Chow Down Grill

Sadly this place has closed :(
I love this place, great food!!!
Great food! Love this place! Always happy after leaving Chow Down!!!

We had a quick bite here last night and my only regret was that we didn’t come hungrier with more time to enjoy the delicious offerings!
The space is small but beautifully decorated. We sat outside because the AC was on too high, but bring and sweater and enjoy the slate walls and fanciful lighting.
Sometimes a restaurant is all flash and no substance, but not here! All of the menu items looked intriguing but short on time, we ordered a dumpling (shrimp, fennel and corn in squid ink dough) and a seafood noodle bowl — shrimp and eel in XO sauce over your choice of lo mein, udon or soba (we picked soba).
Prior to the food being brought out, we were brought a holster with 6 different sauces — chinese mustard, sricha, peanut, soy, plum and duck.
The dumplings were 4 plump packets encasing just the right amount of filling. I was eager to try the sauces, but the dumplings were so flavorful, they needed no enhancing.
Next, a steaming bowl of soba noodles came out. The XO sauce was pleasantly spicy and savoury without being overwhelmingly salty. The eel was a nice compliment to the noodles — the texture and slightly sweet flavor combined well with the sauce.
The food was not at all oily or overly salty as you sometimes find with «americanized» Chinese food.
There was one guy manning the bar and the dining room and he was friendly, fast and just super nice! I would love to come back (with a sweater!) and sit at the bar nibbling for a bit!

First time here — unplanned (had never heard of them)
It was awesome!

Just drove through the neighborhood and hopped on Unilocal.This place was ridiculously good. My girlfriend and I are thinking about moving to the area, and this place made me want to move yesterday.
Jason manages/​runs this location, the other location is in South Beach. The guy makes his own soy sauce. Did you hear me? He makes his own soy sauce. Homemade dashi, I’ve had Ramen in Japan and other countries, and this was the best, hands down.
Can’t wait to go back, do yourself a favor and go here

I wanted to like Chow Down Grill, cozy space nice seating around the bar all looked attractive, has a nice neighborhood feel but after taking out dinner on 3 different occasions i would say Stay Away
Menu simply looked so good had to give it a real try each time ordered 2 main dishes and appetizers to go not even one of the dishes had a flavor inviting enough to finish and if i would not be hungry and the option would not have been to order another take out and wait i would simply stop after the first bite, today I tried their Phở it was just so lame that no matter how hungry. i am throwing it out and going to get something from Tamarind which is less than 5 min away … and next time I have a Phở craving i guess will have to make the shlep to Miss Saigon … and if I feel lazy only will have to think about Mr. Chow and that would be a motivation enough

This is not just any take out type Chinese place. They use super fresh ingredients and add kind of a bistro twist on a lot of the more expected Chinese dishes.
We had the beef and mushroom dumplings which are handmade. The filling was delicious and you could tell they were fresh. I also had wonton soup and lo mein. The wontons were very tasty and the dough of the wraps had squid ink in them and an almost Italian ravioli like consistency. My only complaint was that the broth was a little bland. The lo mein had really tasty fresh veggies in it and the noodles were thin and not as heavy as most lo mein noodles I have had which was great. Lastly they make all their own sauces in house so be sure to try them all because they are great.
If you are looking for Chinese that is fresh and delicious then definitely check this place out.

Overall the food is very fresh and high quality, some of the dishes are small for the prices, but overall good food and service. The dumplings are fantastic, but once again $ 8 for 4 dumplings is a bit high.
I would give this place 3.5 stars, but it’s not a knock on the quality of the food here.

Chow Down Grill has quickly become my favorite Surfside restaurant for light eating.
Everything’s a hit — the dumplings and the soups are made quickly from quality ingredients and you won’t go wrong with any of the sandwiches, either. Make sure to also check out the interesting sauces they throw in, gratis.
I’ve also found their delivery to be quick and they’ve never messed up an order.

The food here was respectable for sure, but 4.5 stars on Unilocal and Eater rated it the 2^nd trendiest restaurant in Miami. COME ON! It was decent all around. The ramen was not top-​notch. (I am used to LA’s finest.) The dumplings were the best. Also, I was expecting a larger and more luxurious space. Maybe if I walked in off the street, I would have been impressed.

Excellent, excellent food and service. Asian comfort food cooked in front of our eyes with homegrown ingredients. It felt like a great off-​the-​beaten path discovery.
I was in Miami for a conference and had heard from some friends to check this place out. I took some colleagues with me and we all loved it. We ordered plate after plate of everything and shared it amongst the group.
I like forward to the next time I get to Miami and can eat there again.

