904 Gyros Food Truck in Jacksonville, FL

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. 

Sticky Rice Lao Street Food in Orlando, FL

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.

 

Tin & Taco in Downtown Orlando

I ate at Tin & Taco in Downtown Orlando.

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.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers in Orlando, FL

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 at Disney Springs

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.

Dio Santo Street Pizzeria in Longwood, FL

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.