Orlando's Magical Dining

Here is a list of the participating restaurants 

http://www.visitorlando.com/magicaldining/restaurants/

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Orlando has evolved into a true culinary hot-spot with award-winning restaurants and celebrity chefs serving exciting fare from across the globe.

Satisfy your craving for haute cuisine at an even hotter price during Visit Orlando's Magical Dining Month, a culinary celebration sure to please your palate and your wallet. This September 1-30, 2012, Orlando's finest restaurants will feature three-course, prix fixe dinner menus for just $30. Indulge your inner gourmet with an appetizer, entrée and dessert at a different restaurant every week. Or even every day!  

(This is  great way to try nice restaurants at reasonable prices) 

Our first stop..

RY'S ORLANDO RESTAURANT REVIEW

The Oceanaire Seafood Room

RATING: 3 * * *  STARS

I think the best thing about this restaurant is the wait-staff.  They were great!

Buffalo Shrimp

This was my favorite thing off the menu.  It was good but Buffalo wild wings may have something similar.

Asian Calamari...very disappointing :( It sounded delish on the menu but you didn't get any squid it was more of the crunchy fried pieces.  

I had trigger fish for the main course.  Needed some fancy sauce on top.  Very simple with not a lot of flavor.  Very disapointing if your going to pay $30 +++ a plate.

Key Lime Pie :) It was good 

Emerils Tchoup Chop

I hope all of you Mothers had a wonderful Mother's Day!  Here is 3 generations below :)  We decided to celebrate at Emeril's Tchoup Chop!  I've decided to do a Orlando Restaurant Review on it below :)

Emeril's is located in the Royal Pacific hotel located next to Universal studios.  

Ry's Rating 3.9 stars

(If you ask the rest of the family they would give it 5 STARS)

Mom gave her signature Mother's Day cocktail an A+

Passion fruit, vodka, and champagne

For our Appetizers we chose the crab dumplings and crispy shrimp.  To be honest I was very disappointed with the crab dumpling.  The dumpling over powered the crab and you really didn't have any strong flavors competing over the dough of the dumpling.  It was beautiful though :)

The crispy shrimp were good, coated in coconut flakes and it came with a spicy chili dipping sauce.  

Everyone at the table except for me got the surf and turf.  Tiger Prawns and a steak fillet.  It came with mashed potatoes, broccoli, and carrots.  I give this dish 5 stars...the steak was seasoned well and very tender.  The shrimp were GREAT :)  I kinda felt left out.  

I got the hot iron seared yellowfin tuna steak with sticky rice and smoked bacon-wasabi butter infusion.  Sounds delish but wasn't blow your socks of good.  I hate to say but the tuna wasn't sushi grade, I may have just gotten a bad cut or the end of the tail because some parts were stringy.  The butter reduction was good, but it was more butter than wasabi or bacon flavor.  If I go back I'll defiantly get the tiger shrimp entree.  

The actual restaurant is beautiful.  It reminds you of a restaurant that would be in Vegas or New York City.  Here are some pictures from our table.

 All the tables are around a beautiful pond with ceramic lilly pads.

BIG FIN Seafood Kitchen

Big Fin Seafood Kitchen

Sandlake Road

Orlando, FL

If you live in Orlando you must save up $16 and march your ass to Big Fin Seafood Kitchen and order the lobster macaroni and cheese! It may be the best I've eaten. They aren't stingy with the lobster and it's loaded with flavor!! Imagine 5 blends of creamy cheesy goodness loaded with huge pieces of lobster and prosicutto topped with scallions. Go try it please.

We also tried the calamari, and some sushi rolls, the calamari wasn't special. The sushi was good but not Akina good :)

El Rey de la Papa y la Paisa

Orlando Restaurant Review

Ry's Rating: 3.5 stars

Winter Garden/Ocoee

If you want authentic Puerto Rican food you should try this place out. I really didn't know what to order so I asked the waitress their specialty. Mom got the supreme potato. The picture above is the Supreme Potato, which had cheese, sour cream, butter, ground beef, chicken, shredded beef, ham, bacon, broccoli, peas, carrots, corn, sweet plantain, mushrooms, tomatoes...should I go on? I'm not a huge fan of loaded potatoes so I wasn't impressed. The presentation was beautiful and the wait-staff were very friendly.

I chose the sample plate so I could try a little bit of everything. It was good but not blow your socks off great. It had 3 sample meats, a avocado slice, and rice and beans. I did try something new that I really enjoyed. It was mashed fried plantains rolled up into a ball with olive oil and garlic. It was very different and tasty. I think we ordered the wrong entrees. I would defiantly go back and try something else. Next time I'll definitely to my research before I go.

Akina in Clermont, FL

What would you want your last meal to be? Please leave me comments I would love to hear! Mine would be THIS!

