China Bell in Kissimmee, FL

I was in Kissimmee and wanted to get a quick lunch. I ended up at a Chinese take-out in a strip mall along 192 called China Bell.

I ordered one of their lunch combinations which came with shrimp with broccoli, fried rice, and an egg roll. The shrimp were nice and large, served with lots of broccoli and carrots in a brown sauce. The rice was a little bland and needed to be spiced up with soy sauce. The egg roll was good, but pretty standard. Overall, this was a perfectly acceptable meal from a Chinese take-out. Very similar menu and food to most other take-out places.

King's Wok in Longwood, FL

I picked up some Chinese takeout from King's Wok next to Albertson's in Longwood.

Once ready, the food was handed over in a big cardboard box. Being handed a box full of food is so much better than being handed a plastic bag filled with food. Just something about it makes the food delivery system feel better...

After returning home, I started with some wonton soup. It had a flavorful broth, plenty of good sized wontons, and shredded pork at the bottom of the soup container.

For the main dishes, I shared two different items. First was the Chicken with Black Bean Sauce. It came with plenty of tender chicken, peppers, onions, carrots, and water chestnuts. Unfortunately, I didn't like the sauce all too much. It had a sweet flavor, which I was not expecting, being that this dish is normally more savory than sweet. There weren't enough beans either. Overall, it was okay, but not the best.

Next was the Chicken with Broccoli. Can't get much simpler than this, consisting of what the name implies. I definitely preferred the sauce on here over the black bean sauce.

Except the black bean sauce, I enjoyed my Chinese takeout. I'd come back to give King's Wok another try!

Jade Palace in Longwood, FL

Jade Palace recently opened in Longwood along 17-92. The restaurant was formerly a KFC, but Jade Palace did a good job renovating it. I guess since the restaurant is relatively new, it smelled somewhat like fresh paint, but I decided to overlook the smell and try Jade Palace anyway.

Hot tea was brought to the table first. I love my hot tea, so I really like it when Chinese restaurants do this and automatically serve you the tea. I really can't think of any other Chinese restaurants in the area that do this.

Wonton soup came next, filled with the Chinese dumplings, pork, and scallions.

I had the Chicken Broccoli combination for my main course, which came with rice and an egg roll. Almost every time I've ordered a meat with broccoli dish at a Chinese restaurant in the past, it is always served in a brown soy-based sauce. Jade Palace served the chicken and broccoli in a white sauce. I'm not sure what to call it, possibly Lobster Sauce. It was different, but was still tasty. For $7.95, Jade Palace gave plenty of food and I really had no complaints about the meal!

Ah Law Kitchen in Elmont, NY

Just as the first snowflakes began to fall starting a big snowstorm, I picked up Chinese take out from Ah Law Kitchen in Elmont, NY. I was considering eating my food here, but their heater was broken. I was cold as I sat waiting for my food, watching the owner attempt to fix the heat, so I took the food back to a warmer location.

I started with a scallion pancake appetizer. I love these things...

I also had the shrimp with broccoli lunch special. It came with huge shrimp, plenty of broccoli, and carrots in a brown sauce. This came with a side of brown rice. The lunch was supposed to come with a wonton soup too, but they forgot to put it in the bag. By the time I noticed, I didn't feel like going back.

I liked the food from Ah Law Kitchen, although I wasn't happy about not getting my soup!

Asian Chao at UCF

I tried the Asian Chao in the UCF Student Union for lunch one afternoon. I ordered the two item combination and went with Kung Pao Shrimp and Beef with Broccoli. These were both served with a side of lo-mein. Although nothing great, it all tasted okay and was equivalent to the Chinese restaurants in the mall food courts. Being that the same franchise is in several of the local malls, I suppose that's how it should be.

The same dishes are so much better from many independent local Chinese restaurants though...

7/11/09

Today is 7/11, meaning it is free Slurpee day at all 7 Eleven stores. I stopped by the 7 Eleven at the corner of Lake Mary Boulevard and Country Club Road and enjoyed my free Slurpee. I mixed all of the fruity flavors together and avoided the Crystal Light and soda flavors. I would not buy a Slurpee normally, but for free you have to sample the flavors!

While on the topic of frozen beverages, I was at the Whole Foods Supermarket in Winter Park earlier in the day. In their deli section where they have all of their prepared foods, I noticed this machine. It looked like a normal slushy machine to me, until I noticed the flavor. The sign called it a chilled soup, but I disagree. That's a broccoli flavored slushy. Try and find that at a 7 Eleven!

