@juztjosh walks into the video already bracing for what he’s about to describe. “I got scammed at a 500 dollar restaurant in Miami,” he says. “And they had me in there looking silly and just foolish.” What follows is a course-by-course account of a $500, 20-course tasting menu with wine pairing at El Cielo — an experience he went into expecting to channel his inner food reviewer and came out of mostly just hungry.
The trouble started before he even sat down: after booking a non-refundable reservation, he says the restaurant wouldn’t pick up the phone because staff didn’t speak English. He arrived anyway, rolling up his sleeves, ready to be, in his words, “the next Keith Lee.” The meal opened with a shot that, he says, barely tasted alcoholic, followed by a sorbet he didn’t care for — and an exchange with a server that set the tone for the rest of the night. When he asked her to take the dish “off the bill,” she thought he meant take it off the table. “Get the fuck out my face,” he jokes, recreating his own exasperation.
From there, the portions only got smaller. A truffle ball arrived with instructions to take small bites — “if I wanna get more than two, that’s all I can do,” he says — and he quickly realized nearly every course, wine pours included, was that same micro scale. A bouquet of flowers showed up at the table with a note that only the orange ones were edible; Josh had already tried eating a different part of it earlier, assuming it was a sauce. “I don’t know how to eat this,” he says. “I know you fucking lying.”
By the time the meal reached its midpoint, Josh says he was legitimately hungry — hungry enough that he found himself eyeing decorative elements on the plate, wondering if they were meant to be eaten too. The interactive moments were memorable, at least: a course where diners pour chocolate over their hands, then exfoliate with coffee grounds before washing it off, left his hands “feeling smooth and soft,” he admits, even as his stomach stayed empty. When lamb chops finally appeared on the menu, he was relieved — until he received exactly one.
The final course, called “Lick Me,” instructed diners to lick the plate clean. By then, Josh says the absurdity of the whole night had fully set in. He’d spent $500 on a meal built almost entirely around presentation and theater rather than food, delivered by a kitchen he couldn’t communicate with, in portions that left him hungrier than when he arrived. “I just feel like this had to be a humiliation ritual,” he says. “It was like the dishes were all about the display.”
What Josh’s Night Says About High-Concept Tasting Menus
Everything here reflects Josh’s own account of his meal, told with plenty of comedic exaggeration but grounded in specific, consistent detail — the shot, the sorbet, the flowers, the hand-washing course, the single lamb chop. This piece isn’t independently confirming the restaurant’s exact process, but his story does illustrate a real tension in experiential fine dining.
- Concept-driven dining prioritizes spectacle, and that’s often by design. Restaurants built around theatrical, multi-sensory courses are generally selling an experience first and a meal second — something worth knowing before booking if you’re going in hungry.
- Ask about portion expectations before a tasting menu, not during. Dining etiquette experts suggest eating a light meal beforehand for any high-course tasting format, since even well-executed versions rarely leave guests full.
- Language barriers at a restaurant are a legitimate service concern. Struggling to get a straightforward answer about a $500 reservation, as Josh describes, is a fair reason to hesitate before booking somewhere sight unseen.
- A non-refundable reservation raises the stakes of research. Reading recent reviews and confirming what the experience actually includes matters more, not less, when there’s no way to back out once you’ve paid.
Miami’s fine dining scene has leaned hard into spectacle in recent years, and Josh’s night is a useful reality check for anyone drawn in by the viral clips of chocolate hand-washing stations and tiny sculpted courses: the theater can be genuinely fun, but it’s worth knowing going in that “20 courses” doesn’t always mean 20 meals’ worth of food.
You can watch the full video and follow @juztjosh on TikTok for more.
As a mom of three busy boys, I know how chaotic life can get — but I’ve learned that it’s possible to create a beautiful, cozy home even with kids running around. That’s why I started Cultivated Comfort — to share practical tips, simple systems, and a little encouragement for parents like me who want to make their home feel warm, inviting, and effortlessly stylish. Whether it’s managing toy chaos, streamlining everyday routines, or finding little moments of calm, I’m here to help you simplify your space and create a sense of comfort.
But home is just part of the story. I’m also passionate about seeing the world and creating beautiful meals to share with the people I love. Through Cultivated Comfort, I share my journey of balancing motherhood with building a home that feels rich and peaceful — and finding joy in exploring new places and flavors along the way.
