Reastaurants near MIA

Hi

As we will have hours to fill between leaving the ship and our flight from Miami at 1700 hours does anybody know a good restaurant near the airport where we good get a good lunch and pass away a few hours:D

Kinda depends on what you're looking for. Catch of the Day on 42nd Ave and 11th St is a seafood/sports bar with decent food and comparatively cheap stone crab claws. There are also several good Cuban places on 41st and 42nd between 7th & 9th (La Caribe, La Rosa, & Latin Cafe 2000) plus a couple in the airport itself (La Carreta and Cafe Versailles).

I like the look of La Rosa and Latin Cafe has anyone been to both or either:D

Unfortunately stone crabs are out of season...October until the middle of May.

I have a couple other suggestions.

Why not spend time at a nice hotel near the airport? The Biltmore is 5 miles away and the Mandarin Oriental is 8 miles away (both under 20 minutes with traffic). The atmosphere at these properties is phenomenal (the Biltmore has an old world Floridan feel) and they both have a wide variety of restaurants, bars, pools and other relaxation areas. The Azul (asian fusion) at the Mandarin Oriental, and the Palme d'Or (French) and Fontana (Mediterranean) at the Biltmore have all won awards. The weekend brunch at the Biltmore is very good. Plus, you can leave your bags with the Bell staff and they have shuttles to the airport.

If you are at all nervous about the hustle and bustle of travel, the long TSA lines, etc., I would highly recommend the Centurion lounge at Miami Airport. It is an oasis amongst the chaos. Show them your AMEX Platinum card and everything is free. In my opinion, the food is more flavorful and of higher quality than what I had in the Colonnade buffet (though, the number of choices are more limited). Also included are the fully stocked bar. The free pour wines are of a much, much higher quality than what is found on Seabourn. The Centurion lounges are meant to compare with the foreign carrier first class lounges found in their overseas hub cities.

Yes the Centurion is far better than the Admirals Club and other airline lounges. I grew up right across from the Biltmore and played golf there. This place is a true memory of what Miami was and beautiful. You absolutely cannot go wrong with the Mandarin or the Four Seasons. Any of these choices are excellent as Sananda mentioned.