Thursday, December 18, 2014

Grub Crawl - OBT: Taste of Peru, Tu Casa and Rossi's (Closed)

I stopped at these places on South OBT on Saturday afternoon.

Taste of Peru - They have been open for a few months. They are located near Taft Vineland Rd. It seats about 40. There were three tables of 14 people eating while I was. I had Cau Cau Mariscos for $15. It was an Incan recipe for seafood "stew" with potatoes, red peppers and rice. The party list included; two bay scallops, baby squid (tails and bodies), two mussels (New Zealand), and two types of shrimp (tiny and mediums). They were in a yellowish sauce that was probably a reduction of some stock and some regional plant matter. It was silky and good. The seafood was mostly not overcooked. It was a good choice on my part. The menu is fairly large and divided into starters, chicken, beef and seafood. The starters are about three quarters the price of entrees. I prefer that ratio to be 1 to 2. The place is a hole. They self-re-modeled. You can see the spray can squirts where they tried to paint the light covers. The ceiling and curtains are black. The walls and tablecloths are red. However, the food and the service were good. I find Peruvian food a little pricey for the merit it deserves. But, hey, at least it's not Italian American garbage at that price. I also didn't love paying $2 for a can of soda.

Tu Casa - This place is closer to the Florida Mall (and near the Turnpike - I think). It has been open for nine years. A plaque on the wall from Trip Advisor gave it 5 stars. The place seats around fifty and every seat was full and there were forty people in line and the line didn't die while I was there. It's just Dominican food, but, I'm starting to really respect the exchange they offer their customers. They are either one of the most generous cultures or one of the most efficient operators or really bad business people. I mean as a people. After every Dominican place I go to, I say to myself - "Is every other place ripping me off?". I had a plain Pernil (roasted pork) sandwich for $4. I was huge and loaded. I ate it for dinner. The meat was perfect. It most have been twice the width of Subway sandwich and as long. It was pressed. Loved the bread. Sandwiches top out at around $5. Breakfasts at $4. They have ambitious specials every day. Platters (of everything from fish to to beef to pork to chicken) are around $9. It would be worth eating here even if the food sucked. The people in line with me said they eat there two or three times a week and have been doing so for years. Go see what all the fuss is about. The place has puke green walls and isn't going to win any awards, but, it was clean. The line moved pretty fast.

Rossi's - I stopped at this place near Oakridge because the fat lady at the Sentinel put it on some list of stupid places you should eat at while X-mas shopping. I have no idea why. It's 50 years old and looks it. It looks like a sports bar. It smelled like my flip flop. I love history, but, c'mon. I had a terrible, conveyor belt pizza they said was 12 inches. If it was, so am I. Just awful. Hard as a plate. Well that does sound like me. A tooth breaker. It cost $7. The menu is value Italian. I doubt any of the dishes satisfy anyone who doesn't represent what I suspect was the clientele in Orlando 50 years ago. If you're Italian, you might see that it has an "electrical fire". Hard pass.

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