Watch Me Eat

BurgerFi in Delray Beach, FL

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

I recently ate dinner at BurgerFi in Downtown Delray Beach. This fast food burger chain reminded me of a modern version of Five Guys with a better menu.

I had a strawberry milkshake as my drink. It came topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. For almost $5, I thought it was somewhat expensive for the size cup the milkshake was served it. Tasted good though.

Fries and onion rings. The onion rings were good, but the fries were very average.

I had a Chicago Style Chicken Apple Sausage. The sausage was served on a poppy seed bun, topped with tomato, onions, relish, peppers, and a pickle slice. BurgerFi was generous with the toppings, but I was expecting something a little different with the sausage itself. I couldn't detect any sort of apple flavor and the sausage tasted like a normal hot dog to me.

Overall, the food was pretty average at BurgerFi. I wouldn't purposefully rush back any time soon, but it definitely was better than Five Guys (I don't get the appeal of that place) and other similar burger chains.

Anh Hong in Orlando, FL

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Anh Hong is a Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of Mills and 50. They have apparently won various awards, plus I had heard people I know personally say good things about the place. Hearing all this, I figured it was about time to give Anh Hong a try...

I wasn't impressed the first time I was here. I ordered the Meatball Pho and the broth was very bland. The beef broth in pho is normally really flavorful, but in this case I had to add lots of condiments to give it some more taste. The meatballs weren't much better, tasting much better after being dipped in some hoisin or sriracha. For a restaurant that claimed to be award winning, I was disappointed.

A few months later, I decided to give Anh Hong another try. I forget the exact name of the dish that I ordered, but according to some of the online menus I found, I had the Cho Lon Combo. This was a big bowl of egg noodles, topped with shrimp, squid, crab meat, roast pork, assorted greens, jalapenos, and lime slices. A bowl of broth was served on the side. I'm not sure the proper eating technique of getting the broth on the side like this, but I ended up pouring it over everything in my larger bowl. Unlike my first soupy experience at Anh Hong, the food tasted much better this time around. The broth had lots of flavor, the meats were cooked to perfection, and was overall good.

My first meal at Anh Hong left room for improvement, but they redeemed themselves on my second visit. I'll go back...

Green Day Cafe in Orlando, FL

2012-01-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

Green Day Cafe is a healthy, eco-friendly fast food restaurant on Lee Road in Orlando in an old Taco Bell building. I was intrigued by the concept when I first heard about the restaurant but really didn't think they would last. Green Day Cafe is still open after a few years since I first noticed them, so I decided it was about time to taste their eco-friendly food.

I had their 7-Layer Rice Bowl (Green Day Cafe is in a former Taco Bell building. My menu item of choice at Taco Bell is a 7-Layer Burrito, and I ordered a 7-Layer Rice Bowl here!). This large portion of brown rice was topped with black beans, colby jack cheese, guacamole, salsa, hummus, and buffalo sauce. While a couple of the ingredients didn't seem to go with the others (hummus), it still tasted good. The buffalo sauce/salsa gave the bowl a nice bit of spiciness and guacamole is good with everything. Who knows if this rice bowl was actually healthy by the time they put on all of the sauces, but I suppose it is definitely better for you than eating a burger.

I'd return to Green Day Cafe.

Kingfish Bistro in College Park, FL

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

I read about Kingfish Bistro in an Orlando Weekly article. According to the article, they are apparently a Vietnamese owned Italian restaurant, and that combination intrigued me. Because of this, Kingfish was dinner last time I was in College Park.There wasn't really too much Vietnamese-Italian fusion food going on here. The majority of the menu seemed strictly Italian, except for several out of place items, such as these egg rolls that we had for an appetizer.

We also decided to share a half meatball, half cheese pizza. The pizza was good, although not great. It was comparable to most of the other nearby pizzerias which are all pretty much middle of the road and average in this neighborhood. I'd have Kingfish's pizza again if I was eating there, but I wouldn't seek it out to fulfill any sort of pizza cravings.

Overall, the food at Kingfish Bistro was good, although not great. I liked the egg rolls as a prelude to pizza, but I really would have liked to see more culture-clashing fusion foods here. Asian vegetables on pizza? I could see it!

Green Owl Restaurant in Delray Beach, FL

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

I like to consider myself well traveled throughout the state of Florida, but one city that I had never been to was Delray Beach. For some reason I always went further north or south of Delray and never actually stopped to explore rather than driving through. On a recent morning, I decided to change that and was actually surprised by Delray. The city's downtown was much larger than I was expecting, filled with shops, historic hotels, and countless restaurants. The decision was made to have breakfast at one of these restaurants called the Green Owl.

The Green Owl had a sort of a retro diner look on the inside and outdoor seating on the sidewalk out front. We choose to eat outdoors. For food, I had the One Egg Special. This breakfast came with a scrambled egg, strip of bacon, and two pancakes. Everything on the plate was tasty, although I would have preferred actual butter for my pancakes rather than the margarine that was served. Real butter is always better!

Wall Street Cantina in Orlando, FL

2012-01-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Wall Street in Downtown Orlando: It is a short block of bars and restaurants, many with the same owner, and most not worth visiting for the food based on my experience. On a recent cold night, I had dinner at one of these bars/restaurants called the Wall Street Cantina.

I was here once a couple years ago and the food was forgettable. On this visit, I tried the Orange Ave Tostada and the food this time was much tastier than I remembered. Three crispy tortillas were layered with shredded chicken, refried beans, cheese, sauce, and topped with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. For a Mexican themed bar, this tostada was surprisingly tasty. Even though it looked very messy, I think I'd get this again on a future visit...

Cafe D'Antonio in Celebration, FL

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

It seems like I always end up at Celebration around the holidays. Perhaps the fake snow is a draw. Maybe it is the over the top Christmas lights synchronized to music. Whatever causes the magnetism to Disney's planned community at this time of year, food is generally involved in Celebration's downtown. This year's visit to Celebration happened on Christmas Eve and dinner was had at Cafe D'Antonio.

Celebration was packed and Cafe D'Antonio was booked solid all night. That is, except for at the bar. I've neglected to try any of the Antonio restaurants in the area until now, so we took those bar seats for our Christmas Eve Italian food. The meal started with a crusty bread dipped in olive oil, and the main course was served fairly quickly. I tried the Pappardelle al Salmone con Piselli e Mascarpone. This consisted of a bowl of wide noodles with salmon and peas in a brandy and mascarpone cheese. Wide noodles, salmon, and mascarpone was a different combination but it was very tasty.

I also split a Prosciutto Pizza with someone. The 14" pizza was topped with a thin slices of prosciutto with red onions. The pizza had a nice, thin crust with a good sauce/cheese ratio. This was a very respectable pizza in the land of theme parks.

Overall, I enjoyed my food at Cafe D'Antonio. The food was good and the menu was a bit more creative than the typical spaghetti & meatballs Italian restaurant. After the meal, the entire Celebration Christmas experience was had with getting covered in soap, watching people attempt to skate on teflon, and finding the obsessive home light shows. Relive with me in this video:

Miller's Ale House in Boca Raton, FL

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

I had dinner at Miller's Ale House in Boca Raton (or Boca Ale House as the sign outside read). Somehow, I had never been to any of the restaurants in this chain so they were new to me. They had a typical menu for this type of place and I ordered the Seafood Medley. This dish consisted of shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels, and clams tossed with tomatoes, cheese, and pasta. Overall, the seafood was pretty good with everything tender rather than chewy. Unfortunately, the sauce was very bland though and I ended up adding lots of salt.

Although my pasta was good, there were a few things about the restaurant as a whole that seemed a little off. Our waitress seemed to be very distracted and someones salad didn't arrive for a good fifteen minutes after the rest of the table's food was served. I also kept on getting strong whiffs of mothballs. Don't know if it was coming from something in the restaurant or perhaps one of Boca's numerous senior citizens sitting at a nearby table, but regardless, the mothball smell is never a good thing in a restaurant..

Pho Vinh in Orlando, FL

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Pho Vinh is a Vietnamese restaurant in Orlando. Chinese food was served in this building the last time I was here, and although I was aware it became a Vietnamese restaurant somewhere along the line, I never thought of eating here. That is, until the December Foodspotting Eatup happened at Pho Vinh. Figured this was as good of a reason as any to try a new Vietnamese restaurant.

Food bloggers were well represented during the meal with Droolius, Tasty Chomps, Eat Local Orlando, and The Daily City all there, along with other foodies that came to eat. As everyone started to order, it seemed like one of the favorites at the table was the Thap Cam (#100). This soup had a combination of shrimp, pork, krab, fried wontons, egg noodles, and assorted vegetables floating in a big bowl of broth. Unlike a couple of other nearby Vietnamese restaurants that have really bland tasting soups in my opinion, Pho Vinh's soup had a delicious broth.

I of course added all of the garnishes served along with the soup to my bowl. Thai basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and lime juice only made it better!

It was my first time at Pho Vinh, but I think I'll definitely be returning. The food was good, prices were affordable and they are friendly to food photography!

The Food Truck Bazaar - 12/18/11

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

I know quite a few people who haven't had the privilege to eat at a food truck yet. If you are one of these people, make a point to visit The Food Truck Bazaar at the Fashion Square Mall this Sunday. You will stuff yourself with all sorts of delicious foods and have a good time in the process!

The Food Truck Bazaar

December 18, 2011

5-9pm

Fashion Square Mall (behind Dillards)

Bring chairs, tables, tents. Family friendly. No cost for parking or admission.

http://www.TheFoodTruckBazaar.com

Old School Pizza in Melbourne, FL

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Old School Pizza is located right next to the FIT campus in Melbourne. Because of this, the restaurant is always filled with students. It seems to be equivalent in popularity to Lazy Moon outside UCF. At Old School Pizza, the slices are about half the size of Lazy Moon's, but the taste is way better. Actually, Old School has some of the best pizza I've had in recent memory. Their pizza has a thin, crispy crust with a perfect ratio of cheese to sauce. The pizza was also more along the lines of true NY style pizza than what many other Italian restaurants serve that make that claim. To top it off, their is cheap at under $2 per slice...

On another occasion, I tried a stromboli from Old School, filled with pepperoni, onions, and black olives. I was initially disappointed. This looked like a calzone, minus the ricotta, instead of having the rolled up dough normally found in strombolis. Still, it was pretty tasty and ended up being a huge amount of food for five dollars and change...

For some reason Melbourne seems to have a disproportionate amount of Italian restaurants serving really good pizza. I have yet to try a bad independent pizza in the area, where in Orlando I'm disappointed with pizza more often than I would like. Is it overflow from the good pizza down near Miami that hasn't made it to the inwards of the state yet? Does it have to do with being near the coast? I'm not sure, but good pizza is never a bad thing...

Fred's Southern Kitchen in Bartow, FL

2011-12-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Fred's Southern Kitchen is a chain of southern buffets in west Florida. I heard that were really good from a couple of people. I probably wouldn't have gone without the recommendation, but I stopped into a Fred's in Bartow for lunch during some of my travels.

On my first trip to their buffet, I tried their sausage & onions, various types of beans, rice, fish, and cornbread. The black beans and rice was the best of the plate, but I found everything had an overly salty taste.

