Crooked Can Brewing Company

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***** (5 stars)

What an array of options this place offers! Regardless of the style of beer you like best, they’re likely to offer a very well-made version of it at Crooked Can. The menu is on the wall behind the bar, and offers great explanations of what’s on offer, and how it is made.

Aside from the beers, though, it’s the environment that makes this place special. The concept they had for a new building to house their showcase brewery and synergistic businesses has been perfectly executed. The long counter lets you sip and enjoy your brew while admiring the stainless steel complexity behind the glass was. Or, if you prefer a table inside or out, that’s available, too.

A variety of tasty noshes are available just down the hall, from burgers to pizzas and all sorts of sweet treats. The whole of Plant Street Market is a great place to stop in after work, or enjoy after visiting the nearby Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings.

Crooked Can is a great addition to the town of Winter Garden.

Crooked Can Brewing Company
426 W Plant St
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 395-9520
http://www.yelp.com/biz/crooked-can-brewing-company-winter-garden

Shake Shack

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*** (3 stars)

This is a perfectly fine spot for fast food, but after all the hype that preceded it I must admit I was expecting more.

The space is light and airy, and the ordering process is super-efficient. The speed of preparation is surprisingly slow, though, and I went on a not particularly busy day.

The French fries are excellent–very crisp on the crinkly outside, tender in the center. The coffee shake is also great, and worthy of naming the place after.

The weak element turned out to be the burger. I had the SmokeShack, a completely average cheeseburger except for the addition of fairly flavorless bacon and some pickled red peppers. The meat patty was unremarkable, but the bun was the real weakness, a large mushy hunk of bread that quickly turned soggy.

The price of these three items was a bit shocking, coming in at just over $16. And they aren’t even particularly large. I’m somewhat insensitive to restaurant pricing, but even to me that seems a lot for what was on my tray.

I would go back to Shake Shack if I was in the area and wanted a shake, but I’d probably eat lunch someplace else first.

Shake Shack
8359 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 205-0362
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shake-shack-orlando-3

Lafayette’s

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**** (4 stars)

It’s about time Orlando had some authentic Cajun food. Pointe Orlando seems an unlikely location, and this upper deck location seems cursed, but so far Lafayette’s is doing a lot better than the former succession of tenants.

The large space is divided into four dining areas that feature three bars. Live music is featured in the evenings, but if you don’t want it quite so loud it should be possible to sit a fair ways away from it.

The menu features Cajun classics such a Po’Boy sandwiches and Jambalaya. Note, however, that they’ve applied a twist to some dishes. The Jambalaya, for example is made with angel hair pasta, which sounded awful to me. Fortunately our server, who was from Louisiana suggested getting it made with dirty rice inside. Great call! It was the best jambalaya I’ve had outside of New orleans. The food is pretty mild, so be sure to ask for that bottle of hot sauce if you like it spicy.

There are also non-Cajun dishes such as chicken wings, but I wasn’t too impressed with them. The cheese grits, however, were delicious.

There’s a decent selection of beers and some wine. Service was extraordinarily friendly and helpful. This place definitely is filling a much needed niche.

Lafayette’s
9101 International Dr
Ste 2220
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 917-2870
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lafayettes-orlando

Mamak Asian Street Food

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**** (4 stars)

This bright, trendy space is a great place to enjoy Asian street food. Much like the restaurant that pioneered this cuisine in Orland (Hawkers, which is just around the corner and up the street), Mamak offers a menu of pan-Asian dishes arranged in columns including noodle dishes, rice dishes, tapas and soups.

We started with some edamame (a gift for checking in on Yelp). It was perfectly heated and salted.

Our first main dish was the Mamak Roti Canai, which many Yelpers justifiably raved over. The curry was the perfect spiciness, and the rotis were puffy and flakey.

The Roast Duck was less successful, fatty, somewhat tough, and it had that jagged “carved with a Korean chain saw” aspect.

Nasi Goreng Kari was a good rice dish, but it was completely overshadowed by the spectacular Indian Mee Goreng, one of the greatest noodle dishes I’ve ever tasted. It was like Pad Thai on steroids. Each bite of this dish produced layers of complex flavors: first the protein (shrimp and tofu), then the scallions and bean sprouts, then the wonderful wok-fried noodles in a sweet chili sauce, and finally the crushed peanuts and tart lime. I could eat this dish all day!

An extensive beer list offers something to match any dish on the menu, and the wines by the bottle come in a fair variety, too, better than Hawkers.

Service was friendly and attentive. The room is large, light and airy, but has no acoustic treatment whatsoever, so it can be quite loud. As a result the most pleasant dining might be during the hours between lunch and dinner.

Mamak Asian Street Food
1231 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 270-4688
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mamak-asian-street-food-orlando-2

LAKEHouse Restaurant

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*** (3 stars)

This restaurant, located in the former Cascades space, has been completely remodeled into a trendy and airy space. Unfortunately the food and service could still use some remodeling.

There’s nothing really wrong with the menu, but the more creative the dishes, the less the flavors seem to click. For example, the idea of making a shrimp cocktail using grilled, chilled shrimp sounds inventive, but turns out to produce a fairly off-putting texture.

