my orlando food blog.

carlos and charlie’s.

i am a complete slacker lately, aren’t i? well let’s do this.

my brother and i were bored and wanted something other than our normal hooters trip. i mean, where else classy can a brother and sister eat? we opted for carlos and charlie’s, a new mexican place in lake mary. it’s halfway between our houses, we like mexican food, and we were hungry. seemed perfect.

it’s a pretty cool looking place, they wear relatively funny tshirts, are friendly, and we were stoked. my brother got there before i did, and went ahead and ordered the cheese dip trio, something we order at every mexican restaurant. when it arrived at our table, it looked tasty. rather than chips, it’s served with warm tortillas, which i love. however, they put it in room temp bowls, so by the time it arrives at a table, the cheese is pretty well solid. not good. we literally forked out the entirety of one of the bowls and cut it with a fork and knife to get it on the tortilla. ugh. very disappointing.

we also got beef nachos and a chicken quesadilla to share. the meat on the nachos was my favorite part, by far. very flavorful, but it really couldn’t save the rest of the meal. the quesadilla was alright, but very bland, and wasn’t memorable at all.

next time, it’s back to hooters. i’ll always eat those fried pickles.

310 park south.

chris and i went for lunch the other day to 310 park south. he loves their veggie portobello sandwich, and i had never been. it’s really a cute place, the wait staff knows their stuff for sure, and there is indoor or outdoor seating. i drank pink lemonade (classy drink for a classy lady), and ordered the turkey/brie wrap with alfalfa sprouts. so good! it’s really well priced for the amount of food you get. i ended up taking half of the wrap home because it was so big! at any rate, it was delicious, and looking over the dinner menu, i’m really excited to try out an entree at night!

witiki.

i don’t really eat on wall st too often. the food is usually pretty awful and the crowd even worse. however, i met up with my lady ballers a week or so ago for an orlando magic watch party and i decided to try the food.

first, i had a bite of jamies spinach dip and was immediately underwhelmed. it wasn’t bad, but certainly nothing very good. eh. for myself, i got this starter that had mini pita bread topped with onions, feta, and sliced lamb. delicious! they really did quite well with that dish. it’s very simple, but the flavors go really nicely together.

the majority of the menu is sandwiches, with a few other starters and salads. basic but decent. i can’t say i’m gonna be craving it anytime soon, but i wouldn’t be mad if someone wanted to go back there. on a high note as well, it’s probably the healthiest i’ve eaten while watching a game so far this season!

my favorites.

since i’ve been slightly slacking off on eating new food lately, i thought i’d post about a few of my orlando favorites.

shin.
near downtown, corner of orange ave and park lake. best japanese food i think i’ve ever had. the sushi is incredible. do yourself a favor and try the white tuna tataki. your world will change immensely.

ravenous pig.
also on orange ave, but down in winter park. delicious american gastropub. fancy food, but you don’t need fancy clothes. the menu changes frequently to keep the freshest ingredients in house, but they keep a few things on all the time. one of these is the shrimp and grits, which are absolutely heavenly.

pom poms.
this is on bumby near lous lounge. yummy sandwiches and teas. the soups are good too. they have great brunch selections on saturdays and sundays, and they are open 24 hours for your drunk asses on friday and saturday. get into it.

dandelion cafe.
right off colonial on thorton. this is an all organic, all vegan cafe (aside from one type of cheese you can add to the chili.) speaking of chili, it’s fantastic. a great casual place to hang with friends and eat, have some tea, or even have a beer.

el coqui.
right near pom poms on bumby. absolutely delicious mexican/puerto rican food. definitely one of the friendliest places i’ve ever eaten at, and the food is nothing short of miraculous. no alcohol for sale, but hey, you can byob. no big deal. everything is made in house, and it shows. these are people who really care about the food, and the bonus is that it’s not expensive either! i suggest going with a friend and sharing a few things.

el potro.
corner of 17-92 and lee rd. mexican food. i can’t quite figure out why i love this place so much, but i do. it’s inexpensive, filling, and good. what’s not to love?

publix.
this probably shouldn’t count, but it’s my blog and i make the rules. publix has the best subs i’ve ever had. i like jimmy johns and all, but man i’d punch someone for a publix sub. i used to work at subway. sometimes when i got off work i’d head over to publix for a sub instead. that’s how good they are.

does anyone have any suggestions on where i should eat here in orlando?

sanctuary diner.

ah, fifi’s bistro. someone finally realized you kind of sucked and decided to switch it up a bit. thank god. no more brown omelettes with nothing in them. jamie and i headed down to sanctuary this afternoon so we could try a little something new. the decor is simple but nice, music still sucks, some of the tables are way too close together, service was good. i tried the soup of the day, which was broccoli and gouda. delicious! i would go back just for that. after that i had the garbage salad. sounds gross, but it kind of rules. it has so much on it, but that’s how i like my salads. lettuce, pasta, mushrooms, chicken, garbanzos, black beans, croutons, cheese… it was pretty darn tasty, and also huge. i’ll probably be eating it for the next two days. so, sanctuary is definitely a step up from fifi’s. plus, you don’t have to be blinded by pink every time you walk in.

