Rise Pies in Sarasota, FL

I had things to do at The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota and got lunch there. 

Besides having a horrible, overly complicated name, this mall doesn't have a food court, which was interesting. There were restaurants in storefronts, each with their own seating rather than one centralized location. I had food from one of these restaurants called Rise Pies.

Rise Pies was the same concept/setup as Blaze Pizza. It did seem like the topping selection here was a bit more limited than what Blaze offers. I had a pie with pesto for the sauce, topped with mozzarella, green peppers, kalamata olives, basil, sausage, and pepperoni. The pepperoni here curled while cooking into a cup shape which always makes pizza feel more gourmet. The crust was puffier than a lot of the fast food pizza competitors.

Not bad for a mall pizza!

Kathi Rolls in Orlando, FL

On my last trip to New York, pre-pandemic, I came across a restaurant serving a type of Indian street food called kati rolls. I very much enjoyed these rolled up sandwiches and was unaware of any other restaurants serving this food. That is, until I stumbled on a restaurant called Kathi Rolls in Orlando. Different spelling of a very similar food item...

I tried both the Chicken Tikka and the Lamb Tikka Kathi Rolls. Each was filled with the meat, onions, peppers, cilantro, and an added egg.  Lots and lots of flavor in both rolls. Of the two, I think I preferred the chicken slightly more.

Kathi Rolls also has naan pizza on their menu which sounds interesting. I may have to try one of those on my next visit. I'm glad I found a restaurant serving a kathi rolls in Orlando so I don't need to take a trip to New York in order to eat one...
 

White Castle in Orlando, FL

The wait is finally over! On May 3, 2021, the first White Castle ever in Orlando is having its grand opening. I was invited to try White Castle a few days before they open their doors to the masses.

It appears White Castle is expecting quite the crowd when they open on May 3. They had a few large tents set up in the parking lot to accommodate a large queue line. 

White Castle's lobby:

It has been a very long time since I've been to a White Castle. So long that I asked the employee taking my order to recommend the quintessential White Castle food. He told me to have the Cheese Slider Combo. The menu describes these sliders as "made with 100% beef, steam grilled on a bed of onions topped with a slice of American cheese."

The combo came with a side of crispy, crinkle cut fries.

The cashier also recommended that I try the 1921 Slider. This sandwich was topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and cheddar. 

After sampling some of what White Castle had to offer inside the restaurant, I was asked if I would like to experience the drive-thru. Of course I would!

I tried the Chicken & Waffles Slider. Fried chicken, bacon, and cheese between two waffles. This was my favorite of all the sliders I sampled at White Castle.

I also had a side of Onion Chips. Crispy, breaded, deep fried onions.

Vanilla shake for dessert. 

Here's a video from White Castle. This is one of the few times on this blog where you can actually watch me eat...


White Castle is located at 11595 Daryl Carter Parkway. That's between all the theme parks near the intersection of Palm Parkway and Daryl Carter Parkway. Go tomorrow and see what White Castle is all about!

MOD Pizza in Orlando, FL

MOD Pizza. Another fast food pizza chain in Orlando near the attractions. I ended up eating here 4 or 5 times since they opened. 

  Here's two of the nicer looking pies I got from MOD Pizza:

I enjoyed MOD Pizza when they were new, but I liked them a little less on each visit. It seemed like the employees stopped caring about the pizzas as time went on. On my last two visits, the pizzas were sloppily thrown together as quickly as possible resulting in pies that weren't as good as my initial visits here. Don't know if I got unlucky with my pizza maker or...? 

Blaze Pizza in Disney Springs

Blaze Pizza has been around for a while now in the Orlando area, but they never made it onto this blog. I've eaten at a few of the Blaze Pizza locations in Florida, but these pies are all from their location in Disney Springs. 

Of the pizza chains where you pick what you want on your pie as it's being made, Blaze seems to be the most consistent. The proportions of crust, cheese, sauce, and toppings always seems to be just about what I'd expect from a pizza at Blaze. That's some good corporate fast food consistency...

1000 Degrees Pizza in Lake Mary, FL

 I had lunch from 1000 Degrees Pizza in Lake Mary. This is yet another restaurant following the formula of Blaze, MOD Pizza, etc, where you pick toppings for your pizza in a Chipotle style format. I honestly started mixing up places serving pizza in Orlando, and confused this with 900 Degreez in a brick and mortar form. Wrong temperature, wrong restaurant, and 900 Degreez is still a truck.

My pizza was topped with sausage, pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, olives, and banana peppers. Pretty tasty. Topping selection here seemed slightly more limited than some of the similar competitors, but they still had a decent selection. I'd get a pizza here again.

Shiraz Market in Longwood, FL

Shiraz Market is located in a tiny, somewhat shady looking strip mall in Longwood. A taco shop once occupied the spot, but they have been long gone. I would ride by all time and the restaurant went completely unnoticed until they started getting all sorts of press, including being featured by Andrew Zimmern (part of his apology after insulting Orlando's restaurants). I tried Shiraz Market soon after and was very underwhelmed. They served good sized portions, but everything I tried tasted unseasoned and flavorless.

I recently gave them another try and enjoyed the food much more this time around. Perhaps I caught Shiraz Market on a bad day on my first visit. 

The Koubideh Combo: Ground beef and chicken made into skewer form. Served over rice with a garnish of tomato, sliced onions, and parsley. 

Beef & Chicken Kabab Combo: Almost the same as the meal above, only the chicken skewer was replaced with whole pieces of chicken rather than ground chicken.

SeaWorld Christmas Celebration Food

Ended up at SeaWorld a few times this past season during their Christmas Celebration. They had booths selling specialty holiday food items all over the park. Here's the foods I tried.

Bacon & Blue Cheese Mac & Cheese: Bacon bits and blue cheese crumbles over macaroni and cheese.

Lobster Mac & Cheese: Lobster, shredded cheese, breadcrumbs, and parsley over macaroni and cheese. The better of the two mac & cheeses that I tried.

 Tachos: Nacho equivalent with tater tots instead of tortilla chips. Topped with pork, cheese, jalapenos, salsa, and sour cream.

Beef Slider:

UK Trip Travel Food: London Food (Leon, Bake, Gerrard's Corner, British Library, Sushi Daily, and Pizza Express)

I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. I spent the last two days of my trip in London. Here's some of the food I ate:

Leon: 

I had a breakfast box from this chain of fast food restaurants. I believe the box I tried was vegetarian, with a poached egg, beans, mushrooms, tomato, avocado slices, and a delicious type of grilled cheese called halloumi.

Bake: 

I ended up in Chinatown. I stopped in this bakery on my visit to London in 2016. I think they may have been renamed since my last visit. Last time, they were called Chinatown Bakery. This time, the store was just Bake. I thought the waffle fish stuffed with various fillings were enough of a novelty that I needed to get another fish when I walked by.

Gerrard's Corner:

Another restaurant in Chinatown. I know British food has a bad reputation, but this is the only meal on this trip that really was unenjoyable. I had the sliced pork with seasonal vegetables. Those seasonal vegetables included carrots and broccoli, but the pork was the bad part. Pretty sure it was undercooked. A friend ordered fried rice. The rice was crispy. Most of our food was left uneaten here. It was confusing because the restaurant was packed...

British Library:

Cinnamon roll from the cafe in the lobby of the British Library.

Sushi Daily to Go:

This was a fast food Japanese restaurant. I had a chicken noodle bowl and miso soup.

Pizza Express:

This is a chain that is very prolific in London. Seems like there's a Pizza Express every few blocks. The name is confusing, since it is a sit down restaurant and isn't very express.

UK Trip Travel Food: Grasmere Food (Co-op Food, Lucia's Coffee and Bakehouse, and Emma's Dell)

I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. During this trip, I rented a car in York and drove to the Lake District. I wanted to see a national park outside of the United States to see how parks like this are done elsewhere. I picked a random destination within the Lake District and ended up in a town called Grasmere. 

Co-op Food:

When I arrived, I checked into were I was staying, hiked up a mountain, and then got back just in time to take shelter from a thunderstorm. By the time the storm let up, all the restaurants in Grasmere were closed for the day. That is, except for the small convenience store sized supermarket called Co-op Food. Here, I bought some of their ready-made food options for dinner. This included a Chimichurri Chicken Flatbread, olives, and biscuits. 

Lucia's Coffee + Bakehouse:

I had breakfast the next morning at a place called Lucia's Coffee + Bakehouse. I had a freshly baked Cumberland Sausage Roll, served with homemade ketchup. 

Emma's Dell:

Lunch was had at a restaurant specializing in crepes called Emma's Dell. I had a crepe called the Highland Fling. It was filled with smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and served with a chive crème fraiche. I had tea to drink. Tea leaves were served loose in a french press.

During the meal, I felt like somebody was trying to watch me eat from the next table...

Here's a picture of a Luxury Dairy Ice Cream truck in the mountains, just because mountains need to be photographed.

 

UK Trip Travel Food: York Food (Betty's Cafe, 29 States, and The York Roast Co.)

 I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. During this trip, I left Newark-on-Trent and proceeded to York.

Betty's Cafe Tea Room:

As I was leaving Newark-on-Trent, a bus driver told me I had to eat at Betty's Cafe in York. Also, to avoid the main location in the city which gets huge waits and visit the location in Stonegate instead.  I followed directions and was able to be seated in the restaurant immediately. I walked by their other location a few blocks away afterwards and there was a huge crowd waiting to get in...

It was a tea room, so I started with some tea. Obviously...

I tried their special of the day. It was a breakfast dish what I was unfamiliar with called Kedgeree. This consisted of rice, fish, and dried fruit, topped with a poached egg. It was interesting, and really good. Looks like the dish has it's roots in India and became popular in England during the Victorian era. 

29 States:

I was touring Clifford's Tower in York and was distracted by the aromas of delicious smelling Indian food wafting up the hill from a restaurant somewhere below. I decided I was going to find this restaurant and eat there for dinner. Turned out this restaurant was called 29 States. I had a very good chicken dish with some naan. 

The view was nice too. It's the only Indian restaurant I've ever visited where I was able to look out the window and see a castle towering above the restaurant...

The York Roast Co.:

Having Yorkshire Pudding in York seemed like an appropriate thing to do. I did this at a fast food restaurant called The York Roast Co. They basically made wraps out of the Yorkshire pudding, rolling the bread around turkey, stuffing, cranberries, assorted vegetables, and gravy. It was a very messy thing to eat and the Yorkshire pudding didn't hold together very well as a vehicle to transport the rest of the fillings...

UK Trip Travel Food: Nottingham Food (Pieminster)

I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. While staying in Newark-on-Trent on this trip, I took a train to Nottingham. I saw Robin Hood, then I ate.

This was a restaurant which I did not eat at, but was noteworthy. Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem was built into the side of a cliff below Nottingham Castle and claims to be the oldest inn in England.

I had lunch at a restaurant called Pieminster. As the name states, this restaurant specialized in all sorts of pies.

There was some quirky decor in here, such as potato eyes in glass cases.

I had the Saag Pie-neer. This was an Indian inspired pie filled with paneer, peas, spinach, potatos, chilli, and mango. It was served over mashed potatoes. A side of mushy peas and gravy also came on the side. It was pretty good, and the Indian influence was a nice change from the other more traditional meat pies I had on this trip.

 

UK Trip Travel Food: Newark on Trent Food (The Old Post Office, The Old Bakery Tea Room, Turkish Delight, and The Sir John Arderne)

I took a trip to England in the summer of 2019. I began this trip in Brighton, left early in the morning, and took a train to Newark on Trent where I stayed for about a week.

The Old Post Office:

My first meal in the city was at a pub called The Old Post Office. I had a meat pie, served with mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy. Not the best food, but not the worst either. There was some confusion with the service where they mixed up what I had ordered, but we'll forgive them.

The Old Bakery Tea Room:

I thought tea in a royal palace was pretty cool in my last post, but this was different. This restaurant was in a building that was amazingly old from an American perspective. The Old Bakery Tea Room is located in a medieval Tudor style cottage which has been around since the 15th century. Their website lists them as one of Nottinghamshire's Most Haunted Buildings too, but I saw no ghosts... 

Started out with tea. I had Earl Grey.

I ordered the Ploughman’s Lunch. This came with a salad, various cheeses, fruit, pies, and slices of bread served with butter and chutney. Everything about this meal was delicious. 

Of all the foods I ate on this trip to England, this won as my favorite meal. The food was great, combined with the environment of eating in a restaurant who's building has been around since the middle ages...

Turkish Delight:

Middle Eastern food located next to a church which has parts dating back to the 12th century. I'm glad the crusades are over... 

I had the lamb and chicken combination doner kabab. The meats were served over chips, topped with a tzatziki style sauce, and pickled vegetables. This was a huge amount of food for the price. More than I was able to eat in one sitting. 

The Sir John Arderne:

This was the second pub I visited in Newark on Trent. The Sir John Arderne was the better of the two. Better service, better atmosphere, and I enjoyed the food more as well.

I ordered what seems to be a standard British pub food: The Chicken Tikka Masala. I guess this is a side effect of colonialism. The chicken was served alongside rice and garlic naan. No complaints at all with this meal.