Pho-Real

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**** (4 stars)

It’s nice to find an Asian restaurant in this are that isn’t Chinese or sushi. The menu has a limited offering of Vietnamese staples including Pho and Banh Mi sandwiches.

I had the Special, which turned out to not be Pho, but rather a bowl of rice topped with beef chunks and an optional egg. It was good, but my friend’s Pho was better, a generous serving, with all the usual ingredients.

The Banh Mi was good, although at over $6 it’s one of the more expensive versions in town–not that that’s a lot for a sandwich, but for some reason this sandwich is traditionally really cheap most places.

Although it’s counter service, the interior is rather nice. Service is friendly, but the kitchen takes a while at lunch time, so don’t be in a hurry.

Pho Real is quite hard to spot from the street. It’s not on the main sign at the entrance to the strip center, and the combination of the name and logo make it look like a real estate office, so don’t give up.

Pho-Real
2910 Maguire Rd
Ste 1006
Ocoee, FL 34761
(407) 614-1684
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-real-ocoee-2

Dan’s Family Restaurant

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*** (3 stars)

This coffee shop has a particularly welcoming and enthusiastic staff.

They offer the usually array of breakfast and other coffee shop choices, and everything is carefully prepared and served.

The interior is a bit tired, but the friendliness of the place makes up for that.

Dan’s Family Restaurant
7300 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32807
(407) 917-6318
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dans-restaurant-orlando

Gators Dockside

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*** (3 stars)

All of the Gators I’ve been to are similar, but this one seems to have a few service issues, or perhaps it was just our server, but almost nothing we ordered came out correctly, from drinks to salads to wings.

That said, Gator’s grilled wings are about the best there are, especially with the hot garlic sauce.

If you’re passing through on I75, this place is about a mile and a half off the highway, but worth driving past all the fast food places to get to.

Gators Dockside
313 NW Commons Loop
Lake City, FL 32055
(386) 438-5446
http://www.yelp.com/biz/gators-dockside-lake-city

Cuvee Destin

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**** (4 stars)

Cuvee, as you might expect, offers an excellent wine list. The list is oddly divided into two parts, essentially the cheap part and the expensive part. Pricing varies, but seems to be about double retail. For me the highlight was the two pages of half bottles, something you don’t see a lot of anymore.

I thought the food was good, but there weren’t really any home runs. We tried the portobello mushroom, fried green tomatoes (which were more about crawfish), and the pecan crusted grouper (be sure to get the very sweet sauce on the side).

Our server was excellent, and we liked the quiet back corner of the back room, as the bar can get quite boisterous.

Cuvee Destin
36120 Emerald Coast Pkwy
Destin, FL 32541
(850) 650-8900
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cuvee-destin-destin-2

Pepe’s Bosque Mexican Grill

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**** (4 stars)

This popular place offers good Tex Mex cuisine (on the simpler side, such as upscale fast food) at very reasonable prices. I had the number 7 lunch, which includes a beef taco, enchilada and burrito, plus a chalupa (like a tostada). That’s a lot of food for not much money. There’s little difference between the beef items except for the wrapper, but they were tasty.

Chips and salsa are good, and the guacamole was a bargain. Sangria is very sweet, but a bowl of lime wedges fixed it.

Service is attentive and food delivery was almost instantaneous.

Pepe’s Bosque Mexican Grill
10027 Central Ave
Diberville, MS 39540
(228) 396-0044
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pepes-bosque-mexican-grill-diberville

Thirty Two

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***** (5 stars)

This restaurant far exceeded my expectations. The decor is great, and there’s a lovely view across the cay toward the Beau Rivage, which is a lot nicer hotel but without this caliber of restaurant.

We started with table-side tuna tartare and escargot. Both were excellent. Our server did a masterful job with the tartare, and it was interesting to see the ingredients and proportions. The escargot was the Bourguignon variety which is sometimes too wine-based for me, but this was perfect, with a nice balance of brown butter.

Our second course was the soup sampler and lobster chopped salad. The soups were all delicious, but so rich we couldn’t even eat the small servings on the sampler. The chopped salad came with a wonderful wasabi vinaigrette, the highlight of the meal as far as I was concerned.

We finished by sharing a prime New York Strip. It was perfectly cooked and very tender. The accompanying creamed spinach was much too salty, and I didn’t feel like the goat cheese went with the side of cauliflower.

Thirty Two offers an excellent wine list, and we were fortunate to be there on a Sunday during the fall off-season, when all the bottles were half price. We took full advantage of that boon.

Service was perfect, and we had a delightful meal.

Thirty Two
850 Bayview Ave
Biloxi, MS 39530
(228) 436-3000
http://www.yelp.com/biz/thirty-two-biloxi

Oak Alley Plantation Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

This is an unexpectedly good restaurant, much better than one expects at a tourist attraction. The food is authentic, diverse, and well-prepared. And the service is gracious and attentive.

I particularly enjoyed the shrimp poboy, which was better than any of the cajun lunch foods I had during the week in New Orleans.

If you’re planning a visit to Oak Alley Plantation, I encourage you to make time for lunch at the fine establishment.

Oak Alley Plantation Restaurant
3645 Hwy 18
Vacherie, LA 70090
(225) 265-2487
http://www.yelp.com/biz/oak-alley-plantation-restaurant-vacherie