Hollywood Sweets & Icy Treats in Hollywood, FL

While enjoying a recent day at Hollywood Beach, I got some dessert from Hollywood Sweets & Icy Treats. I ordered a gelati with layers of Florida orange Italian ice and vanilla ice cream. After being meticulously assembled, I was surprised how huge the cup of gelati turned out to be.

To sum up the experience: Italian ice + beach = Awesomeness!

Jim Payne Blue Ribbon 5k Food

I was talked into running in the Jim Payne Blue Ribbon 5k that happened in Downtown Sanford on May 15, 2010. Of course, I was interested in the food that was served after the race. They had most of the normal stuff. Bananas, oranges, water, Gatorade, and cookies.
In a bit of a change from the post-race food after other races I've run in, Hollerbach's Willow Tree Cafe over on 1st Street in Downtown Sanford provided soft pretzels and beer. After getting people dehydrated after running in 95 degree weather, is it a good plan to be feeding them alcohol and salty snacks that will get them even more dehydrated?

I skipped the beer, but I did go for a pretzel. This soft, salt covered pretzel was pretty tasty. The salt did make me really thirsty, but there was plenty of water nearby. The pretzel reminded me that it's been a long time since I've eaten at the Willow Tree Cafe. I need to go and eat there again sometime soon.

Raspberry Crush from Orange Julius

I didn't like my smoothie that I had on my last visit to Orange Julius on their free smoothie day. Someone from Orange Julius' corporate office apparently reads this blog, and they kindly offered to send me a gift certificate to try one of their premium fruit smoothies to see if I like it any better.

I went to the Orange Julius/DQ in the Altamonte Mall this time. I ordered the Raspberry Crush Premium Smoothie, and I liked it much more than my last free smoothie from Orange Julius. The raspberry crush tasted like actual fruit, like it should, rather than artificial sweetners. I'd gladly get this smoothie again!

Thank you Orange Julius for two free smoothies!

Pita Pit in Downtown Orlando

I ate at the Pita Pit on Orange Ave in Downtown Orlando. I ordered a chicken souvlaki pita and had no complaints except that the setup of available toppings for the pita was a little confusing. I didn't realize that some sauces and cheeses were available until halfway through my meal.

Eating at The Pita Pit was also a good people watching experience. All of the restaurant employees showcased all sorts of piercings, tattoos, and dreadlocks. Over in one corner of the restaurant, there was a group of vegans eating their meat/dairy free pitas. Every so often, the vegans would go bother the tattooed employees with some vegan food related question. About halfway through my meal, a man entered the restaurant who I paid no attention too until he sat down and started singing what sounded like a Gregorian Chant. The chanting made me think of Catholic churches, and it then clicked that this man looked a whole lot like Silas from the Da Vinci Code. His whole meal, he looked angry and kept on sneering at the group of vegans. When going home after eating, I noticed that he had returned to his post on a street corner holding a sign about how the world is ending and we are all going to hell. Definitely an interesting crowd in the Pita Pit.

Free Orange Julius Smoothie

Friday, June 19 was free smoothie day at Orange Julius if you came in with the proper coupon printed from their website. Always on the lookout for free food, I of course utilized this offer. I went to the Orange Julius in Sanford's Seminole Towne Center Mall and was offered the choice of three light smoothies with 250 calories or less with the coupon. I chose the Berry-Pom Twilight smoothie.

Although it was free, I thought the smoothie was horrible. It tasted like a mix of apple and grape juice that was somehow thickened. Neither of these juices are my favorites so that didn't help the taste. Orange Julius also put all sorts of artificial sweeteners in the smoothie like Splenda. I am not afraid of sugar, so I try to avoid artificial sweeteners, and Splenda especially scares me. Google 'Splenda side effects' and look at all of the results that comes up. I couldn't find any scientific studies on the effects of Splenda, so I am a bit skeptical of all of the claims that come up, but it also seems like a whole lot of people are experiencing negative side effects that they are attributing to Splenda. When I make smoothies at home, I only put juice and fruit in them and the smoothies come out plenty sweet. I don't understand why restaurants always add extra sweetener to make their smoothies extra sweet. I drank about half of the smoothie and threw it away.

Run for the Trees

At the end of last month (April 25), I was convinced to run a 5K race called Run for the Trees in Winter Park, FL. I find these races kind of silly since they charge you $20 for the entry fee. I could run five kilometers any time I want for free, and I won't ever wear the t-shirt that is included in that fee, so I find the whole race thing kind of pointless. Regardless of my feelings about the entry fee, I still ran the race.

