While on a cruise to Grand Bahamacruise to Grand Bahama, I rented a car in Freeport to explore more of the island. The guy at the car rental place told us to got to a place called Cleveland's Beach Club for lunch. A selling point to go to the restaurant was that they had pigs to swim with. According to the car rental guy, if we told Cleveland's that he sent us, we would be able to swim with the pigs for free. This wasn't the case. One of the people in my group almost paid for the pig swimming experience, but we were running short of time and decided against it.
We did get to see the pigs as they were taken for a walk past our table. Good enough for me. I wasn't there to swim with the pigs, I was there for the food.
I ordered their combo plate which came with lobster tail, fried fish, fried shrimp, and conch fritters. It was a little bit of overload of deep fried seafood. The two standouts was the lobster and the fish. Conch was a little tough.
I recently went on a cruise on the Margaritaville Paradise from Port of Palm Beach to Freeport in The Bahamas. Here's the food I ate on the ship:
There were some issues in the port where boarding the ship took longer than expected. Headed straight to the Port of Indecision Buffet for lunch as soon as I was on board. Unfortunately, they were clearing the buffet by the time I got there. I was able to pick some stragglers that were still there including some sort of vegetable curry, rice, a pig in a blanket, and a hot dog with no bun. Everything tasted like I got the leftovers just before it was thrown out.
Walked around the corner after getting some of the leftover buffet food to find the Cheeseburger in Paradise Burger Bar. They were still serving food. Got a cheeseburger and fries that tasted fresher than the buffet food.
That evening, I ate dinner in the Fins Dining Room. This was the fancy dining room that was included in the cruise. There was also a steakhouse, pizzeria, and coffee shop that were upcharges. My meal started with a bowl of Jamaican Pumpkin Soup:
This was followed by a Caprese Salad. Wasn't my favorite. Hunk of cheese, lots of arugula, and not much flavor.
I had the Antigua Shrimp Skewer for my main course. This was jumbo shrimp with mango salsa over jasmine rice. Broccoli was served as a vegetable. It was fine, but could have used a little more sauce for flavor. Everything on the plate lacked any distinct seasoning.
I ate the Key Lime Sponge Cake for dessert. I liked it, but the consensus among others at the table who ordered this was that they would have preferred regular key lime pie.
For breakfast the next morning, I went back to the Port of Indecision Buffet. They were serving food this time around. Besides the issue with the buffet closing when I boarded, breakfast was consistently the worst food on the ship. It was really bad. Eggs were cold. Certain items were still frozen. Scarfed it down so I'd have energy for the day, but I didn't enjoy it.
Left the ship and explored Freeport. When I got back on board the ship, I won a hula hoop contest where the prize was a free drink. I don't do alcohol, so I had a virgin pina colada.
Also made it back to the Cheeseburger in Paradise Burger Bar for a late afternoon meal to hold me over until dinnertime.
Back to the Fins Dining Room for dinner that night, my meal started with the Cajun Gumbo:
This was followed by a Caesar Salad. Pretty standard, but better than the caprise salad from the night before.
I had Shrimp & Grits as my main course. This was the best food item I had in Fins. It was really tasty.
I tried the Baked Florida for dessert. This was layers of ice cream with marshmallow meringue as an outer coating. Not my favorite.
Later I found myself back in Port of Indecision Buffet for a late night snack. They had Butter Chicken. This was really good. I had the chicken over rice with naan. Good flavors, good spice levels. I really enjoyed this. The desserts from the buffet, not so much...
For my final meal on the cruise, it was back to Port of Indecision Buffet for breakfast. Regular buffet food was just as bad as the previous breakfast, but waiting for the omelet bar was worth it. The omelet was really good. Weird how the ship has a good grasp on semi-decent food, but they can't figure out how to make breakfast well.
I was getting gas at a Wawa in Casselberry. I was using their rewards app to get discounts on gas when I noticed they had dropped a coupon for a free 14" pizza into my account. I was aware that Wawa sold pizza, but I wasn't about to go out of my way to try pizza from a gas station. If the pizza was free though, that was different.
I ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza. I selected the garlic crust option when ordering. Upon first glance when opening up the box, it had the look of a chain pizza similar to Hungry Howie's or Little Caesars. The crust/sauce/cheese/topping ratio was good. Everything seemed well balanced and the pizza held together. The garlic taste/smell on the pizza was surprisingly strong for gas station food.
