Category Archives: Orlando

Tako Cheena

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***** (5 stars)

This tiny taco palace is soon moving four doors north to larger quarters, but for now competition for the few tables can be challenging. Fortunately, although it is a table-service restaurant, it also looks like and operates as a counter service place, and the food is just as good when you get it to go.

I tried two very different specials. The shredded pork taco was moist and tasty, with just the right spice level to the pork. But the curry beet arepa was an event. I’m not a huge beet fan, but it doesn’t matter; the delicate combination of flavors, and the creamy curry sauce (which tasted like it had just a touch of mayo) was out of this world. And the maize shell was perfectly crusted. I would definitely have this again. And again.

Service was friendly. Food preparation takes a bit longer than you’d expect for a counter service place, but that’s probably because of the cooking time of the arepa batter, and it was definitely worth it.

Tako Cheena
932 Mills Ave
Orlando, FL 32803
(321) 236-7457
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tako-cheena-orlando

Seito Sushi

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**** (4 stars)

This is a beautiful restaurant, both inside and out. Like many of the Baldwin Park restaurants it has a great sidewalk dining area that is covered and shaded.

There is an extensive list of interesting sushi rolls, and an even more extensive “roll-odex” you can request.

We started with garlic lime edamame, a very generous serving with an equally generous amount of garlic. We also tried the tuna kobachi, which was less generous, and was missing the usual avocado. It consisted of spicy tuna cubes with a few pickles; oddly, the pickles seemed more American than Japanese.

We tried four rolls, and liked them all. The most interesting was the Smoking’ 808, which was served under a smoke filled lid that imparted an exotic flavor.

There are several excellent sushi restaurants in the area, but unlike some of the others, Seito is open for lunch on Sundays, and it is certainly a pleasant spot to enjoy a relaxed meal outside.

Seito Sushi
4898 New Broad St
Orlando, FL 32814
(407) 898-8801
http://www.yelp.com/biz/seito-sushi-orlando-3

Giordano’s

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*** (3 stars)

I’ve never been a fan of deep dish pizza, so there’s that. I find the crust tastes like saltine crackers, and there’s just too much filling.

Plus, it takes about 40 minutes to cook, which is tool long for lunch hour. So it’s unfortunate that the only pizza lunch specials at Giordano’s involve deep dish pizza (what they called stuffed).

Still, they offer regular pizza and even an extra thin version. Unfortunately they have that same weird dough. Not my favorite.

That said, their Caesar salad is excellent. And the service at this Giordano’s is excellent. So if deep dish is your thing, by all means check it out.

Giordano’s
6203 W Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 377-0022
http://www.yelp.com/biz/giordanos-orlando-3

Red Lobster

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*** (3 stars)

Red Lobster is a lunch place as far as I’m concerned, because I can’t imagine spending $30 for an entree when I could go to a fine dining restaurant and get much better food. But at lunch it’s fine, because you can get a seafood assortment with a side and a salad for around $10.

Admittedly most of the choices are either battered and fried, or served swimming in butter, but you’re probably not going here because fish is a healthy choice. Let’s face it, you’re going here because of those biscuits. When they come out fresh from the kitchen, crispy on the outside, hot and garlicky/cheesy on the inside, they are really, really good.

Speaking of the kitchen, it is weirdly slow here, even when the restaurant is mostly empty (as it usually is at lunch time). The service is friendly and well-intentioned, though (a big improvement over this location a few years ago).

And this is a really nice interior, since it was originally built as a China Coast, and still has the dramatic ceiling beams and intimate layout. All in all a pretty decent Red Lobster.

Red Lobster
7373 W Colonial Drive
Orlando, FL 32818
(407) 295-2791
http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-lobster-orlando-4

Paramount Fine Foods

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**** (4 stars)

This bright, airy space near the Orlando Eye offers Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food in a fast casual atmosphere. It’s part of a rapidly expanding Canadian chain.

The extensive menu includes pitas, falafel and pizza-like manakeesh. I had a lunch combo veggie wrap consisting of a Zaatar manakeesh (think of a flatbread brushed with Thyme & Sesame olive oil) wrapped around cucumbers, black olives and mint leaves. It was tasty, but the wrapper was pretty sturdy for a wrap. A companion had a falafel sandwich and it was wrapped in conventional pita.

The meal included complementary pita, which was made in the puffed up Turkish style. You’ll probably want an order of hummus or the dip assortment to accompany it.

That brings us to the absolute highlight of the meal: THE FRIES! These have to be the best fries in Orlando. Crispy–almost crackly–on the outside, and light as air in the middle, served hot and perfectly seasoned. Wow!

During our visit the restaurant was a quick serve concept where you order at a counter, but a hostess seated us and gave us menus. I understand it is transitioning to a full service concept, which will work very well in this space. Our server was very attentive about asking if we wanted refills.

It remains to be seen whether there is going to be enough traffic near the Orlando Eye to justify the large size of this and the many other restaurants in the area, but we certainly enjoyed our meal and would go back. Parking is free in the adjacent structure.

