This week on "Check, Please!

South Florida," a gastro pub in Boynton Beach... You just knew it was gonna be a good deal for the buck.

[Michelle] A Japanese and Thai restaurant in Boca Raton...

They were very accommodating, staff was good.

[Michelle] And the perfect brisket in West Palm Beach.

Florida smoke and sunshine, and it really feels like a Florida barbecue.

[Narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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

[Narrator] Additional funding for "Check, Please!

South Florida" is provided by the friends of South Florida PBS.

We were just really in heaven.

That was the best bread curry I've ever had.

It was snapper, and it tasted so fresh.

I was going in-between each dish.

The home fries were out of this world.

It was just perfect.

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.

Today, we're back at Dada restaurant, located in the historic Tarrimore House in downtown Delray Beach.

Thank you, Dada, for hosting us.

This week, we are joined by therapist Jack Demiranda, who says that the brisket at his West Palm Beach spot is a unique standout that has truly become the star of his dining experience.

Legal assistant Jennifer Serna is excited to present the successful fusion of Japanese sushi and Thai cuisine at her Boca Raton pick.

But first, sales and marketing rep Michelle Babin is ready to introduce us to her favorite gastro pub, with a menu showcasing locally-sourced products, she says that this spot should definitely be on your foodie radar, it's located in Boynton Beach and it's called The Butcher & The Bar.

Hi, I'm Eric Anderson, I'm one of the owners of The Butcher & The Bar.

My original two partners and I, we all brought different elements to the restaurant business, and we decided we wanted to get together and do something, so we finally came up with a concept that built upon working with locally-sourced ingredients as much as possible, scratch kitchen and a premium bar program all in a comfortable setting, we like to say we're an upscale neighborhood bar with outstanding food.

My partners and I are all from Boynton Beach.

We decided we wanted to be sort of on the front end at the beginning of what was gonna be happening here in downtown Boynton.

Because we are doing things from scratch, we're grinding our beef and everything for our burgers, so our burger is by far our bestselling item, both for lunch and dinner, on our lunch menu, our porchetta sandwich and our hot dog are both very popular items.

Our chicken meatballs, which are on both our day and nighttime menus, are super popular, our steaks at night, and one of the dishes that was actually a surprise for us, it was a local mushroom toast, and we get mushrooms from up in Loxahatchee, and people absolutely love that dish.

The Butcher & The Bar is a premium neighborhood bar that focuses on local and clean ingredients and cooking them from scratch in our kitchen.

You will love the fresh quality, right?

At The Butcher & The Bar?

Correct.

Everything is locally-sourced.

It's a butcher shop by day, and then, a restaurant for lunch and dinner.

They have a listing of all the local produce where they get... From the farms.

Right.

You know what excites me though?

Is that they're selling all this fresh-cut meat and everything, right?

And then, you know that all this beautiful stuff that they're using in the butcher shop is gonna be on their menu, right?

And you know that it's gonna be fresh, and it's gonna be farm-raised, and it's just...

I don't know, it gives a whole new meaning, right?

To freshness and knowing where things are sourced.

Yep, and in fact, they change the menu daily, so depending on what they get fresh, is goes... What goes on the menu.

Oh, how exciting.

Jennifer, what was your first thought when you walked in?

I thought it was very unique, I liked that there was an option to sit outside and inside, the outdoor area, the patio, was covered, it was nice and cool out, and we sat inside, but it was beautiful.

Oh, good, Jack, tell me about it.

It was lovely, so when you walk in, the bar is sort of the focal point, and there's just, you know, bottles all across, and you could see the, you know, bartender wining and dining there, and it was incredible, they had, you know, decor of, you know, butcher knives and other different kinds of kind of butcher accoutrement all over the wall, so you knew exactly where you were as soon as you got in.

That's awesome.

So Michelle, tell me what you had this time that you went.

So I started out with the mushroom toast, which was beautiful from a local farm.

[Michelle] So what does that mean?

That's basically a piece of toasted bread with mushroom on top?

[Michelle] Yeah, grilled bread with the mushrooms or with shallots, red wine, and some cream and garlic on top of the grilled bread.

Absolutely delicious, yep, it's one of my standards, every time I see it on the menu, I get it, and then, this night, they had a dryaged New York strip, so I got that, it was... And they...

Your eyes are popping up... Everything sounds delicious.

They served it family-style, so... And it was crispy on the outside with beautiful medium-rare on the inside.

