California Grill

*** (3 stars)

It’s difficult to do a fine dining restaurant in a theme park environment, and it’s not entirely the establishment’s fault. You’ve got people dressed as tourists, and their kids are exhausted from spending the day in a theme park. And did I mention the kids? There are lots of them.

Still, it’s possible. Victoria and Alberts is one of the greatest restaurants in the country, but they don’t allow kids. They turn the lights down, have a dress code, and charge enough that the patrons are likely to be foodies.

California Grill doesn’t use these tactics, and so the results are somewhat less spectacular. The setting on top of the Contemporary is dramatic, but bright lighting turns the windows into mirrors. The menu is fairly similar to Seasons 52 (which, let’s face it, stole the whole concept from California Grill), but the prices are obviously higher. The real difference, though, is the theme park production line approach to service, which just doesn’t work in a fine dining restaurant.

There’s really nothing wrong with the California Grill. If you’re staying on the Disney property — especially if you’re staying on the monorail loop — it’s a great choice. And if you time your visit to the nightly fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, there’s no better view.

It’s just that if you’re off-property there are better fine dining choices in Orlando. Or splurge, and go to Victoria and Albert’s.

California Grill
4600 N World Dr
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
(407) 939-3463
http://www.yelp.com/biz/california-grill-lake-buena-vista

Cala Bella

**** (4 stars)

Although our first visit to Cala Bella wasn’t a stand out, we decided to return a year later when, on a busy convention night, we were only able to get into Calla Bella. We sat at the “Presentation Bar” which faces directly into the kitchen, and it was, ironically, the quietest spot in the house.

Service was attentive and knowledgeable, and the food was excellent. Unlike the bland cioppino of our first visit, the flatbread was bursting with fresh flavors and tasted just like the sidewalk pizzas in Italy. Chilean sea bass was perfectly cooked, and the mushroom side dish with our entrees was another standout. A completely different experience from our first visit, and I’ll happily return.

Cala Bella
9939 Universal Blvd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 996-3663
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cala-bella-orlando

Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen

**** (4 stars)

I like the decor and service here very much. You can sense the Tijuana Flats influence, but it’s definitely a sit-down restaurant. I’ve tried quite a few of the items here, and haven’t yet found the thing that transports me back to New Orleans. That said, the food is good, especially the dirty rice. There aren’t many cajun choices in town, and Tibby does a good job of filling the gap.

Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen
2203 Aloma Ave
Winter Park, FL 32792
(407) 672-5753
http://www.yelp.com/biz/tibbys-new-orleans-kitchen-winter-park

The Crooked Spoon Gastropub

**** (4 stars)

I’d been wanting to try the Crooked Spoon for some time after hearing about their burger back when it was a food truck. So it was with great anticipation that I read the online menu and then ventured out for lunch. Upon arrival I was quite disappointed to discover that, by bad luck, I’d chosen the day they decided to inaugurate a new Sunday brunch (not noted on the website), and wouldn’t serve items from the regular menu.

Since I’m not a brunch fan, this was unfortunate. The brunch menu contains much less interesting food than their normal offerings. It was hard to understand why at least some of the regular food couldn’t be made available, but we ended up with a 420 burger and a spinach salad, two of the few non-breakfast items. Both were very good. I particularly liked the toasted brioche bun on the burger.

Bruch seemed popular with large families with many kids, which wasn’t exactly the gastropub ambience I was expecting, but good for them, if they’ve found a way to increase business on what might otherwise be a slow day. However it took close to 45 minutes to get a hamburger, which suggests they either had more business than expected, or need more organization. Perhaps the newness of the menu slowed things down, but frankly there weren’t many people still ordering at 2pm on a Sunday when we arrived.

I would like to return when the normal menu is being served, and give them a try on true gastro pub food.

The Crooked Spoon Gastropub
200 Citrus Tower Blvd
Clermont, FL 34711
(352) 404-7808
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-crooked-spoon-gastropub-clermont

The Pub Orlando

**** (4 stars)

Great atmosphere in this version of a traditional pub on steroids. Excellent assortment of beers, wines and whiskeys. I particularly like that there are reasonably priced tasting flights of each, and in many cases you can choose the tasting line up yourself.

The menu is great, although the food wasn’t quite as wonderful as the descriptions sounded. Nevertheless there are some offerings beyond the usual sports bar and pub food, and also novel blendings of the two. Our favorite of everything we tried was the crispy shrimp, which was flash fried in a wasabi batter and server on a thai sweet chili sauce.

Note that valet parking is free, but the parking garage isn’t validated.

The Pub Orlando
9101 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 352-2305
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pub-orlando-orlando