Fluke Martini & Crudo Bar
Restaurant · Miami Beach
820 Alton Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139
Highlights
Martini & crudo bar with exceptional seafood towers, burgers
Martini & crudo bar with exceptional seafood towers, burgers
"This martini and raw bar spot doubles as an overachieving waiting room for its sister restaurant Macchialina, which is just next door. The martinis make up the bulk of the cocktail options, and they’re interesting and creative without being gimmicky. Each has a subtly brilliant twist. The finocchio delicato has a fennel infusion that doesn’t hit you until you begin to swallow. The fluke has a pinch of sherry and a pair of pickled grapes for garnish. And they all pair beautifully with the raw bar dishes that make up the bulk of the menu." - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo
"You order at this South Beach martini and crudo bar by filling out the menu like a Scantron test. Thankfully, there’s no such thing as bubbling in the wrong answer—the raw bar dishes here are excellent. But we will deduct a few points if you skip the seafood tower, the burger that eats like a french dip, and the savory finnochio delicato martini. Fluke is located inside Macchialina’s old dining room and is run by them, too. They don’t take reservations, and during happy hour (5-6:30pm), that incredible burger is just $10." - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo, mariana trabanino, virginia otazo, mariana trabanino, ryan pfeffer, ryan pfeffer, mariana trabanino, ryan pfeffer, mariana trabanino, virginia otazo, virginia otazo, virginia otazo, virginia otazo, mariana trabanino
"Crudo and martinis are a perfect summer meal. And by that logic, Fluke is a perfect summer restaurant. The Macchialina team converted their old dining room into a relaxed space where you can sip a fennel-infused martini while slurping oysters and crudo like a sea lion being rewarded for good behavior." - ryan pfeffer, mariana trabanino, virginia otazo
"Fluke will inspire anyone who’s ever had a room they just don’t know what to do with. The brick-walled bar used to be Macchialina’s dining room. But then the Italian restaurant took over the neighboring building, and this space sat empty for a year. It re-emerged as Fluke, a multifunctional bar/restaurant/great last-minute first-date option/overachieving waiting room for Macchialina, with precisely the utility mileage you dream of milking out of a guest room. You could simply come for a refreshingly unkooky martini garnished with pickled grapes. Fluke functions just fine as a bar, if that’s what you’re looking for. But it’d be sad to sit here without eating anything. Every raw bar dish is a good decision, and the burger, which used to be an elusive special at Macchialina, eats like a french dip. video credit: Ryan Pfeffer video credit: Ryan Pfeffer video credit: Ryan Pfeffer Pause Unmute Fluke may be trying to be a low-stakes third space, but its restaurant DNA can’t help but show itself. Even though you pay at the register, servers come by to make sure your seafood tower, built presumably by shrimp-obsessed civil engineers, is to your liking. They'll refresh plates and help you identify that flavor you can’t quite put your finger on in your martini (it’s coriander). Don’t let the food and service convince you to have a high-stakes dinner here, though. Fluke walks and talks like a restaurant, but it’s hard to build a proper meal from this flashcard-size menu, and there really isn’t a table that can handle a party bigger than four people. Plus, they don’t take reservations. Like its slippery namesake, the harder you try to squeeze Fluke into a category, the harder it wriggles. Luckily, you don’t have to put restaurants in boxes to enjoy them. And gobbling shrimp while sipping fennel-infused martinis is much more exciting than trying to define exactly what Fluke is. Food Rundown Finocchio Delicato There’s no bad martini here, but this fennel-infused one is our favorite. The fennel aroma doesn’t hit you until you begin to swallow. It also comes with a fennel chip you can chew on, which has the consistency of beef jerky. Our server said it reminds him of the facehugger from Alien, which we can never unsee now. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc House Focaccia Airy focaccia is great for mopping up leftover crudo drippings. But the award for Most Interesting Thing On The Plate goes to the black olive butter, a salty slap of fat you probably shouldn’t order on a date because it might stain your teeth black. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Fluke Crudo The tomato guazzetto that covers Fluke’s titular crudo tastes like a puddle of crisp spring water that studied tomatoes its entire life. Open up your palate with this and a martini. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Oysters Every time we order oysters here, the people working at Fluke lean in and look at us like they’re about to share classified information. “Have you ever tried oysters with…,” a pause for dramatic effect, “...stracciatella?” The $12 side of stracciatella you’ll inevitably buy isn’t purely an upsell. It is indeed a delightful combination you should try once. PlayMute video credit: Ryan Pfeffer Big Macch Burger The medium-rare patty is topped with fontina cheese, thin slivers of mushrooms, and comes with a genovese sauce for dipping. If the entirety of Fluke’s menu didn’t consist of refreshing raw bar dishes, these layers of savory flavors might be too rich. We said, if. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Seafood Tower If you’re here with three-ish people, get this. It’s a greatest hits of Fluke’s raw bar dishes, arranged with the vertical panache we expect from a seafood tower over $100. photo credit: Cleveland Jennings / @eatthecanvasllc Fluke Sundae The tart fruit granita (blood orange on the most recent visit) keeps you going back for spoonfuls of creamy gelato. This is a dessert with perpetual motion. We could eat this for infinity if it were big enough. PlayMute video credit: Julia Malavé" - Ryan Pfeffer
"Fluke’s Big Macc burger eats like a french dip. The medium rare patty is topped with fontina cheese, thin slivers of mushrooms, and comes with a metal ramekin of thick genovese for dipping. With no form of pickles or crunchy lettuce, it is several layers of savory, salty flavors stacked on top of each other. It might be too rich if the entirety of Fluke’s menu didn’t consist of refreshing raw bar dishes. But after a round of oysters and cold martinis, it’s just decadent enough to send you home full, or soak up that third martini you probably didn’t need to order." - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo, mariana trabanino
