Marks South Beach

Ivy
Ivy
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
3
Reviews
2
Photos
Editor Pick

Mark's South Beach

  • March 17, 2007
  • Rated 5 of 5 by callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
Mark's South Beach

Casual, elegant, excellent. My gourmet friend was looking for a great meal during our stay in Miami. Joe’s Crab Shack doesn’t need to offer reservations, and therefore doesn’t, making it difficult to get a table for a larger party. We ‘settled’ for 7pm reservations at Mark’s South Beach, located in the ground level (actually, sub-ground level) of the Nash Hotel at 11th and Collins.

The Nash is one of many SoBe hotels from the 1930s, as the framed memorabilia demonstrate (a week, with meals, ran $11 per person in 1937!). The restaurant is separately owned and operated, and reached down a short set of steps from the lobby. You descend to the small, dark-wood lined bar, which seats 8 at the bar and 12 more, tops, at the two-tops. As you round the corner on your way to the dining room, you pass an impressive arrangement of AAA four-diamond awards, which appeared to be a complete set for the 21st century.

We were seated on the patio, however, tucked back about 30 yards from the street. A U-shaped area with a narrow neck, it’s bounded on three sides by the hotel and its neighbors, whose modest number of stories still keep the night sky as a main part of the surroundings. In addition to the hotel’s three small, attractively lit pools, the plant-lined area held about 8-10 round wicker tables with wide armed chairs.

From the outset, this was a terrific meal. Mark’s offers ‘American contemporary cuisine’, and although the founder now oversees a successful quartet of Miami —area establishments, leaving the culinary vision, etc., in the hands of an executive chef, you can see why the claim of putting South Florida on the restaurant map may have something to it. I passed on the salads, and opted for the soup with English pea as an appetizer, as did the dining companion to the left. We each offered to finish the other’s serving; neither offer was welcome. The eight pastas were too good to overlook, and I opted for something that nodded in the direction of the ocean just two blocks away: saffron linguine with a Florida lobster tail, accompanied by tomatoes, basil, and fava beans (with two prosciutto and garlic crostini crossed over it as protectors for its journey from kitchen to table).

As with everyone else’s meal, it was delicious. Our server was professional: polite, friendly, attentive, and as much of a presence as we wished. We chatted with her while I was still recovering from the intense dose of chocolate from the pastry’s chef’s native Venezuela (we did call him out for an ovation).

Somewhere mid-meal, the full moon emerged above the hotel roof, another fine addition to the setting. From the seating to the service to the food, this was an excellent experience from top to bottom. Entrées run $18–$52, with pastas occupying the lower end. The wine list is long, excellent, and expensive. But if you’re after such an experience, you won’t be disappointed.

From journal Sampling South Florida

Mark's South Beach

  • May 28, 2002
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Wendypup from Kissimmee, Florida
This was a nice fine dining restraunt where it actual felt o.k. to dress up for an evening. The meals were very good, however I have had better. The service was outstanding and the atmosphere sophisticated with dim lighting that was relaxing. when we ate on a Thursday night at 7pm there was only two other tables taken.

From journal 7 days in Miami Beach

Editor Pick

Mark's South Beach

  • May 22, 2001
  • Rated 3 of 5 by Ivy from Stuttgart, Germany
If you like great food in a restaurant that feels like you're in the heat of the action, you will probably like Mark's. Mark's opened up in an original location north of this area and received rave reviews even from Bon Appetit magazine. We had eaten at the northern location and fell in love with this restaurant. When we planned our vacation to SoBe, we were ecstatic to hear of this location, but unfortunately, this was a very different beast, aside from the food. Expect to have your food accompanied by house music, and perhaps loud and drunken clientele seated nearby. It's a bizarre experience unless you're expecting it to have really fine food. I'm talking about sesame seed-encrusted sea bass, fern-frond vegetarian risotto, roasted beet salad with tropical vinagrette, sweetbreads and scallops sauteed in some incredible sauce. The food is fantastic, albeit expensive--there's no denying that. And if you prefer the less pretentious environment of a loud restaurant, you will enjoy this. For me, I like fine dining a little more refined since I don't do it so often. I probably would not return to Mark's despite the great food.

Tip: Don't eat there past 9 p.m. They run out of many menu items after that point. Three of the approximately 12 entrees were sold out.

From journal Ah, the Miami Weekend Away from the Kids

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