Mandolin Aegean Bistro Brings the Med to Buena Vista

Photos: Greg Clark, GC Visuals
Phone:305-576-6066
Status: Open since Thursday, Mandolin Aegean Bistro is like a set straight out of the campy celluloid version Mamma Mia! minus the painful wailing of Pierce Brosnan. Housed in a restored 1940's house in between the Design District and Buena Vista, the white washed building is miles away from Miami with a bougainvillea-studded back garden with taverna tables illuminated and shaded by a lantern-lit tree. Cuisine pays homage to the simple, rustic fare found in villages of Greece and Turkey, with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients, local purveyers and growers and freshly caught fish. "True peasant food created in local villages--," says a press release, "the heart and soul of the cultures that are indigenous to the region." Mandolin serves the typical Greek staples--Horiatiki salad, fried calamari, saganaki, and a Gyro sandwich with tzatziki and Mousaka--but it also throws in specialties such as the trend du jour, Mezes, or smalled shared plates of fish roe dip, smoked eggplant puree, olive oil poached leeks with carrots and dill, and tomato walnut dip, Turkish spoon salad with chopped tomato, parsley, onion and pomegranate molasses and homemade pide, or rustic village flatbread, made fresh daily. Prices are peasant-friendly too, especially in these parts, at $5-$10 for meze, sandwiches and salads and $12-$19 for main courses. Open Monday through Saturday from noon until 11pm with future plans for Sunday brunch and weekday breakfast. [EaterWire]
Official Mandolin Aegean Bistro Website