A quest to finding the best ribs in Miami is no easy task. Many have their favorite restaurants and especially locals prefer some of the historically honored traditional establishments such as Shiver's or Shorty's.

A good rib is one that is tender, not dry and above all else, tasty. And with these come subjective interpretations, which is delicious to one person may simply be atrocious to another. Some are ok with parboiled ribs for tenderness while others demand that they be slow roasted or slowly smoked. There are varying styles of barbecue that differ from Texas to North Carolina as well as the regional accompanying sauces.

I went to four different barbecue places to try their selection, in search of the best ribs and I was surprised at the complexity of the task. Each place I went to held their own and have their own special merits and I could easily go to any of these places depending on what I am in the mood for on that particular day. I am in the fortunate, or if you look at my waistline, unfortunate position of liking everything, beef ribs, spare ribs, baby back ribs, so long as it tastes good and the meat is tender.

First on the list is Shiver's BBQ in Homestead. It is a landmark and has been around since the 1950s.

They have a large variety of offerings and when it comes to ribs they have the full gamut of pork spareribs, baby back ribs and beef ribs. You can get all three in the "rib trio" which is what I did:

When it comes to South Florida, Asian flavors are lacking. This is probably due to location as it is literally as far away from East and South Asia as you can go. Ghee ( https://www.gheemiami.com/ ) is a bright spot in what is otherwise a desert for quality indian food.

The atmosphere is very trendy with somewhat loud jazzy music. The arrangements are very interesting and inviting with a wall of ingredients that surround a dark warm interior.  There is plenty of parking, which is validated, and plenty of outdoor seating. It was a very warm day when I visited so I decided to sit inside. There is a bar area where individuals can opt to sit which was full of older women when I went on a weeknight.

The staff was not up to the quality that I have been used to, although the waiter was excellent, the host and greeting staff seemed flat which was heartbreaking however I will chalk it up to being an off day. The waiter was superb in his recommendations to keep you away from all the same flavor profiles and allow you to sample a variety. It is obvious that there is a lack of sophisticated knowledge of nuanced asian flavors in south florida and the wait staff is well prepared to get you on the right track, if needed. The menu changes roughly monthly and there is a "this menu was printed on this date" at the bottom, which I appreciate and am excited about. What is really nice is that menu items are labelled if they are gluten free, vegetarian, vegan, or halal. Of course, non of these affect me as I have no dietary restrictions but I have plenty of friends who fret over this when they go out for food. What is even nicer is that the spice and ingredients are grown fresh from the family's farm in Homestead.

The menu includes a chef's tasting menu which also changes. I will definitely try this next time I go.

For my meal I had the Duck Confit Samosa with cranberry chutney and short rib dosa to start off. One of my favorite indian foods is samosa and I found this sort of ok but to my surprise the short rib dosa was extremely good.