Bilbao Cafe, 804 Ponce de Leon Blvd. _ 305/476-1381
Ernesto and Claudia Arduz closed their highly regarded North Miami La Taberna Espanola last year and took over this well-worn space dignified by Las Rias Gallegas for many a mango season. Prices are real budget-pleasers, starting with a terrific parade of tapas and soups as prelude to simply prepared, Ole!-seasoned chicken and steaks. On Sundays there's an expanded seafood menu. Lunch and dinner, entrees $8 to $12, daily.
Brasserie Les Halles, 2415 Ponce de Leon _ 305/461-1099
Classic capturing of the spirit and substance of a prize-winning Parisian pacesetter with clones in New York City and Washington, D.C. The onion soup will bring tears of remorse to anyone fortunate enough to have inhaled the reality of the great Paris market a quarter century ago. Indulge in freshly assembled p?t?s and terrines, fried-to-order steaks and that one-dish compendium called cassoulet. It lacks lamb, substitutes duck for goose and is loaded with white beans. Wait for a cold night for that one! Lunch and dinner, entrees $14 to $27, daily.
Claudius, 2626 Ponce de Leon _ 305/448-2626
Claudio Giordano left the running of La Bussola to his former wife and transformed the French Connection into a Cecil B. DeMille movie set where the next episodes of Derek Jacobi's "I Claudius" could be shot - in between sessions at the banquet table feasting on baby rack of lamb with rutabaga pur?e and green peppercorn sauce, black peppered pork tenderloin, New York strip steaks bedded on truffled potato mash, and grilled tuna reposing on layers of arugula and watercress wilted with warm balsamic vinegar. Start with a Caesar salad, of course. Lunch and dinner, entrees $12 to $30, daily.
Darbar, 276 Alhambra Circle _ 305/448-9691
Ever since the restaurant of the same name closed in Orlando, this has been my favorite Indian outpost in the state. Regal without being stuffy, friendly but not imposingly so, with an experienced kitchen that can produce top quality curries - to whatever degree of heat desired - superb tandoori chicken and breads, beautiful basmati rice and the palate-calming raita yogurt blend. Lunch and dinner, entrees $9 to $17, daily.
The Heights, 2530 Ponce de Leon _ 305/461-1774
Trail-blazing chef Frank Randazzo bravely applies lessons learned at New York City's Arizona 206 and Tribeca Grill, integrating the culinary contributions of Asia and the American Southwest, creating such major surprises as glazed Chilean sea bass with jicama and sweet potato ravioli, chile-spiked corn cakes, curried rabbit comforted by mushroom and white cheese enchiladas, and ceviche of scallops saluted with chopped cilantro, sweet red pepper, minced ginger and a sprinkle of serrano chile, spritzed with lime and orange. Lunch, Monday to Friday; dinner, entrees $12 to $28, Monday to Saturday.
Mylos, 1111 Ponce de Leon _ 305/461-0403
Greek grilling the way I learned to love it in the simple tavernas over there, committing whole fish to fire with a few drops of olive oil after a lively starter of saganaki - which is kefalotiri cheese flamed with brandy and doused with lots of lemon squeeze. Lamb and veal chops and meaty Greek sausages, even Maine lobster cooked on charcoal, reach new heights of simple satisfaction. There's live bouzouki music on the weekends, and dinner, entrees $12 to $25, nightly.
Restaurante Botin, 2101 Coral Way, Miami _ 305/856-6030
Strictly speaking not in the Gables but close enough and special enough to be included in all the good gustatory news gushing out of the City Beautiful. How could we not include a stunning outpost of "The oldest restaurant in the world," according to Guinness? Spanish origins go all the way back to 1725 near Madrid's Plaza Mayor. This stateside spinoff arrived 273 years later, and it is a Spanish knockout, complete with great beamed ceilings, marble floors, lots of tile and an 18th century wood-burning oven for slow roasting the Segovian lamb and suckling pig. Lunch and dinner, entrees $28 to $35, Tuesday through Sunday.
Rincon Argentino, 2345 S.W. 37th Ave. _ 305/444-2494
Luxuriating in its new location and featuring a center stage giant grill where there's always enough sizzling meat to feed an army and overload your platter with short ribs and steak, blood sausage, kidney and sweetbreads - the Argentinean answer to whole hog barbecue. Slather it all with the national sauce, chimicurri made with garlic, parsley, vinegar and more garlic; precede it with classic empanadas or the house specialty antipasto banquet with marinated artichokes and tongue. Lunch and dinner, entrees $10 to $24, daily.
Thai Orchid, 317 Miracle Mile _ 305/443-6364
What would a sustenance survey of this preeminent multicultural, internationalized city be without at least one entry from the Land of Smiles? A place for pla prig and pad thai, tom yum goong and all the green, red and masaman curries, the seductive flavor of coconut milk and the total reliance on freshness. My favorite orders here are the gingerfied whole snapper and the tri-flavored chicken breast with just the right tickling of tamarind, vinegar and garlic-spiked fish sauce accompanied by crunchy broccoli, snow peas and onions. Lunch and dinner, entrees $8 to $l8, daily.