Overall, I went in with very low expectations. The pizza was okay, on par with other fast food pizzas. Definitely wouldn't be my first choice of pizza in Orlando, but I might pick Wawa if it was between them or a Little Caesars...
I ate dinner from a food truck in Jacksonville called 904 Gyros. I loved their tagline on the truck of "Under a Billion Sold." That's impressive!
I had a Carved Lamb/Beef Gyro Plate, served with saffron rice, a cucumber and tomato salad, and Tzatziki. Everything was delicious. Everything on the plate was really flavorful.
I enjoyed dinner at Sticky Rice in Orlando, located on Colonial Drive, where they specialize in Lao street food. I ordered the Pork Belly Laab, which consisted of really flavorful pork belly accompanied by lettuce, cucumber, and sticky rice. Initially uncertain about the best way to enjoy the dish, I was a little unsure how to eat the dish, whether I was supposed to make lettuce wraps or use the rice to pick everything up. I did a combination of both, and it worked.
We walked in, and the guy behind the counter announced that they had no tortillas and could only make bowls. Fine, who wanted the food item in the restaurant's namesake anyway? With that in mind, I ordered a Buffalo Soldier Bowl. This was basically a buffalo chicken rice bowl. That's when I was further informed that the chicken was still cooking. They could give it to me, but the chicken might not be done. Rather than risk foodborne illness from undercooked chicken, I decided to try the Mac Attack. This was ground beef, macaroni & cheese, bacon, and green onion.
This was the best macaroni & cheese, beef, bacon, and rice bowl I've ever eaten. I can say that because it's the only rice bowl of that combination that I've eaten. Rice topped with cheesy noodles didn't quite go, in my opinion, but I did eat it. Definitely wouldn't get it again, but I ate it. With everything, from the lack of tortillas at a taco restaurant to the offer to be served chicken that was still cooking, I don't think I'm rushing back to a Tin & Taco anytime soon.
I decided to get lunch at the much hyped Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers location which opened recently in Orlando along Daryl Carter Parkway. Similar to when White Castle and Portillo's opened in the same shopping center, the lines to try Raising Cane's were insane at first. Now that there's no longer police directing traffic due to their drive-thru overflow, I decided to give Raising Cane's a try.
I ordered The Box Combo. Came with 4 chicken fingers, fries, Cane's sauce, Texas toast, coleslaw, and a drink. This was some of the worst fast food I can remember attempting to eat in recent memory. The batter on the chicken fingers lacked any crunch or crispyness. The batter basically wiped off the chicken under my fingers when I picked up a piece of chicken. The fries were cold and soggy, as was the Texas toast. Thankfully, the coleslaw was actually pretty tasty.
I ended up throwing out most of the meal. I know my fast food expectations should be low, but I should at least expect to eat the food. My meal left me with no reason to go back to Raising Cane's...
Eet is an Indian fast food restaurant in Disney Springs. It took the place of Wolfgang Puck Express. Like the former occupant of the space, this restaurant also has a celebrity chef connection. Eet is by Maneet Chauhan, although I was not familiar with her before this restaurant opened. The Disney bloggers said great things about this place when it first opened and there were some interesting menu items, so I ended up there a few days after it opened.
I was intrigued by the restaurant's Tandoori Chicken Poutine, so that's what I tried. Unfortunately, this was pretty bad. The menu described the dish as "chaat masala fries, tandoori chicken, white cheddar curds, rich tomato butter sauce." Individually, the tandoori chicken and the sauce was good. There just wasn't enough of it to cover the fries. Besides the surface layer of fries covered by the sauce, the rest of the fries were dry, flavorless, and worst of all, burnt. If the cheese was indeed cheese curds at some point, they were so melted that the curds were lost. As someone who enjoys the traditional versions of both tandoori chicken and poutine, I was really disappointed by this dish.
A couple months later I was back at Disney Springs and decided to give Eet another try. I ordered a Build Your Own Bowl. I picked basmati rice, basil cilantro shrimp, topped with tikka sauce. I also added on an order of Garlic Naan. Overall, the bowl was much better than the poutine. That being said, everything was very plain tasting and lacked any strong flavors. It wasn't the lack of spiciness, it felt like this was Indian food dumbed down to potentially not offend theme park audiences.