I was getting kind of full from the first plate of food, but I figured I should get my moneys worth like the large number of scarily obese people eating at Fred's. On the second plate, I tried grits with tomato gravy, macaroni & cheese, fried green tomatoes (labeled as fried zucchini), fried catfish, and mashed potatoes. Again, everything was very salty. I did like the tomato gravy on the grits. I've never seen that combination before, but it was tasty.

I was going to get dessert and be done, but then I spotted some collard greens. I had to try the leafy greens made unhealthy with lots of salt and pork fat. My final plate consisted of some sort of coconut dessert and collards...

Fred's Southern Kitchen was okay for what it was. It was mostly unhealthy southern food with way too much salt, but I've had worse elsewhere. It was definitely a few steps above the big buffet chains like Golden Corral, but nowhere as good as those BBQ buffets found along I-95 in the Carolinas...

City Diner in Orlando, FL

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

I tried City Diner in Downtown Orlando on a recent Saturday morning. Diners and big cities seem to go hand in hand, but yet Orlando really does seem to be lacking in this department. Knowing nothing about City Diner before deciding to eat there, I was hoping to have a good diner breakfast.

I have a high tolerance for hole-in-the wall restaurants that many other people wouldn't venture to, but I was sort of creeped out by this place. There was one person leaving as we entered, and after that we were the only customers. The restaurant was filled with an eerie silence causing us to seem like we were talking far too loud at our table. Even worse, the waitress decided to sit in a nearby chair and intently stare at us for the majority of the meal. It was very weird and awkward...

On to the food, I had a four cheese omelet. This was a pretty standard omelet filled with lots of cheese. When I eat eggs at restaurants, I personally like when omelets have stuff in them that I wouldn't normally have at home, but the menu here was very basic. Plain, cheese, or meats seemed to be the only options. Wheat toast was served on the side, as was a bowl of cheese grits.

The breakfast was kind of mundane, but it wasn't bad either. Based on the food alone, I would have gone back to City Diner for breakfast if I was in the area. Because of the strange Twilight Zone atmosphere of the restaurant though, I most likely won't be back. Orlando needs a restaurant similar to Atlanta's Majestic Diner...

Fantastic Hummus Food Truck in Orlando, FL

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

I leaving Audubon Community Market in Winter Park when I spotted a food truck with a big banner on the side that read Falafel Sandwich. This was a brand new truck to me and I'm a big falafel fan, so I knew where I was eating. Upon closer inspection, I found out this truck was called Fantastic Hummus.

They had a few other types of sandwiches, but I stuck with falafel. The sandwich was served on pita, stuffed with plenty of falafel, lettuce, tomato, pickled turnips, and sauce. This was definitely a good sandwich, especially since I was venturing into uncharted food truck territory.

I liked how they gave extra pickled turnips on the side. Pickled turnips are hard to find around here, even at most middle eastern restaurants that I've visited and I have even resorted to making my own. Being able to snack on these turnips without waiting a week for the pickling to happen was a nice treat!

Being that middle eastern food is a big street food staple in other cities like New York, it is definitely about time Orlando got a truck selling falafel!

Cookes of Dublin in Downtown Disney

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since theme park food has been featured on this blog. That's too bad since theme park food can be surprisingly good, especially at Disney. The last time I had Disney food was for the pre-opening of Star Tours back in June where we were treated to an ice cream buffet. The last time I ate in an actual restaurant at Disney was for the media opening of the AMC Dine-In Theaters in May. Seeing the pictures that were popping up all over the internet of delicious looking foods from the Epcot Food & Wine Festival (which I did not attend - too expensive), I figured it was about time to go on another Disney food adventure. The Festival of Masters was going on at Downtown Disney so we ventured out to view some artwork and eat lunch. The mentioned lunch happened at Cookes of Dublin.

Cookes of Dublin is the fast food Irish restaurant attached to Raglin Road in Downtown Disney. They have foods you would expect like fish and chips, but I was intrigued by their pies. I've actually though of eating here a few times in the past to try their pies and they always end up being sold out. It must have been my lucky day on this visit, because they had plenty to choose from. I went with the Fisherman's Pie, filled with mashed potatoes, carrots, shrimp, salmon, and scallops in a doughy pie shell. I wasn't exactly sure what would be inside the pie when I ordered, but the variety and size of the seafood was a nice surprise. The swirly mashed potatoes on top were a nice touch as well. I suppose this was sort of like a seafood version shepard's pie...

Fried Shrimp were also ordered at the table. These were exactly what they were described as, battered shrimp deep fried and served over fries. My pie was definitely the winner by far...

Cookes of Dublin is definitely worthy of another visit to try more of their pies. Expect to pay Disney prices, but they are cheaper than Raglin Road next door (which I really want to return to one day). Best of all, they satisfied my craving for theme park food for the moment...

Theo's Kitchen in Orlando, FL

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

I tried a Greek restaurant in Orlando called Theo's Kitchen. Theo's was located on Curry Ford Road in a strip mall. Apparently they had moved recently to this location when I stopped in.

I decided to get a gyro. Theo's Kitchen was very generous with just about everything on the sandwich. There was a good amount of meat, huge dollops of tazitiki, lots of feta, and plenty of lettuce and tomato. I've had gyros from other Greek restaurants that are really dry and stingy with toppings, so I was very happy with this sandwich when this was not the case. And to top it off, it tasted good too!

Twisted Cuban Food Truck in Orlando, FL

2011-11-10T08:00:00.001-05:00

There is an annual Halloween Festival in Downtown Longwood and food trucks were involved this year. The festival was located in Reiter Park, where the baseball fields and playgrounds were removed and replaced with a mysterious grass covered hill. The trucks attending were Gastrotruck, The Batter Bowl, and a truck that was new to me called The Twisted Cuban.

I tried their Cuban sandwich. It consisted of ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on pressed Cuban bread. The sandwich was very tasty and was plenty to eat. It was also made extremely quickly by the standards set by most of Orlando's other food trucks that I've tried. I'd get more food from them in the future!

King of the Gyro in Melbourne, FL

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

I got take-out from a middle eastern restaurant in Melbourne called King of the Gyro one afternoon. I decided to go against the restaurant's namesake and ordered a chicken wrap instead.

This pita was filled with chicken, garlic sauce, mayonnaise, and pickles. The pita was good for what it was, but I found it to be somewhat boring. There was too much chicken and not enough other sandwich fillings. The garlic flavor was nice, but more vegetables never hurt in my opinion.

King of the Gyro is located on the second floor of the same shopping center as Middle Eastern Aromas. While the food was alright at King of the Gyro, Middle Eastern Aromas is definitely the winner of the two middle eastern restaurants in the shopping center...

New China in West Melbourne, FL

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

On one of the first colder evenings of the fall, I decided some soup sounded good. I was in Melbourne and found a Chinese take-out called New China. I went in and ordered a quart of wonton soup. The soup was good, although a little on the salty side. There was plenty of wontons and each dumpling had a good amount of meat inside. No shredded pork at the bottom of the soup though. Overall, it was pretty average as far as Chinese take-out soup went. Not the best, but not the worst either.

Happy Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

NaraDeva Thai Restaurant in Orlando, FL

2011-10-28T14:30:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, the local food bloggers were invited to a dinner at NaraDeva Thai Restaurant in order to sample many of their delicious foods. I'm honestly not an expert on Thai food by any means, and I've actually been disappointed lately with many of the other local Thai restaurants that I've tried. Because of this, I happily accepted the offer to try NaraDeva in order to find better Thai food. They are located near the Mall of Millenia in the SuperTarget shopping center, in a space once occupied by Bear Rock Cafe.

Once I arrived at the restaurant, I quickly spotted the group of food bloggers congregating on the restaurant's patio for drinks. I tried the coconut water and Thai iced tea. The iced tea was my personal favorite of the two.

Once we were inside and seated, the feast began as plate after plate of food started arriving at the table. Appetizers came first with chicken curry puffs and chicken satay. The chicken curry puffs reminded me somewhat of Indian samosas, filled with potato and chicken. The chicken satay was served on skewers with a peanut dipping sauce.

The next plate of appetizers included shrimp rolls and steamed pork dumplings. The shrimp rolls were interesting, consisting of a whole shrimp wrapped in pork and a spring roll wrapper.

After the initial two plates of appetizers, various types of salads started arriving at the table. One of my favorites was the crunchy shrimp salad. This mixed green salad was topped with several large fried shrimp, drizzled in a creamy dressing.

Another highlight was the laab. Ground spicy pork was mixed with roasted rice, onions, shallots, dried chili and mint leaves. I had never heard of laab previously, but it was surprisingly good for something as simple as a ground meat mixed with a few other ingredients.

The spicy beef salad was topped with thinly sliced pieces of grilled steak with cucumber, tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro in a spicy & sour dressing.

Another one of my favorites was the spicy crispy duck salad. This was similar to the beef salad, only with delicious duck rather than steak. The duck was nice and tender and had a wonderful crispy outer crust. The spice wasn't that apparent at first, but the spicyness eventually culminated after a few bites.

On to the main courses, the pork fried rice was different from the typical Chinese restaurant fried rice (I'm not always a fan of Chinese fried rice). This was somewhat sweeter and had a whole lot more flavors involved. Way better than I was expecting!

I definitely wasn't expecting the beef jerky. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear beef jerky is gas station snack food that I tend to avoid. This beef jerky shared little resemblance to a a Slim Jim. The beef was crispy but was still moist. It was served alongside rice soaked in pandan sauce which was completely new to me. Bright green rice is very cool!

The prawns in tamarind sauce were served over a bed of vegetables. I love the garnishes on almost every plate. A pile of shaved carrots topped with an orchid makes always makes food more interesting!

Crispy duck in red curry sauce was another one of my favorites from the night. The duck had a nice crunchy outside and was really tender inside. Many times I've had duck where it had so much fat that it was almost too much trouble to eat. Nara

It was a while since I had soft shell crabs, so I was happy when these were delivered to the table.

The deep-fried whole snapper was very impressive. It's not very often that I get to eat from a whole fish. Figuring out how to best break into the fish to get to the meat was a little intimidating at first, but was a minor difficulty. The crispy skin of the fish was very flavorful while the inside was moist and flaky.

Just when I thought the feast would stop, desserts started coming out of the kitchen! The black sticky rice with coconut and palm sugar caramel was interesting. I've had black rice a few times before, but never as a dessert. The coconut cream sauce topping was very nice. The sticky rice with pumpkin custard was also fun. I never really thought of pumpkin as an Asian vegetable with it's association with Halloween/Thanksgiving, but why not? Pumpkin is good on everything!

The sticky rice with red beans was served wrapped in banana leaves. This was my favorite dessert of the night. Not only is unwrapping food from steamed banana leaves a whole lot of fun, it also smelled great, sort of like black tea. The rice/beans were very moist, not too sweet, but the coconut cream dipping sauce made it a dessert.

The Thai coconut custard was served in tiny ceramic cups and sort of reminded me of a coconut flavored flan.

And finally, there was the Thai doughnuts with pandan coconut custard dip. The doughnuts by themselves weren't very sweet, but they were definitely made into a dessert with the green pandan sauce.

The event was organized by NaraDeva Thai in conjunction with Traveler Foodie, and I really appreciate being invited. I was definitely not expecting the feast that I was treated to, with all of the food being some of the best Thai I've had lately in the Central Florida area. I'll definitely be back!

