Kyoto Sushi & Grill at UCF

Kyoto Sushi & Grill is one of the newer restaurants to open in the shops surrounding the UCF Arena in Orlando. It is a semi-fast food restaurant, where you order your food with a cashier, and then the food is brought out to your table.

I ate here once previously for lunch and had a California Roll. On my second visit, this time for dinner, I had the Hibachi Chicken. Miso soup and salad were served first. The soup was good and the salad had the typical ginger dressing that everyone loves.

Soon enough, the main course, a huge plate of chicken, vegetables, rice, and noodles was served. It was mostly good. The chicken was tasty, but I found a bit too much of it to be fatty. They offered an upgrade to all white meat, and I should have gone for it. Regardless, I shouldn't need to be spitting out an unedible bit every few bites. Rice and vegetables were good, although they were a bit stingy with them. Looking at the picture below, it's hard to even spot the vegetables on the plate, and they are one of my favorite parts of the meal! The menu stated the chicken was served with soba noodles, but instead, we got the typical Japanese Steakhouse noodles. Still good, but not soba...

Besides the unedible chicken bits, I liked Kyoto. The food is mostly tasty, the prices are pretty reasonable (especially for lunch), and the portions are quite large. I think next time I'll either try a bento box or the hibachi shrimp.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill “Mix it up for MDA” Event

Carrabba’s Italian Grill “Mix it up for MDA” Event

What: “Mix it Up for MDA” Event, a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association

When: Thursday, July 30^thfrom 5 p.m. to close

Cost: $15 a person

Admission includes a sampling of four food items from the new Mr. C’s Bar Menu and, for guests 21 years and older, one of three signature cocktails (Blackberry Lemonade, the Italian Lemon Drop or Blackberry Fields Martini) or another drink on the Mr. C’s list. In addition to monies raised from event admission, Carrabba’s also will donate $1 to MDA for each of the three signature drinks sold from July 30 – August 6.

Where: (407) 888-2727
1001 Sandlake Rd.,
Orlando, FL 32809

(407) 355-7277
5701 Vineland Road,
Orlando, FL 32819

(407) 938-0015
8702 Vineland Ave.,
Orlando, FL 32821

To find other Carrabba’s locations near you, visit http://carrabbas.com/locator.aspx

Recipes:

Blackberry Fields
1 ½ oz Stolichnaya
1 ¾ oz Sweet and Sour
½ oz Monin Blackberry Sangria
4 mint leaves
Combine ingredients and shake well.
Serve in a martini glass.
Garnish with a blackberry and mint leaf on a cocktail pick.


Blackberry Lemonade
1 oz Stolichnaya
1 oz Sweet and Sour
¾ oz Monin Blackberry Sangria
Splash of soda.
Build in a highball glass.
Stir and garnish with a blackberry and lemon wedge on a cocktail pick.


Italian Lemon Drop
1 oz Stolichnaya
1 oz Limoncello
¾ oz Cointreau
1 ¼ oz Sweet and Sour
Combine ingredients and shake well.
Serve in a martini glass.
Garnish with a lemon wedge.

Romano's Macaroni Grill

I was in the Tampa area and ate at the Romano's Macaroni Grill in Carrollwood, FL. Although there were some other menu items that were tempting me, it seems I always end up getting the Chef's Trio on my visits to Macaroni Grill. I started with a Caesar Salad.

For the main dish, I choose something called Pasta Milano. The dish consisted of bowtie pasta, chicken, sun dried tomatos, and a garlic cream sauce. I had the restaurant leave out the mushrooms that normally come with the pasta. I liked the Pasta Milano. It definitely could have used another vegetable (spinach?), but otherwise I enjoyed it.

For the dessert, I had Lemon Passion cake. I really like those huge mint leaves that Macaroni Grill tops their dessert with...

Habanero's Mexican Grill

I ate at Habanero's Mexican Grill in Casselberry, FL. The meal started with chips and salsa. I liked how they gave everyone their own individual bowl of salsa with a pitcher of salsa on the table for refills. This way, each person at the table could double dip to their hearts content.

For my dinner, I ordered the Enchiladas Supreme. This included four enchiladas, each with a different filling. One was filled with refried beans, another was cheese, the third was beef, and the final enchilada was filled with shredded chicken and peppers. The four enchiladas were topped with sauce, lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. I could have done without the beef enchilada, but I liked the other three.

My only complaint was that it would have been nice if they served the enchiladas with a side of rice or beans like other Mexican restaurants often do.

Lake Mary Chipotle

I brought home takeout from the Chipotle in Lake Mary, FL. I had a vegetarian burrito, stuffed with rice, black beans, roasted peppers & onions, hot salsa, corn, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, and lettuce, all wrapped in a tortilla. The burrito was huge, and I'm guessing there was probably a day's worth of calories in there, even though it's a healthy vegetarian burrito.


I really wouldn't mind getting meat in the burrito, but then it's a trade off with the guacamole. They charge over a dollar to put a little scoop of mashed avocado in a meat burrito, which really isn't worth it in my opinion. If given a choice between meat or guacamole, I would choose the guacamole over meat any day.

Not Eating Chocolate in Hershey, PA

On my second day in Hershey, PA, I ate breakfast in a restaurant called the Cocoa Diner (or Cocoa Grill depending on the sign). I had an egg & cheese croissant served with hashed browns. There was hardly any cheese in the sandwich so it tasted kind of bland. The hashed browns were good though...



After breakfast, I went to Hersheypark...

After riding roller coasters all morning, I ate lunch at the Tudor Grill...



I ate a sandwich called a Rachel with turkey and sourkraut on it.