Akina by far is the best sushi I've EVER had! I've been to a lot of sushi places and trust me, this one is AMAZING! We found them 4 years ago and we've been craving it ever-since. If you live in Orlando it's totally worth the drive. I PROMISE!

We always start off with the squid salad...it's to DIE for!

The squid is soaked in a rice wine vinegar bath, thinly sliced cucumbers and seaweed rests on top then crab and the special garlic sauce is drizzled for the perfect topping.

These are 2 ROLLS you HAVE to TRY!

First my favorite, the Hanabi Roll! White tuna with boiled shrimp on top drizzled with that special sauce! They have more things in it, I just can't remember the exact ingredients.

My 2nd favorite is called the Temptation Roll...tempura shrimp with sliced peaches on top. TO DIE FOR!

Anything you get will be good. They even have great asian food, I choose garlic shrimp every time. NOW I must get ready so I can go there tonight!

Napa at The Peabody

ORLANDO RESTAURANT REVEIW

Ry's Rating: 4 STARS

Jim and I decided to try out the new Peabody, which opened last September. We visited the spa before dinner and I give it 3 stars. I was thinking I would be blown away since it's brand new but I wasn't impressed. I think the Ritz and the Waldorf are the best spas in Orlando. (MY OPNION)

Now...back to food

I've been eyeing Napa since it opened. I love the concept that everything is local and organic, and I LOVE Californian cuisine. I was very impressed of the quality, portion size, and freshness of the food. I would give it 5 but I wasn't feeling the ambiance, I like to feel cozy in a nice restaurant.

ABOUT: Napa draws on inspiration from wine country, they've brought some of Northern California's most tantalizing tastes to the South. Their Orlando dining menu is comprised of organic, sustainable farm-to-fork selections complemented by wall-to-wall wine selections from Napa Valley and around the world. With its dark wood furnishings and modern appointments, Napa offers diners a quiet, understated elegance highlighted by magnificent views of the Grotto Pool.

___

We started with Ahi Tuna Tartar, which was layered tuna, avocado, pearl onions, and a purple causa (reminded me of potato salad) soaked in a citrus and soy dressing. It was delish and so fresh.

Jim chose braised beef short-ribs with winter park blue cheese and fennel pickles. It WAS HUGE! We took some home and I made him tacos for lunch this week. The meat was very moist and fell apart with your fork, only thing it was missing was some seasoning. The only reason why I'm being this picky is because I want you to feel how the food was.

For my main meal I got Alaskan halibut with crispy artichokes, spring pea veloute, and creme Fraiche. Which was halibut soaked in a pea soup.

Jim got chicken with fresh beans and spring onion ragout. The chicken was VERY good. I have to say it was better than my dish. He loved it. We went home with so many leftovers, which is shocking because usually you leave empty handed while dining at nice restaurants.

To be honest we probably wont go back for a while, we have so many more places we want to try, but if your looking for fresh good food, defiantly try it out.

P.S. I took pictures with my Iphone and they didn't turn out :( Wish I could have shown you some pictures.

Padrino's Cuban Bistro Restaurant Review

Orlando Restaurant Review

RY'S RATING: 3.5 maybe 4 STARS

***

• Hunters Creek

• 13586 Village Park, Suite 304, Orlando, FL 32837
• 
  

I LOVE LATIN CUISINE! I've been seeing Padrino's in all the local magazines and had to try it out. The atmosphere is 5 stars! It's a beautiful restaurant and don't get me wrong, the food is GOOD but I can't say it's better than Pio Pio which is 5+ stars. Maybe it's their garlic sauce. If your looking for authentic cuban you should defiently try this place out. Here is what I got.

P.S. They had paella but I didn't get it :( I may need to go back and try it...here is a picture of what it looks like below.

They bring you plantain chips out with a oil parsley garlic sauce while your waiting on your main course. You can't go wrong with plantains. The sauce was good, but not blow your socks off good.

For my main meal I let the waiter choose his favorite dish, which was Bistec de Pollo. It was a

Boneless, skinless breast of chicken, grilled with onions. Topped with fresh chopped onions and parsley. It was seasoned well but was slightly dry, the rice and beans were good. Mom got Boliche, a Cuban Pot Roast - Cutlets of beef round cooked in a light tomato sauce. Now this I gave 4 stars! It was tender and the meat melted in your mouth. Like I said before, not sure if I'll go back but if I did I would defiantly try some of the seafood. My heart still belongs to PIO PIO.

CAFE 118 in Winter Park, FL

CAFE 188

THE LIVING CAFE-RAW ORGANICS

TASTE THE BEAUTY OF LIVING CUSINE

Cafe 118 Degrees is a restaurant with a very unique menu: their entire menu is not only organic and vegetarian but all of their food is also prepared completely raw. They don't use anything processed, which includes soy milk and any soy products. The creamy sauce you see isn't cheese or a milk base. It's blended nuts! It's amazing how creative the chefs are.