The Cattle Ranch in Sanford, FL

2011-10-21T13:00:00.002-04:00

The Cattle Ranch is a restaurant in Sanford in a mostly windowless building. The location is on a stretch of Sanford Avenue with no nearby restaurants in the immediate vicinity. Those two points gave the restaurant a somewhat creepy appearance from the outside, but creepy looking restaurants normally have good food. The Cattle Ranch did indeed have good food...

My meal started out with a salad with the house dressing. This was pretty much what I would have expected from an old-fashioned steakhouse salad. It was nothing exceptional, but it got the job done with iceberg lettuce, onions, tomato, pepper slices, carrot sticks, and croutons.

Even though the Cattle Ranch was a steakhouse, I didn't order any beef. Instead, I went with the coconut shrimp. These large shrimp were butterflied and fried in a coconut batter, then served with a baked potato and apple sauce. I've had coconut shrimp in the past where the coconut flavor was completely absent, but in this case, each shrimp was bursting with coconut! I would gladly get these again.

Also worth noting for all you big eaters out there is The Cattle Ranch's Six Pound Challenge. If you eat a six pound steak, along with all the sides, you get the meal for free and your picture hanging on the wall! Being that I'm not a big beef eater to begin with, I don't think this particular eating challenge is for me...

Green Apple Frozen Yogurt in Clearwater Beach, FL

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

During a rainy visit to Clearwater Beach, we decided to get dessert from a place called Green Apple Frozen Yogurt. The name was honestly a bit perplexing, since they only had two flavors of frozen yogurt, neither of which were green apple. They had a much bigger selection of gelati, but I went in there expecting yogurt and picked the Georgia Peach. No self-serve yogurt here and each topping cost an additional $0.95 so I had my yogurt plain. Overall, it tasted okay, although it didn't exactly scream peach to me. More like an extra sweet version of the standard tart yogurt with a slight pink tint...

Pierogi Grill in Clearwater, FL

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had dinner at a restaurant called Pierogi Grill in Clearwater. As we entered the Polish restaurant, we passed the pierogi themed vehicles in the parking lot. This included a pierogi police car and a giant concrete pierogi on a trailer. I liked this place already.

Inside, it seemed like either the owners of Pierogi Grill are really into Egyptology or the restaurant was Middle Eastern themed in a former life. There were statues of Egyptian gods. The lamps over the tables were covered in hieroglyphics, and even the salt/pepper shakers on the table were shaped like pyramids. Surrounded by everything Egyptian, I ordered my Polish Sausage & Pierogi dinner. The smoked kielbasa was served on a bed of warm sauerkraut, alongside six pierogi. There was a lot to choose from in terms of pierogi flavors, but I decided to stay classic and get mine filled with farmers cheese and potato. Overall, everything was very tasty.

Just to further point out the Egyptian theme of Pierogi Grill, check out rice pyramid that came with the Chicken Schnitzel that was also ordered at our table. I still don't quite get how Polish food is related to Egypt, but I thought the whole randomness of it all was very fun...

JR's Softie in Orlando, FL

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

JR's Softie is an ice cream truck that has been serving soft serve ice cream around Orlando for a while now. I actually attempted to get ice cream from JR's a couple of times in Lake Eola, but they always drove away as I was approaching the truck.

Recently, I was at the Maitland Art Festival at Lake Lily and saw that JR's Softie was parked there. I decided I could go for some dessert and approached. This time, they didn't drive away! I wanted a soft serve cone dipped in the hard chocolate but they didn't have any of the chocolate dip. Instead, I settled on a plain vanilla cone.

It tasted like soft serve from an ice cream truck should. The prices at JR's were higher that the Mister Softee truck that is normally found in Lake Lily and it's a shame that they didn't have the chocolate dip, but regardless, I enjoyed my dessert.

Brewzzi in Boca Raton, FL

2011-10-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

Brewzzi is a restaurant in Boca Raton that seems liked it has ambitions and potential to become a big chain. Right now they only have two restaurants in that area of South Florida, but the menu and look of the restaurant reminded me of a chain for some reason.

I had the Caribbean Grouper Sandwich. The sandwich was fried in a coconut and corn flake crust and topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and tarter sauce. Onion straws were served on the side. Overall, this was a pretty tasty sandwich...

Efes Turkish Restaurant in Sanford, FL

2011-10-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

Just yesterday, I got word from @EatingOrlando that Efes Turkish Restaurant has closed. The post is already written, so here are my thoughts on the restaurant anyway:

I recently tried Efes Turkish Restaurant in Sanford. Efes is hidden away in the Sanford Marina in the building that formerly housed Limoncello's. The location, with it's outdoor seating and unobstructed view of Lake Monroe is wonderful. The food is also a vast improvement over what Limoncello's degraded to.

Our meal at Efes started with an order of Lahmacun, also known as Turkish pizza. This consists of bread covered in a puree of meat and vegetables, served alongside assorted vegetables. The vegetables were piled on the slices, lemon was squeezed, and the pieces were rolled up and eaten. It was my first time trying this, and I definitely liked it.

The mixed grill was also ordered. This dish came piled with lamb, beef, and chicken cooked in various ways over rice and vegetables. While I thought a couple of pieces of meat were a bit bland or overly chewy, the majority of the meal was really tasty. The rice was also surprisingly flavorful compared to most rices. This was meant to serve two people, but between this and the lahmacun, three of us couldn't finish everything.

Finally, for dessert we all shared some baklava. I can honestly say that this was some of the best baklava I've had in the area with lots and lots of pistachios...

Efes was not cheap by any means. They definitely weren't in the low-cost Turkish food category like Steak & Salad, but they did give huge amounts of food and it was all good. Maybe the higher prices had something to do with them closing...

Fusion Tacos at the Orlando Farmers Market

2011-10-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

I was enjoying a recent Sunday afternoon at Lake Eola when I decided to stop at The Orlando Farmers Market for some lunch. This farmers market seems to serve more ready made food compared to most and some of the options are kind of exotic compared to the typical farmers market fare. Case in point, I decided to try a banh mi from a booth called Fusion Tacos.

The banh mi was filled with spicy grilled pork, cucumbers, pickled vegetables, cilantro, jalapenos, and sriracha. Although expensive, about double the price of what can be bought a few blocks away in Mills-50, the sandwich was still good. The pork was nice and moist with good flavor. They were really generous with all the toppings, and I enjoyed my lunch overall!

Little Havana Culinary Tour

2011-09-30T12:30:00.000-04:00

I was recently invited to go on a Little Havana Food Tour from Miami Culinary Tours. Little Havana isn't exactly local for me, but it just so happened that I was in South Florida on the weekend that the tour was happening. Little Havana was mostly an unexplored neighborhood of Miami to me. I had driven along Flagler on a couple of occasions, but never been to Calle Ocho, so getting a guided tour to both the neighborhood history and food was wonderful.

The tour started out at a couple of the local art galleries, and then it was time for the first food stop. Casa Panza was one of the only Spanish restaurants in Little Havana, and once seated, huge amounts of food was immediately brought to the table. First up was patatas aioli, which was sort of like a Spanish version of potato salad. This was followed by a bowl of chorizo, and then a plate of fried chickpeas.

Next up was a tour of a Cigar Factory, then more food from El Pub Restaurant. After meeting the 85-year old owner of the restaurant, food was quickly served.

El Pub served two dishes that are apparently Cuban staples. Black bean soup was served first, then several plantain omelets were brought to the table. The plantain omelet were completely new to me and I wasn't sure how I would like the sweet plantains mixed with the savory eggs. It turned out that this was a really good combination.

What visit to Little Havana would be complete without a Cuban sandwich? Our next stop was Exquisito Restaurant where they had several sandwiches waiting for us to eat on the go. This was as classic as Cuban sandwiches come with ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on Cuban bread.

Next stop was Yisell Bakery for some guava filled pasteles. Can't go wrong with guava jam inside of a flaky crust. In fact, I actually returned here after the tour and bought a few guava and cheese pasteles to snack on for the ride home. Can't beat the price of $0.50 each...

The pastry was followed by a stop into Los Pinarenos Fruteria. This fruit stand sold all sorts of tropical fruit, everything from guava to mamey to these Hawaiian bananas.

We were there to try some freshly juiced sugarcane called guarapo. Stalks of sugarcane were fed through a machine and lots of juice came pouring out the other side. This was my first time trying sugarcane juice and I was a bit surprised at the flavor. The guarapo was nowhere as sweet as I was expecting...

A couple of city parks were toured in between some of the food stops, including Domino Park where a large congregation of old men (and a few women) were all participating in very intense games of dominoes and chess. Another park featured a memorial to the people that died in the Bay of Pigs, although I was actually more fascinated by the animal remains scattered around a nearby tree where Santeria is practiced. Back to the food though, our final stop was at El Christo Restaurant for some flan. I'm not a huge fan of plain flan, but we were served cheese flan. The cheese flan was somewhere between a normal flan and a cheesecake, topped with a sweet, syrupy sauce. Really tasty!

After enjoying our flan, the food tour of Little Havana concluded. I had a great time and definitely learned a whole lot about the history of Little Havana and tried foods that I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise. I've heard from quite a few people, as well as from experience, that Little Havana can be somewhat intimidating for non-Spanish speakers since so little English is spoken in the neighborhood. The Little Havana food tour took care of any potential communication issues and I got so much more out of my exploration of the neighborhood then I would of on my own. Totally recommended...

Be sure to check out Miami Culinary Tours online and read all about this tour as well as some of the the other tours they offer:
Website: Miami Culinary Tours
Twitter: @MIACulinaryTour

Dave & Buster's in Orlando, FL

2011-09-28T20:00:00.000-04:00

I recently tried the new Dave & Buster's on International Drive. I had a general idea of what Dave & Buster's was before going, but I had never actually been to one.

After spending far too long trying to find parking in their small lot, we sat in the bar area to avoid more waiting. I ordered the Shrimp and Chicken Alfredo for my meal. The pasta had lots of chicken, a few shrimp, sundried tomatoes, and mushrooms. It tasted okay for what it was, but overall was pretty generic and reminded me a whole lot of pasta from Friday's or Chili's.

The whole thing about Dave & Buster's being an arcade made for adults didn't seem to hold true. To me, the whole setup seemed like a Chuck-E-Cheese where the kids could go run wild and unsupervised in the games while parents could get drunk and watch football in the bar. The games themselves didn't do much for me either. I had problems spending the money we had on our card, just due to the lack of desire to play any of the games they had there. Go up the street to Fun Spot for a much better arcade in my opinion, without wall to wall screaming kids and their drunk parents. Or even better, go to DisneyQuest...

Summit Coffee in Davidson, NC

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

One last snack in Downtown Davidson came from a place called Summit Coffee. Didn't try any hot beverages, but instead had a chocolate croissant. Definitely a yummy pastry...

Bellacino's Pizza & Grinders in Davidson, NC

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was up at Davidson College for an event that included pizza from Bellacino's Pizza & Grinders. Apparently Bellacino's is a pizza chain up in other parts of the country, but it was completely new to me.

