PSA - Bite Free Dining Guide

I picked up this free magazine at Belle Isle Bayou. It is awesome. The best free, printed resource in Orlando for things food related. It breaks down restaurants by category and gives smart, pithy blurbs about each place. Plus they write concise info-bits about things like types of beer and definitions of Italian cooking terms. It's put out by Orlando Weekly. You don't get the sense that it is a pre-requisite to advertise with them to be included in the periodical. On a side note. Does Winter Park birth a new restaurant every week? I thought I was out, but, they keep pulling me back in. Two more new ones.

Spoil Me Sweet Party Creations, Oviedo

I had an order of what I believe were Neapolitans for $3 at this bakery in the Oviedo Mall on Friday. The idiot behind the counter said they were cake, but, I'm pretty sure this was almond paste or Marzipan. They were tri-layered, multi-colored squares covered with chocolate and sprinkles. They were good. A ridiculous 10 pieces for only $3. The place was, until recently, called The Glass Slipper. The receipt still bore that affiliation. They said they changed in February. They sell custom cakes and cupcakes and cookies (etc). A decent bakery in a mall with one of the most moronically designed ingress and egress formulations.

Belle Isle Bayou, Belle Isle - Closed

I had dinner at this Cajun restaurant in a shitty strip mall on Conway and Hoffner (I'm pretty sure that was it - it's the one off 436 that has the Mobil station on it and I think is the last right you can make before the airport that goes back into Orlando) on Thurday. I had the shrimp and grits for $12. It was excellent. The grits seemed freshly made for this portion. I asked and they said they were. They were saturated with cheese. In addition to the shrimp (around eight, pretty fresh 24 size), they added andouille sausage, fatback bacon and mushrooms (they said those were fresh too). The bowl full was huge. It was flavored with a lot of black pepper. The service (4) was great. The dish took a little while to appear, but, I think that is evidence of its freshness. The place has the appropriate decor. It seats abot 80 in the main room and 30 in a card room (they have poker on Thurday nights). It was about a third full at 7pm. It was a family environment. I would urge them to hide the high chairs and junk around the kitchen. The menu was traditional New Orleans. There is even a spiel about their mission statement and the purveyors resumes in the menu. The one disappointment was that they only do crawfish boils once a week (Friday I think). The pricing was respectful. I recommend a visit if you are in the neighborhood or coming or going to OIA. I think Yelp had some mixed reviews on the place, but, I liked what I had.

*Note - I apologize if there are misspellings in the future. This stupid site isn't loading right and the spell check button is now overlapped by some Post Settings layer that I can't get to right justify.

Fish On Fire, Belle Isle

I had lunch at this seafood restaurant in a podunk area of town near the airport about a month ago. I was on my way to Europe. Let's see what I remember. To get there, you have to get off some exit before the airport on the Beach line or (as I did) get off 436 near the TGIF and go towards Fast Park and Relax Parking and continue on the road until it ends. Then you make a left (on Conway) and the first right (before the highway) and it's next to a La Quinta. The place was cute. It's like a place a Parrot Head would enjoy. It has a comfortable maritime feel. They have the steering column of a fishing boat as the hostess desk. The decor was fishing related. I think it sat around 100. It was empty at 11 am. They have live music some of the time. There is a bar area that also opens onto the patio. I think they said they've been there for a while. I remember something about a fire and a rebuild ten years ago. I had a yellow fin tuna sandwich for $8. It came with a bag of chips. The tuna was fresh, but, they shined me with a bad cut. It was all full of thread (cartlidge). It came on a buttered and grilled bun. The service (4) was good. The staff was pure native Florida. The pricing was reasonable and the selection was seasonal. They had some turf with the surf. Not a bad alternative to the restaurants around the airport. An authentic entrant in a world that tries to co-opt this kind of atmosphere.