Salem's Gyros in Lakeland, FL

I had food from a restaurant from Salem's Gyros & Subs in Lakeland. This fast food restaurant looked like it was a former Miami Subs at some point. Gyros and subs were a big part of the menu, but gizzards and livers seemed to be another big seller here. There were three occupied table in the restaurant while I was inside and all three appeared to be eating fried gizzards. I decided to skip the offal (that I know of) and ordered a gyro combo.

 

The combo came with a gyro pita, fries, and a drink. It was somewhat pricey for fast food at almost $10. I declined the offer to add gizzards for an additional $2. The fries were definitely fresh. Very hot and nice and crispy.

 

The gyro consisted of sliced lamb, tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki, all wrapped in a pita. There was a whole lot of meat in the sandwich. It had nice flavor and the tzatziki kept the pita nice and moist.

Salem's made a good gyro. It was still a little overpriced, but I'll forgive them. I probably won't return any time in the near future, mostly since I don't live in Lakeland, but I might if I lived closer...

Kosher on Wheels in Orlando, FL

There is a food truck called Kosher on Wheels that is parked along International Drive near Fun Spot. I was looking for something for lunch one afternoon and decided to give this truck a try. As far as food trucks at non-food truck events go, Kosher on Wheels seemed to be doing very good business. They had seating on both sides of the truck, and I got the very last open seat while I was eating. I got the feeling that about half the customers at the time were like me, there for some Middle Eastern food regardless of religious affiliation, and the other half was there specifically because the food was Kosher.

I ordered a falafel pita. The pita was filled with a generous amount of falafel, hummus, tahina, red cabbage, onions, and Israeli salad (cucumbers & tomatoes). The falafel was very good with plenty of flavor and was nice and moist. There was also plenty of tahina, so much so that it started being absorbed by the bread. That is always a win in my book.

At some point I want to return to this truck to try their shawarma. I enjoyed my falafel, so hopefully the rest of their food is just as good. I did think they were a bit expensive for the size of the pitas served, but they were pretty equivalent to many of the other 'gourmet' food trucks in Orlando.

Udipi Cafe

I really like Indian food. All of the spices and flavors mix together in a unique combination that makes Indian food really distinct, but it seems the majority of Indian restaurants in the United States all seem to have a similar menu to one another.

And then I tried Udipi Cafe in Longwood, FL. They serve vegetarian South Indian food (as opposed to the more common North Indian food?) which was really different from any other Indian food I've tasted (perhaps I don't know what to order). I visited Udipi Cafe for their $7.95 lunch buffet and was very pleased with the food.

The meal starts with everyone being served a dosai. Dosai are sort of like crepes stuffed with a potato filling.

From the buffet, I tried a bit of everything. The white mound up front is a idli, a rice/lentil cake. It was bland alone, but good dipped in some of the other food items. On the left there are two deep fried falafel-like balls made from sweet potatoes. And then there are several other dishes on the plate (most served over rice or roti/naan) that I can not name, although they were all delicous.

I went back to the buffet and sampled all of the soup-like dishes as well as some seconds on a few of my favorites.

For dessert, I tried this doughnut/cake soaked in yogurt:

I was stuffed after my meal of vegetarian Indian food. When leaving Udipi Cafe, two people in a Uhaul truck pulled up and headed into the restaurant. One of them pulled out a camera and took a picture of the front of the restaurant before entering. Was it a fellow food blogger?

Falafel Cafe

I picked up some take out from Falafel Cafe across the street from the University of Central Florida in Orlando. I've heard only good things about this place, so I decided to finally give it a try. For some reason I thought it was fast food, so I was surprised to see that Falafel Cafe was a sit down restaurant.

I had a Falafel Sandwich which came with a choice of soups. The lentil soup that I choose was interesting. It was very smooth, very similar to split pea soup, only with lentils instead. I've never come across lentil soup with this consistency. It was good, but I prefer the chunkier lentil soup that is more commonly found. The falafel sandwich was really good. There were nice sized falafels wrapped in Lebanese bread, along with lettuce, tomato, onions, parsley, and tahini. This was one of the better falafel sandwiches that I've eaten in the Central Florida area.

On the way out, I'm pretty sure I saw someone eating a plate of pickled turnips. I've only seen them in Lebanese restaurants, and it's been a very long time since I've eaten these. I definitely need to return to get myself some of these wonderful pickled root vegetables!

Altamonte Mall Hovan Falafel

I ate a falafel pita from the Hovan in the Altamonte Mall Food Court. It was filled with falafel, hummus, lettuce, and tomato and was served with a side of stuffed grape leaves. The falafel pita tasted good enough, but I've had much better. For example, as far as fast food Middle Eastern food goes, I liked my falafel from Mrs. Fields Cookies at UCF a whole lot better than this one from Hovan. One of the major issues that I had with Hovan wasn't necessary about the taste, but rather how the pita was wrapped. The pita was wrapped in aluminum foil, and then was cut in half. This left little shards of aluminum in the sandwich that I had to constantly pick out.

The grape leaves left a lot to be desired though. They tasted very bland and the rice mixture inside was very mushy.

Mrs. Field's Falafel

There is a Mrs. Fields & Pretzel Time store connected to one another in the UCF Student Union. I was going to get some sushi, but then noticed that along with the cookies and pretzels, this store also sold Middle Eastern food. It was a very strange combination, and I doubt it's approved by corporate, but it was definitely a combination that I liked. Not too many places in the Orlando area have a good falafel sandwich, and this one was pretty good. I had the falafel pita with a side Greek Salad and stuffed Grape Leaves.