MIAReview
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The Aegean meze bar Doya has many qualities of a great restaurant. The food comes to the table fast and tastes various levels of very good to great. And then there's the restaurant itself, which is the kind of versatile space where you can have a relaxing, lazy lunch or a celebratory group dinner. Plus, you can generally find a reservation the very next day, even in the busy winter months, since the restaurant is so big.
Drop Doya in any neighborhood and it’d be a hit. But Doya isn’t just in any neighborhood, it’s in perpetually-slammed Wynwood. And yet, this place is refreshingly immune to all of the things about Wynwood that can annoy us (drunken crowds, impossible-to-book restaurants, overpriced mediocre food). It’s a low-stress dinner in a high-stress neighborhood. And no matter what kind of meal you’re trying to plan in Wynwood, there’s a good argument that it should happen here.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
On the hierarchy of things we like about Doya, the food is at the top. They have a perfectly-sized menu of cold and hot meze. It has enough options to please a party of six very picky eaters, but not so many options that you’ll need an hour and an Adderall to read the whole thing. The cold meze portion has easy-to-love dishes like a simple, stunningly tender octopus salad alongside things we’ve never seen on Miami menus, including a pile of refreshing sea beans with garlic yogurt that pop in your mouth like salty little water balloons. The hot meze section has plenty of hits too, like grilled tiger prawns and some of the best kebabs in Miami.
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Just about everything is ideal for sharing, and there are a few huge tables in the dining room that can accommodate big groups. There’s also a lovely outdoor patio shielded from the sidewalk by plants, tables perfect for couples on dates, and tons of bar seating where you can enjoy a solo dinner and one of Doya’s excellent cocktails.
If you come here for any of those occasions, two things are going to happen. First, you’ll have a pretty incredible meal. And second, you’ll forget, for a brief moment, why you’ve grown sick of Wynwood. At least until you inevitably walk outside, almost get run over by a screaming pedal pub, and remember.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Sea Beans
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Octopus Salad
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Mussels
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings
Adana Kebab
photo credit: Cleveland Jennings