Farmer's Market Restaurant in Florida City, FL

I had dinner in Florida City at the Farmer's Market Restaurant. This was located in the State Farmer's Market. I've seen similar restaurants like this in industrial farmer's market complexes, but it seems unusual to actually see them open for business. This Farmer's Market Restaurant had the highest restaurant rating according to Google near my hotel and was also open at 8:00pm when I was looking for food.

I had their seafood combo special, which started with a cup of lentil soup:

The combo came with conch fritters, fish, and shrimp. The shrimp and conch fritters were both deep fried, but I had the fish blackened. The meal came with two sides. I picked mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. Everything was tasty. Biggest complaint that some of the shrimp seemed a little overcooked and were beginning to be a little rubbery. Other than that, the fish and conch were both cooked well and were flavorful.

I enjoyed my meal!

St. Johns River Steak & Seafood in Sanford, FL

I ate at St. Johns River Steak & Seafood located in the Sanford Marina. This location has been host to several different restaurants, none of which seem to survive very long. This includes two which have been featured on this blog before: Limoncellos and Efes Turkish Restaurant. Downtown Sanford has been booming lately and the marina is being redeveloped, so hopefully this bodes well for the survival of St. Johns River Steak & Seafood.

I ordered the Key West Combo. This dish included jerk mahi and shrimp in a honey mustard sauce, along with conch fritters, rice, and broccoli. The mahi and shrimp were very good, although I've had much better conch fritters elsewhere.

There was a birthday at our table so the restaurant brought out a huge slice of chocolate-peanut butter cake. For a surprise slice of cake, there were no complaints!

Pepper's Mexican Grill & Cantina in Fernandina Beach, FL

I had dinner in the historic downtown section of Fernandina Beach. When I found out that my first choice for dinner was only open for lunch on Sunday, I explored and found Pepper's Mexican Grill & Cantina.

I had the Enchiladas De Camaron. These were corn tortillas stuffed with grilled shrimp, then topped with creamy tequila sauce. Rice and black beans were served on the side. It was interesting and unusual to see an enchilada that didn't contain cheese at a Mexican restaurant. The shrimp were larger than average and the creamy sauce was very tasty. The rice and beans were both unfortunately a little bland tasting.

Fuji Express in Deland, FL

I ventured to Deland and had dinner at a restaurant called Fuji Express. This fast food Japanese restaurant served both hibachi style food as well as sushi. There were other people eating there, but I don't know if I'd trust this restaurant with raw fish. I ordered the Shrimp Teriyaki Bento Box. The shrimp was cooked with carrots, baby corn, and broccoli in teriyaki sauce. It was served with California rolls, goyza, and steamed rice. Everything tasted adequate enough. None of it was outstanding, but nothing was bad either. I wouldn't rush back here for fast food Japanese food, but wouldn't necessarily object if someone suggested eating at Fuji Express again.

Outback Steakhouse in Orlando, FL (International Drive)

I was invited to a menu tasting at the new Outback Steakhouse that recently opened on International Drive. This Outback is located in the I-Drive 360 complex, anchored by the currently half built Orlando Eye ferris wheel.

I attended one of their lunch tasting events. These menu tasting events were used to train Outback's staff in exchange for free food. The meal started with Signature Baked Potato Soup - Creamy potato soup topped with melted cheese, bacon, and green onions.

I had the Baby Back Ribs - Smoked, wood-fire grilled and brushed with a tangy BBQ sauce. Served with Aussie Fries.

Sirloin and Grilled Shrimp. Served with a baked potato and asparagus as sides.

I had their homemade watermelon soda made from ginger ale, watermelon, and lime for my drink.

Sangria:

Outback Steakhouse was fun. This new Outback Steakhouse was pretty much exactly what I was expecting. Like most chains, the food here was pretty much equivalent to what can be had at any other Outback. Still, I think Outback Steakhouse should fully embrace their Australian theme and start serving kangaroo meat. I'd totally try kangaroo if it started being served at Outback. It could be a place for people on kangatarian diets to go eat!

3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant in Miami, FL

On a visit to South Florida, I had dinner at 3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant in Miami. It was a nice night, so we decided to dine outside at the tables 3 Chefs had out front.

I ordered the Szechuan Shrimp dinner combination. This meal started with a bowl of wonton soup.

An egg roll was served next:

Which was then followed by the main course. This came with several large shrimp mixed with various vegetables. The sauce used on the Szechuan shrimp had a nice kick, which is a good thing. The little pepper icon on the menu denoting a spicy dish actually meant something here. Fried rice was served on the side.

3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant served pretty standard American style Chinese food. Everything was fairly similar to what countless other Chinese restaurants serve. Regardless, the food was tasty. I enjoyed the sauce on the shrimp and it came with a nice variety of vegetables.

Baja Tavern in Port Canaveral, FL

I was in Port Canaveral looking for lunch. The person who I ate with had some sort of inside information that the best restaurant in the port was supposedly called Baja Tavern.