The house pizza combined citrus, boursin cheese, asparagus and chicken, but somehow managed to be nearly flavorless. It’s the only time I’ve ever put salt and pepper on a pizza.

The LAKEhouse salad bowl combines interesting ingredients such as figs, spicy pecans, arugula and parmesan cheese, but they don’t really work together.

The best thing I had was the “cauliflower steak”. Like many of the dishes on the menu, the name is not descriptive. It’s simply cauliflower and several other vegetables that have been nicely grilled.

An extensive cocktail list tends toward sweeter drinks. The wine list offers quite a few selections, although the most interesting ones are available only by the bottle.

Service was well-intentioned, but not at the level of a fine dining restaurant; perhaps is is more appropriate for breakfast or lunch, when the space serves as the hotel’s coffee shop.

LAKEHouse Restaurant
1 Grand Cypress Blvd
Orlando, FL 32836
(407) 239-1234
http://www.yelp.com/biz/lakehouse-restaurant-orlando

Servando’s

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***** (5 stars)

If you were a fan of Taquitos Jalisco when they had three locations, you will love Servando’s. It’s run by the original owner, and has all the same dishes, prepared just the way you remember. As an added bonus, it’s much cleaner than the remaining Taquitos, and the space is light and airy. Service is friendly, and Servando is there to make sure everything is just right.

Personal favorites include Servando’s Nachos (without any meat or beans is the way I like them), and either tacos or gorditas with their amazing Pastor. The Plato Botanas appetizer is a nice way to sample many things. Margaritas are also quite good.

If you’re looking for REAL Mexican food on the west side of town, this is the place.

Servando’s
14107 W Colonial Dr
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 654-6866
http://www.yelp.com/biz/servandos-winter-garden-2

Urbain 40 American Brasserie and Lounge

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***** (5 stars)

The interior of this restaurant is quite stunning, an amalgam of classic French bistro and modern supper club. There’s really nothing else like it in Orlando.

The menu offers a selection of mostly traditional French bistro food, with a few more modern items such as flatbreads.

We started with French onion soup and a watercress salad. The onion soup was good, but not spectacular, however the salad was excellent, with just the right zing to the vinaigrette, offset by crispy apple slices and some crunchy candied pecans. It was my favorite item of the meal.

We had two “hors d’oeuvres”–which were really appetizers–instead of entrees. In keeping with the theme of misnaming things, the “crepe” was actually a torte comprised of many layers of crepe interleaved with vegetables. It was good, but not a crepe. We also had the mussels. Two preparations were on offer, one pan roasted, the other steamed. We opted for the former, and received a HUGE pan full of mussels. They were perfectly cooked and quite tasty, although the shells were coated in salt, which made eating them without ODing on salt a challenge.

For dessert we tried the trio, and nice sampling. The highlights were the “cheesecake pops” which were also misnamed, as they contained ice cream and were chocolate coated, so essentially ice cream bars on sticks.  These were excellent, and much better than the accompanying truffles and jelly filled macarons.

Service was very attentive–almost to a fault. The staff is clearly still trying to find their way (there was a lot of fiddling with lighting levels) but is very well-intentioned, and will get there.

A reasonable selection of wines is available by glass or bottle, and there is also an emphasis on 40’s cocktails, really the only way that the 40s theming plays into the experience.

Two excellent private dining rooms are available, and the lounge is even a more pleasant space for dinner than the restaurant proper.

I’m hoping that Urban does well, as Orlando could really benefit from such a beautiful restaurant.

Urbain 40 American Brasserie and Lounge
8000 Via Dellagio Way
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 872-2640
http://www.yelp.com/biz/urbain-40-american-brasserie-and-lounge-orlando

Harold€’s Restaurant

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***** (5 stars)

If there is a better omelette on the face of the planet, I have yet to find it. I’ve been going here for thirty years, and even through a change in ownership and expansion into the space next door, the omelettes have remained transcendental.

My favorite is the Special Omelette, which contains bacon, green chilis and sour cream. A mound of hash browns form the base, then come the ingredients, and then a fluffy egg disc the size of a frisbee. Ask for your hash browns well done for the ultimate omelette enjoyment experience.

Harold’s Restaurant
2440 E Thousand Oaks Blvd
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
(805) 230-3147
http://www.yelp.com/biz/harolds-restaurant-thousand-oaks

Old Place Restaurant

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***** (5 stars)

In the thirty years we’ve been going here this place has stayed true to its quirky roots. Constructed of random bits and pieces, and little bigger than a shoe box, the ambiance is what it’s all about. You still have to sit at the bar unless you’re a large party, and you still have to go outside to visit the restroom.

But the food and wine list have been upgraded significantly. You can still get the clams as an appetizer and the steak as an entree. Those were the only two dishes originally. But now there are more appetizers, and the baked potato has grown from from the size of a golf ball to a softball. There’s also a wonderful chicken entree.

The wine list has also grown, from two jugs to a couple dozen nicely chosen bottles, most available by the glass.

Service is friendly but constrained but the strict three-seating schedule if you have a reservation. Our server had been there as long as we have been going, and it was fun to reminisce about old times.

Old Place Restaurant
29983 Mulholland Hwy
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
(818) 706-9001
http://www.yelp.com/biz/old-place-restaurant-agoura-hills