I had never heard of Desire and a lot less that it had opened in Coral Gables 2 weeks ago. Fortunately for me, my boyfriend had mentioned it when I was attempting to think of places to go to dinner with my pals. After some research into the menu I realized this was a small nationwide chain with a diversified menu similar to Cheesecake Factory (minus the cheesecake). The menu offers a large amount of continental/new American dishes as well as a decked out sushi bar and wine list. One of my mates had visited one of their Minnesota locations and raved about it, so we decided to give it a go. Once at the cafe you notice how enormous it is. The outside dining area is bigger than most locally run restaurants, venture inside and you are slapped in the face with a gargantuan space that screams, ‘Viva las Vegas! ‘ The d’cor reminded me a lot of the Bellagio, with Chihuly-esque glass structures hanging from the ceilings and walls.
While we waited for my buddies, we attempted 2 appetizers and drinks. I kept it easy and ordered their edamame. The edamame is tossed in a sriracha soy glaze that gives it a nice kick and by the point I was done, my lips were burning and shivering. The edamame was superbly cooked and very well seasoned; luckily for me, my date was too busy with his food so I didn't have to share.
My date had 2 appetizers; he started off with their Sunomono Salad (a fancy way of pronouncing cucumber salad). The salad is actually light and refreshing with cucumbers, daikon and carrots tossed in sweet rice vinegar. The display was also simple and colourful with the bright greens, orange and yellow colors popping against the contrast of the white dish. The rice vinegar tasted great and was a good compliment to the thinly shredded daikon and cucumber.
Up next, my date had their Grilled Ceviche. I know what you are thinking, ‘Grilled Ceviche, isn’t that a total oxymoron?? And you're absolutely correct. That is actually what thrilled us about the dish. The menu has an easy outline for this dish that states, Shrimp, scallop, kimchee, mango and cilantro. What we received was a bowl full of shrimp, scallops, chopped mango and minced cilantro with 3 orange segments and 3 bits of avocado. As you may be able to see in the photograph, the avocado had some slight brown spots, but nothing that was too unbearable. As a few of you may know by this point, I am allergic to shrimp, so I couldn't try this dish and have to depend solely on what my date’s thoughts on the dish were for this post. He revealed that the freshness of the ingredients was not high quality, but none the less it is a good dish with a great mixing of fruits and savory flavours. Whether the name GRILLED Ceviche is 100% befitting is still to be determined, although it was a flavorful dish none the less. I will comment, I have spotted that my date’s consuming of shrimp has soared exponentially since it’s become clearer that I'm allergic, coincidence? I believe not.
When my chums joined us, we dove directly into our starters and everybody ordered utterly different sorts of cuisines. The menu is all over the place, like Britney Spears when she has never had her daily Lithium dose. My mate Manny went with their sushi, his spouse and my date both had pasta and I had a pizza. I can start off my talking about my friend’s sushi. He got 2 different rolls, their Sumo Roll and Crunchy Spicy Tuna Roll. The sumo roll is a tempura roll with a combination of spicy salmon, mango, cilantro and asparagus with a drip of sweet eel sauce ott. The Crunchy Spicy Tuna roll comes with Spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, seaweed salad, crunchy flakes, and sweet sauce. My pal was a concentrated sushi eating machine. He probably did at one point mention the sushi did taste nice and the fish was fresh. The fact that he inhaled his food and failed to look up much during dinner was a positive indication.
My date had their Shrimp and Andouille sausage pasta (another shrimp dish, I smell a conspiracy). The dish comes with linguini, saut’ed shrimp, andouille sausage, spinach, broccolini, tomato and fresh parmesan all tossed in a slightly spicy vodka cream. I was not able to taste this dish, but the veg were all brightly coloured and my date did mention the dish had a nice kick to it that went well with the sausage and shrimp.
My mate Jen is easily one of the pickiest eaters in The United States. I know as she reads this she is probably announcing aloud, I AM NOT! I still love you Jen, but you are fussy don't be mad at me! Though she was debating over 2 different dishes, at the very end she. Made a decision to have their Roast Chicken and Penne pasta. The pasta incorporates roasted red peppers, kalamata olives, goat cheese, pine nuts, minced basil tossed in a romesco sauce. She loved the red peppers and the indisputable fact that they were still al dente and firm. The Chicken tasted fresh and the pasta was also cooked al dente. The romesco sauce gave it all a great, a little spicy flavour that tied together all of the ingredients well. You can imagine our awe when she left all but 5 pieces of pasta behind. If the fastidious eater of the bunch ate her whole plate, you know it cannot be bad.
I ended up having their Grape and Apple flatbread pizza. I was in a vegetable eater friendly mood that night and this dish seemed reasonably healthy. I enjoyed this dish, the crust was really thin, and nearly cracker like round the edges (I realize some people don't love this kind of crust, but given the toppings it was a success for me). The pizza came crowned with plenty of blue cheese crumbles, thinly julienned red apples, halved seedless purple grapes and drizzled with honey and minced parsley. The menu mentioned the pizza comes with rosemary, but my pizza had no rosemary in it whatsoever. None the less, this giant flatbread was truly flavorful and the red apples and grapes went well with the blue cheese. And do not let this dish fool you, it's really awfully filling yet it doesn't leave you asking the waiter for a wheelbarrow and stretchy pants.
My buddies made a decision to try a couple of their ‘Crave Miniatures ‘ also known as dessert shots. My friends went with their Tiramisu and Salty Caramel Mousse shots. The Tiramisu was delicately layered similar to a tiny trifle and topped with a generous dusting of cocoa and a chocolate decoration to give it some extra pizzazz. My pal Jen inhaled her shot and was sufficiently nice to grace her hubby with one small spoon before devouring it. Her husband ate the bulk of the Salted Caramel mousse shot that looked airy and light as a mousse should. The show of this shot was less corrupt and fancy nevertheless it looked delightful. I was too stuffed to try either of the desserts, but both of my friends guaranteed me they were excellent.
All taken with all, our meal and experience was a favorable one. Our waitress was jovial, helpful and eager to assist us with recommendations. The food was good and the restaurant was certainly busy for a Thursday night. If you're trying to find a large place to host a celebration or a cafe that's a nick above the Cheesecake factory, then give this place a try. The menu does spread itself rather thin with so many assorted options and cuisines. As with one or two chain trattorias that have so many options, it doesn't especially excel or wow, but they execute their dishes well in a better than average manner. This is their second outpost in Florida, with their first located in Orlando, and I am expecting more locations to pop up in South Florida.
- (Guest Blogger at CRAVE).
T.J. McLeod is a food lover who love Crave Restaurant and enjoys seeing them expand in Coral Gables and surrounding communities.
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