Club Cool at Epcot

The words Disney and free generally don't mix, but at Epcot they do. At Club Cool in Future World, this Coca-Cola sponsored exhibit/gift ship gives free samples of Coke products from around the world.

They had soda from seven different countries on the day I visited. Some of it tasted better than any of the soda that is available here in the United States, while others I could do without.

My two favorites were the watermelon soda from China and Kinley from Israel.

Kinley tasted sort of like Sprite, only a lot more lemony and much less sweet.

I normally don't drink soda. At all. I'm perfectly happy with water, and my teeth and digestive system probably appreciate it. On my multiple trips through Club Cool during my day at Epcot to get the free beverages, I probably drank more soda than I've had in the past six months. I got my money's worth of free soda...

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!

NYPD Pizzeria in Maitland, FL

Several years ago, the original NYPD Pizza was located on Orange Ave in Downtown Orlando. This NYPD had awesome pizza, easily the best in Orlando. Not only was it really good, but they were also pretty authentic when it came to actually serving a product that closely resembled New York Style pizza. Lou Pearlman had some sort of connection to the store so on occasion you would see local celebrities from the various boy-bands that he managed in the restaurant which was always interesting. Eventually, NYPD started opening up more stores and the original location closed. I had not eaten in any of the new stores since the original restaurant closed, so when I saw that a new NYPD Pizza had opened along 17-92 in Maitland, I was excited to give them a try.

The service in NYPD seemed very scattered, but eventually we were able to place our order. We started with an appetizer of garlic knots. All four knots came attached to one another on the plate. It gave me the impression that these came pre-made from some central NYPD distribution center. Regardless, they were still pretty tasty.

There was a camera crew taking promotional pictures for the NYPD website on the night we ate here. The extension cords being draped over tables and bright lights made the wait between the garlic knots and the pizza a bit more interesting.

Then the pizza came. What a disappointment compared to what NYPD Pizza used to be. I know I may be a bit overly critical of pizza, this was just sad...

The sauce had a really strong oregano taste. Normally I don't mind oregano, but this was overpowering, and there was a whole lot of sauce. So much so that the cheese slid around on the surface of the sauce pond, inevitably coming off of the slice. This cheese also was completely tasteless. Somehow it was there, but yet had no recognizable taste. Was it low-sodium mozzarella? Or some sort of processed cheese? I'm not exactly sure, but what's the point if it has no taste? The crust was okay, but it had no real redeeming factors to make up for the sauce and cheese. A good New York Style pizza is sometimes so nice looking that I would consider it a culinary work of art. This slice is no art:

Compare to some of the nice looking slices of New York Style pizza I've had since the creation of this blog:

And then once again, compare to my second messy NYPD slice.

How does a restaurant that I once held in such high regard fall so far? Was it the expansion of NYPD into a good size chain with locations in several states? Since the store was pretty new, maybe they didn't get into their pizza making groove yet or perhaps I just caught NYPD on a really bad day. I hope so, but it didn't leave a good first impression as my reintroduction to NYPD pizza...

Lotus Blossom Cafe at Epcot

During a visit to Epcot, I had lunch at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in the park's China pavilion.

It was a fast food restaurant serving mostly Americanized versions of Chinese dishes such as sesame and orange chicken.

I ordered the one thing on the menu that I don't see in every Chinese restaurant I visit, that being Beef Noodle Soup. The menu described it as shredded beef, onion, and fresh vegetables over noodles in broth. I'm picky when it comes to beef, I don't like the taste of burgers and find steak disgusting, but beef in Chinese restaurants I normally don't mind. This soup was no exception and was really tasty. There was plenty of beef and noodles and lots of a leafy green vegetable (possibly malabar spinach?). The portion was huge and was reminiscent of Vietnamese pho or Japanese Udon soup. I don't know if this soup was more of an authentic Chinese dish than Orange Chicken, but it was really tasty regardless.

As I ate, I had a nice view of pavilion's recreation of the Temple of Heaven.

Just as I was finishing my meal, a Chinese Acrobatic troupe was starting their show...



(This post is part of the Disney Blog Carnival)

Athens N.Y. Style Diner in Mount Dora, FL

I always enjoy my visits to the Greek Diners up in New York and New Jersey. They seem to be a mostly regional thing and rarely are seen elsewhere. While the quality varies greatly from diner to diner, I seem to always end up at a Greek diner at least once whenever I'm up north.

While in Mount Dora one afternoon, I decided to try Athens N.Y. Style Diner to see how they compare to the Greek diners that I've eaten at actually located in New York.

Athens is located in a strip mall. No classic diner building here. The interior of Athens seemed very dated...

A basket of rolls was brought out first. They were okay, but where was the challah and assorted crackers that you get in Greek diners in New York? And how about the appetizer plate of celery, carrots, and radishes that you get from New York Greek diners at dinner time?

I ordered a Chicken Souvlaki Pita. Rather than getting the normal side of fries, I substituted a side Greek Salad. It consisted of lettuce, onions, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese.

My pita soon followed the salad. It was filled with chicken, lettuce, onions, and tzatziki. While there was nothing exactly wrong with the pita, it all tasted very bland. Even with the tzatziki drenching the interior of the pita, there really wasn't much of any flavor that stood out. Athens needs to put more seasoning on their chicken or maybe add more spice to the tzatziki...

I've had some pretty tasteless souvlaki pitas in true NY Greek diners, so maybe it was authentic. Overall, Athens NY Style Diner had pretty average food. Nothing worth going out of my way to return to...

Osceola County Fair Food 2010

I visited the Osceola County Fair in Kissimmee, FL. They had all the good stuff that a fair should have such as a huge selection of farm animals, circus acts, and plenty of rather scary rides. But this blog is not about any of that stuff, it's all about the food. While I didn't see any of the famous fair foods like doughnut burgers or deep fried butter, the Osceola County Fair still had a pretty good selection of food served from trailers. The following are random photos of some of the various food vendors at the fair:





I tried the Ribbon Fries from this cart. Fresh potato chips like this are normally pretty tasty, but the potatoes near the bottom of this plate were somewhat soggy.


I also got some roasted corn from this stand (Little Richard's?). How can you go wrong with an ear of corn roasted on a grill, dipped in butter, and then served by grumpy carnies?

Pizzeria Valdiano in Lakeland, FL

Pizzeria Valdiano is a local chain in Central Florida. I've been to their Winter Park and Baldwin Park stores on several occasions and recently gave their Lakeland store a try.

We started with garlic knots. Definitely not the best. They were those mushy, interconnected rolls that had some garlic salt on top. With garlic in the name, I want some actual garlic!

Pizza came next. Valdiano's has one of the best pizza's in Central Florida in my opinion. Definitely within the top 10. While this particular pie wasn't the all time best I've had from a Pizzeria Valdiano, it was still really tasty and better than most of the other pizzas around...