Category Archives: Seafood

Caprino’s Italian

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**** (4 stars)

Caprino’s is a much better restaurant than anything that has previously occupied this space. Run by Chef Stefano, who previously had the restaurant at the entrance to Summerport, and also has Stefano’s Grill in Dr Phillip’s Marketplace, Caprino’s strikes a balance between neighborhood Italian restaurant and sports bar.

The space is still the amalgam of Rialto’s ornate fine dining restaurant wrapped around a somewhat incongruous bar dotted with big screen TVs, but this serves the menu well, with its emphasis on combining traditional Italian dishes with sports bar food.

Whether your party wants wings, hoagies, pasta or pizza, there is likely something for everyone. And at the higher end, the beef is reportedly all prime; it and the seafood are butchered on site.

Our server was friendly and well-informed, and the service in general seemed quite polished for a restaurant open less than two months. On a moderately busy Friday night the kitchen was having trouble keeping up, which caused some service issues, but presumably these will be corrected.

The pizza is thin crust and has an authentic Naples taste to it. We tried two specials: the osso buco was heavily over-salted, but the lobster ravioli was well-prepared. Caesar salad is conventional and includes house made croutons.

Desserts are the same offerings as at Stefano’s Grill. The tira misu was generous.

Wine by the glass selections are somewhat limited, but there is a nice list of 29 bottles for $29 each, and also extensive cocktail offerings.

Chef Stefano was circulating throughout the dining room on the night we were there, and his hands on approach has certainly improved the experience at this neighborhood restaurant. So far it’s paying off with increased patronage.

Caprino’s Italian
7782 Winter Garden Vineland Rd
Ste 140
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 500-3663
http://www.yelp.com/biz/caprinos-italian-windermere

The Oceanaire Seafood Room

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***** (5 stars)

They’ve really upped their game at Orlando’s Oceanaire. Years ago this was the sort of place with a tray of condiments including boxes of Old Bay seasoning and oyster crackers sitting in the middle of each table, which made it feel like a New England seafood house on the pier. No more. Now crisp white table cloths and elegant blue candles set the tone for more of a supper club experience.

While there is always a collection of fresh fish, my favorite things about Oceanaire are the starters and the steaks. Lump crabmeat, tuna tartare, and clam chowder are all standouts, and there are also some really nice salads. The steaks are actually better than at the Capital Grille next door.

Service is extremely professional, and wine service is knowledgable, with an extensive list to draw upon. This is my favorite restaurant at Pointe Orlando.

The Oceanaire Seafood Room
9101 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 363-4801
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-oceanaire-seafood-room-orlando

Shaw’s Crab House

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**** (4 stars)

Shaw’s is a bustling (that’s restaurant speak for noisy), sprawling, traditional red leather booth place that serves shellfish, fish and sushi to a packed house every night. The extensive menu is filled with traditional items and preparations, and waiters sport traditional white jackets, although the service is anything but stiff.

The menu begins with an interesting selection of (yes, traditional) cocktails, and some nicely thought out wine by the glass selections.

The tuna tartare appetizer nicely combined citrus and avocado flavors, and was accompanied by ample dipping chips. Shrimp cocktail was a classic preparation, with good sized shrimp and just the right amount of horseradish.

I particularly enjoyed the Caesar salad, which had a nicely balanced dressing, and thin wafer-like croutons with a lot of flavor.

The Copper River salmon was good, not remarkable, but I really enjoyed the accompanying grilled asparagus. A side of au gratin potatoes was more like a dish of cheese and butter with a trace of potatoes under there, but it was as delicious as it sounds.

Shaw’s is not a great place for quiet conversation, but it works well for a boisterous business dinner, or a group of friends that knows each other well enough that deep conversation isn’t on the agenda.

Shaw’s Crab House
21 E Hubbard St
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 527-2722
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shaws-crab-house-chicago

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

Bonefish Grill

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**** (4 stars)

I’ve been to a few different Bonefish locations, and this one is my favorite. There’s a great interior design and very friendly service. Everyone loves the Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer.

I’m really happy they started offering their Sunday brunch again, and that it has lunch items as well as brunch ones. Both are excellent choices. In fact they are currently open every day for lunch, and there are some very reasonably prices and excellent items available.

Bonefish Grill
3279 Daniels Rd,
Ste. 108
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 654-6093
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bonefish-grill-winter-garden

Kabooki Sushi – An Extravaganza

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***** (5 stars)

We returned to our favorite sushi place (in the world) for an extravaganza, taking advantage of Dani being in town, and a visit from our friend Pamela from Australia. Truly, there is no better sushi in the world, and no more creative sushi chef than Chef Henry. Every visit offers new and spectacular selections, and this trip was no exception. Each course was accompanied by matching wine.

The kitchen

The kitchen

Tom yum soup with coconut broth, lime and head-on shrimp

Tom yum soup with coconut broth, lime and head-on shrimp

Kanpachi tartare

Kanpachi tartare

Our favorite, maguro truffle

Our favorite, maguro truffle

Sashimi patter featuring whole branzino with a ponzu-based sauce

Sashimi patter featuring whole branzino with a ponzu-based sauce

Kobe beef nigiri with black truffle

Kobe beef nigiri with black truffle

Pork belly with mushrooms

Pork belly with mushrooms

Chef Henry flames the lobster

Chef Henry flames the lobster

Lobster

Lobster

Three layer flan, molten chocolate cake, bread pudding, cappuccino creme brûlée

Three layer flan, molten chocolate cake, bread pudding, cappuccino creme brûlée

What an amazing meal! We’re ready to go back!

