Backlot Express at Hollywood Studios

I ate at Backlot Express at Hollywood Studios. I have distinct memories of eating here as a kid, way back in the MGM Studios days of the park. I remember tuna salad sandwiches on hot dog buns. I'm sure menus have changed and that hasn't been an option for a really long time. On this visit, I had  the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl. The menu describes it as Seasoned Jasmine Rice, Teriyaki Chicken, Yuzu-pickled Edamame, Carrots, Cucumber, and Onions drizzled with House-made Lemon-Tahini-Chipotle Vinaigrette and Sesame Seeds. It was pretty good. Proportion wise, I would have preferred a little more of the toppings to go with the rice, but otherwise everything was tasty.
 

Jeff's Bagel Run in Oviedo, FL

Jeff's Bagel Run is a newish chain in the Central Florida area that's been expanding like crazy. They've been around for a while, but I just tried them for the first time at their Oviedo location. I was surprised how simple their menu was when I walked it. I was expecting a selection of bagel based sandwiches like other bagel chains in the area, but it seemed like they kept it basic with only bagels and cream cheese, with a bigger focus on drinks than the bagels.

I ordered an asiago everything bagel with chive and onion cream cheese. I decided against getting a coffee because I'm trying to cut back on my caffeine intake. Sat down and waited for my bagel. About five minutes later, I was handed a to-go bag. Since it was already bagged, I decided to go eat in my car. Got to say I was surprised and annoyed when I opened the bag to find an un-toasted bagel with a separate container of cream cheese.

Why did it take five minutes to shove this in a bag when there was nobody ordering ahead of me? Why did I select to leave a tip when I'm doing all the work putting the cream cheese on the bagel? I don't get it. It was a fine bagel, but there's other better bagel shops in the area that don't make me do the work. I probably won't return to a Jeff's because of the cream cheese thing. 
 

Sushi Inc in St. Petersburg, FL

I ate lunch at Sushi Inc located in Downtown St. Petersburg. My meal started out with a salad. 

I had the Tonkotsu ramen with pork. Ramen is normally either mediocre if not good/great, but this was the first ramen that I've experience that was bad. Broth tasted rancid, unlike any other tonkotsu broth I've had elsewhere. It had a distinct smell that was very similar to urine. Needless to say, I hardly touched the soup. Instant ramen was better than this.

 

Jaws Food Booth at Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando set up an area of the San Francisco section of the park celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jaws. At one of their food booths, I tried the Lobster Taiyaki. The waffle was shaped like a shark and was stuffed with lobster salad overflowing onto the plate. 

Tangierine Cafe at Epcot

I ate at Tangierine Cafe at Epcot in the Morocco Pavilion. It's been several years since I've been here, and the menu has changed. I remember lots of pitas filled with various items, specifically falafel. On today's visit, I learned that now they have kababs. I tried the Grilled Chermoula Chicken Kebab with Carrot-Chickpea Salad and Garlic Aïoli. Pretty tasty, but the portion was very small. Seemed like a Epcot festival size menu item rather than something in a restaurant. Would have preferred a falafel pita.
 

Fragaria New Zealand Style Ice Cream in Orlando, FL

I found Fragaria New Zealand Style Ice Cream at the Orlando Fringe Festival. This ice cream truck was new to me, as was New Zealand style ice cream. They basically took scoops of vanilla ice cream, put it into a machine with various types of fruit, mixed the ingredients and spit it out in soft serve form. 

I ordered the Berry Pistachio Crunch. This was blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries swirled with vanilla ice cream, topped with roasted pistachios and chocolate. I very much enjoyed the flavor combination!

Palate Coffee Roasters in Sanford, FL

 

I visited Palate Coffee Roasters in Downtown Sanford. I tried their Dark Chocolate Pistachio Latte. Nice latte art!

Fuel Barbecue in Sanford, FL

 

Ate lunch at Fuel Barbecue in downtown Sanford. I ordered a sandwich called The Bus Stop and a side of collard greens. The Bus Stop was described on the menu as a kaiser roll loaded with brisket, pulled pork, and slaw. It was interesting that they served the slaw on the side rather than as described. Of the two meats, the brisket was the standout. Pretty good barbecue, although it would have been better if I didn't have to assemble my own sandwich. 

Cleveland's Beach Club in Freeport, Bahamas

 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. 

Food on the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise Cruise

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.

Here's some video I took of the food on the ship:

Pizza from Wawa in Casselberry, FL

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...

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...