As we were looking over the menu at JIA — a self-described “modern Chinese dinner club,” located at 808 1st Street, in Miami Beach’s “SoFi” area — a guest spotted the “Short Rib Dumpling - Short Rib, Peppers, Scallions” ($15) and insisted that we get an order.▫️
While we’re unsure what was used here, Giada De Laurentiis, an Italian-American chef, writer and TV personality, makes her version with salt/pepper, vegetable oil, garlic, onion, red wine, Dijon mustard, and low-sodium beef broth.
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Now when talking about this cut of meat, you’ll looking for a rich beefy flavor enhanced by some marbling. Considered by many to be the “ultimate comfort food,” it’s critical that the protein is slow-cooked in a wine-braising liquid to enhance the overall taste sensation.
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When we were doing some background research on this place, we were surprised by the absence of any information about the company, or its principals, on the restaurant’s website. The only information we could gather was from media interviews. (Was that an omen? Well, after trying their “Short Rib Dumplings,” we figured out what was going on.) Not only were the four bite-sized pieces we received way too sweet, but the “meat” — or whatever the heck this was — was gritty and chewy. Because it tasted nothing like short ribs, in dumpling form or otherwise, we plunked this dish with an “F.”
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This certainly isn’t a club that we’d join … even if they’d have us as members.
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