Ace Cafe, Downtown - Closed

I tried this place out a week ago. It parallels I-Sore at Livingston Street (Lynx Station). It is purportedly the first American cousin of a famous biker bar outside of London. It is huge. It has two levels. It is in the class of a Planet Hollywood/Hard Rock. It is a bar and restaurant. It has entertainment (music and games). The decor and layout is industrial. The menu is predictable(for a franchise play) and limited. Think burgers and sandwiches and finger foods. They have four "dinners". However, they are regurgitative fare like meatloaf. I had a chili app because I had already eaten lunch and the menu didn't thrill me. I expected breakfast items for some reason. The chili had some chunks of beef in there, but. was nothing to bike home about. I would come here alot for the bar end of things if I lived or worked close by. They even have free parking. They have a relationship with some bike-centric apparel (etc) company next door. It's a destination spot for downtown because of the history/reputation, the provenance of the spot (the old Edge) and the size of the space. You can bring the whole family because A. they will fit and B. it's not that kind of biker bar. Open for lunch too.

The Gourmet Muffin, Audubon Park - Closed

I tried this new bakery across from Sushi Lola Saturday afternoon after my meal on Mills. It was a blessing. We all know I don't have a sweet tooth, but, I must have been having my male menstruation because I woke up NEEDING sweets. Sweets that I didn't get at breakfast. I bought 4 $1 "bites (lemon, blueberry, strawberry and chocolate with toffee or something) and a banana and chocolate chip muffin for $3. If I compare the muffin with the banana empanada I paid $3 for at breakfast, I want to yell I suck Olive Cock Bars and jihad the empanada place. This muffin was L to the E to G to I to the T. No sticky sweet icing dunce cap. The "batter" was more "stretchy/glutinous" than a cup cake "batter". Like a pop over. It tore. It didn't crumble. And there must have been 40 grams of chips in it. It was half chips!. A huge cupcake (may have been a muffin now that I think about it) by today's standards. The "bites" were covered in "crumble" and two had powdered sugar as well. They have other locations (ie Ocala, Gainesville, Lakeland) in Florida. I think they might be the best bakery I can remember trying around here. A limited/manageable selection that is still has a lot of variety. Great quality. Great prices. They even had some "sandwiches". The last thing the world needed was another sweet shop, but, I'm glad we don't stop at need.

Brooklyn Coffee Shop, Mills Ave

I tried this new (less than a month) breakfast and lunch (7am-3pm everyday) spot in the old Ash location on Saturday. I needed to knock off one of the two new openings in this category and the other one (Ace) seems to have better hours and parking options, so, it didn't seem like it had to be done on Saturday. This is going to be a long assessment. Not one that I particularly care to craft at this time. However, I'm doing it with the hope that it leads to a turn around. Because the people seem good.

You can break down the menu into two sections. French (more of a Nawlins/Cajun variety if I had to guess) and Brazilian. I erred and frolicked on the Brazilian side because it was "new". I'm glad I'm not a cat because nine lives wouldn't be near enough for my curiosity. I tried the Vatapa (the special) at $14. It was described as a North Brazilian shrimp and rice stew over white rice. Something akin to a Thai or Indian curry dish. I'm not sure if this is what it is supposed to taste like, but, they should leave this dish to the Thai or Indians if it is. This attempt was a mostly tasteless (less coriander), pasty, luke warm brown roux over overcooked and over fluffed, clumpy rice with frozen, supermarket quality, pale, gray shrimp. A small portion at that and served on a paper plate with plastic cutlery! And at $14, it was twice as expensive as the rest of the menu. Boo. The best thing in it was a single pickled spring onion (scallion). Fail number two and three came in the form of empanadas. Another stab at the Brazilian side of the menu. The cost $6 for two. I tried a banana and a barbacoa. The first bite of the banana exposed an unmixed white powder in the dough. There was also some salt there too. WTF. The bananas were devoid of any sweetening and tasted like that. Sour bananas in a greasy envelope. Boo. I had the barbacoa at home and it was tasteless cubes of beef. Too many fat cubes as well. They didn't even flavor the meat. It came with an acceptable chimichurri sauce. Boo. Fail number four was the shashuka I ordered. It is a Middle Eastern dish of poached eggs, preserved lemon, feta in a tomato and pepper and sumac sauce. I was still hungry from the Vatapa fail and I was trying to give them every opportunity because they were offering more than the run of the mill fare. The first mistake was that they somehow thought that I wanted this to go. That meant it became dinner. That probably (at the very least) resulted in the eggs over cooking. I'll grant them that. But, I didn't see any evidence of lemon or feta in the container. Not sure If they forgot or in the case of the lemon that it was too big to make the container. There was also too much sauce. I'm not sure if they drown it when it is served in house, but, they did in the to go order. This was also kind of small portion. Even at a more reasonable $7. Maybe they think the one piece of toast they serve with it satiates the hungriest of customers? It appears that the owner (Brazilian) has a chef that can't handle that side of the menu. I'm ASSUMING he handles the other side. They have to either practice cooking the Brazilian side, drop the Brazilian side or hire a chef that can handle the Brazilian side. I would hate for them to lose this part of their identity. It helps differentiate them. But, it can't be at the expense of everything else.

The other side of the menu is more nouveau and French. You have a benedict and a florentine and an egg sandwich on a croissant and a normal two egg dish and another egg dish (in a crock?) that are a bit French. And two of those "toasts" that are en vogue. An avocado one (of course) and an interesting sounding bacon pate one. They also have a burger.

The real problem, as you can see, is that the menu SOUNDS interesting. They need to make it TASTE interesting. I tried alot more dishes than the regular customer would and they didn't make their case to me. The shashuka was even on the "other" side of the menu. Add in that the parking situation is tough and they did nothing (went backwards) to the already aging space and I really should be lambasting the place. What saved them was the warmth. The people seem to care. It's a limited "band of brothers". There was one waiter, a chef and an owner. The chef and owner were serving. That's either sweet or unprofessional given your mood. I was in a good one, so, I liked interacting with the the primos. I'm not sure what is going on withe tableware.

A little more on the decor. They did something to let in more light and that didn't help the ambiance. You see all the defects. Scratches, dust, exposed nails and screws, old paint, empty (except for some LBGT lit) baskets. It needs a face lift. The crowd was really sparse until 1pm. It was four lesbians and me. Then two breeding couples came in. The younger guy looked like he wanted to slink out and I'm not sure they didn't. Which is a shame because I like that it isn't the eggs and bacon place you would expect from a place called the Brooklyn Coffee Shop (called that because the owner met his wife there) and the prices are quite reasonable ($6-$8). It's more like a place Gianni Versace would get a newspaper at before he got shot (Miami reference). They have two types of gourmet coffee for Christ's sake. I'm surprised because they said that they have rolled out a few of these in Brazil. They should have hit the ground running.

Hops Boss, Winter Park

After trying a failing to find a new brewery called Whipporwill in the Milk District on Friday night, I thought I'd see if these guys were finally open. Yes, they were. Been open for two weeks. They are in the old Hotto Potto space in that strip mall at Fairbanks/Aloma and 436. They are owned by a Ukranian who hired a countryman to make light, euro style beer. I tried what they had so far - Pilsner, