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.

Tailgaters Smokehouse at UCF

I ate at Tailgaters Smokehouse in the shopping area surrounding the UCF Arena in Orlando. Tailgators is a sports bar, and the as my meal progressed, the restaurant fit perfectly into the stereotype of sports bars having bad food. But it wasn't just the food, service was bad here too.

I ordered a Chicken Cheesesteak sandwich, served with tater tots. After a very long wait with a very inattentive waitress, our food was finally served. The sandwich was a bit smaller than I was expecting and was very bland. Couldn't taste any seasoning whatsoever on the chicken and the bread reminded me a bit too much of a hot dog roll than what cheesesteaks are normally served on. I did like the tater tots though.

While the sandwich wasn't all that, definitely not worth the $12 it cost me total for the meal, it was edible and I finished the food. I really shouldn't have finished though because the food left some sort of coating on the inside of my mouth that I could not get rid off. It was a slimy feeling and tasted sort of bitter. Drinking water would not remove it. Eating something else didn't get rid of the coating, and brushing my teeth (multiple times) didn't help either. Whatever this was, it was very unpleasant and I can't say I've experienced a bad taste in my mouth that was so persistent elsewhere. Interestingly enough, I kept this to myself until a few hours later when a friend brought up the bad taste in her mouth from her grilled chicken sandwich...

Moral of the story: Avoid the chicken from Tailgaters.

Qdoba at UCF

I had a pulled pork burrito from Qdoba in the UCF Student Union. I've had pork tacos before, but never a pork burrito, and never from a big chain. The burrito was stuffed with pulled pork, peppers, onions, black beans, rice, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. The pork did taste okay, but I don't think I would order it again. Too much meat in a restaurant where my favorite menu item is the vegetarian burrito. The lack of guacamole is what really killed the burrito for me, but it wasn't worth $1.50 in my opinion to have a little scoop of mashed avocado added.

Chick-fil-a Express at UCF

The very second post here on Watch Me Eat consisted of my thoughts on a Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich. Since then, a few people have posted comments and I've received several emails of people pointing out how to improve this sandwich or what I should order at Chick-fil-a instead. I received a coupon for another free Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich, so I decided to give them another try. I went to the Chick-fil-a Express at UCF and this time got some sauces to go with the sandwich. Adding sauces to the somewhat dry fried chicken on a bun with a pickle was somewhat of an improvement, but the sandwich still does nothing for me. If it wasn't free, I definitely would be ordering something else from Chick-fil-a. I've been told the grilled chicken sandwich is a whole lot better than this.

Still, I really don't get the appeal of Chick-fil-a. It seems every Chick-fil-a I pass is always crowded, but I have tried nothing there that I like. Except for their waffle fries. Chick-fil-a does make good waffle fries.

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...

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.

Lazy Moon Pizza

I've always heard good things about Lazy Moon Pizza in Orlando near UCF, so I went to give them a try. When I first walked in, I was kind of surprized how crowded Lazy Moon was on a weeknight. There wasn't a seat in the place, but I was I luckily already had plans to get my slice to-go. There were some issues with the girl behind the counter not understanding what I meant by ordering a "slice of plain." It seemed common sense to me in a restaurant that almost only serves pizza. Once my order was placed, I took a seat at the counter and watched the pizzas being made while I waited for my food. Lazy Moon was making the biggest pizzas I have ever seen, probably at least a meter in diameter. Lazy Moon was using an interesting cooking technique as well. The dough was tossed and covered with sauce, then put in the oven. After being half baked, the pie was removed and placed on a rack of cheeseless pizzas. From here, pies/slices were taken as needed, covered with cheese and toppings, and put in the oven again. I've never seen pizzas made like this, but soon my slice came out and I focused on my food.

For a judge of the scale of how huge this slice is, that paper plate is the standard 12 inch diameter plate. I've had whole pies smaller than this one slice! Probably due to the way the pizza was cooked, the cheese on my slice didn't seem to be melted enough. You could still see the individual shreds of cheese which kind of gave it a frozen pizza look. After seeing the cheese like this, I wasn't expecting much, but it actually tasted pretty good. The crust was nice and thin, I liked the sauce, and there was definitely the factor of getting plenty of food for your money. My only issue really was with the cheese, and it was a pretty big issue for me. The pizza lost a lot of points in my book for having barely melted cheese, but apparently this is the way Lazy Moon makes their pizza. Judging by the crowds they had, it didn't bother many other people either.

Hummus House

I bought dinner one evening from the Hummus House on University Boulevard in Orlando.

I had a falafel pita, and while it tasted alright, it was hard to ignore how stingy they were with the fillings in the pita. They used three or four tiny falafel balls that were too small and too few to properly fill the sandwich. I went several bites in a row without hitting any falafel. Hummus House wasn't any more generous with any of the other minor fillings (vegetables) either. The only redeeming factor was the hummus. Possibly because of their name, Hummus House put lots and lots of hummus on the pita.