Ry's Rating

For my palate I give it a 7..if I were a vegetarian on the raw food movement, it would be a 10!

For our app we order the spiced macadamia hummus with sun-dried tomato flax crackers. The hummus was delish! The flax crackers were packed full of flavor, but had a different texture.

I chose, "THE ITALIAN"

The noodles were raw zucchini and squash, the meatballs were black beans and nuts. This was good for not being REAL. It would have been a 10 if I could have sauteed it, but don't get me wrong it was very good.

Chile Rellenos

This was my least favorite. The peppers were completely raw so the texture was very crispy and spicy. The cream sauce you see is blended nuts. It was a beautiful dish.

When we left we felt great! It was nice knowing we had gotten the weeks vegetables in our diets. If I ever have vegetarian come into town I will take them here. Until then I will probably pass and continue to go to my favorites like Akina and Pio Pio.

Paris Bistro in Winter Park, FL

Orlando Restaurant Review

We love Winter Park! We tried two restaurants there this weekend. Paris Bistro was my favorite between the two. I rate it a 9...the ambiance is a 10!! You truly feel like your walking into a french bistro, we forgot we were in Florida.

Winter Parks symbol is the peacock :)

Guitar man singing Beatles music outside on the street

Paris Bistro has outside seating

The entrance has beautiful koi

Entrance

Inside

For Sunday brunch they have a special, for $11.95 you can have a two course meal and for just $5.00 extra you can have ALL YOU CAN DRINK CHAMPAGNE...I know CRAZY :)

Looks like were in Europe doesn't it?

Mom had the asparagus quiche

Memaw and I had the veal normandy. The dishes are served in little portions so you don't feel near as bad eating the rich mushroom cream sauce...which was very tasty.

(Iphone pictures suck)

It came with a little dessert :) Above is pastry puffs with vanilla ice cream. Below is the banana crepe.

I will he coming back to this place VERY SOON! :)

Akina

Ry's Rating 10 STARS!

Akina is located off of Highway 27 in Clermont. It's THE BEST SUSHI I've ever eaten! I've been to a lot of sushi restaurants and by far this one is the best! I crave not only the sushi but their garlic shrimp dish. I've never had a bad meal. It's worth the drive from Orlando.

My favorite roll is the Hanabi Roll...it's a MUST

They have a new salad dish, marinated baby octopus...it's very fresh and tasty! :)

(Jim and I have been going to Akina for over 3 years now, we love it so so much)

Dragonfly Modern Izakaya Sushi

Dragonfly is located in Dr. Phillips in the Delagio Plaza, and has a sophisticated twist on the traditional Japanese tapas style dining; serving sushi, sashimi, and robatayaki, with a full saké bar in a relaxed lounge atmosphere combining three essential elements of: Sensual, Spiritual & Savory.

I'm going to be honest. This is a trendy place, I think the quality of the food doesn't size up to the atmosphere. It reminded me of a restaurant in Vegas. We did go on opening night, the menu was hit or miss. I will start with the Wa-gue Rib Eye below. Beautiful presentation but I could grill this up in minutes...i think it needed a special Asian sauce drizzled on top. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't get this again. (When I go out to a restaurant I want something I can't make in my home.)

Below is Japanese Eggplant with Ginger & Bonito & Uma Dashi

This was good, I love how they shaved the Bonito so thin they danced around as the heat cooked them. This was very unusual and I liked it.

Here is the sushi roll “The Dragonfly” Tuna, albacore & wrapped with grouper, Baked with a spicy sauce then topped with scallions and finished with eel sauce.

This was delish, only thing keep in mind it's baked so the fish is cooked which gives off a different texture. (Akina is better)

This restaurant has beautiful presentation, as mom was calling it, "ART"

Mussels & Clams with seafood lime, sake and buckwheat noodles finished with fresh bean sprouts, kaiware and cilantro. This was almost not suitable to eat. I’m being honest! First I didn’t taste any lime or cilantro. The mussels and clams were raw so I would have liked to have some taste of citrus. The buckwheat noodles were ok, but like I said the mussels and clams were very fishy and had no flavor. I like my mussels to taste like the ocean, maybe these were bad. I would stay away from this dish.

I saved the best for last :)

If you try this place out defiantly get the Butter sauteed edamame, togarashi, sea salt and bonito flakes! It's great! (Like I said above the shaved bonito flakes dance around)

This was my favorite, the miso yaki black code with shitake mushrooms and chrysanthemum leaves. The fish was delish and the sauce was amazing. I would def get this again. If I would have just got these two items, I would love the place.

Overall Rating: 6.5...atmosphere is a 10.