] Very Good.

Dennis, have you been?

[dennis] I have.

And what do you think you, what do you think?

I did not have a vegetarian omlette I'd say.

[michelle] I bet you didn't.

[dennis] For me it's always about the Croquettas.

[michelle laughing] and there's no list of any kind anywhere in the world that doesn't have yeast lacaradios on their list for croquettas.

So I always get Hamon.

[michelle] I love that taste serve them with a little wedge of lime too.

[dennis] Yeah.

[michelle] Wendy, did you had Croquettes as well?

Yes, I had the poiyo.

You had the chicken, chicken.

That's the best.

And I put the lime on it and I bite into it.

It was full, it was moist.

It wasn't overcooked, it was perfect.

And I've been there before just to get the croquettes.

Really, wow.

[wendy] Yeah.

All right, so what else did you have that day?

One of my favorites is oxtails and they have oxtails there like you've never seen.

And of course you can try to eat them, daintly, knife and fork.. [michelle] So they come on the bowl?

Yes.

[michelle] You pick them up.

Eventually you gotta pick 'em up and just kind of go after them.

And they were very delicious.

Wendy, what else did you have other than the chicken croquettes?

I ordered the ropa vieja and the person I was with ordered the vaca frita.

I ended up eating his vaca frita.

[all laughs] Can you tell everybody what vaca fritas is?

I guess the translation is fried beef.

[michelle] Cow.

Cow, fried cow.

The true definition but nobody wants to call it that.

[wendy] The definition of dirty clothes [wendy laughs] Yes, yes.

So they're both not translating very well.

[michelle] Not so much.

I had to say I like the vaca fritas better than I liked the ropa vieja.

It was very moist, the onions were good.

The rice was good, I'm a rice person.

I will eat rice over anything.

The rice was nice and moist had a good flavor.

The beans were good.

It was really nice.

So Marta, you wanna talk a little bit about the service there?

Right away she was there to take our order and everything was, it was perfect.

[michelle] That's wonderful.

[dennis] They work so hard.

They have so much hustle there.

They're really there to make sure you have a good time.

Should we even mention prices?

I mean.

If you owe somebody a big meal and you're bringing a lot of people, this is the place to go.

[michelle] Yeah.

I mean, the prices are really extraordinarily low.

Yeah, the portions are very large.

[michelle] Yeah.

We had a lot of leftovers, a lot.

They also had their own juices.

They bottle squeezed their own juices.

So we had the orange juice and we had the watermelon and it was really fresh.

It was really, really good.

The List of batidos, which are the shakes, the milkshakes and the juices is quite extensive.

Who had dessert?

[dennis] Well, trace lites as always between the cream on top and then the kind of custard part and then the sauce and how much the cake part absorbs the sauce.

it's just a happy moment.

That's all I would say lovely.

Well Marta, Islas Canaris was George's choice, sum it up for us please.

It's a great family owned restaurant has been around 45 years.

Great service, great food.

A delight parking should not be a problem.

Dennis, wanna sum it up for me?

For me, it's a Miami legend.

I've been here as long as the restaurant has, and it is an incredible place to go to taste authentic Cuban food served by an incredibly great staff and it's a family business.

You can't beat that.

Wendy?

You wanna have a good croquette, a good coffee.

It's a great place to go try authentic Cuban food.

You didn't even talk about the Cafe Kendali.

Well you can get a taste of Cuban history at Isla Canarias restaurant and bar located at 13695, Southwest 26th street in Miami with an additional location near Kendall, open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner reservations aren't accepted.

And the average price for dinner without drinks is about $30.

So I was raised by the most amazing Argentine mom, but when it came to Batidos, the Cuban babysitter was the one that made the best.

So I grew up on Batidos milkshakes.

I'm a mamey milkshake.

And to be honest with you, the best ones are made with these little frozen packets.

So I'm gonna throw some mamay pulp in my blender, follow it up with some milk and you can use any type of milk that you happen to be drinking these days.

But if you happen to be drinking dairy milk, then of course you have the traditional condensed regular milk.

And we're not gonna go crazy with this because we are still using a little bit of sugar as well, but there's a flavor to, as you know, condensed milk.

A little bit of sugar.

