Essensia Restaurant & Lounge, at The Palms Hotel & Spa

Reviews 6

MI

Michael Armentano

Essensia is the restaurant and lounge in the Palms hotel, located between the chaos of South Beach and the chaos of the Fountainbleau hotel. Parking was easy (valet) and the restaurant validates your ticket so youll pay 5$ plus tip. The hotel itself is adorned with beautiful palms and other tropical plants and trees and has an old Florida feel to it. I expected Ernest Hemingway to walk in at any moment, smoking a Cohiba and wearing a guayabera. There are quite a few interesting photos of various famous people that have presumably spent some time there. The restaurant has outside and inside seating, we elected for outside seating on the porch overlooking the pool and palm area. It was quite nice, and definitely has an old Florida/Key West feel to it. Except for the large family next to us whose 8 or 9 year old daughter was intent on informing the entire restaurant that she "had to go upstairs and take a dump" repeatedly, it was nice. I guess the moral of this part of the story is, ask to be seated away from the massive family with 14 screaming children and parents who clearly cannot be bothered (they are on vacation, after all). The cuisine was superb and service was excellent. They had an interesting and eclectic wine list, without being overwhelming. I opted for one from Cornas - from which Ive never seen available in Miami before. Pleasantly surprised to see a northern Rhone wine instead of just the standard southern Chateauneuf-du-Pape GSM blend. What we ordered: Thai lemongrass lime soup (excellent), chilled local lobster with palm hearts and local avocado (just ok, the lobster was not super fresh), beet and heirloom tomato salad with local Burrata(excellent), kale and citrus salad with almonds (excellent), Peruvian Paiche with spinach and a celery root puree (excellent) and a grass-fed Filet Mignon with a radicchio risotto (good). We originally ordered the short ribs and then the diver scallops wrapped in bacon, however they were out of both (no big deal - it happens when you use locally sourced small batch ingredients). The short rib dish in particular was described by our server as being the best thing on the menu. I love the fact that that the menu is farm-to-table and uses local, organic and seasonal ingredients as much as possible. Miami needs more places like this - well be back for sure. I cant wait to see what other creations Chef Julie puts on the menu going forward.

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JE

Jessica Coane

First off, Im absolutely astounded by the negative reviews. Ive been to this restaurant numerous times and this place is amazing. Im tough to please, ask many picky questions, and a perfectionist. This restaurant is one of my favorites in all of Miami and with good reason. Last night, we had a group of 10+ guests to celebrate my birthday. I was a bit sad to see that the gnocchi was removed from the menu, but it basically gave me an opportunity to try every other tantalizing menu option. My husband had some of our usual favorites, like the kale salad and lemongrass soup. I took the vegetarian Miami Spice menu set. They gave me a birthday cake dessert in addition to my spice dessert - which is extremely generous of them! The service was perfect. Our waiter was on point in terms of availability and food course timing. He handled our group very well with no order errors, a super friendly professional attitude, and efficiency. No management issues either. Everyone, as our previous experiences at this restaurant are superior to many Miami restaurants. A really cool tidbit about Essensia is that they grow their herbs and other veggie food products on site. They even give tours of their gardens. It doesnt get any fresher than this! The cuisine theme, in my humble opinion, is asian fusion. Its delicious. Comparing it to many of the other higher-end restaurants in the area, this restaurant is actually fairly reasonable (again, this is Miami - also, I dont eat meat out). If I could give this place a thousand stars I would.

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TR

Treat Thao

NEVER EAT in the Essensia Restaurant they have there. So over priced and food was not good at all. Service was poor. Ordered chicken but the server Gracia, must had placed the wrong order in for pork and later asked if I would change my order to the pork because it was the last one they had so they want to use it tonight, that they wont have anymore for tomorrow. So I agreed, and as soon as I agreed, they brought the food, so therefore they had already cooked it and didnt want to waste it so he had to come up with a lie for me to change my order. (Should have turned it away but didnt want to be a B****). The food had no taste. After my main dish, I was waiting for my dessert for 25 minutes, then finally asked one of the server to check why it was taking so long for my cheesecake. I know they dont have to cook the cake, so there is no reason for the long wait. No one came to check how things were. I had to ask for a refill on my water. This is supposedly a fine dining restaurant. Very poor service and definitely not fine dining food or services. Would not eat here ever again nor would ever recommend it to anyone unless you have money to throw away.

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DU

dukens obain

worst service ever. I was at the spa with my mother on her birthday, we decided to have lunch there and it was the worst decision ever. the decor is beautiful and the food is ok. i told the hostess and the server that it was my mothers birthday so they could make sure that her experience was on point. the server dropped off our wine, didnt take our orders and came back after 10 or 15 minutes(she was walking around, while we were waiting for her to take our order) with a " how may I help you" she didnt tell us anything about the menu or make suggestions. The manager is actually worse than the server. when I told her that the service sucked she told me that she disagreed with me and didnt even apologize. the only reason why i didnt walk out was because my mother wanted a quick bite and didnt want to leave after we wasted a good 15 minutes there. i dont know where they get these people from(manager/server). Avoid this place, especially if you are a local.

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JE

Jessica Clark

My husband and I returned to Miami this summer because we were here last year and had such a good time. We have been thinking of the cuisine we experienced at Essensia all year long. Last year our server was Johann and this year it was Gracie. Both are just wonderful. The cuisine is so fresh. Full of robust flavors and the plates are wholesome. You definitely wont still be hungry after dining here. The atmospher is splendid. All ingredients practically organic, and the meat and seafood is so fresh. My husband and I will drive 5 hrs to Miami just for this food. The menu did change some but the food the still amazing. The cocktails are also very fresh and delightful. Gracie recommended the Paddionfruit key lime which was absolutely melt in your mouth tasty. A great competitor to the famous Key West key lime pies but with a different twist. If youre in the area you have to visit this restaurant.

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EI

Eilleen Brindisi

Theres no doubt youre in lush, beautiful Florida when you sit on the gorgeous outside terrace. You feel like youre at a resort. My husband and I had the Sunday brunch buffet. I ordered an omelet and he a Belgian waffle at the station. Both came out well. The artisan jams at each table were a nice touch and paired well with the assorted breads and pastries inside. I must say, the bacon was cooked perfectly (I am particular about squishy bacon). The food quality was good. Its one of the better brunch buffets Ive been to. Cons: the coffee wasnt very good; bitter. The juices tasted deliciously fresh and are included in the buffet price, but good luck tracing down the wait-staff to have them bring you more than one. Overall: It was very nice; clearly fine dining.

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