Paramount Fine Foods
8371 International Dr
Ste 60
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 930-8645
http://www.yelp.com/biz/paramount-fine-foods-orlando

The Whiskey

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**** (4 stars)

Whiskey and burgers. What’s not to like about that concept?

We went with a large group at lunch, so I didn’t have a chance to sample any whiskeys, but we did peruse their list and it’s pretty comprehensive. Only a few really top shelf offerings, but at least a hundred interesting ones. I didn’t see any bargains, but the prices were okay.

The burger was great. Most of our group ordered The Whiskey burger, which had everything I like on it, include bacon that was nice and crispy. Accompanying fries were okay, although the sweet potato ones were a bit better if you like that sort of thing. I opted for the side salad, which was delicious.

Service was friendly, helpful and efficient.

If you visited this place when it was an English Pub you will be happy to know that it is now infinitely cleaner and better run.

The Whiskey
7563 W Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(321) 430-6744
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-whiskey-orlando

El Inka Grill

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**** (4 stars)

Southwest Orange County needs more restaurant diversity, so it’s great to see Peruvian cuisine come to the neighborhood. Hopefully it will last longer than the previous restaurants in this space.

We tried El Inka for lunch, and everyone liked their selections, which ranged from chicken to steak lunch specials. I ordered the Ceviche Mixto from the regular menu, because the best ceviche I ever tasted was in a restaurant in Lima, Peru.

The ceviche was a very generous assortment of fish, shrimp, octopus and squid in an extremely limey broth. I think next time I would try one of the chef’s special ceviches instead, to see if the broths are more complex. At $17 it was a rather expensive lunch; I wish the ceviche was available in an appetizer size.

Service was very speedy, so it made a great choice for lunch. The place is already quite popular, and because the stylish interior has no acoustic treatments it can be quite loud.

We all agreed we would like to return soon and try more of this interesting cuisine.

El Inka Grill
7600 Dr Phillips Blvd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 930-2810
http://www.yelp.com/biz/el-inka-grill-orlando

Chimiking Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

Chimiking takes this space over form a previous tenant with somewhat similar cuisine, but the space and service is now vastly cheerier. The specialties are chimichurri burgers, Dominican sandwiches and mashed plantain mofongos.

I tried the garlic shrimp, which was served literally swimming in butter in a bowl lined with mashed plantains. Pretty rich, but tasty. My companion has the triple meat sandwich, which he liked.

In addition to an assortment of regional soft drinks, they also offer beer, wine and sangria.

The space is newly painted and clean and bright, and the highlight of the meal was our very friendly server. Although it looks like a counter service place, in fact it is pretty much full table service.

Chimiking Restaurant
6700 Conroy Windermere Rd
Ste 105
Orlando, FL 32835
(321) 732-3933
http://www.yelp.com/biz/chimiking-restaurant-orlando-2

Shake Shack

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*** (3 stars)

This is a perfectly fine spot for fast food, but after all the hype that preceded it I must admit I was expecting more.

The space is light and airy, and the ordering process is super-efficient. The speed of preparation is surprisingly slow, though, and I went on a not particularly busy day.

The French fries are excellent–very crisp on the crinkly outside, tender in the center. The coffee shake is also great, and worthy of naming the place after.

The weak element turned out to be the burger. I had the SmokeShack, a completely average cheeseburger except for the addition of fairly flavorless bacon and some pickled red peppers. The meat patty was unremarkable, but the bun was the real weakness, a large mushy hunk of bread that quickly turned soggy.

The price of these three items was a bit shocking, coming in at just over $16. And they aren’t even particularly large. I’m somewhat insensitive to restaurant pricing, but even to me that seems a lot for what was on my tray.

I would go back to Shake Shack if I was in the area and wanted a shake, but I’d probably eat lunch someplace else first.

Shake Shack
8359 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 205-0362
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shake-shack-orlando-3

Lafayette’s

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**** (4 stars)

It’s about time Orlando had some authentic Cajun food. Pointe Orlando seems an unlikely location, and this upper deck location seems cursed, but so far Lafayette’s is doing a lot better than the former succession of tenants.

The large space is divided into four dining areas that feature three bars. Live music is featured in the evenings, but if you don’t want it quite so loud it should be possible to sit a fair ways away from it.

The menu features Cajun classics such a Po’Boy sandwiches and Jambalaya. Note, however, that they’ve applied a twist to some dishes. The Jambalaya, for example is made with angel hair pasta, which sounded awful to me. Fortunately our server, who was from Louisiana suggested getting it made with dirty rice inside. Great call! It was the best jambalaya I’ve had outside of New orleans. The food is pretty mild, so be sure to ask for that bottle of hot sauce if you like it spicy.

There are also non-Cajun dishes such as chicken wings, but I wasn’t too impressed with them. The cheese grits, however, were delicious.

There’s a decent selection of beers and some wine. Service was extraordinarily friendly and helpful. This place definitely is filling a much needed niche.

Lafayette’s
9101 International Dr
Ste 2220
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 917-2870
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lafayettes-orlando