They cut their round pizzas into square slices, which just seems strange and anti-intuitive to me. I tried three different types of pie. One was called Pride, which had a little of everything on it. I also tried the veggie pizza, as well as a slice of normal pepperoni. As far as chain pizza goes, this was pretty good. I would definitely rank Bellacino's Pizza far above Pizza Hut/Papa John's/Dominos, although there was no comparison between this and a good NY style pie.

Egg at Davidson Cafe in Davidson, NC

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Another meal in Davidson, NC was at the Egg at Davidson Cafe. We were told that apparently this place has really good breakfasts, but I decided to get lunch here instead. I ordered a blackened fish sandwich with a side of macaroni salad.

The sandwich was alright, but I personally would have preferred more toppings on it. Served with nothing but fish, tarter sauce, and bread, the sandwich was a little on the boring side. Lettuce and tomato at the least would have been nice. The macaroni salad was really tasty though with a strong peppery flavor.

Should have gotten some sort of breakfast...

The Soda Shop in Davidson, NC

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

I spent a weekend up in Davidson, NC. For breakfast one morning, I picked up takeout from a place called The Soda Shop. Located in Downtown Davidson, just across from Davidson College, this restaurant had somewhat of a 50's diner look.

I ordered an egg & cheese breakfast sandwich on a biscuit with a side of home fries. When I opened my food, I was actually a little surprised to see the eggs were on a tiny two-inch diameter biscuit. The cheese was also nowhere to be found on the sandwich. The home fries were good and the orange slice was a nice touch.

The food tasted okay, but when the cheese is missing from an egg & cheese sandwich, that's a big issue. Really though, I wasn't in Davidson for the food. I got takeout here to go across the street and help set the world record for most people paddle balling at once. When you're having fun like that, who cares if a restaurant leaves cheese off a sandwich...

Boardwalk Pizza in Winter Park, FL

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

I shared a cheese pie from Boardwalk Pizza in Winter Park. The pizza was pretty middle of the road in my opinion. Nothing outstanding, but not bad either. If I was hungry and in the area, I might stop in here to get a slice or two...

Sal's Italian Ice in Sanford, FL

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sal's Italian Ice is a small drive-in dessert place in Sanford. On my most recent visit there, I had half lemon and mango ice.

Sal's also had another location in Lake Mary for a while. Recently I noticed it's now called Nick's Ice Cream, but that won't stop me from posting a picture of my strawberry lemonade and peach ice from this location.

Sal's has some pretty good ices, but something about them doesn't put Sal's above Versini's or Jeremiah's. To me, their ices seem to taste more artificial compared to their competition, putting them a notch below. Still, that won't stop me from getting some Italian ices from Sal's when I'm in Sanford.

Melissa's Chicken & Waffles in Orlando, FL

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Before Melissa's Chicken & Waffles rolled into town, the combination of fried chicken and breakfast items seemed very strange to me. The truck seemed to be getting huge lines at all the food truck events, so I figured something good must be served there and I finally gave them a try.

I tried a Chicken & Waffle at the Lake Lily Food Truck Pod. I choose to have it topped with gravy since I wasn't feeling syrup on fried chicken. The whole thing was eaten like a huge sandwich with the waffle folded around the chicken. The batter on the chicken was nice and spicy and the gravy was tasty. In the end, it turned out to be far too much fried food for one serving, but the chicken & waffle was good regardless. I'd order this again...

On another occasion, I tried the Blueberry Cheesecake Waffle from Melissa's at the Firestone Food Truck Pod. This was more along the lines of what I would expect on a big waffle, topped with cheesecake, blueberries, whipped cream, and powdered sugar. Good, but the price on this waffle seemed a little high compared to the chicken waffle.

I'd definitely give Melissa's Chicken & Waffles another try. Since food trucks started getting big in Orlando, I've definitely expanded my food repertoire. Thanks to a food truck, I can now say I like chicken & waffles!

Green Tea Chinese Drive Thru in Palm Bay, FL

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had lunch in Palm Bay at a place called Green Tea Chinese Drive Thru. The restaurant was located inside an old Checkers building and the sign out front advertized $3.75 lunch specials. The place looked really run down from the road, but there was a line of cars waiting for food. This either meant American's are too lazy to exit their cars at a non drive in Chinese restaurant, or it meant the food was good...

I ordered the shrimp with broccoli lunch. The large shrimp were served with broccoli and carrots in a brown sauce, alongside pork fried rice and an egg roll. The food was pretty standard as far as Chinese take out places go, but regardless, I'd go back.

Gators Dockside in Lake Mary, FL

2011-09-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Gator's Dockside is a chain that opened in the Central Florida area several years ago. In all that time, I had never tried them, that is until recently. Gator's Dockside is set up like a pretty standard sports bar. Being a sports bar and all, I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered a gyro. Turned out to be better than I was expecting. Two pitas were filled with lamb, tazitiki, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Fries were served on the side. Pretty good for Greek food from a chain sports bar in Lake Mary...

Captain J's Ocean Deck in Cocoa Beach, FL

2011-09-05T13:00:00.000-04:00

Captain J's Ocean Deck is a bar in Cocoa Beach located a block away from Ron Jon. I wasn't expecting much when I ordered a pizza from a place like this, but it turned out to be surprisingly good. The crust was thin, bubbly in spots, and almost cracker-like. Cheese and sauce were in good proportion and had good flavor. Definitely not a bad pizza for a beachside bar...

Ms. Cheezious in Miami, FL

2011-09-02T12:00:00.001-04:00

I shared a sandwich from Ms. Cheezious at the Boca Raton Gourmet Truck Expo. Since this was a grilled cheese truck, we decided to go classic and get cheddar on rye bread with a side of fries. It was cheesy, greasy, and good!

First Watch in Longwood, FL

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

It's been a very long time since I've been to a First Watch. Last time I was at one of these restaurants, I was very unimpressed with their breakfasts. It's been a few years, but I finally returned to the First Watch in Longwood to give them another try.

I had the Avocado, Bacon, and Tomato Sensational Skillet. This large plate of potatoes was covered in the mentioned toppings, along with two scrambled eggs and cheese. Turned out that this was very tasty. It could have used more avocado and less bacon in my opinion, but it was still good regardless. A fruit salad and English muffin were served on the side. While I generally don't eat out for breakfast all that often, I think I'd return to First Watch again!

Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse in Orlando, FL

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had dinner at Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse on International Drive near Sea World. This restaurant is apparently a small chain with a few locations in upstate New York and one lone restaurant here in Orlando.

The meal started out with some cheese covered garlic bread with a side of marinara for dipping:

I had the Chicken Riggies for my meal. This large plate of rigatoni was mixed with chicken, onions, olives, peppers, and mushrooms in a cream sauce. According to the vast knowledge of Wikipedia, chicken riggies originated in the Utica area of upstate New York. I wonder if chicken riggies was on the menu when I ate in Syracuse's Little Italy last fall?

The Original Pancake House in Boca Raton, FL

2011-08-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had breakfast/lunch at The Original Pancake House in Boca Raton on a few occasions now. I was under the impression that this is a local South Florida chain, but they are much bigger than that with stores all over the country.

On one visit, I ordered the Greek Omelet filled with spinach and feta. This huge omelet was different from most, with the egg surrounding the fillings being very thick and dough-like. Pancakes were served on the side.

I've had crepes on other visits. I tried both the broccoli & cheddar as well as the spinach & feta. Both were served with hashed browns. Although I had no issues with the fillings, the crepe itself wasn't the best. Both times it was thicker than the normal crepes served in restaurants and was made from a sweet batter. With savory fillings, the sweet batter didn't make the best combination of flavors...

While it is a big breakfast chain and the food isn't the greatest in the world, it's still several steps above Denny's or IHOP. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I would return to The Original Pancake House...

Tahini Mediterranean Grill in Oviedo, FL

2011-08-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had lunch at Tahini Mediterranean Grill near UCF in Oviedo. This fast food restaurant/coffee shop makes some good middle eastern foods...

I had the Falafel Pita Platter. This came with the sandwich, two sides, and a few slices of pita bread. I choose the Greek salad and baba gnoush as the two sides, both of which were really good.

The falfel pita was also really tasty. The chickpea balls were nice and moist with plenty of flavor. The other sandwich fillings included lettuce, tomato, and onions (although no pickles as mentioned on other food blogs).

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Tahini and would gladly return!

Peace-A-Pizza in Boca Raton, FL

2011-08-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had lunch at a restaurant called Peace-A-Pizza in Boca Raton. This was a chain that utilized a conveyor belt oven. Normally, conveyor belt pizza ovens equal horrible food, but in this case the pizza here was surprisingly good. Peace-A-Pizza had a huge selection of pizza by the slice, much like what is common up north but almost non-existent in Central Florida. With all the choices, I had finally narrowed it down to two different types of pie...

First up was the Mediterranean Salad Pizza. This slice was very topping heavy with spinach, tomatoes, artichokes, onions, feta cheese, roasted red peppers, and kalamata olives. It was good, but wasn't my favorite of the two slices I tried.

The Pesto, Fresh Mozzarella, Plum Tomatoes and Basil slice was my personal favorite. It had pesto rather than the normal tomato sauce and lots of fresh mozzarella. The crust was thin and crispy, and overall had really good flavors...

I generally don't frequent chain pizza restaurants all that often, but I personally wouldn't mind if a Peace-A-Pizza opened somewhere in the Orlando area. That is, if they could keep their pizza quality up to what was served in their Boca store...

O'Boys Real Smoked Bar-B-Q in Baldwin Park, FL

2011-08-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is the Smoked Turkey Lunch Platter from O'Boys Real Smoked Bar-B-Q in Baldwin Park. After a morning of exploring Cady Way Trail and the pathways surrounding Lake Baldwin, this huge portion of thinly sliced turkey, fries, baked beans, cole slaw, and garlic bread was very tasty. With the addition of the spicy barbecue sauce, the already good food tasted even better. The food here was definitely a step above some of the other bigger local BBQ chains.

Gastro-Truck

2011-08-12T21:00:00.000-04:00

Gastro-Truck is one of the newest food trucks to start serving in the Orlando area. Everything that Gastro-Truck serves involves cheese in some shape or form. To put it simply, they specialize in really good variations of grilled cheeses.

I sampled the food from Gastro-Truck when they parked in Downtown Lake Mary for a press event.

I started by trying a Butterkase Slider. This sandwich was filled with butterkase cheese, prosciutto, and a cranberry-jalapeno spread.

Next up was the Mozzarella, Tomato, Basil and Marinated Portabello Mushroom Grilled Cheese. This vegetarian sandwich was one of my favorites out of everything I tried.

That's a Gouda Burger Slider was a stuffed burgers with lots of gouda hidden inside the meat. The sandwich was finished off with tomato, onion, avocado, smoked turkey, cheddar, and a siracha mayo.

The Pork Belly Grilled Cheese with fontina, cheddar and tapenade:

The Cuban Done Right Slider had roasted pork, ham, meunster cheese, pickles, and mojo mayo. Those thickly sliced pickles were really good!

The Mac & Cheese from Gastro-Truck was baked, giving it a nice crispy top while staying nice and creamy on the inside.

Keep track of Gastro-Truck on their:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

CK Jerk Shack Gourmet Island BBQ Food Truck in Orlando, FL

2011-08-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

I tried CK Jerk Shack Island BBQ at one of the Orlando Food Truck Bazaars.