Yeah, that sounds really good, Jennifer?

I went for brunch, and we started off with the pickles and pimento appetizer, which had pickles, it had pimento cheese, crostinis, it was delicious.

The peppers were nice and sweet, so it was a nice balance with the pimento cheese and the peppers.

We also had the biscuits and gravy, which was big pieces of biscuits smothered in an Italian sausage gravy, so good.

I had a sausage hoagie, which was fresh, the baguette was light and airy, but it had a nice crunch on the outside, and everything was homemade, so they had their own mustard.

[Michelle] Wow.

Very, very good.

[Michelle] That sounds so good.

My husband had the skirt steak with the eggs, it was... Wasn't seasoned to his liking, but it was...

I thought it was fine.

Jack?

We started with the chicken meatballs, which I wouldn't normally order from the appetizers 'cause there's quite a few choices that, you know, sounded amazing, but people were raving about it, so we went ahead and tried it, and it was incredible, it came in sort of a little hotpot with garlic bread on the side and garlic chips inside, and as much garlic as you can give me, I'm going to, you know, eat it up, and they actually also offered to give us a fourth meatball in case there were people who, you know, kinda wanted to have equal amounts, so I thought that was kind of interesting.

[Michelle] That's nice, I love when restaurants do that.

Yeah, and I also had the beef Wellington, which was incredible, just melts in your mouth, and there was prosciutto in-between the breading and the beef, and I just can't say enough great things about it, it was incredible.

Cocktails, anybody?

I had Dexter in Mexico.

[Michelle] Oh, what is that?

[Michelle] It is a blood-orange margarita.

[Michelle] That sounds delicious.

Yeah, it was absolutely delicious, and then, red wine.

You say "blood orange" and I'm in.

And red wine as well?

Yeah.

Okay, how about you?

I had a strawberry and orange mimosa from a local brewery in South Florida.

[Michelle] Oh, so that's a beer?

[Jennifer] It came in a can.

[Michelle] Oh, okay.

Oh, interesting, all right.

[Jennifer] Tastes good!

[Michelle] It was good?

[Jennifer] It was good for our brunch meal.

Jack, tell me what you had for a cocktail.

Well, I tried two of their ryes because I went on Friday ryeday, which is 20% off their ample list of ryes, so I had a straight rye and I had a blended rye, and they were both incredible, and my wife had an espresso martini, which...

They had a great twist on it, usually, you know how the espresso martini comes, it's black at the bottom with some foam at the top, it kind of looked lighter, and that's because of the addition of Irish cream, and it tasted incredible, tasted...

It's like the perfect drink for brunch, don't you think?

Like, you get coffee, you get a little alcohol.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, it wakes you up.

Tell me about the dessert.

Yes.

For dessert, I had the bourbon biscuit bread-pudding, which comes with a caramel bacon sauce... [Michelle] Wow.

[Michelle] So you can just imagine how that was, it was unbelievable.

I can.

I don't think you can go wrong with that one.

Okay, tell me a little bit about prices, what'd y'all think about prices?

I thought it was very reasonable.

For locally-sourced produce, it was fine, and everything was fresh and you could... You just knew it was gonna be a good deal for the buck.

So worth it, right.

Do you agree, Jack?

I agree, yeah, it was a great value, for what you get, you just expect to pay so much more, and when the check came, I was not upset, so... No.

How's parking?

Parking's good, it's under...

It's the first level of a residential building, so they have a parking garage there that you could park in, so... [Michelle] So you don't have to valet.

Don't have to valet and you don't need street parking, there's plenty of inside parking.

Okay, well, that sounds pretty easy, well, The Butcher & The Bar was your pick, Michelle, go ahead and sum it up for me.

So if you're looking for a cozy craft-cocktail place with locally-sourced food, great for a date night or a family night, it's your place to go to.

Jennifer?

We really enjoyed it for brunch, it was the perfect meal for all of us, we all walked in very hungry and we got a very great meal.

Awesome.

Jack?

Straight from the farm, lots of charm, bourbon, whiskey or rye, can't do any harm.

How did he do that?

Dang, very good, Jack.

That was impressive, well, for savory dishes and locally-sourced goods, you can stop by The Butcher & The Bar, located 510 East Ocean Avenue in Boynton Beach, they are open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner, reservations are accepted, but the average price for dinner without drinks is about 60 dollars.

