With his job skewered by pandemic lockdowns, chef Pablo Zitzmann got busy rolling dumplings he sold on Instagram—and they were nothing short of amazing. In May of 2021, he opened a hard-to-find Coral Gables dumpling house that's really so much more than that. There’s a beautiful and delicious persimmon salad, potstickers punched up by Calabrian chilis, and chicken wonton dumplings swimming in umami courtesy of a rich parmesan broth. It’s not the Chinese you ate as a kid or, honestly, the Chinese they eat in China, but, hot damn, it is great.
We’re not here to judge anyone whose idea of Chinese food consists of greasy takeout noodles meant to soak up mistakes made at happy hour. No doubt, we’ve done that ourselves. We’re also not here to cast aspersions on those who define Chinese cuisine by three-figure duck dishes put out at swanky hotel restaurants. Because we like to eat that, too. The truth is, the range of Chinese spots represented on this list covers all of those bases, from ultra-luxe Brickell dim sum that’ll make you question whether you should’ve dressed nicer, to tried-and-true strip mall staples serving up the kind of takeout fried rice we all need in a pinch. Whether you’re seeking out somewhere delicious for Christmas Day in Miami, Lunar New Year or any old Sunday, these are the best spots to find Chinese food in Miami.
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