I finished the 3.1 miles in 25.58, and was shuttled back to the starting point where food was given out. I've run these races in the past, and I remember getting bagels. This race gave out oranges, bananas, and Strawberry Kiwi Gatorade (it was disgusting).

Weekend Trip: The Official Snack of Jetblue at 35000 Feet

After my early breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, I arrived at the Orlando International Airport, went through security, rode the people mover, and boarded my flight with no problems.

After about an hour of flying, somewhere over North Carolina or Virginia, snacks were served while at a height of 35,522 feet and a speed of 583 mph.

I asked for orange juice as my beverage. I received a can of Welch's Orange Fusion drink which was a mix of orange, apple, and pineapple juice. It wasn't the orange juice that I was expecting, but it's no big deal. For the food item, I decided to go with the Official Snack of JetBlue and got Terra Blues Potato Chips. The chips were actually made from blue potatoes and tasted halfway between a normal potato chip and a sweet potato chips.


I had my snack and I had my window seat, so I was happy.

Soon enough the plane landed in JFK, and after getting yelled at by another passenger sitting in the row who was accusing us of sticking gum on her seat while she used the restroom, I was ready for lunch.

Yokohama Japanese Steakhouse

I ate at the new Yokohama Japanese Steakhouse in the Super Target Shopping Center in Sanford, FL. It's a hibachi style Japanese Restaurant where they cook at your table. The first thing I noticed in the restaurant was that the chairs were too low for the table. I'm an average height, and the table was kind of high, so I imagine it would be much worse for a shorter person. The second thing I noticed was that for some unknown reason, they dressed their chefs up as cowboys. Someone must have thought it would be a good idea to put the chefs in cowboy hats and bandannas, but it just caused the chefs to look silly.

As for the food, it tasted good, but was overpriced. My Hibachi Chicken was a few dollars more than what the already overpriced Kobe charges. For that extra money, the portions here seemed to be smaller and they didn't include the noodles that most other Japanese Steakhouses serve. I have issues with most Japanese restaurants that serve these noodles, assuming the stupid Americans think they are eating something exotic like soba or udon, when in fact it's just a box of spaghetti. When the noodles don't come though, I miss them. Yokohama should move above all of the other Japanese Steakhouses nearby and actually serve a more traditional noodle.

The meal started with some soup and salad. The menu said miso soup, but they served the normal steakhouse onion broth. I don't like it when places switch menu items without telling you.

The cowboy chef came and cooked the food soon after. Everything was good, but something I especially liked was the mustard sauce. It's rare to find a Japanese Steakhouse that serves this and it's very tasty. The other thing I liked was that the shrimp were already cleaned and they didn't make a show out of cleaning them. This meant that they were really clean and weren't covered in those strings of shrimp guts like you get at Kobe.

After the meal, Yokohama gave a plate of sectioned oranges for dessert.

Overall, most of the food tasted good, but I don't think I would return to the Hibachi part of the restaurant. It cost a bit too much, and giving less of basically the same food as their cheaper competitors isn't an incentive for me to return. I did notice that most of the people eating here were sitting in the non-hibachi area of the restaurant, so this may be the way to go if I do return. From what I saw while glancing over the menu, it seemed you could order similar food for a lower price without the show. And the sushi looked good too!

Ethos Vegan Kitchen

I ate at Ethos Vegan Kitchen in Orlando, FL. I am not a vegan, but it's fun to venture into the non-meat, non-dairy, animal product free world of vegan food.

I ordered the Udon Asian Odyssey, which was supposed to be Udon noodles with assorted vegetables. If you look at the picture below, those definitely aren't Udon noodles on the plate. Udon noodles are thick, round noodles that somewhat remind me of fuzzy worms when cooked. What was served were wide, flat noodles that seemed more along the lines of chow fun. I wouldn't have had a problem with the chow fun noodles if I was told that is what I was ordering, but I was expecting some udon. I'm guessing either Ethos was out of the udon and made a substitution without informing the customer, or they are assuming that the average vegan doesn't know much about Japanese noodles. I really don't like it when I order one thing, and get something else.

I also found the noodles to be way too salty. I love salty foods, but the amount of salt in here was over the top. Besides from the type of noodle problem, the pasta seemed like it would have been really good if it wasn't for the salt. Instead, I had to eat some bread and drink lots of water to counter out the overpowering salty taste.

While I have my complaints, I did think Ethos was better than some of the few other vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Orlando that I've tried. They have a long way to go before they can compare to Angelica Kitchen though...