 

Kabooki Sushi
3122 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 228-3839
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kabooki-sushi-orlando

Mingos

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*** (3 stars)

This is the third venue I’ve been to in this space, and they don’t seem to be getting any better. I’m not sure what differences account for the emptiness of this place when there are lines on the sidewalk for places across the street.

But clearly one difference is the food quality, which is not improving through the various iterations. On a recent visit we sampled several appetizers that were half price during happy hour, including a very soggy flatbread made with limp naan bread, some mediocre mussels, and a very tasty “pork wing.”

We then preceded to the tomahawk steak for two. This was an excellent and perfectly cooked piece of beef accompanied by average asparagus and almost inedible au gratin potatoes.

I will say, though, that the steak was an excellent deal since it included the sides, two salads and a bottle of low end wine, all for $35 per person. Including additional drinks and all these courses, dinner only totaled $108, so definitely a good deal, mostly due to happy hour pricing.

The irony is that the best things we had were both meat, and this is a seafood restaurant.

There was nothing dreadful about the meal, but also nothing that would draw us back, so I think I’ll wait for the fourth iteration before trying it again.

Mingos
100 S Eola Dr
Ste 105
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 781-2539
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mingos-orlando

Kabooki Sushi, Simply the Best

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maguro truffle

***** (5 stars)

I’ve previously reviewed Kabooki Sushi here, but we continue to return regularly, and the food has advanced from fantastic to mind-blowing, so it deserves another mention (my first repeat review, after more than 400).

As I said previously, we’ve had sushi at some of the top restaurants all over the world, and I’ve never had a meal as good as the ones I consistently get from Chef Henry Moso at Kabooki Sushi.

We always have the omakase, where you put yourself in the chef’s hands. But we ask him to add extra courses, and to pair it with wines. We usually have about seven courses, and it costs around $125, about double what the original omakase ran. To put this in perspective, I’ve paid more than that for a single course at some high end sushi restaurants, and not gotten as good food!

Similarly, the wine pairing at $30 is cheaper than a single glass of wine at those restaurants (Nobu, I’m looking at you).

The really amazing thing is that in a dozen visits, Chef Henry has never repeated himself, except for one dish, the Maguro Truffle, that we always request. So that’s something like 100 unique dishes!

Not only is each a work of art, but the combination of flavors is so perfect (salty, sweet, umami, citrus, fatty, acidic, rich, light — often all combined in one bite) that it defies description.

And sushi isn’t an easy food to pair with wine. Yet the matches are always perfect, and usually include minor grigio, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet and sparkling wine.

On our latest visit I showed Chef Henry a picture of a dish we had earlier in the week at Morimoto in New York. Two hours later, at the conclusion of our meal, Chef Henry, inspired by the idea, presented us with this:

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otoro tartare with assorted condiments and seaweed chips

If a chef can come up with that on the spur of the moment, imagine what other treasures are in store for us in the future!

Here are some other things we had in that same meal at Kabooki:

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giant clam, seaweed and pickled cucumber

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compressed watermelon, tuna, ouzu sorbet

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hamachi with house-made kimchi

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locally caught grilled cobia

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three types of fish rolled in rice paper, with apple sails, cucumber sorbet

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grilled hamachi collar

If you can only dine at one restaurant in Orlando, it should be Kabooki Sushi.

Kabooki Sushi
3122 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 228-3839
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kabooki-sushi-orlando

 

 

Caviar Russe

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Caviar Russe 1

Caviar Russe 2

Caviar Russe 3

***** (5 stars)

Even without the caviar this would be a stellar restaurant, but for anyone who enjoys caviar it is an absolute must visit.

The dining room is elegant and intimate, and service is friendly and professional.

Food preparation is meticulous, complex, inventive and surprising. We had the caviar tasting menu, which began with a spoonful of each of six wonderful caviars, mostly osetras. The differences were in some cases surprising, yet subtle enough that it was great to be able to familiarize ourselves with the flavors unaccompanied (except for wonderful blinis–really more like crepes) and creme fraiche.

Then we were served six courses incorporating the same caviars. Our favorite courses were all the cold ones, including the oyster, tuna, and ice cream.

The caviar tasting menu is an amazing deal, as the caviar alone would cost more than the entire meal.

Wine pricing is also extremely reasonable. We had a half bottle of Krug Champagne and a superb bottle of Puligny-Montrachet. I doubt you could find these wines at a better price at any restaurant in the city.

Needless to say, Caviar Russe is on our must-visit list for our next trip!

Caviar Russe
538 Madison Ave
2nd Fl
New York, NY 10022
(212) 980-5908
http://www.yelp.com/biz/caviar-russe-new-york

Grannan’s Seafood Restaurant

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**** (4 stars)

We had a great mid-afternoon meal here on Canada’s Thanksgiving Day. The restaurant is divided into a variety of spaces, including a cozy upstairs room and a downstairs patio. Service was very friendly. The seafood chowder was the best (and richest) I’ve ever had, and the lobster poutine, although unconventional, was delicious.

Grannan’s Seafood Restaurant
1 Market Square
Saint John, NB E2L 4S6
(506) 634-1555
http://www.yelp.com/biz/grannans-seafood-restaurant-saint-john