I ate at these two restaurants on Orlando Ave/17-92 at lunch time on Wednesday. The first is in that new development opposite Houston's (with Bulla) and the other is closer to Mills near Marlowe's Tavern. I would like to have it on record that I think this strip between Lee Rd and Mills is getting so congested that it should be renamed I Drive North. Traffic is absurd. And yet, Fairbanks (the first thing anybody encounters when the come to the "upscale" enclave of Winter Park) is still an eyesore full of repair shops, rub out joints and weirdo specialty (lord knows what) shops. Great urban planning.
Kona Grill - I'm going to say that they are a rip off of of Roy's and not the other way around because I remember going to a Roy's before I ever heard of them. Maybe they came first. If so I apologize. It is a chain (44) with a modern (something white people will order) Hawaiian menu. I think I've eaten at one before in another city. I don't love chains as you know and I didn't come here purposefully (some dumb friend of mind said it was a new sushi place) to try IT, but, I could have experienced a worse fate. The place looks great. I saw it in a very unfinished for when I ate at Bulla a few weeks back. They open just before Thanksgiving. It's laid out in an L (maybe a P) shaped room with a patio. They put the long bar between the patio area and the dining room. The kitchen is at the rear. It is semi-obstructed by some booths and an illuminated glass partition. The floors are wood with a triangular carpet inlay. The main color choices are brown and light gray. They have hanging lamps with shades that look like seashells or jelly fish. There is a bubbling water tank by the entrance. I'm not sure what the layout was past the bar. I was still in the grip of the latest strain of flu and I forgot to do a pass through on my way out. Pretty good if this is a corporate design. The area where I was seated had five spacious booths and around fifteen tables of four. Lots of space between tables. It's a big space. High ceilings. They gave me a booth though I was just a party of one in shorts and a T. I ordered salmon sushi for $6 because I had prepared my stomach for that, but, then reached for the chopped salad for you people (to try the macadamia nut chicken) and for my still shriveled flu ravaged stomach. It cost $15. The sushi was very good. Long and thick pieces of fatty salmon on properly prepared rice. The salad was enormous. I ate what I could then had some for dinner then some for the next day's lunch. It consisted of tons of the chicken, eggs, bacon, tomatoes, cheese, croutons, a fanned out avocado half and a melange of fancy field greens (really fresh). They dressed it in honey dijon. I can't believe I'm saying this, but, they may add TOO much chicken. The rest of the menu is pretty extensive. 8 apps. 7 salads. 5 flat breads. 8 sandwiches. 4 soups. 15 entrees. 6 desserts. The Hawaiian inspired dishes kind of start and stop with their braised pork and the chicken I had. The rest is straight up American (clam chowder, lobster mac and cheese, steak), Pan Asian (potstickers, pad thai, lettuce wraps, miso sake sea bass) or esoteric (jambalaya, cuban sandwich, greek salad). Service was pretty good. There were a few times when I waited a little to long than I should have (ie getting my credit card and bill back), but, they were trying hard. The clientele (and the staff) was a little less Winter Park-ish than I expected. But, hey. It isn't WP. It's I Drive North. I can't say that I'll be back. But, that has more to do with the so many restaurant openings rather than with anything to do with my experience here. I really can't complain about anything and I'm not sure you will either. It's probably a really good choice when you have some provincials in your group who are scared to try things and you can't imagine wasting a night at Chili's/Chessecake Factory. A nice compromise. Now don't get me wrong. It is a little pricey. You will spend twenty bucks on a soda and a non-entree. Thirty on a soda and an entree. Just know that they probably deliver enough in a serving that you can go app/sandwich/flat bread/salad or entree and you don't have to order both for a full meal. The place was about half full on a rainy day a little past regular lunch dining hours.
Hummus House - I had the mis-fortune of espying this Middle Eastern fast food disaster while looking for the new breweries in WP a couple of weeks ago. It is to gyros what Subway is to any decent deli. That means it sucks for any of you so far ensconced from civilized society that you don't puke when I mention the name - Subway.I have a $5 foot long in my toilet that they wish they had the recipe for. I had a gyro to go for $8. I didn't see it, but, they had to have used gyro meat that came in sheets like bacon or Steak Ums. The worst gyro meat I've ever had. And they only gave me five slices if it. It was as thin as a sheet of paper. Salty. Maybe they use that company that sells the deli meat in those white pouches for 49 cents? They then slopped on terrible spreads and limp veggies. The wrapper was stale. It fell apart. I almost threw it out. I probably should have. It caused stomach pain, but, no bowel explosions. Which is nice. The place looks sterile in a cosmetic sense but not in a sanitary sense. The workers were sleep walking. Parking is next to non-existent. Are these terrible Middle Eastern restaurants that are showing up all over town the next stage in their jihad? Please tell me it is Americans screwing up another culture's food and not them destroying their own culture for a buck. Somehow they have survived there for a year. Avoid.
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