Stracciatella
Interior
**** (4 stars)
I can’t comment on the fruit or smoothie quality, but the gelato is excellent, and the service was friendly. The mall’s food court is one of the nicest anywhere, with lots of nice furniture and landscaping for you to relax in while you eat.
Fruit ?n Smoothie Sensations
4200 Conroy Rd
Orlando, FL 32839
(407) 363-0304
https://www.yelp.com/biz/fruit-n-smoothie-sensations-orlando
Falafel
Interior
***** (5 stars)
This is the answer to the question “What do I do when I want to eat healthy and all my friends want a burger, fries and pizza?”
How refreshing to find good, healthful food in a food court! And yes, your friends can find all those other options just a few steps away.
Maoz offers bowls or falafel sandwiches. The quality of the falafel is top notch, and you can select what other ingredients you like. I added hummus, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes and onions, and some banana peppers. Seriously, banana peppers in a falafel sandwich are really good. There’s also tahini, garlic sauce and other condiments you can add yourself.
The food court at the Millenia Mall is one of the nicest anywhere, so you and your unhealthy friends can eat together, in a nicely furnished and landscaped environment.
Maoz
4200 Conroy Rd
Orlando, FL 32839
(407) 363-3555
http://www.yelp.com/biz/maoz-orlando
Exterior
Interior
Empanada
Chicken Catupiry Rosti
**** (4 stars)
This is both a counter serve and sit down restaurant. Although there are only three tables in the building, an adjacent permanent tent accommodates many more. The menu offers many variations of potatoes rosti, and also baked potatoes.
Rosti is essentially a beret-sized mound of hashbrowns with whatever filling you like. I tried the Chicken Catupiry Rosti. I enjoyed the crispy brown hashbrown crust, but the filling wasn’t my favorite.
In addition to potatoes, they also have many Brazilian and South American entrees and appetizers. My favorite was the empanada. The beef version I ordered was unavailable so I tried cheese, and it was excellent, with a delicate crust cooked a perfect golden brown, and served with an excellent salsa/relish.
Service was excellent, very friendly and efficient. I was impressed that every customer was promptly and warmly welcomed upon arrival.
They also have a large assortment of Mr. Potato head toys for the kids to play with!
Mrs Potato
4550 S Kirkman Rd
Orlando, FL 32811
(407) 290-0991
https://www.yelp.com/biz/mrs-potato-orlando-2
Exterior
Interior
Tomato basil soup and BBQ+Bacon grilled cheese
*** (3 stars)
This is a quick serve place that offers a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches, variations on tomato soup, and some odd-sounding cheese donuts.
I tried the BBQ+bacon, with American cheese, bacon and BBQ potato chips on white sour bread. It probably wasn’t the best choice, as I usually prefer a more flavorful cheese. I should also have realized that the expected flavor of BBQ sauce was not going to be there, since all the flavor came from the BBQ potato chips which, of course, taste nothing like BBQ. I also feel the bread could have been a bit more grilled.
The basil tomato soup was good, with lots of fresh basil leaves in it.
It’s useful but also discouraging that they list the calorie counts of everything on the menu. It’s not good news.
Tom + Chee – Orlando
12533 State Rd 535
Orlando, FL 32836
(321) 395-4930
https://www.yelp.com/biz/tom-chee-orlando-orlando
Spicy salmon and Philly Lynch rolls
Sashimi lunch plate
Interior
**** (4 stars)
This is a pleasant strip mall sushi restaurant that offers a good price for a variety of combo lunches. The sushi or sashimi samplers are good choices, or you can select two rolls. All come with soup and salad, and there are three choices of dressing.
The kitchen also offers hot lunch combos. All run from $10 to $12.
The dinner menu offers more selections.
The fish was fresh, and service was attentive.
Sushi Kichi
5368 Central Florida Pkwy
Orlando, FL 32821
(407) 778-1953
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sushi-kichi-orlando
Chilequiles
Quesadilla
Nachos con queso
Interior
Exterior
**** (4 stars)
This is a small, well-run restaurant that offers table service food, with a fairly extensive menu of home-cooked classics. Counter service to-go food is also available.