EDIT: now closed.

the loving hut.

ok, let me be honest. i was a little scared to eat at the loving hut. not because it’s vegan. obviously not because it was new. but more because of the weird stories i heard about the cult-ish owners. apparently, there is a tv station called supreme master tv that very strongly promotes living an all-vegan/organic lifestyle. props to those that do it, but it’s not really something i’m into. i love bacon way too much.

regardless, of course i still ate there. who can pass that up?

the interior is really simple and clean. white furniture, a giant mirror on one wall, and of course a large flat screen tv on another wall constantly barraging you with supreme master tv. the employees were very friendly and helpful with the menu. i ended up choosing one of her suggestions, the noble rice. it is a meat substitute topped with a sweeter curry. the consistency is actually really nice. not nearly as mushy as tofu, which is the main reason i’m not a tofu fan. i was very impressed.

a couple weeks after, i went to the earth day celebration at lake eola, where the loving hut had a booth set up. i shared a tasting plate of quite a few options, and loved pretty much all of it. it’s definitely getting a lot easier for someone to be vegan here in orlando.

first watch.

to be honest, i don’t know why i waited so long to try first watch. it is very conveniently located across the street from work, but after working there almost a year, i still hadn’t given it a shot.

finally, my friend lori and i went for lunch a few days ago. she had been there before, but was more than happy to go again.

the service was friendly, the atmosphere casual. my first concern was the menu. so many choices! they have a page each for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. how to choose? in the end, i went with breakfast - the acalpulco express. basically, it’s an omlette stuffed with chorizo and avocado, topped with sour cream and green chiles. served with home fries and an english muffin.

oh man. it was so good. i wasn’t really sure how i would feel about the avocado in an omelette, but everything went well together, and i was really happy. i even ate the whole thing, which is a rarity for me. i liked everything on my plate!

lori decided on the turkey burger. it was good but pretty bland. it’s served with a kind of spicy-ish mayo that gives it the flavor it needs. the best part of her meal was the “salad” it came with. basically, they dice tomatoes, avocado, and onions together, put a little dressing on it, and there you have it - a tasty addition. i thought it would be fantastic on the burger itself, but we didn’t try it that way. we both decided that we would be more than willing to come back based on that alone!

bottom line is, the food is good, they have a lot of healthy options, and it’s not very expensive. they are only open for breakfast and lunch, no dinner. it’s definitely a good spot, i’m only sorry i didn’t try it sooner!

citrus club.

i have a few posts to make, but this one is most exciting!

i had the honor and pleasure of going to dinner at members only restaurant citrus club in downtown orlando. one of my very best friends is a cook there, and his parents were in town. vip service is what i’m talking about.

first of all, i love getting dressed up. i don’t get to do it much, since work requires me to wear jeans and a black t shirt at all times. however, this restaurant is formal attire required! i love it.

we sat down at our table with a view of downtown. the restaurant is on the 18th floor, so the view is pretty ridiculous. i got to look at the amway arena and think about how badly the magic were beating the sixers in game 5 of the playoffs. :)

after getting a lovely malbec, chef came out and informed us that he was serving us a seven course tasting of the menu. i knew this MIGHT happen, but i was really excited to know that it really was.

everything was delicious. the amuse bouche (did i spell that right?) was a dry aged sheep cheese that i loved. course one, my favorite, was a foie gras custard that i could eat every day. it was like heaven!

i can’t remember which course was what, but i enjoyed chicken fried veal sweetbreads, veal striploin, scallops, the best crab cake i’ve ever eaten, fried flounder, and so much more.

three bottles of wine later… came dessert. i have no idea what they were called. i have the worst memory of anyone i know. but i do know they were gorgeous, complete with white chocolate tempered to look like flower petals. before we ate them, our wonderful server alex came over to make us some flaming coffee drinks. he had to line the glasses with sugar, pour a little brandy in, then set it on fire to properly melt the sugar. it was fun to watch and an interesting lesson for a starting bartender such as myself.

since i was there with such a respected guest (i mean employee), he treated us to a tour of the kitchen. we mostly talked to john gallo, the pastry chef. he was really nice, loves lost, and let us try some brand new ice creams he made. the creme fresh (?) tasted JUST like cheesecake ice cream, it was so good!

at any rate, i thoroughly enjoyed my evening. the food, wine, and company were all perfect, and i wouldn’t have traded it for anything. not even the lower bowl magic tickets that were offered to me.