I had some of their Jerk Shrimp served over rice. The shrimp was nice and spicy while the rice was sort of sweet. It was a nice contrast of flavors and was a good portion of food. My only complaint was the shimp still had their shells. Peeling shrimp isn't the easiest thing to do while walking around and eating street food...

Bagel Wit a Schmear in Boca Raton, FL

2011-08-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

The missing H in the name of Bagel Wit A Schmear in Boca Raton bothers me. As I'm writing this, I'm finding it very unsettling to write the word "wit" rather than "with." To prevent myself from dwelling to long on restaurants with funky spellings in their names, I'll talk about food now...

I got a bacon, egg, & cheese sandwich on an everything bagel when I stopped into Bagel Wit A Schmear for breakfast. As far as everything bagels go, this particular specimen could have used some more seeds. They did put a whole lot of cheese and bacon on the sandwich though, so that definitely overpowered the lack of seeds. Overall, this was a good, cheap sandwich coming in at about $3. I'd come back, regardless of the lack of H in the name...

RiverGrille on the Tomoka in Ormond Beach, FL

2011-08-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

On July 4th, I ate dinner at the RiverGrille on the Tomoka while on my way to the beach to watch fireworks.

The restaurant is situated at the top of a steep hill overlooking the Tomoka River. With such a scenic location, we decided to sit outside on the patio.

If I remember correctly, I had the Atlantic Seafood Pasta (I tried double checking the name on their online menu, but the PDF file is so large it crashes my internet). This penne pasta was topped with shrimp, scallops, mussels, clams, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts in a cream sauce. Garlic bread was served on the side. Unlike other seafood restaurants, RiverGrille did a really nice job with their pasta. I would order this again in a heartbeat, with my only complaint being that one of the mussels was served closed, thus inedible.

As I ate my pasta, I got to enjoy the view of the Tomoka. There was lots of alligators and big catfish swimming by...

Ikea in Sunrise, FL

2011-08-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

What visit to Ikea is complete without buying some sort of food? On this visit to the Ikea in Sunrise, I had the Swedish Meatball Combo, served with the standard mashed potatoes and lingonberry sauce. This came with a side salad and fountain drink (lingonberry soda, of course).

Winter Garden Pizza Company

2011-08-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had lunch at The Winter Garden Pizza Company. This Italian restaurant in Downtown Winter Garden seemed to be a happening place when I was there. The large restaurant was pretty crowded, both with customers getting food as well as people stopping into the attached ice cream shop.

I had a sausage roll. I'm hesitant to order sausage at Italian restaurants because it's sometimes a mystery as to what will be served. Sometimes flavorless ground beef passes as sausage, while if done properly, actual sausage will be served. The sausage roll at Winter Garden Pizza Company was done right, filled with slices of tasty Italian sausage along with green peppers, onions, and mozzarella.

Chameleon Fusion Bistro in Palm Bay, FL

2011-07-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

I had dinner at Chameleon Fusion Bistro in Palm Bay, located just off of I-95. This restaurant was really nice on the inside, but unfortunately they were really understaffed. Chameleon seemed to have plenty of people standing around doing nothing, but the single waiter that was helping all the tables was way overwhelmed. This resulted in the meal being far too long and tedious than necessary...

I ordered a California roll and salmon roll. These two rolls were pretty standard, served with wasabi and pickled ginger. The rolls were good sized, tasted good, and were a good price!

Someone else ordered from the fusion part of the menu which didn't turn out as well. While Chameleon made good sushi, they couldn't figure out a hamburger. The burger, ordered medium-well was served cold, completely pink, and bloody. The bloody juices had dripped down from the meat, completely saturated the bun, and had started pooling on plate. This was definitely not medium-well, and after being sent back the cooked burger was served on the same bun that had soaked up all the meat-juices like a sponge...

So in the end, Chameleon Fusion Bistro had good sushi, but bad service and improperly cooked burgers. I doubt I'd return...

Jeremiah's Italian Ice in Orlando, FL

2011-07-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

Everyone seems to love Jeremiah's Italian Ice, and for good reason too. For the longest time they were the only place to get Italian ices is town. Although there's much more competition for them now, their ices are still really good. I visited the always popular Jeremiah's across from UCF, sandwiched between Lazy Moon and Millie's Jamaican Cafe. On this visit, I decided to get a gelati with half black raspberry ice and half strawberry-lemon. Besides melting really fast on the horribly hot summer day, this Italian ice lived up to my expectations!

Here's a hint too: Jeremiah's does buy one-get one free coupons pretty often. Keep an eye out before you go.

Zorba's Restaurant & Pizzeria in Debary, FL

2011-07-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

I ate dinner at a Greek/Italian restaurant in Debary called Zorba's. There's no connection to the Zorba's in Longwood as far as I know...

My meal started with a Greek salad. Shredded iceberg lettuce was topped with feta, ham, olives, cucumbers, green peppers, and tomatoes. This was a decent side salad, although the ham reminded me a bit of the salads from the nearby Stavro's Italian restaurants... (and after seeing the reviews on Urbanspoon, I get the feeling that Zorba's used to be a Stavro's at one time)

I had the spanakopita for my main course. This long and skinny spinach pie seemed larger than what I've been served at other Greek restaurants. While the pie was a whole lot to eat, I found it to be kind of dry, especially towards the ends. It wasn't bad, but I doubt I'd order it again based on how dry the spanakopita was...

The Greek food at Zorba's was alright, but it seemed almost everyone else in the restaurant was being served meals from the Italian half of the menu. With my dry spinach pie, perhaps Italian food is the thing to get at Zorba's...

NYC Street Food

2011-07-22T08:00:00.003-04:00

Everyone seems to love food trucks, so why not do a post about the trucks in place where they were popular long before other parts of the country? That's right, this post is all about some of the various food trucks that I came across in New York City. Didn't get to try many, but I can only eat so much...

Taco truck in Manhattan's Meatpacking District...

Mister Softee in Flushing Meadows Park ($5 for a cone is kind of pricy).

Lots of food trucks seemed to park near the High Line in Chelsea. Here's an Organic Soft Serve Ice Cream Truck...

Mexican Ice on the High Line...

I had a sour cherry shaved ice from The People's Pops. I liked their hand ice shaving system...

New York has food truck events too. At the north end of the High Line there was something called Rainbow City with lots of inflatables. Moon walks are fun, but not as fun as food trucks. Here's Kelvin Natural Slush Co.

Custom ice cream sandwiches from the Cool Haus...

Totally RAD (Rickshaw's Awesome Dumplings)...

Red Hook Lobster Pound:

Belmont Diner in Elmont, NY

2011-07-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Belmont Diner is located in Elmont on Long Island, right across the street from the Belmont Racetrack. I ate breakfast here about a week before the Belmont Stakes...

Inside, there were plenty of horse racing themed paraphernalia...

A huge plate of whole wheat toast was served first.

Soon followed by my Spinach & Feta Omelet with homefries. This was a good omelet with plenty of fillings. The potatoes were also really flavorful, with no need to add salt or ketchup. With most of the nearby diners being insanely overpriced for what the food is, this breakfast was really affordable and the food was above average!

Fresco Creperie & Cafe in Long Beach, NY

2011-07-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

I visited Fresco Creperie & Cafe for lunch one afternoon before going on a unicycle ride along the Long Beach Boardwalk.

I had the Smoked Salmon Crepe, filled with lots of fish, mascarpone cheese, and chives. The crepe tasted good and was kept really moist on the inside with the melted mascarpone. A salad was served on the side. I personally thought it was a little on the pricy side compared to other crepes I've had at $9.95, but it was still tasty regardless.

Everyone shared an Orange & Caramel crepe for dessert. This sweet crepe was filled with sliced oranges and topped with caramel and powdered sugar. It was good, but I preferred my savory salmon crepe.

Nice looking foam on this Macchiato...

Family Bagels in Floral Park, NY

2011-07-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

When it comes to the subject of bagels, Central Florida is pretty much a bagel void except for chains like Einstein Bros or Dunkin Donuts. There are a few independent places, but they are few and far between. Long Island, NY on the other hand seems to have so many bagel shops that it almost seems like oversaturation of the bagel market. Regardless, it leaves plenty of bagels to choose from on my visits up north. This time I chose Family Bagels in Floral Park...

Family Bagels above average selection of cream cheeses.

I had an everything bagel with scallion lox cream cheese. The bagel was good and they were really generous with the cream cheese. There was lots of lox bits and plenty of scallions and it was all about $3. Not bad...

Traditional Xinjiang Barbeque Cart in Flushing, NY

2011-07-13T08:00:00.005-04:00

I've been to several Chinatowns around the United States but the one that was most unexpected was in Flushing, NY. Possibly because it's overshadowed by Manhattan's more famous Chinatown, or maybe because the Chinatown in Flushing is relatively new in the big scheme of things. Flushing's Chinatown was the largest of any other Chinatown I've visited and also felt the most immersive. It felt like I really could have been in some exotic Asian location while walking through the streets. After eating at Joe's Shanghai for some soup dumplings, I came across some street food vendors to really make the experience feel like an episode of Anthony Bourdain...

The cart called Traditional Xinjiang Barbecue had the biggest crowd. This small, open air cart sold nothing but meat on sticks.

Everything on the menu was really cheap with most skewers costing $1. Some of the stuff was pretty exotic too. Most places don't serve chicken kidney or lamb tendon on a stick.

I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and got a quail on a stick. Soon enough, it was on the grill and I was being asked if I want the quail spicy. Of course...

Soon enough, my quail was done cooking. I received the whole bird, cut in half and put onto two skewers.

The delicate little bird was really tasty. The outer skin was crispy while the meat inside was nice and moist. There was a nice amount of spice, but nothing overpowering. My conclusion: Quail from street vendors is delicious...

Joe's Shanghai in Flushing, NY

2011-07-11T08:00:00.002-04:00

I had dinner at Joe's Shanghai in the huge Chinatown neighborhood located in Flushing, NY based on a recommendation from Tasty Chomps. After reading all of the newspaper clippings hanging on the walls, the restaurant is apparently famous for their soup dumplings. I knew what I'd be getting...

We all shared an order of the pork and crab meat soup dumplings. Served on a bed of cabbage over bamboo steamer, these dumplings were unlike anything I've had. While most dumplings are just filled with meat, these soup dumplings were filled with a delicious broth in addition to the meats. It took a few dumplings to figure out how not to spill the broth all over, but that's all part of the fun. I did notice that the majority of the restaurant patrons were eating only soup dumplings for their entire meal.

I also ordered scallion pancakes, being one of my favorite Chinese food appetizers.

For an entree, everyone also shared an order of chicken and broccoli. It wasn't very exotic, but it was affordable and provided some vegetables. It was pretty average, equivalent to what most Chinese restaurants serve.

For dessert, Joe's Shanghai served a plate of orange slices. Can't go wrong with fresh fruit...

Grimaldi's Pizza in Garden City, NY

2011-07-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Grimaldi's Pizza under the Brooklyn Bridge is pretty famous. I've seen them listed quite a few times as having some of the best pizza in the country. All that publicity must be a good thing for them because apparently the line to eat reaches city blocks in length on occasion. Needless to say, I never lined up for one of Grimaldi's pizzas in Brooklyn. Especially when I can get Grimaldi's coal oven pizza with no wait at another one of their locations in Garden City, NY.

