George's Gourmet Cookies, Winter Park

I went here yesterday because of an article in Orlando Weekly that said this mall was an underrated food haven. I won't get into that, but, they were right about this little cookie place across from Bubbalou's. I had an oatmeal raisin cookie for $3.50. And before you start in, I thought that a bit much for one cookie as well. However, it's really two or three cookies. Of excellent pedigree. They pile the dough up so that it is almost a cupcake or a cruller. Then they drizzled icing over it like a danish or cinnamon roll. The outside was crusty. The inside was moist. Tons of walnuts (possibly pecans though I think the former). Plump raisins. Like the old man in the Bush's Baked Bean Cocina Latina commercial purrs "Smells deleeshowsh". Tastes delicious in this case. And I could care a less about sweets. The disappointing thing was that they only had three choices (out of six) available. Maybe the cookie monster beat me there. Ten points for cookie monster reference! C'mon. You just got a little happier thinking about that crack addict. They also serve a full lunch menu (so much for honesty/accuracy in advertising). I'm not sure why they don't acknowledge that. The pricing was pretty high. Maybe they are embarrassed? All sandwiches were north of $10. $10.50 for egg salad. The "specialty" sandwiches start $12 for a veggie. You do get two sides with all sandwiches. I'm not sure what they consist of since they were not on the menu. The place seats about twenty in and twenty out. The decor is pure old lady chic. You may call it Rodham-esque. I might be called on to suck it up for a lunch there, but, I really recommend the cookies. They have been serving there for two years. The menu says "est. 1989", so, I'll guess that Georgie Boy has been an owner/operator somewhere since that date. He was "in house" making food if that has any implications. Look for the strip mall on Lee Rd and 17-92/N.Orange.

King Bao, Mills Ave

I had lunch at this bao specialty spot on Mills (near the intersection with 50) yesterday. I have been meaning to go for a while (open five months), but, parking and traffic always suck around there. Luckily my car needed an oil change and my "guy" is located near enough to down there to make a slog internally debatable. Now, I guess it is a good thing when your major criticisms of a joint are the font (and logo) they selected and the art on the walls. Congestion was another issue, but, that was caused by a roly poly's lack of consideration (ordering for HER whole office or cat support group and paying for each order with a different credit card). The place serves bao (steamed rice flour buns/rolls) and tots. I had the pork belly and short rib because they were going for $7 as a package with a soda. Normally $3.50 each. They also don't allow you to choose any "seafood" options and the only other "land" option was a fried chicken one. Plus, I just had PDQ's 4 Rivers charity chicken sandwich the day before. It isn't that great btw. Why is their sauce so bad? Back to bao. The pork belly was very smoky and meaty. Just a little fat. Mostly meat. Nice hunk. That should please people who will never be hoodwinked into believing that all fat all the time is always preferable. Fittingly, it didn't have alot of flavor. The peanuts, cilantro and pickled daikon and carrots added other elements that I usually could live without in a meatwich. Especially the peanuts. But, they are traditional. The short rib portion was also generous. Same flavor issue. It was shredded short rib meat.  It came with Asian pear salad and cilantro. I never would have registered the pear if I wasn't told. I had wanted to skewer the place because most hipster bao places make dense, overly sweet buns. I just had some "real ones" in Singapore and in Chinatown in Kuala Lampur (that were ethereal) and I was ready to play that card. Sadly, I can not. They do a pretty good job. All the regular baos (tofu, shrimp, crab cake, grouper, sweet potato) are under $4. They had some special baos (ie lobster roll) that peaked at $6. They have dessert baos. One is ice cream and they could expand this category. In Singapore, alot of ice cream carts made their own ice cream sandwiches with ice cream and bread or crackers. They could easily do the same if they have the freezer space. It is known to be hot around here every once in a while. The place seats twenty. Two tables and a wall counter. It was full. Mostly young people. I'll be back.

The Taste of the Yucatan, Orlando - Closed

I popped into this Mexican restaurant two Tuesdays ago before noon on my way to the airport. It is on 436 just north (towards 50) of Curry Ford Rd. They were "beta" testing. Or was it "beta tasting"? I had a barbacoa salbut (in between a sopes and a tortilla) for $4 and a cochinita pibil soft taco for $3. I would have tried more, but, it was "unverified" and I had a fifteen hour flight sandwiched between a three and six hour flight. Not the time to be "dissatisfied" with a meal. The barbacoa meat was the better meat. The pork was too salty and dry. I'm so jet lagged that I can't even remember what they were topped with. I think they barbacoa had pickled onions and cheese. I think the pork was marinated in orange juice. The salbut (if that is what the fried cake was) was uneventful. Try one and then go back to the cheaper and healthier tortilla. In any event, they weren't loaded up with extras nor were they loaded up the same. I guess that says a little about the ethos. They take enough care to prepare different flavor profiles. The menu is different. You choose a base/container (they actually put the price for each on the menu and they differ) then you choose a meat (same pricing policy) then you choose any extras. The options are limited. I think they had four meats and one veggie option and four "bases". They had a two for one taco deal that day. Look for others. They serve beer and make their own sauces in small batches. It seats about forty. Not sure if the drive thru window is operational. Ownership was polite. He comes from the area. He spoke English (well). Seemed educated. The place looks clean and new. We aren't drowning in opportunities to sample Mexican food from the Yucatan. Especially ones with a Mayan pedigree. Give it a try. It's not a life changer, but, it doesn't have to be at these price points. Hopefully, they will fine tune the issues with the food and I can really get excited about this place. I think the hours I was told were 9am-6pm. 7pm on weekends. Google says 12-8pm. Here's their phone number if you want to check which is accurate - 407-704-2248. Now out of beta testing. I think last Friday was the launch.

Bob's Family Restaurant, OIA Area

I grabbed an egg sandwich to go before catching a plane out of town at this greasy spoon in a strip mall off Hoffner and S. Conway on Tuesday. I would have written that it (and the place is general) is just another (good or bad) run of the mill, carbon coffee diner/coffee shop. However, there was a complication that erupted later that night which centered around irritable bowels for the next two days. Now, I am willing to consider that Jersey Mikes or Papa John's or Publix frozen chicken was the real culprit, but, I can't be sure and two of the others were a little too pre or post temporal. The sandwich itself is a mess. Literally. I tried to save them from themselves by swapping out the Texas Toast for a Kaiser roll. They just lacquered that (in butter/grease) instead. The eggs were scrambled (not fried). Scrambled in that horrible "here's a folded yellow wash cloth" way. Can you at least break them in half? One swipe of a ladle? It tried ham instead of bacon or sausage because they said it wasn't just the sliced ham they make sandwiches out of. Wrong. The cheese was scant (1 slice) and indiscernible. It came with choice of potatoes. I ordered the home fries on another recommendation. They were greasy and under cooked. The meal cost $7. I believe that is 4 Egg McMuffins (on sale). I'd take the McCompetition on volume/value alone. How about you keep the potatoes and cut the cost in half? Only every other restaurant does it that way. I don't want to think what the cost to my health was. They close at three. They are closed on Monday. They menu is reductive like I said. Went here to give a pity fuck and got what I deserved. Karma is a bitch. Not because it punishes you retro-actively if you do wrong, but, because it punishes you up front when you do right.