Balagan Mediterranean Cafe in the UCF Arena

Today we're talking about Balagan Mediterranean Cafe in the UCF Arena. This Middle Eastern/Kosher restaurant is located on the first floor of the arena right inside of the main entrance. They have a menu that features falafel, shawarma, kababs, and standard arena snack bar fare like burgers and hot dogs. Their Middle Eastern foods are very tasty and the best part is the price. For the price of a bag of cinnamon nuts up a single flight of stairs at an official arena snack bar, you can get an entire sandwich at Balagan.

I ordered the Schwarma pita. This was filled with turkey and chicken, lettuce, cabbage, onions, hummus, tahini, hot sauce, and whatever other toppings were available. I basically had them load up my schwarma with everything! Although not the most photogenic sandwich, it was still very tasty. Way better than an overpriced hot dog or nachos from the snack bars right up stairs.

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.

Jimmy John's in the UCF Arena

I have heard good things about Jimmy John's sandwiches. I finally had the opportunity to try Jimmy John's at the location inside of the UCF area, and I can't say I was very impressed. The bread was mushy, white, squished, and soggy all at once. The tuna in the sandwich tasted okay, but there wasn't too much of it on the sandwich and the amount of lettuce and sprouts was just sad. After eating this sandwich, I now know the reason why the nearby Subway is always busy and Jimmy John's is always empty.