I shared a 16" plain pie on my visit. The pizza had all of the characteristic charred marks and islands of mozzarella floating in a pool of sauce that are common on coal oven pies. I did like the pie, although it needed salt in my opinion. The fresh mozzarella nor the sauce had enough salt, but besides this issue, I liked the pizza. Grimaldi's pizza is definitely way overrated, but they do make a pretty good pie...

Istanbul Grill in Manhattan, NY

2011-07-06T08:00:00.003-04:00

To continue my recent New York dining experience, I had dinner at a Turkish restaurant called Istanbul Grill in Chelsea. I ordered the Gyro Doner, consisting of lamb, lettuce, and tomato in a pita. While the gyro wasn't bad, it did lack flavor. The gyro meat was unusually bland and the three sauces that were brought to the table didn't help much either.

Istanbul Grill was okay, but don't think I'd return with their flavorless gyros. Perhaps I caught them on a bad day because they have good reviews on Urbanspoon and Yelp, but I think I would have enjoyed a gyro from the halal cart at the end of the block more than what I had at this restaurant based on smell alone...

Eddie's Ice Cream Truck in Long Island, NY

2011-07-04T08:00:00.001-04:00

I love how multiple ice cream trucks pass by several times a day through neighborhoods in Long Island. While up north, I waved down one of these trucks...

Here's a Rainbow Merlin from Eddie's Ice Cream Truck in Elmont, NY. The Rainbow Merlin was a vanilla cone with the lower half dipped in sprinkles and the upper half dipped in hard chocolate.

Of course, no mention of New York ice cream trucks would be complete without Mister Softee:

Donut Pub in Manhattan, NY

2011-07-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

During one of my most recent visits to New York, I stumbled upon a place called Donut Pub. Their classic neon sign quickly pulled me from across the street and the awards hanging in their window pulled me inside. The humungous muffins and cupcakes in the window helped get me in too...

Inside, the wall of Donut Pub was covered in racks of desserty deliciousness. There were several counter seats in the narrow restaurant filled with customers enjoying their late-night donuts and coffee.

I decided to go for a French Cruller. I'm not a donut expert by any means, but this was definitely better than what you get from the donut chains. The cruller was really light and airy inside, almost having a flaky consistency. It was almost too sweet, but this is a donut that we're talking about. It's supposed to be sweet...

An oreo muffin was also purchased. It got less than rave reviews, therefore my conclusion is to stick with donuts at the Donut Pub...

Donut Pub was new to me, but it's definitely worth checking out. Can't go wrong with a 24-hour bakery in a classic diner-like setting serving all sorts of desserts...

Skyline Diner in New Hyde Park, NY

2011-06-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

There's not much of a skyline near Skyline Diner in New Hyde Park on Long Island, but lets not get hung up on restaurant names. While up in New York, I had a late night dinner/early breakfast at this diner. Two scrambled eggs, hash browns, and toast for $4 wasn't a bad deal at an overpriced diner...

Pho Mac in Staten Island, NY

2011-06-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Staten Island, NY. It's a place that everyone seems to drive through without ever leaving the highway while either coming or going to other parts of New York and New Jersey. Still, I figured being one of the five boroughs of New York City, chances are there was some good stuff hidden on the island. That's why on my last trip up to New York, I made a point to actually stop in Staten Island for the first time ever and found some good Vietnamese food at a restaurant called Pho Mac...

I ordered the Pho Thit Heo Nuong, or #17 on the menu. This bowl of pho was described as combination rice noodles beef soup with grilled pork. The thinly sliced pork came served on the side which was a bit different, but once added into the bowl of soup, all the flavors came together into a very tasty dinner!

And besides good food, who knew Staten Island residents had views like this?

Mobile Deli Food Truck in Orlando, FL

2011-06-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

Mobile Deli is one of Orlando's newest food trucks and also has one of the most generic names. Who would think that a truck called Mobile Deli serves Korean-fusion food? I tried them while at the Oviedo Food Truck Bazaar and I'm glad I did. My first taste of Korean tacos in Orlando was delicious...

I had two tacos, filled with chicken bulgogi and pork bulgogi, both on corn tortillas. These two overstuffed tacos were plenty to eat, containing the meat, onions, tomato, cilantro, and lime. The pork bulgogi was okay, although I thought the meat was kind of dry. The chicken was definitely the standout of the two meats. It was much spicier than the pork (good thing) and it was perfectly cooked. The flavors all mixed very nicely, so nicely that I was even thinking about getting another chicken taco. I will definitely be tracking down Mobile Deli on another day...

Russian & International Food Market in Boca Raton, FL

2011-06-22T08:00:00.005-04:00

I found a place called Russian & International Food Market in the shopping center at the intersection of Glades and Lyons Road on my last trip to Boca Raton. The store was filled with all sorts of interesting Eastern European foods, but what really drew me in was their case of pierogi. For $2.50, I had a huge potato pierogi. Unlike other pierogi I've had elsewhere, this Russian version of the food was more akin to a knish rather than a dumpling.

This huge pierogi had a flaky crust wrapped around a mound of mashed potato. It was quite different from other pierogi that I've had in the past, but was still very tasty...

I also bought this Poppy Seed Danish. Pretty good, although nothing compared to the freshly baked poppy seed rolls I've had in the past...

Green House Chinese in Orlando, FL

2011-06-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

I had a late dinner at Green House Chinese on Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. Because most people seem to eat dinner way too early in Orlando, I was expecting the restaurant to be closing or completely empty at 9:30 pm. It was probably a good sign when Green House was packed with customers.

I ordered the Kung Po Shrimp combination. Wonton soup and an egg roll were served as appetizers.

The Kung Po Shrimp shared the plate with a large mound of fried rice. The large shrimp were drenched in a spicy sauce, along with carrots, peppers, and other assorted vegetables, then topped with peanuts.

My meal was pretty tasty and was a whole lot of food. The prices were good too, equivalent to most Chinese take-out places. I don't think I'd make a special trip to the other side of town for Green House's food, but if I was in the area, I just might stop in again for another try...

Frank's Ristorante in Pompano Beach, FL

2011-06-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

I was in Pompano Beach and wanted to get a quick slice of pizza for lunch. Frank's Ristorante was close to where I parked so I gave them a try. Frank's had several different traditional pies to choose from, but for some strange reason I decided to try a slice of their taco pizza. It wasn't my best pizza decision, with my end conclusion being that American cheese and lettuce definitely don't go on a slice of pizza. I won't be ordering taco pizza again any time soon...

Oviedo Food Truck Bazaar

2011-06-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

Food truck events have begun to spread out of Orlando. Last night was the first time food trucks have congregated in Seminole County. The Oviedo Food Truck Bazaar happened in the Oviedo Marketplace Mall parking lot and consisted of fifteen trucks. Food pictures of what was eaten will come soon, but enjoy this Food Truck Bazaar video until then...

Sunset Ice Truck from Merritt Island, FL

2011-06-10T08:00:00.003-04:00

While at the Orlando Food Truck Bazaar #2, I bought dessert from a truck called Sunset Ice from Merritt Island.

I tried a cup of ice with half mango and half lemon. The mango ice was very different in a good way. Rather than being overly sweet like most Italian ices, this mango was more tart than sweet and actually tasted a whole lot like the fruit it was supposed to taste like.

Lemon is a standard flavor for me when it comes to Italian ice. I almost always taste some lemon whenever I try ice. This was good lemon ice. Had a good mix of sweet and tart, but the mango was definitely my favorite of the two flavors...

Gino's Pizza & Brew in Orlando, FL

2011-06-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Gino's Pizza & Brew has a few locations within blocks of one another in Downtown Orlando. The biggest and original Gino's is located on Orange Avenue near Church Street. Gino's is open 24 hours so pizza for breakfast is always an option here. They're cheaper than a couple of the other nearby pizzerias that charge far too much per slice and they also include a garlic knot with every slice!

On my most recent visit to Gino's, I shared an 18" cheese pizza. The pizza was good, although I personally felt it could have been cooked a little longer for a crispier crust.

Pinkberry in Orlando, FL (Dr. Phillips)

2011-06-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

Pinkberry opened their first Orlando store in the Dr. Phillips section of town last year. Some Pinkberry T-shirts were even given away here on this very blog because of the opening. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to Pinkberry's grand opening last August. Almost a year later, I still hadn't tried Pinkberry's frozen yogurt.

That all changed recently when I checked my email and saw that Pinkberry was debuting a new flavor by giving out free tastings. I figured this was a good excuse to finally give Pinkberry a try, and here is the result of my excursion- Salted Caramel Frozen Yogurt:

The caramel yogurt was topped with salt, molten caramel, and crepe flakes. I'm normally not a big fan of caramel, but the salty and sweet mixed together into a very nice flavor combination. Now I need to visit Pinkberry again to try more yogurt flavors!

Zorbas Eatery in Longwood, FL

2011-06-03T08:00:00.002-04:00

I ate dinner at a new Greek restaurant called Zorbas Eatery in Longwood. Zorbas went into a former Quiznos and didn't do much to change the setup of the restaurant. They still have the fast food feel where you order at a counter, only now the food has vastly improved over the former occupant of the space.

I tried the chicken gyro. The pita sandwich was filled with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, and plenty of delicious tzatziki.

This vegetarian platter was also ordered at my table, consisting of a spinach pie, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, and pita.

For dessert, I shared this slice of kadaifi and baklava. Greek desserts are wonderful, these being no exception...

I had nothing bad to say about my meal. I'll be back to Zorbas Eatery...

Star Tours Ice Cream Buffet at Disney's Hollywood Studios

2011-06-01T08:00:00.001-04:00

Science fiction, theme parks, and ice cream. How can it be a bad thing? Somehow I managed to be checking Twitter at just the right time and was able to get myself free tickets to the Star Tours 3D Meetup that happened the night before the new ride officially opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios (or MGM as everyone still calls the park).

Everyone was greeted by a whole bunch of Storm Troopers and other Stars Wars characters, but as a food blogger, I noticed the all you could eat ice cream buffet...

Vanilla or chocolate ice cream was dished out by Disney cast members...

Next, everyone brought their bowls of ice cream over to the topping bars and went crazy. It was like one of the self-serve frozen yogurt places, only nobody had to worry about paying by weight!

I ended up with an ice cream sundae topped with sprinkles, peanut butter chips, brownies, cherries, and lots of whipped cream.

Disney also had drink bars set up with coffee, tea, and fruit punch.

Of course, after eating way too much ice cream, the next logical thing to do is to go ride a simulator ride multiple times. Star Tours 3D is a very fun ride...

Santa Fe Cattle Company in Clermont, FL

2011-05-30T08:00:00.001-04:00

I tried a restaurant in Clermont called Santa Fe Cattle Company. This place seemed to follow the same model as Texas Roadhouse or Logan's Roadhouse where you throw peanut shells on the floor of a western themed restaurant. The waitress said they were a local chain with only three restaurants in the area, but upon checking Santa Fe's website, it looks like they have restaurants all over the southeast.