Again, don't go too crazy and a little bit of ice.

All right.

You always have to have a really fun glass and a straw of course, when you're drinking your batidos, everything just has to look right.

So if you can see from the pour, my batidos is pretty creamy.

I'm gonna make one for me and one for you out there of course, because we have to enjoy the batidos together.

Okay.

This is for you all.

This is for me.

This is our mamey batidos I hope you make it and have some fun and think of me Now Art's Nonprofit CEO, Dennis Scholl says his trendy spot for Paston madibeach is a true masterpiece.

Though he has probably visited over 100 times, this award winning restaurant and chef never disappoints.

And he says the thoughtful wine list pairs perfectly with the Italian piaed menu.

It's in Miami Beach and it's called Macchialina.

My name is Jacqueline Pirolo.

And I'm the owner of Macchialina.

History of Macchialina are My family and I had worked in restaurants for my any years and we decided to sort of band together and do it for ourselves about 10 years ago.

And the rest is sort of history.

[soft instrumental music] Macchialina is known for pasta polenta, a killer wine and cocktail list.

And I think our service sets us apart from our competition.

My family and I were from New York.

My sisterinlaw my business partners from Philly.

So we're for sure definitely have that Northeast connection.

And I think that has a lot to do with our ambiance and our decor it's sort of that little cozy, trattoria if you will any given night, we're playing a mixture of reggae and funk and 90s hip hop.

So that sort of is all of our New York influence there as well.

[jacqueline] Macchialina is family it's chefdriven and it's intimate.

You're just such a fan of the restaurant, tell me about it.

If I had to have one last meal, it would be there.

The chef is an extraordinary chef, chef Michael Parillo, and there are a lot of places in South Beach where you can pay a lot more and get a lot less.

[michele] No doubt.

And so they're kind of an oasis way west on Alton road.

So you don't have to go deep into South Beach if you don't want to, I mean, it's very small.

There's not that many tables.

It's an exciting place.

The food comes flying out of the kitchen.

Whereas if you sit outside, it's a little more sedate, a little more space between things and you can really enjoy the meal that way.

One of my favorite dishes there is, Broccolini Al Cesare.

It's a deconstructed Caesar salad if you will using Broccolini, garlic, breadcrumbs, and then a soft poached egg on top.

All of you have the Broccolini Caesar, didn't you?

Absolutely delicious.

And I went with three other people and so we got to choose a lot of things and everything was fantastic.

So let's dig in a little deeper.

What do you always have after you have the broccoli?

Well, veal Parmer Jean and chef I think is such an elevated chef that veal Parmer Jean was not on the menu for a long time, but I have been begging and pleading him for years to put it on.

He made it for me night and it's been on the menu ever since.

So I'm very proud of that.

You should have your name on it in fact.

The Veal Parmesan was everyone's favorite, thank you.

Because it was very delicious.

Any pastas?

What I like is the Mushroom Ragu they serve on top of the polenta.

His Polentas really, really special.

So tell me a little bit about what you had Wendy.

It was a five course tasting menu, Oh wow.

I'm always down for a tasting menu There were eight plates.

Wow.

So it was five courses, but it was eight plates.

So the value was amazing.

I mean, the food just kept kept coming up.

What really stood out for you?

The creamy Polenta was really good.

The polenta forget about it.

It was moist inside, it had fresh parsley.

[marta] It's usually pretty clean when he makes fish.

He doesn't put a lot on it.

[dennis] My wife gets that every time, she Loves it.

Had a little bit of crisp on the outside, which is good.

It was amazing.

But to me the best thing was the service, our server was phenomenal.

She was just so descriptive.

And I think we had the best seat.

We had that corner booth where you could just see everything and it was the perfect seat.

The music was great, for me the star was the ambiance and the service.

Marta you had good service as well.

Very good service Mariah with, I am not a big pasta eater.

So I had the gluten free pasta.

And so I didn't understand.

[michelle] How was it?

It was very good.

Everything was very good, but I didn't understand, I don't know from palenta and things like that, because I don't go to Italian restaurants, but our server was fabulous.

She recommended and was very helpful, very nice and very fast.

I mean, this is a family run business.