Golden China Buffet in Lake Mary

I ate at the Golden China Buffet in Lake Mary, FL. The food tasted okay for the most part. I thought their dim sum pork rolls were really tasty (especially from a Chinese buffet), and those deep fried sesame balls are strangely delicious. This place always used to be packed, but on this visit we were one of the few occupied tables in the restaurant. If a buffet doesn't have enough customers, that means they probably don't have a very good turnover on the food. I try to avoid empty buffets...

Apopka's King Buffet

I ventured into the scary world of Chinese Buffets and ate at King Buffet in Apopka, FL. As far as Chinese buffets go, this place was average. Lots of food, most of it a bit overcooked with the same overall taste.

Here's a plate of chicken & broccoli, lo mein, shrimp, and beans...

Limoncellos Waterfront Ristorante

A $5 off coupon brought me into Limoncellos Waterfront Restorante in the Sanford Marina along Lake Monroe.

Garlic bread was ordered as a appetizer. Rather than the normal Italian restaurant garlic bread, Limoncellos gave slices of bread with a bowl of roasted garlic in oil. It was unexpected, but was a nice surprise. I really like roasted garlic.

I was debating about whether to get gnocchi or a calzone, and finally ended up ordering the Calzone Primavera. The calzone was filled with red peppers, onions, eggplant, broccoli, ricotta, and mozzarella. I enjoyed it.

If you eat outside on the restaurant's patio, you get this wonderful view of the St. Johns River.

I liked Limoncellos. The view was great, the food was better than many other local Italian restaurants, and the prices weren't bad either.


UPDATE: I did like Limoncellos a whole lot on my first visit, which I wrote about above. Second visit, not so much. Horrible service, bad food, and the bottle of vinegar for my salad was filled with flies...

Stuffed Vegetable Pizza from Sbarro...

I had a stuffed slice of pizza filled with spinach, broccoli, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese from the Sbarro in the UCF Student Union. While most pizzerias in the New York area seem to always have this type of pizza available, you have to be really lucky to find stuffed pizza in Florida. In fact, besides from Sbarro restaurants, I can't think of any restaurants in Florida that serve pizza like this, and even then it's not necessarily something Sbarro always has. The other Sbarro owned restaurants outside of food courts like Carmela's don't have this type of pizza on their menus. It's a shame too, because stuffed vegetable pizza is one of my favorites. This particular slice wasn't the best, but it tasted good enough for Florida's slim pickings for stuffed pizza. It could have used a little more stuffing and it felt like it was sitting out a little too long, although I shouldn't expect too much from a Sbarro in a college food court. The sesame seeds on top were a nice touch. Perhaps the worst thing about the slice was what they charged for it. With tax, a single slice of pizza came out to $4.88. That means they get almost $40 for a eight slice pie. I imagine that is quite a profit margin.

Next time I am craving pizza in the UCF area, I need to give Lazy Moon a try. I keep on hearing good things about them and their giant 30" pizzas.

Hibachi Express in Casselberry, FL

I noticed a new restaurant had opened on 17-92 in Casselberry, FL and decided to give it a try. It is a fast-food Japanese Restaurant called Hibachi Express. The restaurant's setup was similar to most take-out Chinese Restaurants. In Hibachi Express, half of the counter was taken up by a sushi bar...

They had a nice selection of sushi, but it didn't seem like the turnover was large enough to be taking chances by eating raw fish. It wasn't exactly Fuji Sushi where the place was bustling for the sushi. I was actually the only one eating in Hibachi Express at the time.

Instead of the sushi, I went with the restaurant's namesake and ate Hibachi Chicken. The chicken was served over rice, broccoli, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. I felt the chicken could have used a little more sauce, but otherwise the meal was pretty good, especially since it was from a fast food restaurant...

Myrtle Beach Planet Hollywood

After getting back from eating cruise food, I ate dinner at the Planet Hollywood in Myrtle Beach at the Broadway at the Beach mall. It was a really small Planet Hollywood compared to the restaurant in Orlando. Orlando is a multi-floor monster restaurant, all inside of a huge globe, while Myrtle Beach's Planet Hollywood was a single story building with a few balconies, all hidden behind a globe facade out front. It also had a smaller menu and lower prices than the Orlando Planet Hollywood by a few dollars.


I ate Chicken, Penne, and Broccoli pasta. It was okay, but nothing exceptional. I wouldn't go out of my way to order the pasta again.