Address	1600 Buena Vista Drive
City	Lake Buena Vista
Phone	407-939-6686
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

For the uninitiated — or those who don’t follow challenge cooking shows — Masaharu Morimoto is a star of the programs Iron Chef in Japan and its spinoff Iron Chef America. He has several restaurants that bear his name around the world, including in Mumbai, New Delhi, Philadelphia, New York and Mexico City. Those restaurants are named simply Morimoto and feature the chef’s signature Japanese cuisine. (The nearest Morimoto is in Boca Raton.) The Disney Springs restaurant is Morimoto Asia to distinguish it from the other restaurants. Technically, the restaurant is operated by the Patina Restaurant Group, which also has the two restaurants at Epcot’s Italy pavilion as well as others throughout the country, including Lincoln at New York’s Lincoln Center. My sources told me that the Disney restaurant started out to be a genuine Morimoto but that the chef became disenchanted with the bureaucracy and chose to continue under a licensing agreement. ... Read more

Address	207 N. Bumby Ave.
City	Orlando
Phone	407-730-5241
Price	$
Scott's Review

Some who have jumped on the taco-slinger bandwagon would have you believe that a taco is a taco is a taco. But Ryan Manning, who has lived and worked in Mexico as a chef with Ritz-Carlton, will tell you that each region has its own style, with distinguishing salsas, moles and meats. I came back from a recent visit to Mexico where I had one outstanding taco and the next day visited Manning’s new Milk District restaurant, MX Taco, where I had seven. ... Read more

Address	7339 W. Sand Lake Road
City	Orlando
Phone	407-781-4880
Price	$$$$
Scott's Review

An upscale seafood (Ocean) and steak (Prime) supper club (live music) in the vein of The Oceanaire Seafood Room. The main dining room features warm wood walls with huge five-foot portholes that look through to the lounge area. (The dining room has its own bar for more intimate imbibing, a nice touch.) Touches of blue neon and a soft glow from drumlike light fixtures offer romantic notes, and white tablecloths and candles with frosted shades add a touch of elegance.

A “surf n turf” appetizer had lovely sea scallops and boneless short ribs plopped together in a smallish bowl with way too mashed potatoes. Good scallops, good ribs, bad presentation.

Onion soup was distinguished by a near lack of broth under heavy cheese; she-crab soup had a slight astringency and was not nearly as rich as it should have been.

Service was professional and thorough, and once the kitchen makes the right improvements, Ocean Prime will be a good choice.

... Read more

Address	113 S. Palmetto Ave.
City	Sanford
Phone	407-548-6964
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

The Old Jailhouse is legitimately housed in a small building that was the Seminole County Jail from 1914 until 1959. Before that, it was a blacksmith and wagon shop from 1890, the year it was constructed, until 1895, and it was the E.E. Brady Livery Feed and Sales Stables from 1910 until it became the jail. More recently it was home to Sanford Dry Cleaners and, here’s irony for you, the Seminole County Health Department. Old Jailhouse’s opening represents the return of Bram Fowler to the local restaurant scene. Fowler made his mark at Journeys in the Longwood Village Shopping Center. Here, Fowler serves as the director of operations and executive chef.... Read more

Address	621 E. Central Blvd.
City	Orlando
Phone	407-930-2002
Price	$$
Scott's Review

Ootoya doesn’t present anything that would distinguish it above the other sushi restaurants that are opening or that have established themselves, though what I sampled on a recent visit was enjoyable.... Read more

Address	305 Park Ave. N.
City	Winter Park
Phone	407-331-1400
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

A splashy and elegant restaurant with a hip vibe that befits its Park Avenue milieu. Short rib massamam featured a large beef short rib, braised and then sautéed with potatoes and small pieces of sweet bell peppers with a chili sauce and a bit of roasted peanuts. That the meat was not the most tender hunk of rib I’ve had – a bit more braising might have helped – does not detract from the overall enjoyment of the dish.

And part of the enjoyment of this entrée, and indeed most every dish served here, was the elegant presentation, which almost invariably included luminous purple orchid blooms as plate garnish. (Yes, orchid petals are edible, but frankly I enjoy looking at them much more than ingesting them.)Short rib massamam and yellow curry with chicken are a couple of menu highlights.

... Read more

Address	407 E. Central Blvd.
City	Orlando
Phone
Price	$$
Scott's Review

The space on Lake Eola now occupied by the curiously named Osphere – previously the home of Spice Modern and, more famously, Lake Eola Yacht Club – has one of the best patios in town, an even more covetous feature in these days of outdoor-preferred dining.... Read more

Address	100 S Eola Drive
City	Orlando
Phone	407-849-3739
Price	$$
Scott's Review

Oudom, a Thai and sushi restaurant, is the latest to take over the Graze/Prickly Pear/ Lotus/Mingos space in the Sanctuary condominium building in downtown Orlando. Five restaurants in seven years isn't too bad, is it? Maybe Thai will be the magic sauce for this place. Or curry. Or whatever. A restaurant in this location needs to count on frequent vists from neighbors. A menu with a lower price point can help in that regard.... Read more