The Dining Room's Impossible to Ignore; Vic & Angelo's South Beach: Pricey

Victoria Pesce Elliott loved The Dining Room, which she ignored for a while until her dentist and some other folks told her she'd love it. "And I do," she wrote. "The menu includes some of the best Miami has to offer. " Her "delicately tattooed waiter" smiled lots, and the food wowed. Littleneck clams were "perfect," ceviches were "delicious, loud and boldly flavored," braised, all-day pork was "crazy delicious," and pretty much the rest of the menu was praiseworthy except for a "grayish New York strip." Bottom line: 3 stars. [Miami.com]

Lee Klein visits Vic & Angelo's South Beach, where he says coal fired pizza is the presumed star of this show, but "one problem is that it was overbaked until the sauce was dry and the minuscule amount of mozzarella lost all moisture and substance as it nearly evaporated into the crust." The same pizza at the table next to Klein's apparently looked much better. Too much salt, however, makes the crust rim inedible." Klein goes through lots more of the menu, some which he likes, some not so much. Bottom line: Prices are pretty high says Klein, who writes that ""Upscale fine dining at affordable prices" is how V&A bills itself, yet while prices are lower here than they were at the exorbitant DeVito, they still haunt the haute range." [MNT]