Address | 142 E. 4th Ave. |
City | Mount Dora |
Phone | 352-385-1921 |
Price | $$$$ |
Scott's Review |
Address | 28 W. Plant Street |
City | Winter Garden |
Phone | 407-750-7063 |
Price | $$ |
Scott's Review |
Address | Portofino Bay 5601 Universal Blvd. |
City | Orlando |
Phone | 407-503-1415 |
Price | $$$$ |
Scott's Review |
Dinner at Bice is not an inexpensive night out. But when you consider cost vs. quality, you’ll find that Bice is not overpriced.
Just consider the restaurant’s signature dish, ravioli stuffed with beef short ribs and spinach. The pasta was delicately thin and tender, and the braised meat inside had a rich, fatty mouthfeel that blossomed with the sauce of mushrooms and Marsala wine. Absolute heaven.
Or another from the list of primi piatti, big, fat tortellini filled with spinach and ricotta and dressed with a sauce of butter and sage.
From the secondi my companion had the scalloppine di vitello, flattened medallions of veal sauteed with a darkly rich mushroom sauce and served with a timbale of potatoes similar to a potatoes Anna dish.
I chose a special of the evening that featured sea bass in parchment. Enclosed inside the envelope with zucchini, yellow squash, red and green peppers, and a few salty olives, the fish took on all the vegetable flavors while maintaining a fresh and moist texture. The taste was buttery and absolutely delicious.
Desserts are worth lingering over.
... Read moreAddress | 319 S. Park Ave. |
City | Winter Park |
Phone | 407-794-1850 |
Price | $$$$ |
Scott's Review |
Address | 153 E Morse Blvd |
City | Winter Park |
Phone | 407-636-9918 |
Price | $$ |
Scott's Review |
Address | 4600 N. World Drive |
City | Lake Buena Vista |
Phone | 407-939-3463 |
Price | $$$$ |
Scott's Review |
After more than a dozen years at the top, literally and figuratively, California Grill is still one the Central Florida’s best restaurants. Much of the concept of California Grill has not changed over the years, and the menu still features, as it has for much of the time, flatbreads and sushi as well as more traditional appetizers. The menu supposedly changes daily, though with three weeks separating my two most recent visits, I noticed most of the changes were in the wording and ranking of ingredients rather than completely different entries.
Service is impeccable and exemplary of the best that Disney can offer. The wine list focuses, as it should, on California and other American cuvees.
The pork tenderloin remains a favorite, but the filet mignon is a contender for best entrée. Sushi from master chef Yoshi is a treat.
Of course the best feature remains the view through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Seven Seas Lagoon and the Magic Kingdom. And at the appropriate hour the lights dim slightly and the music that accompanies the Magic Kingdom's fireworks display plays in the restaurant. It’s one of the best shows in town.
... Read moreAddress | 10100 Dream Tree Blvd. |
City | Lake Buena Vista |
Phone | 407-313-7777 |
Price | $$$$ |
Scott's Review |
Address | 7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd. |
City | Orlando |
Phone | 407-345-2992 |
Price | $$$$ |
Scott's Review |
Chatham's Place has gone through some changes, and much more than the fact that there are no members of the Chatham family involved in the restaurant. That's not an issue; Louis Chatham, who served as executive chef, and his mother, Bettye, who ran the dining room in those first years, sold the operation years ago to Chatham's sous chef, Tony Lopez, the maitre d', Maurice Colindres, and a hostess, Carol Conwell. The three of them kept it going as strong as ever, perhaps stronger. It was clear that this was an operation of love for the three of them, and they worked together to make it a continued success.
Many of the dishes that became signatures back in Louis Chatham's days remain on the menu, including the Florida black grouper, which has been one of my favorite Central Florida entrees for many years. It features a fresh fillet, thick and white, lightly sauteed and topped with pecan butter and scallions, dusted with just a soupcon of cayenne pepper. The pecan butter places the dish firmly in the south and the pepper points it towards New Orleans. But with the use of Florida black grouper I think we can just claim this one as one of our native dishes, don't you?
... Read more