Z-Best Ethiopian Food in Orlando, FL

I ventured down to Lake Eola Park on Earth Day. Earth Day in the park was interesting because the March for Science was happening at the same time as the Central Florida Earth Day celebrations. The two events contrasted a bit with one promoting science alongside another that was promoting a whole lot of pseudoscience. Besides the tents telling me the the horrors of chemtrails, the Earth Day celebrations also had some food vendors which aren't normally in the park. I tried Z-Best Ethiopian Food.

I had their three item combo. I picked a lentil-filled sambusa, collards, and chickpeas. The sambusa was good, similar to a samosa in an Indian restaurant but with a flakier crust. The lentil filling had a nice bit of spice to it. Chickpeas were also good, cooked in a flavorful tomato based sauce. The collards were just okay, with not much standout flavor.

Z-Best was my first time eating Ethiopian food in Orlando. I know there are a couple other Ethiopian restaurants in town that I need to try, but so far I only have one data point. I guess that means Z-Best lives up to their name for now in Orlando.

Tamale Co. in Orlando, FL

I was at the Orlando Farmers Market at Lake Eola a few weeks ago and had lunch from the Tamale Co. tent. The Tamale Co. is also a local food truck in Orlando that seems to frequent events like the Food Truck Bazaars. This was my first encounter with them at the farmers market so I was interested in trying their "Mexican Gourmet Tamales."

The tamales were $4.50 each, or two for $8. I was both hungry and trying to be economical, so I ordered the two tamales. I first tried the Verde Chicken Tamale. This tamale was my favorite of the two. The corn tamale was topped with shredded chicken in a chile verde sauce, topped with tomitillo cream sauce, cilantro aioli, cheese, and cilantro leaves. The other tamale was the Choriqueso. This consisted of chorizo sausage and chihuahua cheese served in a red sauce with cilantro sprinkled over the top. During the first few bites of my tamales, I prefered the Choriqueso out of the two. About half way through, the spicy flavors in the Verde grew on me and the Choriqueso suddenly seemed bland in relation.

Both of the tamales were tasty and I'm looking forward to trying the Tamale Co. again sometime in the future. Perhaps next time I'll catch them when they're in food truck form rather than tent form.

Kenny & Denny's BBQ at Orlando Farmers Market

I visited the Orlando Farmers Market in Lake Eola on a recent Sunday afternoon and bought lunch from Kenny & Denny's BBQ. Their menu consisted of turkey legs, sandwiches, quesadillas, and breakfast items. I ordered the BBQ Pulled Pork Quesadilla.

The quesadilla consisted of a tortilla filled with a generous portion of pulled pork, cheese, onions, and barbecue sauce. The whole thing was grilled until everything melted together, then was sliced and served. I did enjoy the combination of smoked meat, cheese, and barbeque sauce. The quesadilla was dripping grease while I was eating, probably a sign of how unhealthy it was. Still, the quesadilla was very tasty and I'd order this again at some point.

The Whip Ice Cream Truck in Orlando, FL

I watched the fireworks at Lake Eola this year on July 4th. While there, I bought some ice cream from a truck called The Whip. They served ice cream where they would blend vanilla with a large selection of flavors to come up with over 40 different varieties. Shaved ice was also available, but I stuck with the ice cream.

My flavor selection for the night was the blueberry cheesecake. A cup of vanilla soft serve was filled and a container filled with the flavoring was removed from a freezer. Both were taken to a separate machine where they were blended together into a purple tinted ice cream. The flavor wasn't as strong as I've had elsewhere. I could taste a bit of berry flavor but didn't taste much cheesecake. Regardless, the ice cream was good enough and it was an interesting process to watch how they got all those flavors out of one soft serve machine.