Welcome, everyone, we are now actually in my kitchen here in Coral Gables, it's called Señora Martinez Restaurant, and if it sounds a little different, it's because this is what a working kitchen sounds like, this is a restaurant kitchen, so let's go ahead and make some chicken meatballs, which are really delicious and my family loves, so I decided to give you some white meat and dark meat for the chicken meatball, my little trick to make them even more moist is by adding a little bit of fresh ricotta cheese, we're gonna use the rest of that later, one egg, some fresh chopped parsley...

I never put raw onions or garlic in my meatballs, I love to use cooked onions and garlic, so a little bit of that, and that's just cooked in a little bit of olive oil, some grated... Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, which we'll use the rest later as well, and then, finally, some Italian breadcrumbs, which you can either make or, of course, you can buy.

A little bit of salt and black pepper... And go ahead and mix that all together.

So once it is all nice and well-blended, go ahead and make whatever shape meatball you like, some people like them bigger, some like them smaller, so once you have that, what I like to do is saute the meatball, so I put them all in a big-surface-area saute pan with olive oil until they're nice and golden... Then I add a little bit of chicken stock and some tomato sauce, and I finish the cooking process after they have seared with a nice color, so I like to place some warm meatballs in their tomato sauce in a bowl like this, makes sure you put a little bit of fresh sauce right over the top, and then, place some fresh ricotta cheese right on the top of that, a sprinkle of good Parmesan, and then, rip some fresh basil right over the top, like so, and there you have it, my delicious chicken meatball, just wait 'til you see how light and feathery they are.

Now, legal assistant Jennifer Serna is ready to present all the research for her pick.

She says this spot has become a family favorite thanks to their dynamic menu and wallet-friendly prices.

It's located in Boca Raton and it's called Bluefin Sushi.

My name is Jacob Israel, I'm the general manager of Bluefin Sushi & Thai in Boca Raton.

Chef Mindy worked in Thai restaurants in South Beach in the '80s and '90s, became friends with owners of Japanese restaurants and realized that they should probably be doing things together and start working together, so they started putting together some of the best Thai dishes and Japanese dishes together, and working on restaurants and coming up with concepts like that, and then, as time has progressed, this is where we've ended up.

The location in Boca Raton has been here 18 years, they were one of the first sushi restaurants here in the area.

What I believe sets us apart is, one, our fish is extremely fresh, we've worked many years on trying to source the best, and also, our Thai side includes a lot of different cuisine from northern, middle Thai and southern Thai.

The ambiance and decor that we want in the restaurant is something that feels home, vibey, with a little bit of an upscale touch to it, but still where you feel comfortable, you can come in with your friends, come in with your family, and enjoy your time while you're here.

What we want our clients to say when they're done is, "I loved it and I'll be back tomorrow."

Bluefin Sushi is a place where you can come in, enjoy your time with your friends, your family, enjoy the different flavors and cuisines that we have to offer, and you have a little bit of a tour of all of Thailand and a little bit of all of Japan.

Ooh.

Tell me about this menu that you love so much, Jennifer.

For Asian dining, it's the perfect place to go, it has all the staples that you are looking for, you just can't have a wrong meal there, when you walk in, you're greeted by the friendly staff, and they've come to know me and my family, it's a little bit off of the beaten path, so you don't really see it right away, but once you come in, you feel like home and it's just a great meal every single time.

I like that, all right, Michelle?

I thought it was wonderful, first impression was good, it's in a little strip mall, they were very accommodating, staff was good.

Jack, what'd you think?

I thought it was lovely, yeah, it's a beautiful room and service was really quick, we sat down right away and all the food came really quickly too, so...

Okay.

Well, let's dig into the food, Jennifer, go ahead and tell me what you had this last time.

We started with a sashimi appetizer, we just got the tuna, and we did salmon, and it was a great portion, then we went into our main meals, my daughter bought chicken pad Thai, and it wasn't super saucy, it wasn't spicy, it was the perfect temperature for her, she doesn't like anything too spicy, and I got a sushi bomb.

[Michelle] Okay, which is?

[Jennifer] Which is tuna, salmon, it has asparagus, avocado, and then, it's slightly tempuraed, and then [Michelle] Oh, so it's a roll.

[Jennifer] It's a roll, yes, and then, they put an eel sauce on top with a spicy mayo.

It was very good, it was huge.

[Michelle] That sounds like a lot.