I had the grilled Texas burrito. Filled with beef, peppers, and onions, I personally found the contents to be kind of boring. There was a tasty cheese sauce over the top of the burrito, but it didn't make up for the blah interior. The burrito was supposed to be served with beans and rice, but the beans never showed up. After asking, I did receive the missing beans with the blame being placed on the kitchen trying to learn the new menu. Overall, the restaurant didn't do much for me. With the uninteresting burrito I had and missing side items, I'd pick other restaurants serving Tex-Mex over Santa Fe Cattle Company in a heartbeat...

The Whale's Rib in Deerfield Beach, FL

2011-05-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

We headed to Deerfield Beach one evening to find some seafood near the ocean. Once there, the decision of what restaurant to eat at was made mostly by which restaurant offered free parking. Turned out The Whale's Rib was one of the few restaurants in this part of town that didn't have meters charging $0.25/ five minutes. I suppose that's a good thing, because apparently The Whale's Rib has some Food Network credibility.

I was able to find this through the magic of YouTube:

The only thing I tried mentioned on TV was the Whale Fries. These were homemade potato chips, served with a couple of cups of Whale Sauce. Can't go wrong with homemade potato chips...

My meal came with a side salad, consisting of romaine lettuce, tomato, onions, cucumbers, croutons, and balsamic dressing.

For my main course, I had the California Shrimp & Scallops. The menu described this as being artichokes, pepper, and onions over spinach pasta. When the plate arrived, I was initially impressed. The colorful plate of pasta had lots of huge shrimp and scallops and three good sized garlic rolls. I could have done without the mushrooms that were also added to the pasta, mentioned nowhere on the menu. I'm really not a big fan of cooked mushrooms. Overall, the pasta was also a bit boring tasting and could have definitely used a bit more flavor in the sauce. I ended up adding some salt to give it more flavor.

Seemed like everyone else at my table enjoyed their food. I think I should have stuck with a classic fish dinner. I'd go back to The Whale's Rib again, but I wouldn't order a pasta dish next time around...

Middle Eastern Aromas in Melbourne, FL

2011-05-25T08:00:00.001-04:00

I picked up take-out a couple of times from a Lebanese restaurant in Melbourne called Middle Eastern Aromas. It's located in a somewhat dilapidated looking strip-mall and is half restaurant, half Middle Eastern market. I've picked up cans of stuffed grape leaves from the market on each of my visits!

I tried their falafel pita sandwich, filled with falafel, lettuce, tomato, parsley, pickled cucumber, and tahini. The falafel had plenty of flavor and the pickles were interesting. In other Lebanese restaurants, pickled turnips seem to be more common on sandwiches.

On another visit, I had the Chicken Shawarma Pita. This sandwich contained chicken, french fries, lettuce, tomato, pickled cucumber, and garlic sauce. The fries didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the pita in my opinion, although that garlic sauce was wonderful. I must have stunk for days afterward, but it's really good stuff.

Mochi Frozen Yogurt in Orlando, FL

2011-05-23T08:00:00.002-04:00

I've been to Mochi Frozen Yogurt in Downtown Orlando a couple of times now. It's pretty much you standard self-serve frozen yogurt place, although the selection of yogurt flavors always leaves something to be desired in my opinion. Only two out of six flavors sounded good to me on my last visit. Regardless, Mochi is still a convenient place to get some dessert while downtown...

AMC Dine-In Theatres in Downtown Disney

2011-05-20T08:00:00.003-04:00

I was invited to the media event for the opening of the new AMC Dine-In Theatres in Downtown Disney. AMC offered us bloggers and other media type people to come try their food and watch TRON Legacy for the complete dine-in theater experience.

The theater itself had extra wide rocking seats. There was a counter for the food in every row, although I personally thought it was too far away from the seat. I wasn't able to comfortably reach my food without sitting on the very edge of my seat which was especially distracting when the movie started. One cool little feature on each counter was the call button to summon your server for drink refills or whatever.

For food, we started out with two appetizers. The first appetizer was the Parmesan Fries. These were standard French fries with grated cheese on top.

Wings & Things Sampler: Came with buffalo wings, potato chips, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks.

Smoked Salmon BLT: For some reason I was really hoping for lox on here, but it was the more traditional type of smoked salmon on the sandwich. Big slab of fish on a bun with bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a garlic basil sauce. More potato chips came served on the side.

Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Pizzetta: Pizza made with buffalo wing sauce rather than the more traditional tomato. Was topped with blue cheese and chicken.

AMC had tables set up in the lobby with many of their menu offerings on display. Here's a few of the foods I didn't get a chance to try:

Overall, I liked my food at the AMC Dine-In Theatres. The prices were good too, with some of the sandwiches being equivalent to what a large popcorn costs at other theaters. The Downtown Disney AMC was already one of my favorite theaters in Orlando, so now food makes them even better!

Big Jims Bar-B-Q Food Truck in Melbourne, FL

2011-05-18T08:00:00.004-04:00

I tried a food truck in Melbourne called Big Jims Bar-B-Q. Big Jims seems to be set up in a semi-permanent location along 192 in an empty lot occupied with the main trailer, a couple of smokers, and some picnic tables. I decided to get the pulled pork sandwich combo, served with two sides.

I tried the collard greens and cornbread for my two sides. I liked the collards, but the cornbread was very dry and could have used some butter for some extra flavor.

The sandwich was good, with loads of pork drenched in a vinegary barbecue sauce. Only complaint was that the sauce soaked down to the lower bun and made the bread very soggy. Regardless, the sandwich tasted good and was a whole lot of food for $7...

Hull's Seafood Kitchen in Ormond Beach, FL

2011-05-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

After a day at the beach, I tried a restaurant/seafood market in Ormond Beach called Hull's Seafood Kitchen. Hull's took up an entire strip mall, half of which was the seafood market that sold all sorts of interesting edible sea creatures, including some live stuff. The other half of the building was the restaurant. Some of the fishy smells from next door did drift into the restaurant, but I suppose that was just a reminder of the reality of seafood.

I ordered a crab cake sandwich, served with cole slaw and a pickle. The sandwich was good, consisting of the meaty crab cake, lettuce, tomato, onion, and remoulade sauce. Very tasty...

Hull's also had seafood dinners that sounded really good, but they were kind of pricy. Dinners were out of my budget on this visit, so I stuck with my sandwich. Perhaps next time...

Travelling Gourmet Food Truck in Orlando, FL

2011-05-11T08:00:00.004-04:00

Travelling Gourmet is one of the newest food trucks to start serving in Orlando. They sell organic & local foods, all out of their trailer. They were at the Orlando Food Truck Bazaar #2 and I decided to give them a try.

I had the Pork Lettuce Wraps, served with a side of plantain chips. The pork came locally from Palmetto Creek Farms and the greens came from Heart of Christmas Farms. The lettuce wraps were topped with corn, black beans, and feta, resulting in a very tasty flavor combination.

I'm not sure if Travelling Gourmet is serving anywhere on a normal basis around town or if they just come out to events like the Food Truck Bazaar. Either way, I'd give them another try if I spot them around town.

Brooklyn Boys Pizzeria in Boca Raton, FL

2011-05-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

I went searching for a late night dinner upon arriving in Boca Raton on a recent evening. My initial idea of getting take-out Turkish food didn't go over well with the picky eater that I was bringing food back for, so Turkish food suddenly turned into pizza. I found myself at a restaurant called Brooklyn Boys Pizzeria and picked up a few slices to bring back. I love how most South Florida pizzerias serve good NY style pizza by the slice. It seems like just about every pizzeria you go into down there always has slices ready to go, and the slices always seem to have a really good turnover too.

Brooklyn Boys served some good pizza. Nice thin crust, good amount of cheese and sauce, and very tasty. The crust could have been a little crispier, but otherwise I have no complaints!

Orlando Food Truck Bazaar #2

2011-05-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

The second Orlando Food Truck Bazaar happened at the Fashion Square Mall on May 1, 2011. With a bigger space and more food trucks, the event was much less hectic and much more organized than the first one. I spent most of the evening at the food bloggers table where Eat Local Orlando, Droolius, DaFoodie, and I promoted our blogs and had I Love Food Trucks T-shirts for sale...

Many of the already popular Orlando food trucks were at the Bazaar, including:

There were also a few trucks that were either new to Orlando, imported from Miami, or I just wasn't aware of them...

With so many trucks at the Food Truck Bazaar, I unfortunately wasn't able to try everything. I limited myself to three different trucks, including Island BBQ, Traveling Gourmet, and Sunset Ice. Check back in the next few weeks for blog posts on the food from these individual trucks.

Circa Thai Food in Tallahassee, FL

2011-05-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

While up in our state's capital city, I stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Circa Thai Food & Sushi. They had some good lunch specials going on and I ordered the Green Curry Chicken. It came with a choice of soup or salad, and I went with the miso soup.

The curry chicken came on a large fish shaped plate, with a side of pad thai noodles and rice. Unlike so much of the Thai food I've had lately in Central Florida, this curry chicken was good and spicy. The portion was huge and the price was good too. No complaints about my lunch.

One of the highlights of the restaurant, although I did not partake, was their sushi buffet. A conveyor belt ran through the center of the restaurant, filled with various rolls and sauces. $12 allowed you free reign to take whatever moved on by. I was really thinking of getting the all-you-can-eat sushi, but Thai food sounded better to me on this particular day.

We need a restaurant with a sushi set-up like this in Orlando!

Food Truck Heaven - May 3, 2011

2011-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Found out about a new street food event for you to check out at the Plaza Theater called Food Truck Heaven. It's happening on May 3, 2011 from 5 pm to 12 am. Definitely check it out. It's almost worth it just to go for the nostalgia factor of Mr. Softee Ice Cream Truck...

ORLANDO, Fla. – April 26, 2011 – The Plaza 'Live' Theater, Orlando's premiere live concert venue, has teamed up with Kenny and Denny’s BBQ to put on a food truck event like no other: Food Truck Heaven! Starting at 5 p.m. on May 3, 2011, The Plaza will be hosting Food Truck Heaven, a 'mobile food court' of sorts, where hungry patrons can sample a variety of culturally diverse culinary delights all in one location.

"If you love ethnic cuisine, food trucks, and beer, this is the event for you," says Ken Cornell of Kenny and Denny's BBQ. "Come and try food truck fare from around the world."

Food Truck Heaven will feature Peruvian, Southern BBQ, Jamaican, Mexican, Columbian, Venezuelan, New England-style, and All-American cuisine. "It will be great to see all the different food trucks from the diverse cultures of Orlando come together like a culinary United Nations,” says Chris Roberts of Eatlocalorlando.com

Local food trucks participating in the event include Las 4 Estaciones Orlando, Taco Loco, Jauncho’s Grill, Arepas el Cacao, Shipyard, The Taco Lady, Big Brunos Bites, Pupusas, Pinchomania, Casa De Chef, Jazzydog, and Mr. Softee Ice Cream, to name a few. The beer garden will feature Corona, Heineken, Stella, and a variety of other beers and wines. "This is a great opportunity for food trucks who have been in business around Central Florida for years to serve the mainstream, so people can taste the cuisine and learn about their culture," says blogger Julius Mayo Jr.of Droolius.com

Other local vendors who will be participating in Food Truck Heaven include: Tia’s Plantain Chips; Demeter’s Harvest (selling fresh salsas and dips); Luther’s Produce (local produce farmer); Universal Spiritual Elements (selling empowering Quartz Crystals/ precious stones & jewelry); Pleasant Earth Soap Co. (selling handmade healthy soaps); and De la Cruz (featuring amazing artwork).

