Restaurants in Three Lakes

The chefs at Calamari Restaurant strive to create familiar, comforting Italian foods with house-made ingredients and ocean-fresh fish. With an emphasis on seafood dishes, they grill salmon fillets and stuff lobster ravioli that the Miami New Times placed 50th on its list of 100 Favorite Dishes in 2010, calling it "the entrée that will keep you coming back for more." They also strive to recreate homemade flavors by creating their own Italian sausages and pasta, and roast pizzas in a wood-burning brick oven within sight of the dining room.

In addition to an indoor dining room, outdoor tables with checkered cloths surround a garden fountain, "evoking a seaside picnic," according to a 2009 review in the Miami Herald.

The chefs at Morgan's Restaurant transform locally sourced ingredients into made-from-scratch dishes that pull influences from all over the world. Entrees include international dishes such as pan-seared Scottish salmon, Moroccan-style stew, and moules frites with French fries. Though the restaurant's wraparound porch may exude an old-fashioned charm, the interior's chic ambiance, replete with mirrored walls and hanging light fixtures, creates a modern dining atmosphere for brunch, lunch, and dinner.

At Siam Oishi, Bangkok native Poompaka "Pio" Komolvasri plates sushi, japanese noodles, and traditional Thai cuisine using skills she honed at Le Cordon Bleu in Miami. Handmade dishes imported from Thailand enhance her already artful presentation of sushi, which range from hand rolls to larger 10-piece maki.

The recipes at Tabu Bistro are no accident. Owner and Head Chef Marcelo Bonti makes 15, sometimes 20, attempts at perfecting a recipe before the dish makes it on the menu. "I work backwards," he says. "I'm never really sure what I'm looking for. I start with the basic, then I go from there." The menus' fusion flavors just as often clash as complement each other, much like pants with pleats in all three legs. The Tuna Tataki—with its barley risotto and pepper-crusted tuna—is a signature example of the way Tabu Bistro paints the palate with surprising and refreshing tastes. The cuisine's influences spring from the mountains of the Basque region and the coasts of the Italian peninsula. Tapas dishes offer up the region's best bite-sized samplings with potato and cod croquettes and shrimp pesto bruschetta.

Marcelo's inventive nature is not limited to the culinary arts. As a builder, he also constructed Tabu Bistro's cozy dining space of dark woods, metal, and stone, which cradles conversations between couples and groups. Outside, paver bricks raise a terraced patio off the sidewalk where lush planter boxes and umbrellas frame the space.

When Latin House Burger & Taco Bar originated more than 20 years ago, it wasn’t even a house. Instead, Chef M and his wife, Bella, served their fusion of American and Latin cuisine from the window of one of Miami’s first food trucks, easily eclipsing the still-fledgling industry's typical fried fuzzy dice and mud-flap sandwiches. Nowadays, they've traded their wheels in for chairs, on which patrons sit before savoring plates of tacos, burritos, and tostadas with fillings ranging from cilantro-lime chicken to calamari. As a testament to the eatery's dual cultural influences, Latin House's burgers—usually cooked to a juicy medium-rare—dwell under taco-style toppings such as crema and avocado as well as traditional American accouterments such as bacon and cheese.

At Wok Town, chili, ginger, and curry season pan-Asian dishes for fast food that's both flavorful and healthy. The menu features noodle dishes, rice boxes, and woks such as the Mongolian, which comes with a choice of meat or tofu drizzled with chili-spiced soy sauce and bell peppers. In addition to these hearty options, Wok Town throws together Positive Wok choices lauded by the Miami New Times for their "lightness and freshness not always inherent in Chinese food." The article goes on to note that each dish can be spiced with complimentary hot chili sauce or fiery chinese mustard. Dishes can be consumed along communal tables and benches, ordered online for take-out, or delivered by flying wok.