The other issue with this visit was how pushy the cashier was with asking to be tipped. This is a fast food restaurant. You order at a counter. Food is then delivered to your tables, but besides from that there was no interaction with employees. We threw out our own plates at the end of the meal. The cashier had a speech that went on about 45 seconds which felt like I was being guilted into leaving a large tip before there was any service. I did select a tip amount, but the whole interaction was very uncomfortable. I really hope employees at Eet are paid properly and don't have to rely on tips for money when they work at a restaurant which is set up essentially the same as any other fast food restaurant.
As much as I want a good fast food Indian restaurant in Orlando, Eet wasn't it. Go to Indian Hut instead.
I tried a food truck called Dio Santo Street Pizzeria when it was at an even in Reiter Park in Longwood.
I tried the Prosciutto and Arugula Pizza. The pie was topped with sauce, cheese, prosciutto, arugula, and a balsamic glaze. Crust was nice and crispy. Flavors were good. The pie was a little expensive for the size, but it was expected for a food truck. I'd get this again.
I visited Universal Studios Hollywood twice in the past year. The initial visit was to see the park for the first time (alongside Disneyland). A few months later, my schedule and budget allowed me to go a second time to see Hollywood's version of Halloween Horror Nights.
First food in the park was from a hot dog cart in the upper lot. I ordered the Californian. This was a Nathan's hot dog topped with guacamole, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and Takis. Very topping heavy. They were really generous with the guacamole and cilantro, which I won't argue with.
When I returned a few months later, I walked by this same hot dog stand. All of the interesting hot dog toppings were replaced with basically one option: A 22" Chili Cheese Dog. Nowhere as exciting...
French Street Bistro:
I tried a brownie from the French Street Bistro.
City Snack Shop:
I had this during Halloween Horror Nights. I had a Strawberry Spiral Croissant. This round croissant was partially stuffed with whipped cream, with some strawberries topping the cream. Pretty tasty.
It's been a while since I've had food at the Magic Kingdom. Since the last post on this blog was about Disneyland, why not write about the similar castle park in Florida.
Casey's Corner:
I've lived in Orlando most of my life and have been to the Magic Kingdom countless times, but somehow I had never been to Casey's Corner on Main Street. I've heard the restaurant hyped up quite often, so on my last visit to Magic Kingdom I finally had lunch there. I ordered the Chipotle Barbecue All-Beef Foot-long Hot Dog. It was a hot dog topped with pulled pork, coleslaw, and barbeque sauce. Good for Disney serving more than plain hot dogs. Toppings always make them more interesting. This was fine. Not anything great that I'd go back for again though. As I write this, I'm realizing that this had very similar ingredients to the Ronto Wrap at Galaxy's Edge. Slightly different forms of the ingredients, but it was essentially the same thing.
Sunshine Tree Terrace:
I had the I Lava You Float. Orange Dole Whip topped with strawberry Fanta, passionfruit syrup, and Pop Rocks. This was a good dessert.
Had lunch at a restaurant called Rancho del Zocalo. This Mexican themed quick service was located next to Big Thunder Mountain and had an outdoor seating courtyard that overlooked the ride.
I had the Trio of Street Tacos. Each taco was filled with either beef, chicken, or cauliflower served in Corn Tortillas with Tomatillo Sauce, garnished with Onions and Cilantro served with Mexican Rice and Refried Beans. The cauliflower taco was the best. All of them were surprisingly good when thinking of the equivalent restaurants at Magic Kingdom which are notoriously bad (I said it. Disney adults, leave your angry comments).
Ronto Roasters:
This was my first experience in Galaxy's Edge. I guess I was eating simulated ronto meat, cooked by a droid by a repurposed pod racer engine. I had the Ronto Wrap, which was roasted pork, pork sausage, peppercorn sauce, and coleslaw wrapped in pita bread. Theming of this place was awesome, but I don't think I'd go out of my way again to get a hot dog wrapped in a slice of pork with some messy coleslaw dripping everywhere. It was food...
Blue Milk from the Milk Stand exceeded all expectations. This was delicious.