Face painting, caricature drawings, and a drum circle will provide entertainment for the entire family. Local musicians Jared Goldberg, TBA, Legacy, and Everyday Ghosts will also perform.
"I expect an evening of great culinary and musical diversity, and a shared community experience," says DJ Jessica Pawli of WPRK 91.5.

The Plaza is located at 425 N. Bumby Ave., in Orlando. Admission to Food Truck Heaven is free, and there will be plenty of 8-foot tables for customers. However, chairs will be limited, so patrons are encouraged to bring their own folding chairs.

For more information about this expanding event, to offer suggestions, or to see the latest food trucks added to the lineup, visit Food Truck Heaven on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/foodtruckheaven-fb Food truck vendors interested in participating can contact Ken Cornell at 407-923-6152.

About The Plaza 'Live' Theater
The Plaza 'Live' Theater is Orlando's premiere live concert venue, offering a wide range of concerts, comedians, and cultural events. The Plaza has been making renovations in all aspects, which include replacing the seating in the main hall with removable seating, allowing for a wider range of talent. A newly revamped concession area also features hot sandwiches and arepas made to order by Kenny & Denny's BBQ.

Three Broomsticks at Islands of Adventure

2011-05-02T08:00:00.002-04:00

I figured it was about time I check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. More importantly in respect to this blog, I had lunch at the new Three Broomsticks restaurant within the park's new land. I'm not totally up on my Harry Potter trivia, but I suppose the Three Broomsticks is a restaurant in the Village of Hogsmead in the J.K. Rowling books.

Three Broomsticks served the same chicken/rib/turkey leg platters seen elsewhere in the parks, along with several British items. I ordered the Shepard's Pie, served with a side salad. The pie tasted good, although the vegetables normally found in shepard's pies, namely peas and carrots, were completely missing.

Pea soup was also ordered at our table.

Along with Cornish Pasties. These were like a British version of an empanada. Also served with a salad, I preferred these to my shepard's pie.

Since this was a British restaurant, someone had to order the stereotypical English food and get the Fish & Chips. I tried a piece of fish. It tasted fine to me, although the person who ordered the fish was not pleased with the meal. They said it reminded them too much of fish sticks.

And what visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would be complete without a cup of the much sought after butterbeer? It was like cream soda topped with a frothy whipped cream. Tasty stuff, especially for the novelty factor. I found it interesting that this was the only soda served within this part of the park. Go to Seuss Landing for Coke products...

The lines for butterbeer were massive at the carts selling it out in the park. I'm glad I bought my butterbeer inside of Three Broomsticks where there was virtually no line!

To end, I'll post a picture of what is now probably the second most photographed castle in Orlando. Hogwarts contains the very cool Forbidden Journey ride. I must say though, as much as I enjoyed the technical aspects of the ride, it left me feeling a bit sick. I can't say any other ride in the Orlando theme parks makes me nauseous. Found it kind of strange that a ride based on a series of kid's books was so rough. Talking about getting sick on theme park rides is a great way to end a post on a food blog, right?

Orlando Food Truck Bazaar #2: May 1, 2011 @ Fashion Square Mall

2011-04-29T08:00:00.003-04:00

The second Orlando Food Truck Bazaar, brought to us by TheDailyCity.com, is happening this Sunday (May 1, 2011) at the Fashion Square Mall outside of Dillards from 7 pm - midnight. I'll be there. Will you?

Some quick points on what I learned from the first Food Truck Bazaar last month to make the event more enjoyable for everyone.

Don't go there expecting to get your food and leave within an hour (my big mistake last time). Allow yourself at least a couple of hours.
Get there early. The food trucks might sell out.
Don't expect to try everything.
Expect the lines to be large and intimating. Think Magic Kingdom on July 4th. Thankfully, the lines will move faster than Disney and your food will most likely be more satisfying than your thirty second ride on Dumbo.
Don't cut in line. I noticed this was a huge problem last time around. Don't contribute to the problem.

Get all the delicious details at TheDailyCity.com

See you there!

Eastern Chinese Restaurant in Tallahassee, FL

2011-04-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

I went camping a few weeks ago up in Tallahassee. When you sleep in a tent around a bonfire, I hear you're supposed to make dinner yourself using primitive cooking techniques. What's 200,000 years of human evolution and the invention of the internal combustion engine good for if we still need to make food the same way as our ancestors? We decided to make full use of our human achievements and drove to the nearest shopping center to pick up Chinese take-out rather than cooking over a fire...

We ended up at Eastern Chinese Restaurant in a Publix Shopping Center. I started with some Wonton Soup.

I also had some Vegetable Lo Mein. These noodles had plenty of mixed vegetables, although the lo mein was sort of bland tasting. Some soy sauce and spicy mustard fixed that...

Just to get the most out of my camping experience, the next night I had a grilled venison steak and corn on the cob, all cooked under the stars. Honestly though, I preferred my Chinese food...

Casa de Chef Food Truck in Orlando, FL

2011-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

We're in the middle of somewhat of a street food renaissance in Orlando. New food trucks are popping up all the time. We are quickly getting a vast array of food type offerings, and there are now food truck events almost every week. One of the newest food trucks in Orlando is called Casa De Chef on Colonial drive.

They were parked in the Chevron Gas Station parking lot at the intersection of Colonial and Fern Creek. It was apparently their second day open when I visited. Casa de Chef served sandwiches, rice bowls, and kabobs called pinchos. I decided to try the very first thing on their menu and ordered the Cuban Sandwich.

The huge sandwich had lots of shredded pork, peppers, pickles, lettuce, potatoes strips, mayonnaise, mustard, and perhaps some more fillings I'm forgetting. Casa de Chef definitely makes a very good sandwich, and the prices are good too at $4.50 for this large sandwich. I would gladly get food from Casa de Chef again...

Kafe Kalik in Orlando, FL

2011-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

I ate dinner at Kafe Kalik in the Premium Outlet Mall (no more Prime Outlets?) on International Drive. This Bahamian fusion restaurant had most of the stuff you would expect from a Caribbean themed chain restaurant, although their sushi bar did seem a little out of place.

My meal started out with a side salad. Nothing about it screamed Bahamas to me...

I had the Curry Shrimp for my main course. This large portion of shrimp, carrots, onions, potatoes was drenched in a spicy curry sauce over jasmine rice.

I enjoyed my meal. The shrimp tasted good, the portion was large, and they did a nice job with the presentation too. My only real complaint was that we never got the bread that was supposed to come with our meal. I'd gladly go back to Kafe Kalik next time I'm at the outlet mall!

Captains Pizza in Clearwater, FL

2011-04-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

After a day of enjoying Clearwater Beach, it was time to get some dinner. It was decided that pizza would be an appropriate post-beach food and we were off to search for an Italian restaurant. It seemed just about every pizzeria within walking distance of the beach served small conveyor belt pizzas with really high prices, that is, until we came to Captains Pizza.

The place was kind of dingy looking, but they had real pizza ovens and had a pie that was large enough to feed five people for an affordable price.

Our cheese pie wasn't the best pizza around, but it served it's purpose for a post-beach dinner. It was quickly devoured and we were out of the restaurant in time to see the awesome sunset on the Gulf of Mexico...

Dominic's I in Boca Raton, FL

2011-04-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

I've always liked Dominic's II in Boca Raton but I had never been to Dominic's I just off the Florida Turnpike. That all changed when I stopped for lunch at the restaurant during some of my travels. They had some good lunch specials going on and I ordered this Spinach Stromboli for $3.50. The stromboli was comparable in size to what other Italian restaurants serve for full price and was overflowing with spinach and cheese. This was definitely a really good deal for lunch...

Bojangles in Sanford, FL

2011-04-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Two-piece chicken dinner with macaroni & cheese, green beans, and a biscuit from Bojangles in Sanford. The chicken was less greasy than the garbage KFC serves, but was also by no means worth going back for. It's fast food chicken-- you can't expect much...

Sun Valley Buffet in Sanford, FL

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sun Valley Buffet opened in an old Bennigan's in Sanford. They had three tables of Chinese food, a table of misplaced southern foods, Mongolian BBQ, sushi, and a dessert table. My main complaint here was the disproportionate amount of fried food on the buffet. It was like the Golden Corral of Chinese buffets. Way too much fried food and not enough variety when it came to everything else...

The dumplings and sliced pork were two standout foods on the buffet. I found most everything else to be mediocre and overcooked in many cases.

I wasn't impressed with Sun Valley Buffet. I doubt I'd return, especially for $12.99...

Orlando Food Truck Bazaar #1: The Taco Company/Lady

2011-04-08T08:00:00.002-04:00

The first Orlando Food Truck Bazaar happened on March 29, 2011 in a church parking lot on Orange Ave. The event was organized by TheDailyCity.com and even though the Bazaar was promoted everywhere, I don't think anyone was expecting the humongous crowds that showed up. I decided to stop by the event on my way home and didn't think the parked cars that went on for a few blocks could possibly be for a parking lot filled with food trucks. They were. I parked and entered the mass of thousands of people consuming street food...

Because of the huge crowds, I decided I would make my food choice based on whatever line seemed shortest. After a quick walk around, The Taco Company (also listed as The Taco Lady and The Taco Truck) won my business.

It took me about twenty minutes to place my order. With the amount of people still lined up for the other trucks, I figured I was doing pretty good. I decided to get a torta with carne enchilada (seasoned pork). Turned out the only meats left were steak or chicken, so I went with a chicken torta instead.

Once I placed the order, it was time to wait for the food. I must put the emphasis on wait because my twenty minutes to order was dwarfed by the next hour and a half that I stood there waiting to get my torta. In that time, all of the other trucks had either sold out of food or shut down for the evening. I did receive my food eventually and the nice people inside The Taco Company truck threw in some tacos and a soda to apologize for the wait. By that point though, I was completely over standing in line for my food and just wanted to get home...

Once back home, it was time to eat the food! I started with the chicken torta. The large roll was filled with plenty of shredded chicken, lettuce, tomato, onions, peppers, and cheese. Unfortunately, the avocado that was also supposed to be on the sandwich was nowhere to be found.

I actually preferred the tacos over the torta. Being that these are from a taco truck, I guess it's only appropriate. They gave me one chicken and one steak taco, each on a warm corn tortilla, garnished with onions and cilantro. A handful of radish and lemon slices completed the plate.

My food was good, but there is no way it was worth the wait. If you want to try The Taco Company, I would suggest finding them in Ocoee when they aren't swamped with thousands of people. I have a feeling the tacos would probably be served up pretty quickly in another situation.

The Food Truck Bazaar was definitely a success with the amount of people that showed up. I waited way longer for my food than I was anticipating and didn't get to try as much as I would have liked, but this is the first event of it's kind in Orlando. After the success of the Food Truck Bazaar, food truck events seem to be becoming a weekly thing in town. With food trucks out all the time and more events like this, such as last Wednesday's Food Truck Pod at Firestone Live, it only means Orlando's street food scene will get better from here...