Nachos con queso were served with plenty of jalapenos, but I’d rather they’d left off the refried beans, which I don’t think were mentioned on the menu.
Our favorite item was the chilaquiles, which were served with a very savory green sauce. The house-made chips really made a difference. I also liked the simple but flavorful rice.
Service was friendly, and prices are reasonable.
La Perla Deli
608 S Dillard St
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 905-0440
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-perla-deli-winter-garden
Fried rice gaviita
Ceviche
Causas
Exterior
Interior
**** (4 stars)
This is a good Peruvian restaurant in a space that has been many restaurants. As was the case for those others (and even more that were planned here and never opened) the challenge is finding customers. I suspect one reason is that it is nearly impossible to park in the neighborhood. As a result, the staff outnumbered the patrons throughout Saturday lunch, and the two of us were alone for most of it.
The dishes we sampled were all good.
The complementary corn kernels were skinnier, puffier and better than any of the other Peruvian restaurants we’ve been to.
The Causa assortment (they were out of one kind, so we only tried the chicken and octopus) was delicious, the best thing we had.
The ceviche assortment was good, similar to others in town, with three different types of fish, all steeped in lime juice.
The house fried rice was tasty but a bit unusual, more Chinese than Peruvian.
The Pisco Sour we started with was a bit sweet, but we added lots of lime juice and it tasted more authentic.
Service was friendly, but had the tentative feeling of inexperience.
If I was in downtown Orlando and in the mood for Peruvian food I would definitely go back, especially if I didn’t have a car to park.
Gaviota
100 South Eola Dr
Ste 104
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 428-4682
https://www.yelp.com/biz/gaviota-orlando
Number one with rice, beans and ripe plantains
***** (5 stars)
I’ve been coming here for years for their delicious rotisserie chicken. The number one is my lunchtime favorite. It comes with rice and beans and your choice of plantains. I like the ripe plantains, which are caramelized and make a great dessert. Try them with the white garlic sauce! Weird but good. Just watch out for the green sauce. It’s HOT!
I’m looking forward to their upcoming move to larger quarters across the street.
Pio Pio
5752 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 248-6424
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pio-pio-orlando-3
Quesadilla
Relleno and enchilada
Nachos supreme but without the beans and meat
Interior
** (2 stars)
Two stars is generous. This might be a good place to sit at a sidewalk table and have some chips and a drink, but it’s not a place for good Mexican food. The best of what we had was edible, and not everything qualified.
Runny queso poured over tortillas chips is not nachos. And the refried beans were a remarkable pool of puree closer to the consistency of split pea soup.
The saving grace was the chile relleno, which was fine.
Service was friendly but completely incompetent. It took a half hour just to get the check after we finished eating. I was beginning to wonder if our waitress had gone to another restaurant to have lunch. I wish we had.
Avocado Mexican Grill
715 Bloom St
Ste 130
Celebration, FL 34747
(407) 566-1212
https://www.yelp.com/biz/avocado-mexican-grill-celebration
Line
Chicken wings
Beef broth, ramen, brisket, veggies, lime, basil
Exterior
Interior
Menu
**** (4 stars)
This is a true Asian noodle place, common in big cities like Chicago, but fairly rare in Orlando. It’s a quick-serve operation where you order at a counter and they bring it to you–assuming you can find a seat. The place is very popular, and a line forms within minutes of opening.
The menu is extremely clear, enabling you to build your dish step by step. You start with a broth flavor, select a noodle type, and then two ingredients. I had beef broth with ramen noodles, beef brisket and mixed vegetables. The serving was really huge. The basic flavors are fairly subtle, so I was happy I’d asked for lime and basil as fresh accompaniments. These came in a separate bowl, and were generous helpings.
I also tried the chicken wings, which were simple fried wings and legs served with duck sauce packets.
Service was fast and friendly, but be sure to arrive early if you want to eat there.
Soupa Saiyan
5689 Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 930-3396
https://www.yelp.com/biz/soupa-saiyan-orlando-2