[Jennifer] It was a big roll, but it was very, very good, and then, we finished it off with their Thai donuts, which is light and airy, it's fried, like, tempura-style and has a nice little cream sauce.

[Michelle] Condensed milk.

[Jennifer] Condensed milk, yes.

Okay, Michelle, tell me about your meal.

I had the shrimp shumai, which was very good, and then, my other appetizer was the naruto hamachi, which is the roll in the cucumber... [Michelle] Oh, it's a roll.

Oh, okay.

[Michelle] A cucumber-wrapped roll, and that was amazing, yeah, that was really good, and then, followed by chicken green curry and the Seafood in the Red Sea.

Okay.

All right, how about you, Jack?

We started with the gyoza, which is sort of my litmus test at any, you know, Asian-style restaurant, it was very good, you know, the taste was good, and our entrees were... We had a red dragon roll, which was lovely, really fresh, again... [Michelle] What is that?

[Jack] Came out very quickly.

Well, it has tuna, it has asparagus, it has, you know, cream cheese and imitation crab also, and it was lovely.

[Michelle] Is that fried or is that fresh?

[Jack] Fresh, yeah, not fried, that was lovely, and then, we also had the Volcano Chicken, which was fantastic, it was sweet, and there was a little bit of heat getting it medium-spicy, and the spice kind of built a little bit as we ate, so... [Michelle] Is that why it's called the volcano?

I believe so, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Did you have any dessert?

Yes, the Banana Explosion, which... Ooh, tell me about that.

Well, you went from a volcano to an explosion, okay.

Yeah, it was, you know, a climactic experience, so... [Michelle] So tell me about the explosion.

It was a fried banana with, you know, vanilla ice cream in the middle, and the presentation definitely looked like an explosion, and we could not finish it, but it was lovely, the little bit that we did have, so... [Michelle] Anything to drink?

[Jack] Yes, we had artisan sake, which was lovely.

And you said it was in a strip mall.

Was it hard to find?

It was a little bit in the back, yeah, it was a little bit hard to find and the lights weren't on, I don't know if it was just that night, there was no...

The signage was down, so that was a little... Easy to park, though?

Easy to park.

[Michelle] 'Cause it's a strip mall.

It's right in front.

Okay.

Well, Bluefin Sushi was your pick, Jennifer, give me a summary.

For a nice comfort meal and a relaxing area, that's definitely the place to go for you, you're always gonna have a good meal when you go to that restaurant.

Okay.

Michelle?

It's very, very good, I would go back...

I saw the sushi and sashimi presentations coming off the sushi bar, which looked amazing, so next time I go back, that's what I'm getting.

Great.

Jack?

Great value, large menu and service with a bow.

How does he do this?

For a comprehensive Japanese and Thai menu, you can visit Bluefin Sushi, located 861 Northwest 51st Street in Boca Raton, they are open for lunch and dinner Monday to Friday, and only dinner on Saturday and Sunday, reservations are accepted, where the average price for dinner without drinks is about 45 dollars.

Finally, therapist Jack Demiranda is ready to create a plan for you to eat your way through the menu at his favorite barbecue spot.

Located in West Palm Beach, it's called Tropical Smokehouse.

I'm Rick Mace, chef of Tropical Smokehouse.

So Tropical Smokehouse started as an idea that we wanted to make a local barbecue joint and have a real sense of place in the menu.

I was cooking locally in a hotel kitchen, and I took a trip to Texas and was really impressed with all of the barbecue joints that I visited there.

I came home and I was like, "How can I take that model and make it our own?"

And so, we started to weave together all of these ideas that have all these different cues of food and culture from here in South Florida and bring them together in a familiar idea of barbecue.

So we're here on Dixie Highway at the end of Antique Row, right before Southern Boulevard, so we're kind of at the center of all of the neighborhoods here outside of downtown West Palm, and we're right off the 95 as well, so it's really easy for a lot of different people to get to the restaurant.

We like to really just focus on our inputs and bringing quality ingredients in, our motto is, "Good groceries makes great barbecue."

Tropical Smokehouse is Florida's craft barbecue.

So you say that this really sets itself apart from other barbecue places, and tell me why that is.

It really does, yes, and it's mostly about the sides and sort of Latin flavor, and they say it's Florida smoke and sunshine and it really feels like a Florida barbecue place, you know, nothing comes to mind when you think Florida barbecue, because we really haven't had anything put us on the map like that, and I really think Tropical Barbecue does that with their brisket and their ribs, and also, you know, their interesting, innovative sides like plantains, so... Yeah.

That's interesting.

Okay, Jennifer, what'd you think?

I loved it.

It was great.

It was a fantastic restaurant, the parking was a little bit hard because so many people wanted to get in...

But we were able to park on the street and get in quite quickly.

Okay.

All right, so let's dig right in.

Jack, tell me what you had this last time you went.

Well, I order...

Always order the brisket, I've only been, you know, let down one time when they had run out of brisket, so most of the time since then, they haven't run out, it's been incredible, try all of the sides, the chorizo queso...

Hold on, let's get into brisket really quick, so obviously, slow-cooked brisket on the smoker, right?

Is it very smoky?

[Jack] It's not very smoky, there's a little bit of smoke and a beautiful smoke ring, it's juicy.

[Michelle] What sides did you have?

[Jack] We had the cheese fries, which are incredible crinkle-cut fries and the cheese sauce that they also use in their mac and cheese, which is incredible, and the plantains, you would never think that plantains go well in a barbecue setting, but... [Michelle] And why not?

[Jack] It's incredible.

Yeah, why not?

Yeah, absolutely.

[Michelle] Sweet, smoky, spicy, absolutely.

I mean, I love plantains, so I think they go everywhere.

Jennifer, what'd you have?

We started off with the smoked fish dip, it was very, very good, they have homemade chips to go with it, a side of pickles, the pickles are nice and sweet, so the smokiness of the dip went well with the pickles, my daughter had a pulled-pork sandwich that she had the sweet barbecue sauce with, very good, she got a side of black beans, they are my favorite.

My husband got a burger, which was juicy and cooked so well, it was a very good burger, and I got the fish sandwich, which was a big... [Michelle] Was it grilled or fried?

[Jennifer] It was fried.

Yeah, so it was a big, white fish, flaky, it was delicious with a coleslaw, and the bun was... Oh, it was great.

It was great, and their desserts, we had both of them.

We had the key lime pie and we had the cookie, and my husband doesn't like raisins in cookies, but I do, and it was a hit, he loved it, and I had a frozen margarita and it was delicious, it was a perfect meal.

I like that.

All right, Michelle, tell me about your experience.

Well, so I actually told friends of mine that I was going here, and they were so excited, they loved this place, so they wanted to meet me there so that I could try everything, so I had the brisket, I had the crispy fish sandwich... [Michelle] What'd you think of the brisket?

[Michelle] Excellent, melted in your mouth.

Crispy fish sandwich.

[Michelle] Same as Jennifer.

[Michelle] Yep.

[Michelle] Did you have the same feeling that she had?

That it was perfect?

Yep, perfect.

Okay.

And the hamburger, which is a smashburger, which was...

It melted in your mouth, so that with the crispy yuca fries, the white cheddar mac and cheese, I tried it all... We should maybe head there after this show, because y'all are making me so hungry.

Everything was dynamite.

All right, prices?

Excellent value.

Yep.

Are the portions huge?

I took... Well, obviously, I had three things, so... And I took them home.

But is it, like, overwhelmingly big?

[People] No.

I think the portions are perfect for individuals, it's not really sharing sizes, but it's good for one person.

Unless you order everything.

Unless you order everything.

Then you can just pass it around the table and be perfectly fine.

Okay, well, Tropical Smokehouse was your choice, Jack, so sum it up for me.

So for the purest or new-to-barbecue, it's smoke and sunshine for a satisfied mind.

Jennifer?

It's a great meal from a true smoke-master, every dish is delicious, the meat is great, I'm definitely gonna go back with my family to try out more of their items.

Brisket is next.

[Jennifer] Yep.

Okay, Michelle, tell me.

Great value, excellent food, thank you for the recommendation, Jack, I will be back.

Great.

For brisket that will leave you spellbound, you can visit Tropical Smokehouse, located at 3815 South Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach.

They're open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner, reservations are not accepted, with their average price for dinner without drinks is about 45 dollars.

I've had such a wonderful time, I wanna thank my guests, Michelle Babin, Jennifer Serna and Jack Demiranda, and our host for today's episode, Dada Restaurant in Delray Beach.

For more about the restaurants and recipes featured in the show, or if you'd like to apply to be a guest reviewer, please 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'm Michelle Bernstein, and I will see you then.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

[Narrator] Cultural culinary secrets and global flavors.

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