We've got Mikey who is the chef, his wife, Jen, who helps to run the restaurant and then his sister, Jackie, let's talk about her wine list.

Well, She's built a really beautiful wine list including a some of my favorites from Sicily.

I've been drinking a lot of Sicilian wines lately and Jackie's introduced me to some great ones that I didn't know much about.

It's a list that you can find a bottle that's inexpensive and still will knock your socks off.

And because of COVID, they've been able to actually sell wine right up in front as you walk in.

So if you have something great, you can take it home with you too.

participant] Yeah.

Parking, let's talk about that for a second.

A challenge, it could be we were lucky.

We went on a Thursday night and I found a spot on a street right in front of it.

But I know we were looking around and there a lot of places that looked like you could park, but it says tow away zone.

There's a city lot, very tall city lot fivesix stories about one and a half blocks away.

So, parking's absolutely doable.

Let's talk real quickly about dessert.

[marta] That's real Wonderful.

What else did you have?

A plus.

We had the red pudding [michelle] Okay.

with ice cream and it was so delicious.

It was heaven, yeah.

You ate gluten?

Good to hear.

I just, You cheated just a little bit.

Okay.

[wendy] It was a chocolate banana bread pudding.

It had whipped ricotta, which I love.

it was cold.

Please tell me somebody had a tiramisu.

Yeah, I did.

I had a tiramisu.

Tiramisu.

Everybody's had a tiramisu but the trick to this tiramisu, is the coffee granita on top, which is like eating a snow cone of coffee and before you get to the tiramisu.

And it breaks the fat.

To me, it lightens the whole thing.

[dennis] Delicious.

[wendy] They also use dulce de leche.

So they make it a little Miami.

Not too bad at all.

Well, Dennis Macchialina was your choice.

Sum it up for us.

An Oasis of excellent food on South Beach.

Wendy.

The ambiance is amazing.

You can get a variety of everything.

If you do the tasting menu, very nice place to go on a date or with a friend.

Martha.

It's Very cozy,a lot of fun, good food.

Well, you can enjoy the festivities at Macchialina located at 820 Alton Road in Miami Beach, open nightly for dinner.

Reservations are accepted.

The average price for dinner without drinks is about $55.

[michelle] Finally, Public Adjuster, Wendy Coffee is here to ensure you have a memorable night out at her place, which she says feels authentic and inviting.

This cuisine is not only one you can easily find in south Florida, but she says you will be pleasantly surprised by the flavors and the warm hospitality.

It's in Miami and it's called Old Lisbon.

[soft instrumental music] My name is Carlos Silva and I'm the owner of Old Lisbon Restaurant.

Our menu is very traditional Portuguese.

We have different seafood dishes.

Our catfish is the most popular dish here in our restaurant, just because Portuguese people are known how to prepare catfish.

I really like the fact that people feel at home here.

It's not too fancy.

It's just I want the people to come in and feel like they somehow experience the whole Portuguese ambience between the food, the service.

We try to have all these Portuguese people, either in the kitchen or in the main room To me, Old Lisbon is a great place for people to meet and have a fantastic food and a Portuguese experience.

I think this might be our first Portuguese restaurant that we talk about after all these years on the show.

So I would love to educate myself and everyone else about Portuguese cuisine.

Go For it.

[wendy] They're known for their paella.

They have the best paella I think in all of Miami.

The staff is friendly.

My aunt used to make bacalhau and she would make it the white style, not the red style.

And she passed away and I was just missing white bacalhau.

Bacalhau is salted catfish, which you have to boil and boil and boil to get all the salt out.

And then you have some kind of root vegetable with it.

And then you just cook the onions with love for as long as you can.

And I can't find it anywhere.

And when I saw it on the menu, I was just... Are you Portuguese?

No, my family's from Spain.

Ah, okay.

But it felt like home.

It felt like what my family would make growing up.

You have to start with the octopus, with garlic, parsley and it melt in your mouth?

The outside's a little bit crunchy and then the inside is so creamy.

And then the bacaritos... [michelle] Confeders.

The confeders, yes.

I should mention before we really dig in deep, you and Wendy always go to the south Miami location and Dennis and Marta, you went to their location on Coral Way.

Right.