Metro Espresso Pizza Café in Orlando, FL

Metro Espresso Pizza Cafe is located in a building adjacent to Lake Eola Park in Downtown Orlando. After a recent visit to the park, I decided to try the pizza at this restaurant. We were seated and then proceeded to wait a very long time for drinks, giving our order, and for the food to be finally served. We were there between lunch and dinner, so the place wasn't exactly busy with two other occupied tables in the restaurant. There didn't seem to be a reason for the very long waits between seeing our very distracted server, but eventually our food came.

The pizza here was forgettable. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. The sauce tasted very generic. The crust was thin and the cheese seemed somewhat sparse. The pizza filled my stomach, but it wasn't something I'd seek out again. With a few other restaurants within walking distance that serve pizza that I do enjoy, I don't think I'll be returning here anytime soon...

Chicken Satay Stand in Orlando, FL

On July 4th, I watched the fireworks at Lake Eola park in Orlando. Lots of food vendors were set up, most of which I did not partake. As I was leaving though, I did start to get hungry and noticed skewers of Indonesian chicken satay being grilled.

The grilled meat smelled really good and the skewers were very affordable compared to most of the other foods being sold in the park.

I bought my chicken satay, which was immediately drenched in peanut sauce, and I proceeded to eat as I wandered around Downtown Orlando. These tasty chunks of chicken made me think about how Orlando needs more street food that is between a full-fledged food truck and the hot dog carts that show up late at night. We need more skewer carts. We need some halal carts. We need all those fun little carts that show up in other cities like New York and Washington, but have yet to come to Orlando. The ones that fit on a sidewalk corner and provide a nice tasty snack for cheaper than any full restaurant or food truck. Chicken Satay should be around in Orlando all the time, not just on holidays in the park...

Mobay Bakery at Orlando Farmers Market

The Orlando Farmers Market that happens every Sunday at Lake Eola Park is one of my favorites in Central Florida. On my most recent food excursion to the farmers market, I had lunch from a booth serving Jamaican food called Mobay Bakery.

I tried their curry chicken. The chicken was normally served with rice, but they were out so they gave a beef patty instead. The curry chicken tasted good, although the chopped up bones in the chicken pieces did start getting annoying after a while. The beef patty was good (and better than rice in my opinion)!

Fusion Tacos at the Orlando Farmers Market

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!

Orlando Food and Wine Festival

On November 13, I visited the Third Annual Orlando Food & Wine Fest. It happened on a section of Robinson Street next to Lake Eola Park. The festival featured food samplings from a multitude of Orlando's restaurants, cooking demonstrations, and live music.

While I was there The Redcoats were playing Beatles covers.

I watched a cooking demonstration with John Zimmerman of Ruth Chris Steakhouse.

Moving on to the food for sale, Kobe was cooking up their hibachi chicken.

Sushi was also well represented at the festival with Shari Sushi, CRAVE, and this Spicy Tuna Hand Roll from Orlando Sushi House.

There were several restaurants serving ribs. O'Charlie's had big slabs of ribs and The Boheme at the Grand Bohemian Hotel was offering Beef Ribs with Mango BBQ.


Dexter's was serving up pulled pork sandwiches.

Cityfish had huge Jalapeno Hush Puppies and some delicious looking Gumbo.

Champion's Gate was grilling kabobs that smelled great!

The larger restaurant chains were also at the festival. Panera Bread was serving soups and P.F. Chang's had rice and lettuce wraps.


Anatolia Mediterranean Cuisine was one of the booths that I choose to try. I had a gyro, served with tzatziki, hummus, and pita. The lamb in the gyro was very tasty!


I also tasted the food from Caribbean Sunshine Bakery. I tried the Jerk Chicken with a side of rice. The chicken was nice and tender and had a great kick to it. Out of all the food at the festival, it seemed like Caribbean Sunshine Bakery was giving some of the most generous portions.


I had a good time at the Food & Wine Fest! I was able to eat delicious foods, but my only wish was that I could have tried a bit of everything! There was so much to choose from at the festival, there was no way to sample it all! I suppose it's a good excuse to go visit the restaurants represented at the festival and try what I missed...