 We ate on the patio overlooking the water. For some reason this entire restaurant, inside and out, stunk like old lady perfume. Restaurants shouldn't have overpowering smells of anything.

I had the Big Bang Burrito. This was filled with fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, cabbage, carrots, and a bang bang sauce. The shrimp had some nice flavor on the batter, but otherwise the burrito was boring and dry. The bang bang sauce seemed non-existent. Tortilla chips and salsa were served on the side.

Before I left the restaurant, I used the restroom. I noticed they had racist email jokes hanging on the bathroom walls. Is it wise to potentially offend some of your customers? The food here was forgettable and the stinky perfume smell was overpowering. I don't think I'll be back any time soon...

Burger 21 in Orlando, FL

I had dinner one night at a restaurant called Burger 21 near Millenia Mall in Orlando. This is a chain with a few locations in the Orlando area. I started out the meal by sharing an order of Half & Half Fries. This was a basket of half regular fries and half sweet potato fries. The fries by themselves were okay. Nothing exceptional, but the fun part was dipping them in all of the sauces that were available at their sauce bar. My favorites were the Chipotle Mayo, Cajun Mayo, and totally unexpectedly, the Toasted Marshmallow.

I saw they had seafood burgers on the menu and that caught my attention. Seafood burgers seem to be a bit more unusual than then normal alternatives to beef burgers (turkey, veggie, etc). I decided to try the Spicy Thai Shrimp Burger. This is how the menu described the burger: Lightly-fried shrimp burger, lettuce, tomato, Sriracha aïoli, hot chili slaw, pure Sriracha, toasted sesame bun. The way the menu described the burger made it sound good, but the reality was very bland. The shrimp burger patty itself was deep fried on the outside. The interior of the patty appeared almost completely homogeneous and I had trouble telling what was shrimp and what was breading/filler. All that sriracha and hot chili slaw that topped the burger seemed to lack the normal spiciness of sriracha. The entire sandwich was very indistinct and flavorless. The sauce bar came to the rescue to add some taste to the burger...

The person I ate here with ordered a plain cheeseburger and wasn't all too happy either. He ordered it medium-well, but it was served very pink. Apparently this was a theme because I noticed a couple more people sending their food undercooked food back.

Overall, Burger 21 seemed to have potential but they didn't do a very good job to meet that potential. Fries and a sauce bar shouldn't be better than your burgers if burger is in your name. This area has other places around that serve much better burgers/sandwiches. I don't think I'll be rushing back to Burger 21...

Miwa Hibachi & Sushi Express in Ocoee, FL

I recently had dinner at a fast food Japanese restaurant in Ocoee called Miwa Hibachi & Sushi Express. I ordered the shrimp teriyaki meal, served with fried rice and vegetables. They gave several good sized shrimp, and then asked if I wanted some extra teriyaki chicken from the last person's meal that they cooked. I took Miwa up on their offer and sampled their chicken as well. The meats were tasty, although typical for what is served in hibachi style restaurants like this. The vegetables mostly consisted of cabbage and broccoli. The rice was good as well.

Miwa's portion size was huge. I couldn't finish all the food. It was definitely a good value for the price. I don't get out to Ocoee all too often, but I'd return here again sometime in the future...

Boteco in Orlando, FL

Boteco is a Brazilian restaurant along International Drive, located right across the street from Festival Bay. Their menu wasn't strictly Brazilian food, with many items that seemed more appropriate for an Italian restaurant. This was also the first Brazilian restaurant I've visited with a sushi bar. 

I ordered the Breaded Fish with Shrimp Sauce. The menu described this as fried breaded fish topped with shrimp tomato sauce and peas served with mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the day. When I got my food, the shrimp sauce was served separate from the fish in it's own bowl. It was more like a shrimp soup, with lots of shrimp floating with peas in a tomato based broth. I started by pouring some of this over the fish, but then ended up eating them separately. The huge piece of fish was nice and moist in a tasty breading. Mashed potatoes were good, and the vegetable of the day turned out to be slices of grilled zucchini and yellow squash. Everything I tried at Boteco was tasty and I'd return...

Uncle Lee's Szechuan China Room in Baltimore, MD

I did some visiting in the Baltimore area. While there, I parked in Little Italy and walked towards the Inner Harbor. I didn't want to actually eat in the Inner Harbor, so I headed a few blocks away and came across a Chinese restaurant located inside a large building that was formerly a bank. It seemed like the restaurant had a bit of an identity crisis since there were three different names outside the restaurant. The China Room was located on the side of the building. Uncle Lee's Szechuan Restaurant was on the awning out front. Finally, Uncle Lee's Harbor Restaurant was on the window above the door.

The inside of the restaurant was very impressive. I don't know if this building was something else between a bank and Chinese restaurant, but modern banks definitely aren't built this way. The interior was decorated with all sorts of ornate features. It didn't look very Chinese (except for the lantern globe lights that were added), but it was a very unique building to be eating lunch in.

