We didn’t expect to like Orilla as much as we did. It’s not that we doubted the Argentine spot’s dishes would be good, which they are very. It’s just that nobody would’ve expected, right there on South Beach’s busiest street, a verdant culinary oasis.
At the corner of Euclid and Fifth, Orilla’s chic dining room spills out to a courtyard enclosed by a leafy row of lighted palms. On the opposite wall, more palms fill a dramatic painting above a leather banquette, a backlit bar at the end. On the night we went, a hard rainfall trickled down into the planters, adding to the feeling that we were far away in some dewy Buenos Aires garden.
It’d be hard not to love the place just based on all of that. Luckily, the food is also stellar, beginning with a mahi mahi tiradito, ceviche-like but swimming in a punchy coconut milk vinaigrette. Both the empanadas, the cheesy spinach and beef in a tangy tomato sauce, came wrapped in flaky, golden brown dough. We ordered the New York strip, one of the signatures here, with a salty grill char from the time it spent over coals.
The star, though, was the Black Rice, a dish that’s a lot like Orilla itself. It arrived at our table looking unremarkable, as dark as a picture that your phone accidentally took in your pocket. But underneath, it’s smoky from bits of pork belly, deeply flavorful from squid ink and rich from a saffron aioli sitting on top. In the center, the rice is gooey and toothy, while the edges and bottom are crisped into socarrat, those crunchy grains of rice that take on so much flavor.
We ended our meal with the Tropical Pavlova, a textural mix of crunchy mascarpone, rich labneh cream, bits of fruits and edible flowers bringing pops of color and citrus.
Sometimes, a restaurant will surprise you by putting out plates far better than you expected. Other times, a place can win your heart with its comfortable space. Somehow, Orilla does both.
