We've been hearing that we should try out Soyka for quite some time. We're already fans of Mark Soyka's other restaurants, Miami Beach's News Cafe and Van Dyke. We like those restaurants so much that we almost avoided his namesake at all costs.

"I create a mood, a comfortable place that people want to hang out in and socialize, people watch. People are fascinated by people. More than anything else, I offer a large variety of comfort food and the wish for my customers never to be rushed... their home away from home. If I have accomplished that, I have done my job.” - Mark Soyka

At long last the Mark's List gang found ourselves in Soyka. With the near completion of the Biscayne Corridor improvements we are drawn into neighborhoods that for the past few years have been a little hard to get to. That includes 55th Street Station, home of clothing store U.D./Style Lab and restaurants Soyka, Andiamo and Susihi Siam.

Everything at Soyka is just as we expected, absolutely perfect. The food is a gastronomical delight. The service is incredible. The people are beautiful.

Let's get down to business. We ordered several things and ate off each others plates so that we could try as much as possible. For starters we had French Onion soup and gazpacho. Both delicious. In fact, the gazpacho was possibly one of the best I've ever had. Typical gazpacho can become acidy tasting while being chilled. The Soyka soup was heavier on cucumber than others, lighter on spices and came with Soyka spelled out in sour cream on top. Quite tasty. The Caesar Salad with croutons and shaved pecorino was a huge hit. Pecorino is a very dry flavorful cheese and it's quite frankly the perfect addition to what would otherwise be a rather ordinary salad. We also ate a wonderful vegetable quiche. Again, not too heavy and possibly the best quiche ever. I'm not kidding.

Next up were BBQ ribs, sweet potato fries and onion rings. The ribs were so tender that when we pulled the meat off of the first bone, the next bone pulled away. The meat continued to fall off the ribs in succession. I'm not a big fan of orange potatoes (a.k.a. sweet potatoes), but there were other people at the table that were, and they were very satisfied. The onion rings were freshly made, not at all greasy and very crunchy.

If our great meal wasn't enough, we overheard the folks at the table next to us raving about the crab cakes. We weren't the only group that was impressed. The menu also includes pizza, burgers, steaks, pasta, several salads and a nice well rounded vegetarian menu. Something for just about everyone.

The decor is mid 20th century industrial, in keeping with the fact that this is in a renovated group of warehouses. Soyka has huge windows, concrete walls and an open kitchen that becomes part of the show.

Our server had a habit of dropping another glass of soda or water off just as we were about to take the final sip. In fact it got to the point where we were sucking down our soft drinks faster and faster just to see of he could keep up. When he choked, the server of the table next to us filled in for him. And I'm not making this up!

The manager made the rounds, asking how things were at table after table and someone remarked that he must be very confident. And why not? What a wonderful restaurant. Soyka now comes with Mark's List highest recommendation.