I started with an appetizer of scallion pancakes. These are hard to find in Florida, so I decided to get these fried pancakes when I saw them on the menu.

A cup of wonton soup was served next. The dumplings were good although the broth could have used improvement. It was completely clear and basically tasted like warm water.

For my meal, I had one of the lunch specials called Baby Shrimp with Szechuan Rice Wine Sauce. A big plate of shrimp was served swimming in sauce. There were hardly any vegetables in here and was a bit boring. Although the menu noted that this was spicy, it hardly had any kick. Rice was served on the side which was very useful in soaking up the pool of sauce.

I found the food here to be a bit mediocre. The prices were also very affordable and the building was way cool. Can't win with everything...

China Lee in Orlando, FL

I ate lunch at China Lee in the MetroWest area of Orlando. This Chinese takeout restaurant is hidden away on the back side of a strip mall located in the parking lot of a Walmart. Typical of most restaurants like this, there were only a few tables for dining in with most of their business being to-go. My meal here consisted of the Szechuan shrimp combination.

While the price was a couple of dollars more than what I've seen at other similar restaurants, the reason was quickly apparent when my food was ready. The portion size was huge, probably double of what many other Chinese restaurants serve in these combinations. The Szechuan shrimp were large, served with lots and lots of vegetables, including peppers, broccoli, squash, onions, carrots, snow peas, corn, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and water chestnuts. This Szechuan shrimp was also much spicier than what I've had elsewhere, which is always a good thing. That little pepper symbol on the menu actually meant something. A large serving of fried rice was also included alongside the shrimp as well as an egg roll. I'd return to China Lee again...

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.

Florida Cracker Cafe in St. Augustine, FL

I recently spent an afternoon in St. Augustine and had lunch at a restaurant along St. George Street called Florida Cracker Cafe.

I ordered the Shrimp Po Boy. The sandwich came with two sides, and I picked collard greens and cheesy grits. The sandwich was good, with surprisingly large fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, onion, and remoulade sauce. My general experience with shrimp po boys normally involves tiny shrimp, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since they are hidden away on a sandwich. The shrimp on this sandwich were quite large, almost taking up the width of the roll if angled correctly. I liked the sandwich, but the sides were disappointing. The cheesy grits were very plain tasting with very little cheesiness. The collards weren't much better, being so salty that I took a few bites and gave up.

Florida Cracker Cafe had okay food. I liked my sandwich but the side items could definitely use some improvement. I did try their homemade potato chips which were another option for a side, and they were very tasty. Perhaps chips would be a better choice than grits or collards as a side if I return.

Hiro's Sushi Express in South Beach, FL

While visiting South Beach on a rainy evening, dinner was had at a Japanese fast food restaurant called Hiro's Sushi Express. I started my meal with a cup of miso soup served in a styrofoam cup.

Next up was a shrimp teriyaki box. This bento contained shrimp cooked with mushrooms, rice, vegetables, and an orange slice. The shrimp were tasty but the rest of the box was somewhat boring. The vegetables were very plain and the rice was standard brown rice.

I've enjoyed better Japanese fast food elsewhere in Miami at Iron Sushi, but Hiro's wasn't that bad. They gave a good sized portion of food for less than the price of a milkshake up the street at Shake Shack...

Asia Skewers Food Truck in Orlando, FL

Late one night I was driving along University Boulevard in Winter Park and noticed a food truck called Asia Skewers sitting in the parking lot of a Citgo gas station. Suddenly my mind was filled with memories of exploring Flushing's Chinatown and getting skewers of delicious meat from the Xinjiang BBQ Carts. I quickly turned around and pulled in to try Orlando's version of Asian meat on sticks.

Asia Skewers had menu consisting of skewers of chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, wings, or veggie. Each was under $2 and were also available as combos coming with fried rice or as sandwiches. They didn't have any of the exotic meats that the Chinatown skewer carts have, but I wouldn't really expect it in the suburbs of Orlando.

Since I had already ate dinner earlier in the evening, I decided to just get a couple of individual skewers, namely chicken and shrimp. After a few minutes of cooking, I received these two boxes along with two sauces.

I went for the chicken first. The thin strip of chicken impaled on a stick was very tasty, not needing any of the provided sauce. It sort of reminded me of the chicken skewers sometimes found on Chinese buffets, only better. Unlike the Chinese buffet skewers, this chicken was actually edible rather than chewing on a piece of leather on a stick. I would by all means get the chicken skewer again.

The shrimp skewer was also good, consisting of four mid-sized shrimp. Again, these had plenty of flavor and I didn't touch the sauces that came along with the skewers. It seemed like the chicken provided more food for the priced, but regardless, two skewers for three dollars and change is still a good deal.

I would definitely stop by Asia Skewers again. They are apparently open from 5 pm to 5 am, so I'll need to keep them in mind if I'm looking for a really late night/early morning dinner when I'm on that side of town!