Category Archives: Tapas/Small Plates

Norman’s

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**** (4 stars)

A recent visit here showed much improvement. Clearly ownership has taken a renewed interest. The food is consistently good if not stunning, and service is a lot more professional.

General Manager and wine director Yusuf Yildiz clearly knows his stuff, and has great plans for a new wine room, storage and emphasis on depth of the wine list, coming in August 2015. I look forward to seeing if Orlando can finally add a truly world class wine list to its restaurant portfolio after several decades without one.

Norman’s
4012 Central Florida Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 393-4333
http://www.yelp.com/biz/normans-orlando

Kasa Restaurant & Bar

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***** (5 stars)

Of all the places in Orlando that are trying to be hip and gourmet and eclectic at the same time, I think Kasa succeeds the best. The only downside is that when you take a room full of hip gourmets and place them in a hard surfaced room and fill them with cocktails, things can get VERY LOUD.

Frankly, I was surprised how good the food was here. I honestly think it’s better than the Rusty Spoon or Ceviche, both nearby tapas contenders.

The standout was the Kasa corn, which I wouldn’t have ordered except for the other rave reviews. Small sections of corn on the cob are served on sticks, coated with both spicy and creamy condiments–scrumptious.

Brussels sprouts and bacon were good, not as rich as you’d imagine due to the vinegary base.

Tuna tartare (which is served with plantain chips, NOT tostones) was just good. Ceviche had a nice lime base but was marred by too tough conch; a different shellfish would have been better.

The fondue is more like cream sauce than cheese; the accompanying yucca fries were poofy on the inside and crisp on the outside, and were piping hot.

Cuban mojo ribs were succulent, but much sweeter and wetter than the “dry rub” description led us to expect.

We almost never order dessert, but the raves about the destroyed apple pie with salted caramel ice cream tempted us into trying it. The pie is rolled up and deep fried, then cut into sushi-like slices. It was delicious, but the salted caramel ice cream was the real standout. My wife, who hates desserts, kept going back for more and more of this incredible ice cream, which she described as the best she ever had.

Service was friendly and helpful. The wine list is brief and rather middle brow, but there are plenty of cocktail choices.

Kasa is definitely one of the top foodie destinations in downtown Orlando.

Kasa Restaurant & Bar
183 S Orange Ave
Ste 183
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 985-5272
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kasa-restaurant-and-bar-orlando

Columbia Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

This location features a beautiful interior design, much nicer than the original in Ybor City, and yet retaining the feel of a place that’s withstood the decades (and I guess it’s almost 20 years old, now that I think about it).

The food is the same as at the other Columbia restaurants, which is to say rich. A good third of the dishes include chorizo, and many are casseroles with no small amount of butter. So it’s not light dining! But it is tasty.

My favorite dish was the scallops, although the empanadas and quest funded were also good. The 1905 salad is also tasty, but ask them to go light on the dressing.

Service is best described as bustling and well-intentioned, perhaps not quite fine dining caliber, but certainly appropriate to the always busy atmosphere.

There is an extensive wine list that is not offered by default, so if you’re interested in Spanish wines be sure to ask for it, as there are many high end selections at reasonable prices.

Columbia Restaurant
649 Front St
Celebration, FL 34747
(407) 566-1505
http://www.yelp.com/biz/columbia-restaurant-celebration

Norman’s

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*** (3 stars)

I have to admit I don’t really get Norman’s food. I’ve been to a couple of special events here that I liked quite well, including a Paul Bocuse dinner that was superb. But it was Paul Bocuse’s food, for the most part, that made it so. The restaurant’s normal menu doesn’t do it for me. It always seems to me as if there is one too many spices in each dish, that somehow muddle the flavors. It leaves me yearning for something a bit simpler, where the quality of the natural ingredients is allowed to shine through.

Service is pleasant, although I’ve run into more than one server who was clueless about wine. One server had never heard of the expression “corkage charge,” which is a bit amazing for a restaurant of this caliber.

The room is pretty, although it can be noisy. If you’re staying at the resort, it’s probably worth trying. It’s certainly better than the dozens of steakhouse alternatives that surround it in the tourist area. But when I visit the Ritz I eat at The Vineyard, which has a better wine list and a subtler touch with the food.

Norman’s
4012 Central Florida Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 393-4333
http://www.yelp.com/biz/normans-orlando