The Orlando Magical Dining Month restaurant of the day is Roy’s, the Hawaiian fusion on Restaurant Row Orlando. I just had lunch at Roy’s today, which isn’t easy to do considering the restaurant is open only for dinner.
But occasionally, Roy’s offers cooking classes at noontime, and I’ve been wanting to attend one for a long time. Today I finally got my chance.
Actually, it was less of a cooking class than it was a cooking demo. My thought of a class was that we’d all be given an apron and a knife with instructions to slice and dice our meal together.
Instead, chef partner Michael Wos pretty much just showed us how he would be making dinner. He did invite one person from the group seated at the food bar that looks into the open kitchen to come to the other side and slice some radishes on a mandolin, but she was the only favored with a task.
Wos prepared a salad Nicoise with an Asian twist, and offered a beautiful mahi mahi, which had been partially cooked before we go there, so even that part of the demo wasn’t demo’d.
But it was pretty good nonetheless, a thick fillet with glisteningly large flakes of flesh. Fingerling potatoes were also offered, and a handful of boiled edamame sprinkled with salt and seasonings rounded out the plate.
Dessert was a dense, flourless chocolate cake chockfull of nuts and garnished with a large, purple orchid.
The lunch and demonstration cost $30, and as coincidence would have it, that’s the same price of the Roy’s three-course menu during Orlando Magical Dining Month. You get a choice of a baby greens salad or gazpacho; hibachi-style grilled salmon, seared black tiger prawns, or short ribs; and for dessert, chocolate souffle or pineapple upside-down cake. (The u-d pineapple cake has long been a favorite of mine.)
Based on the regular prices of the menu, the $30 prix fixe is like getting a free dessert, so it’s a nice deal.
To see the full MagDngMo menu or to view other participating restaurants, visit the orlandoinfo.com Web site.
If you visit Roy’s — or have visited recently — be sure to come back here to rate it and give your own review. This link will take you to Roy’s listing.
Other features Orlando Magical Dining Month restaurants have included:
