Miami: Haitian Food at Tap Tap

After a couple of  nights in Orlando, I was ready for a culinary adventure in Miami. I had wanted to check out Tap Tap on my last trip but never made it. For this trip, everyone spoke highly of the Haitian restaurant. I have some Haitian family and I’m always game to try it.

Naturally we had to have tropical cocktails with our meal.  I decided to try the Soley (pronounced like the French ‘soleil’) which was Barbancourt rhum, passionfruit, triple sec and raw sugar rim. It was boozey yet it didn’t detract from our meal.

 

The house salad with mango, watercress and tomato seemed like an unusual combination. I thought the dressing was great and liked the watercress and mango together. However the tomatoes weren’t quite ripe and did nothing for the salad. Still, it was nice to have some fresh veggies after a couple of days of hotel food.

 

We made a beeline for the conch and talked about all the great seafood we’d have in the next few days. This was served like a ceviche. Hm, perhaps another cocktail would be in order?

 

Carina decided to get the Natif (Barbancourt rum, lime, sugar) which she pronounced was just like a daiquri. I would later see a pattern of daiquiris from her in this tropical clime. It just screamed “vacation.”

 

For the shrimp, you had a choice of Creole or coconut sauce. Carina decided to get the coconut. I’m  not the biggest fan of coconut but these were tasty and plump shrimp.

I didn’t care much for the rice which seemed to be a bit on the greasier side but it was a good foil for both the shrimp and goat. The tostones (fried green plantains) were on the drier side.

 

I got the goat stew because I love goat. I was surprised it wasn’t more tender but the sauce was very tasty. I also got into the spirit of things by supping on the marrow.

 

I can’t not order okra when I see it on the menu. These were good.

Overall, I thought the food was good but not as amazing as everyone made it out to sound. I think I just had too high of expectations. The best thing was the coconut shrimp.  I’ve had Caribbean food including Jamaican food from a truck in Los Angeles that was probably better but it didn’t have the ambiance of Tap Tap. Or booze.

 

We ended with the coconut sorbet which was very good. Our server said it was the best and it actually was.

Next up, bar hopping through Miami now that we had full bellies!

Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant

819 5th St., Miami Beach, FL 33139  —  (305) 672-2898

 

© The Minty 2013