I really have no complaints about the taste, but why go to Hummus House when there are so many other nearby restaurants that serve similar food and aren't stingy with the portions? Across the street, there is Falafel Cafe where you get a properly stuffed pita with and a cup of soup for basically the same price. There is also a Pita Pit across the street, and although I have not tried their falafel, I have always been pleased with their other pitas. Even the Mrs. Fields Cookies in the UCF Student Union has really good falafel!

I also ordered some stuffed grape leaves. Unlike the falafel pita, I was completely 100% happy with these!

Jerk Chicken Sandwich from Millie's Jamaican Cafe

I had lunch at Millie's Jamaican Cafe in Orlando near UCF. I had a Jerk Chicken sandwich that consisted of chicken, lettuce, and cheese on a roll. The spicy jerk chicken on the sandwich was really good, but it wasn't easy eating. There were still some bones in the chicken, so it wasn't exactly conducive to eating as one would normally eat a sandwich. Every few bites I had to spit out some bones. If I wasn't eating a sandwich and had just ordered plain jerk chicken, I wouldn't have issues with the bones, but sandwiches shouldn't be filled with non-edible parts.



The sandwich tasted really good, but the bones in a sandwich were sort of a turn off. I probably would return to Millie's, but I won't be getting a sandwich next time.

Knightstop Sushi

I was at the University of Central Florida and got some sushi from Knightstop in the Student Union. I walked in about 5:50 and they closed at 6:00 pm. Because of this, the sushi choices were a bit scarce. They had a few fancy rolls for just under $10 which was more than I wanted to spend or this box of California Rolls and Inari. Since Knightstop was closing, the sushi chef was cleaning up for the night so I couldn't request a new roll. Because of this, I ended up with the only roll left in my price range.

The California Rolls were good, filled with krab, cucumber, and avocado. They were a standard California Roll and tasted like they should. I don't like inari that much, which is why this was not the ideal roll for me. It consisted of sweetened rice inside of a fried soybean wrapper. I didn't think the inari was anything great, but I did finish all three.

Salsa2go at UCF

I was over at UCF and got hungry so I stopped by a relatively new restaurant that opened at the school called Salsa2go. It's an outdoor snack bar type restaurant that specializes in Mexican food. I ordered a chicken burrito on a chipotle flavored tortilla. The burrito was filled with chicken, lettuce, and jalapenos. I would have liked to try the homemade salsa that this place apparently makes but none was offered. Salsa2go should really have a list of the burrito toppings that are available on their menu.

The burrito itself was good but for some reason it reminded me of food served at sporting events. I couldn't quite place why this was, but the burrito had more of a high school concession stand feel than a Mexican restaurant feel. Not to say this was a bad thing though. Like I said, the burrito was tasty. The chicken had a nice flavor and the jalapenos added some spice. Besides from not trying the salsa, I had no complaints about this burrito.

Cuban Sandwich from Adita's Cuban Bakery

I ate a Cuban sandwich from Adita's Cuban Bakery in UCF. This particular location seemed to be connected with a Chick-Fil-A, but I think there may be another Adita's Cuban Bakery just outside of the college on University Blvd. My first and only time eating a Cuban sandwich down in Key Biscayne wasn't a good experience, so I was hesitant to try another Cuban Sandwich.

I'm glad I did though, because this sandwich was really tasty. They used really tender pulled pork, ham, pickles, mustard, and cheese, all on a roll. The whole thing was grilled on a press, and was really good. I think I'll need to go find their other location and see if their sandwiches are just as good there.

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.

Phat Philly

I ate a Chicken Teriyaki Cheesesteak sandwich from a place called Phat Philly in the UCF Student Union food court. The sandwich consisted of chicken, teriyaki sauce, onions, cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise, all on a huge roll. The bread definitely could have used some improvements. Mushy white bread doesn't really go with teriyaki sauce, but otherwise the sandwich was tasty.

Bad Subway Sandwich

I ate a turkey sandwich from the Subway in UCF. Today, my food wasn't prepaid or free, so I had to buy the sandwich. This Subway didn't offer the $5 footlong subs that all other Subways sell. Nice way to rip off poor college students. The sandwich wasn't even good. They were really stingy with all of the toppings, and only a few shreds of each topping. Next time I should stick with sushi...

Knightstop Tsunami Roll

I had a Tsunami Roll from the Knightstop store in the UCF Student Union. I had no idea this place existed, and they had pretty good sushi too. It was the same Southern Tsunami brand sushi that is sold in certain Publix Supermarkets. The roll was filled with a shrimp/crab salad, tempura, cucumber, and was topped with scallions and some sort of sauce. I'd get it again...

Food From UCF & Boba Tea

I ate a buffet served at the University of Central Florida. The selection was somewhat limited. It consisted of salad, rolls, potato chips, cookies, and some sort of pasta with a mystery meat. The meat had the consistency of ground beef but was too light in color and looked more like pork to me. Maybe it was the sauce that lightened up the meat. My guess is that this was supposed to be Beef Stroganoff. It actually tasted surprisingly good...

Later on, I stopped at the Lollicup in Winter Park on the corner of University and Semoran Blvd. I has a passion fruit boba tea. It was good, but after a while it became way too sweet. My last cup of boba tea from Tkettle in New York City was better...