I think the Coral Way is the original, however.

Yes.

[michelle] The everything.

Yeah.

Yes.

[michelle] They've been there a long time.

They have, they have.

Marta what do you think?

Oh, it's a very beautiful restaurant.

[michelle] Have you been?

I had been many years ago because I don't know how long they've been around.

[michelle] Wow.

But I had forgotten, it's very romantic and the food was so good, so delicious.

They have five things on their menu of shredded codfish.

[michelle] Okay.

[marta] And I had one that had potatoes and a cream.

It was... [michelle] Do they have cheese?

[marta] Cheese.

That's colonnata.

That's the most authentic Portuguese bacalhau because I sat next to a Portuguese person once at another table and I looked at her food and I said, "What are you eating?"

It was bubbling with cheese and delicious bacalhau out of this world.

[michelle] Colonnata.

[wendy] Yes.

[michelle] Colonnata.

[wendy] Yes.

[michelle] This when you boil milk, the part that floats to the top is called nata.

It was out out outrageously, delicious, everything.

Again, croquettes, bacalhau croquettes.

It was so fun to go there and taste those and compare in my mind to a Cuban Croqueta.

These are very, very different.

They're crunchier and the shredded cod inside, it's chewier, delicious though.

I really enjoyed.

And I had something that I've never had before.

It's a shredded cod with strips of grilled potatoes, the onion reduced, as you said, way, way down, and scrambled eggs.

And I thought it must have been for another table because it was enough for six people.

It was called bacalhau a Bras, BRAS with an umlaut.

It was delicious.

I ate as much of it as I could and then took the rest home for the next day.

Did you have anything else that evening?

I had a bottle of Cameron Vinho Verde, which was very, very good.

Usually, Vinho Verde day has a little bit of effervescence with it.

And this one was a little flatter and the server told me something I didn't know.

He said the less effervescence in the Vinho Verde, the better the bottle's supposed to be.

It's their kind of premier white wine.

They make a lot of it and it is correct that, the less effervesce, almost it's a little dry sometimes.

It's beautiful wine and there's a lot of it made from Portugal.

And I don't drink much porto, but they have really interesting portobased wines there.

That's my favorite.

I can't wait to get to the end of dinner.

When I order my dessert, I always get the chocolate moose.

The consistency of it is so good.

because you get a little bit of texture in it.

And then I order the Tawny 10year Barros, I think it is.

I never had it before.

It's so good.

And we also ordered one of the Putins.

I think it was Fatima, which was really good and... [michelle] You had that as well, right?

[dennis] I did.

It's top of whipped cream.

It's a beautiful custard and in the middle are cookie crumbs or cake crumbs and you just work your way through the layers.

How about parking for you guys?

There's valet parking in the back of the building.

We just found a spot right on the street, no problem.

[michelle] Okay.

It was a weekday.

so I don't know on if the weekends, it's a little bit more problematic.

I never have a problem.

I sometimes go by myself and I find a spot, and sometimes I invite people and they find a spot right there as well.

[dennis] Y'all have good parking karma.

[participants laughing] I mean, just cause I live on South Beach, there's never a spot.

Well, Wendy, Old Lisbon was your choice.

Sum it up for us please.

I always feel comfortable there, everyone's nice, it's inviting, the drinks are good.

The food is always on point and I've never had a bad dish.

Marta.

We had a table right on the street.

So you could see the cars passing.

White table clothes, it's beautiful.

Dennis.

A really great introduction to Portuguese food.

And if you've been eating Cuban croquetas for a long time, a Bacalhau croquette will be a very big surprise for you.

Delicious though.

You can travel to the Portuguese Coast at Old Lisbon located at 5837 Sunset Drive in Miami with additional location in Sunny Isle Beach and of course, the flagship at Coral Way.

Open daily for lunch and dinner, reservations are accepted, and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $45.

We've had such a wonderful time.

I wanna thank my guests, Martha Perez, Dennis Scholl and Wendy Coffee.

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 as always, you can find us on Facebook and Instagram.

Join us next time for three new guests recommending three of their favorite restaurants right here on "Check, Please!

South Florida."

I am Michelle Bernstein and I will see you then.

Sandu everyone.

[announcer] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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