But first, special needs teacher Brenna McAteer says that when she wants to get a feel for Venice in South Florida, she heads over to the waterside paradise that serves delicious Pan Asian Latin fusion dishes.

From their complimentary popcorn and cotton candy, nothing is ordinary at this dynamic house.

It's located in Fort Lauderdale and it's called Casa Sensei.

My name is Will Reyes.

I'm one of the executive chef here at Casa Sensei on Las Olas.

We are a very successful Pan Asian Latin restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.

They start back in Peru, you know, to combine both cuisines and they just put it together, you know, flavors and ingredients together to come up with this type of cuisine.

He's been training for the past seven years.

We are very famous.

We're well known for the, you know, we welcome our customers with a popcorn with kimchi butter.

So that's something we've been doing since we, you know, open.

And people love the popcorn with the kimchi butter.

And then we finish up with like the cotton candy to make you remember of your childhood, you know, and to have a memory of Casa Sensei.

Casa Sensei is located in the heart of Las Olas, as you can see here.

I think we have one of the best waterfront dining experience in Fort Lauderdale.

People just love to come here, you know, sit by the canal, by the water, and they have the best experience.

Casa Sensei is mesmerizing, amazing, and the best in Fort Lauderdale.

Tell me a little bit about the area.

It's a cute little restaurant.

My cousin and I, we ate outside.

And beautiful lights, the atmosphere was great, and you almost feel like you're in Venice.

We just love it there.

We started off with pork bao buns and they were amazing.

I mean, the buns were soft.

[Michelle] Is it a pork belly?

Yes.

Okay.

[Brenna] Nice and crispy.

[Michelle] And bao buns are really, it's rice flour and and it's a little bit sweet, right?

And it just melts in your mouth.

They were to die for, I mean, it was I had the shrimp one.

Okay.

Oh, you did?

You had the bao bun with shrimp, okay.

[Cindy] Yes, and I had to ask how to pronounce it.

I didn't know.

[Michelle] The bao?

Yeah.

The bao.

Delicious, right?

Yes, excellent.

Absolutely delicious.

Aaron, what'd you think about the ambiance?

I thought it was very unique in the fact that it had several different seating options.

There's the main dining room and it curves around the bar.

And my wife and I ended up sitting halfway back and we had a window seat that actually overlooked the patio, the dock, and the waterway.

Oh, pretty.

So it was very pretty.

We were the only ones in the room at the time.

What did you have?

We had the bao buns as well.

[Michelle] Which one?

I had the pork belly.

My wife had the tofu.

I had the Korean bulgogi.

[Michelle] I love bulgogi.

[Aaron] Which was almost like lettuce wraps with romaine and string mushrooms.

And you could either eat it with a knife and fork, chopsticks, or actually make lettuce wraps out of it.

[Michelle] Beef bulgogi?

[Aaron] Correct.

It's the ribeye.

It was shaved ribeye bulgogi.

Cindy, what'd you think?

I loved it.

I thought that the ambiance was just...

It was hip, it was happening.

We went on a Saturday night, we went with another couple.

My girlfriend and I shared the crispy chicken and sesame seeds and it came in a caramel sauce over rice and it made the rice like a sticky rice.

It was just delicious.

And sharing was perfect because we did have the bao buns and we saved room for dessert.

I know you weren't drinking that night.

Anybody else have cocktails?

I had a Thaitini.

What's that?

Like the name.

[Aaron] On the advice of our server.

I'm not too much on cocktails but I went with what he had recommended and it turned out to be a great complement.

Did you have any kind of No, but I just love the plays on names, so that's a cute name, Thaitini.

Okay.

Dessert?

I had dessert with my group.

What'd you have?

[Cindy] We shared the lava cake and it was a really generous portion 'cause the four of us were able to have it.

And it had, you know, that hot thick chocolate that kind of pours out and there was a nice dollop of cream.

[Michelle] Ooze is the word that you really wanna use.

Oh, ooze.

Yes.

It's all about the ooze in the lava cake.

Yes, it was oozing.

And then there was the whipped cream.

I would've probably liked ice cream on that too, 'cause it was warm.

It traditionally is served with ice cream.

Yeah, but it was very good.

The first lava cake, which was served in New York, was served with vanilla ice cream.

Many, many, many years ago.

Yeah, I'm big on something sweet after dinner.

Even if I'm full, I love a little something sweet.

There's a different stomach for that, isn't there?

I think so.

Cotton candy and popcorn.

Definitely.

Hold on, I have to hear about this.

Did you have both?

We did, we had both.

We had the popcorn at the beginning and it was very flavorful.

We were trying to decide what the topping was on the popcorn.

Kimchi.

And my wife ended up asking the server and it's kimchi butter.

And it's super flavorful and it was just a very unique complement with a Thaitini and as an appetizer.

I wonder what flavor was your cotton candy?

It was like a strawberry.

Is it made in the kitchen, I guess, in the back?

I think it's made in the back.

It's just a nice surprise when they come out with it, you know?

Yeah, no doubt.

Does everybody get their own little cotton candy or is it one big one you can kinda pick at?

[Cindy] No, you can just kinda like share.

Okay, I like it.

Brenna, Casa Sensei was your pick.

Sum it up for us.

Casa Sensei, I would say, is a nice restaurant to go to with, you know, significant other, friends.

Make sure you sit outside to just enjoy the view and have a great, great time and with great food.

Lovely.

Aaron?

A true fusion experience in the heart of Las Olas.

[Michelle] Cindy?

I think Casa Sensei is a wonderful mix of Pan Asian and Latin.

Some really nice surprising flavors and a beautiful ambiance.

Well, you can enjoy unique dishes and otherworld atmosphere at Casa Sensei, located at 1200 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale.

Open for dinner on Mondays and for brunch, lunch, and dinner Tuesday through Sunday.

Reservations are accepted and the average price for dinner without drinks is about $70.

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