Interesting Chinese for sure. This is the only Chinese place I’ve been to where they did not have chopsticks. But whatever. They cuisine is more Neo-​Chinese than anything. Homemade Crab Rangoon and Dumplings were really good.
The portions were small and they were blasting 90 Grunge Rock, so the vibe wasn’t all there. It has potential though.
I’ll try it again.

If I can give it a 2 ½ I would but I’ll be nice! The service is good very nice, friendly & informative. Atmosphere is nice & relaxing. The food did NOT reach the high expectations I had from what I had heard =\
The food is overall bland & I would honestly prefer Chinese take out.
Maybe I just need to retry this place another time it might change my ratings! =)

Dumplings! What more to say? I’m craving more and will be going back to Chow Down to… wait for it… chow down the amazingly fresh and nuanced dumplings.
My one regret, and therefore the 4 vs. 5 stars, was that I didn’t show up hungry. Next time, I’ll purge appropriately before my dumpling binge.

Dear Miami,
I’m so over Japanese & Thai restaurants, please stop! Thank goodness for ChowDown!
Ok 5 stars for something that is not in «many» ways traditional anything is not traditional.
The food is delicious. It’s not overly seasoned and at first I was annoyed but then the sauces tray came out and I was hooked! I’ve eaten a lot of things on the menu and I thought it was all great. Even the phở, which hardly resembles its roots, was great (as a current Californian I know). I feasted on many lunches there through the holidays. Always tried something different.
I think it really reflects the Surfside scene (and maybe even the palette). Asian fusion 101. Seems like the Miami food scene is just beginning to learn about Asian cuisine and the future looks bright.

If you ever see the PE mussels in Josh’s green curry sauce: ORDER it. It’s wonderful. A touch of basil and a spicy kick add just the right notes to balance the sweetness of the mussels. Lovely!
Josh also makes a XO sauce that adds depth to veggies and seafood for the ultimate umame experience. Foodgasms galore to be had with the perfect chow fun with XO sauce.

This place is really cute, not that many tables maybe 2 – 3. Then about 8 seats at the bar. I believe when I was driving by I saw they put a few tables outside, which will be nice once the humidity goes away. I went when they first opened because the menu looked really good, and so did the prices ! I started off with Shrimp Dumpling/​Fennel/​Corn & Squid Ink. For my entrée I got a noodles dish, with stir fried shrimp. Excellent the noodles where thick and fresh, and tasting like nothing I have ever had in any restaurant in Miami. This place is great I wouldn’t go with more then 4 people because you may have a hard time finding a seat !

Yum. Every item to enter my mouth made it and associated sensory organs Very Happy Indeed. Crab Rangoon. You bet. Basil chicken dumplings. Heck yeah. Chop salad. Delicious. Whole yellowtail with green curry, purple potatoes and bok choy. Terrific. Me and my faithful sidekick split this and a few excellent microbrews and left both satisfied and eager to return.
J&J were happy, engaging hosts. Sit at the bar and watch them work! We came in late Saturday afternoon and got lots of love. Recommended!

