LOST AT THE BAZAAR

I so much wanted to like "The Bazaar by Jose Andreas" (South Beach)

The dining area is fanciful ...

And had a hip feel ...

And while there were some delays between courses, overall, the service was quite good.

The specialty drinks were a bit heavy.

Pictured aabove: Passion Fruit Up -- rum, passion fruit and ginger-laurel syrup, topped with passion fruit foam.

But the food ... was such a letdown. Way too "schticky" for my tastes.

Pictured above (left): Bagels and Lox -- salmon roe, dill cream cheese. (No explosion of tastes. Just a mush.)

Aceitunas Rellenas, piquillo pepper, anchovy, olive oil (right)

Crocquetta De Pollo (top)

and (far right) Endives with capriola farm goat cheese, oranges, almond, orange dressing.

The Mediterranean Mussels -- were lost in its olive oil, sherry vinegar, pimenton presentation.

Had fanastic olives in Spain. These were quite pedestrian.

And we couldn't taste the fish in the Cuban Escabeche "Estefan's Way" -- hamachi, picked onions, sour orange.

The Beef Sui Mai, kaffir lime, daikon -- were bland; virtually tasteless.

The Dragon Fruit Ceviche, with tuna, pecans, lime, hibiscus was interesting. (Refreshingly light and different.)

But I would stay clear of the Not Your Everyday Caprese, cherry tomatoes, liquid mozzarella.

(Why so much pesto? And why was the cheese lacking punch?)

Sorry, but this course -- the Sauteed Shrimp, with garlic, parsley, lemon, guindilla pepper -- didn't taste fresh.

(We found the shrimp way too tough.)

And we left not understanding what people like about the Bone Marrow with Hamakua Farms hearts of palm, citrus, capers.

It went unfinished.

My favorite dish of the evening -- at least one which didn't disappoint -- was the Brussels Sprouts, with lemon puree, apricots, grapes, lemon air, banana.

The Pollo al Ajillo Cubano -- slow-cooked chicken leg, black garlic -- had a tough texture.

(Should have been more "buttery.")

And the Papas Canarias -- salty wrinkled potatoes -- were way too salty.

(Pollo al Ajillo Cubano)

The chintzy cheese course consisted of:

Manchego ‘Pasamontes’ / Sheep (d.o. manchego, la mancha)

a sweet and tangy sheep’s milk cheese, paired with compressed apples in muscatel

Valdeón / Cow and Goat (d.o. asturius)

intensely flavored blue cheese of cow and goat’s milk, paired with px wine, raisins

Garroxta / Goat (catalunya)

semi-soft goat's milk cheese, with delicate flavors of milk and a hint of nuttiness, paired with fig jam and walnut bread

Deconstructed Key Lime Pie -- key lime spread, marazpan drops and graham cracker crumbs -- was a bit too deconstructed for me.

And by the time we got to the Pan Con Chocolate -- chocolate cream, cocoa crumble, brioche ice cream, olive oil -- we were on Jose Andres overload. (Like many of the courses, this also went unfinished.)