We have a lot of favorite restaurants in Coral Gables from the the eight years we lived there. It is always hard to choose where to go when we make a trip down. While we often revisit our favorites, we do try and check out new places as well. Last December, we visited Zitz Sum which is owned and operated by Chef Pablo Zitzmann and Natalia Restrepo. They describe it as a “contemporary Asian-inspired hybrid between Dim Sum & Izakaya that specializes in dumplings and small plates.” It had made a number of the “must try” lists and Teresa loves dumplings, so we decided to check it out. It was a really great meal.
We enjoyed it so much, we booked a table again when we went down to Miami in February. They hit a home run again! Since I didn’t do a post after our first visit, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to share the experience with you. The room lighting is pretty low, so some of the pictures don’t really do the food justice.
They have an eclectic bar menu featuring sake and shochu. We tried “The Loan Rider.” This has Matcha, Nigori, and Ginger Beer. The lime and ginger really stood out. We both liked it a lot and ordered a second one.
We started off with the Bing Bread. This is served with honey miso butter, furikake and chives. This is a wonderful bite that is full of flavor.
For our next dish, we had the Korean Style Steak Tartare. This was served with Japanese egg salad, tobike, short grain rice, and nori chips. It had some heat. The beef almost tasted like really good tuna. The dish was really delicious.
For our next dish, we shared the Pork Belly Kushiyaki. This was charcoal grilled and served with Kimchi and Tare. This was also a very well prepared dish. The only issue I had is they brought it out before we finished our first dish. They paced the service much better on our first visit.
Our next dish was the Shrimp Hargow. These are shrimp-filled dumplings served with a Calabrian chile vinaigrette and Thai basil. It also had some heat. I cut the first one, but did my second as a single bite. Again, just fabulous.
We finished up with the Hong Kong Style French Toast. This has a milk iced tea gelato that is fabulous. This was the only “repeat” dish from our earlier visit.
Zitz Sum is one of our top five restaurants. They are a semifinalist for the 2022 James Beard award for best new restaurant. We highly recommend it to all of our friends in South Florida and anyone visiting Miami.