As a native Californian, you don’t appreciate the vast assortment of Asian cuisine available to you until you move to say, Miami Beach. While there is an (over) abundance of Japanese/​some-​other-​random-​Asian-​food restaurant (Sushi Siam? Seriously?), Chinese restaurants are limited to ubiquitous takeouts catering to American palates (pick one on SoBe; any one) or overpriced Asian Fusion (Mr. and Philippe Chow). Vietnamese? Korean? Yeah, good luck finding that.
Having said that authenticity isn’t really the point here. If you want quality Chinese-​Style dishes you’re limited to few options and chief among them is the newly opened Chow Down Grill in Surfside.
Chow Down isn’t authentic — you try to tell a Chinese person otherwise and they’ll probably smack you — and they’re probably better for it. What their food is «Asian inspired» and their food will certainly remind you of some of the takeout you’ve been ordering. I mean, other than the fact that it’s actually good and it arrives on a plate. (Okay fine, takeout IS available.)
The first thing their menu is the innocuously titled «Sandwich,» which gets its inspiration from the Vietnamese «Bahn Mi.» I’ve had my share of Bahn Mis and this is pretty freakin’ good. They use a 24-​hour Braised Beef that provides a better texture and flavor than the stringy, gristly stuff you’ll find in many Vietnamese restaurants. It’s dressed with an amazing pâté aïoli (a fancy French word for «mayo») so the flavors coalesce beautifully into something that will rival most city’s signature sandwiches.
Also available is a selection of dumplings and rolls and you can’t go wrong with any one of them. The Shrimp Dumplings with the Squid Ink wrap are the winners, while the Egg Rolls are stuffed with a mix of chicken and shrimp and not at all greasy. Dipping them into any one of the six sauces available at the table enhances the Asian-​ness in the dish.
On my second visit, I tried the «House Special Noodle Soup,» which is their take on the classic Vietnamese dish Phở. It contains most of the ingredients required to be called such but the key difference is that true Phở calls for raw, thinly sliced beef that’s cooked in the hot broth. Here the raw stuff is more than adequately substituted by the same 24-​hour braised beef used in the Sandwich. The broth itself is light and lucious while being refreshingly unsalted and can be augmented with any of the sauces so you can adjust the flavor to your liking. (Hint: ask for the Fish Sauce. Thank me later.)
While that’s all appetizing, where Chow Down sets themselves apart from most other «Chinese» places is the Entrees. Pick a protein (like Organic Chicken or Black Angus Steak) and then pick a sauce. Theirs isn’t the typical MSG and glucose-​laden goop you might be used to. Made using French sauce methods, they impart a savory bite, yet aren’t in any way heavy.
Choose the Steak with the Mongolian sauce and you get their version of Mongolian Beef and Broccoli, though instead of the chewy bits of meat, where questions about what part of the cow they come from are best left unanswered, a Black Angus Ribeye is utilized. Similarly, the sauce isn’t the starchy gruel you might be accustomed to, instead possessing a smooth texture and a balance of sweet and spice that complements the steak. Both are accompanied by vibrant, green stalks of broccolini that are toothsome, tasty, and tender (I love alliteration.)
The grilled chicken is juicy and amalgamates well with either the Spicy Szechuan sauce (which, surprise, is actually spicy — and I don’t mean just for uninitiated masses who might consider tomatoes spicy) or the Green Curry sauce, with its perfectly cooked baby potatoes and crisp bok choy.
Available on any given night are an array of specials on the Blackboard. It could range from Baos crammed with duck or quail to various entrée specials like Octopus or Eel. (Yes! Eel!) Like the entrees, the meat is allowed to showcase its own virtues without being drowned in some random sauce the way most «authentic» places do.
Dishes here are lighter than what you might expect, and not necessarily in just portion size. You can easily indulge yourself and walk out without feeling like a bloated mass. Again, the emphasis is on quality, locally sourced ingredients. So long as you have that knowledge in hand and don’t try to order Kung Pao or (God forbid) General Tso’s whatever, you’ll be fine.
You know how most Chinese places leave you hungry again 30 minutes after you meal? Here you might be hungry again within 15 minutes, but the sense of satisfaction will linger much longer. Then again it’s the perfect excuse to go back to Chow Down Grill and sample even more Asian-​inspired awesomeness.

Take creative short-​order style preparation with Asian flair & your pick of meat /​/​chicken /​/​fish (& a sauce box to brag about) & you get Chow Down. Authentic effort & a very knowledgeable Chef. Was able to enjoy reasonably-​priced Japanese, Vietnamese & Chinese fare & maintain my weight. Suggest dumplings & rolls to start: Crispy Crab Rangoon did the trick for us; but, the variety lends itself to trying a few. If you enjoy Vietnamese noodles (‘Phở”), the portion is a the small side. For an entrée: Mongolian BBQ & the Spicy Szechuan coupled with Black Angus steak and Organic chicken, respectively. You really can’t go wrong: That sauce box really impresses!

I try not to review after only one visit. Exceptions are those that are really fantastic, the really horrible ones and the places to which I never really need to go back. (What’s up with all the one-​hit reviews for this place?)
This food is GREAT. I don’t know if it’s authentic Chinese but I do know that I’m not Chinese and I think the food kicks ass. The shrimp and chicken eggrolls — maybe the best eggrolls I’ve ever had; really. Fried rice, very delicious. My friend had the Mongolian Beef. Forget all Mongolian Beef you’ve ever had. Scrumptious.
I had the octopus special with green curry. As another reviewer stated, the portions are not HUGE (this is a good thing) and my entrée was not swimming in green curry as I might have expected. The artfully added, delicious curry was the strength of my dish. I appreciated the curry as an accent.
In addition to the great food, they have a selection of homemade classically inspired Chinese sauces that are as refreshing as the food.
For dessert, a peach bread pudding; not too sweet; very enjoyable. I wish they had some after dinner alcohol; even a dessert wine or a moscato d’asti.
It’s wonderful (and rare) to find a great place like this. I hope they keep it consistent.