320 Gastrolounge in Merrick Park, Coral Gables

320 Gastrolounge at the entrance to Merrick Park in the Gables now has Chef Anderson Osorio at the helm, and let me just say he has brought some WOW with him. He combines Peruvian and Asian flavors to make for some amazing culinary creations. We had the pleasure of dining here, and when I say pleasure I mean it, it was an amazingly delicious and flavorful meal.

We started our meal with the crispy tacu tacu. Spicy tuna with a rocoto aioli sauce ontop of crispy rice with a slice of jalapeño. The balance of flavors was perfect, the spicy tuna wasn't overly spicy and the soft texture of the tuna with the crispy rice made for a perfect bite every time.

 

The Nikkei ceviche was bursting with flavor as its sauce consisted of sudashi soy. Sudashi is a small japanese type of lemon which made the taste of the big eye tuna in the ceviche pop. The addition of avocado to the dish was the perfect balance to the citric taste in the sudashi.

I love Bao buns, so as soon as the Jalea bao bun hit the table and I saw the fried fish, red onions and cilantro aioli inside of that fluffy bun I was anticipating the flavors that would soon be coming into my mouth. I was not dissapointed. The fish was not overly fried or drenched in sauce and the buns were steamed just right. Now let me take a moment to talk about the main entree, the branzino sudado. This fish was so flaky, the skin was so crispy and that sauce, oh that sauce was so good!

Of course every great meal has to end with a great dessert and if you look above, this was obviously one of the evenings highlights. Look at that presentation! I refer to this as chocolate sushi. Chocolate mousse wrapped in sticky coconut rice and topped with coconut flakes, a tiramisu sort of mousse in the center and a lucuma scoop of ice cream. This was almost to beautiful to eat.

I hear they have a great happy hour also so I'll definitely be checking that out as well. If you'd like to know where you can get your hands on all this deliciousness, here are the details: 320 Gastrolounge, 320 San Lorenzo Avenue, #1315, in Coral Gables at the Village of Merrick Park. 305.448.2423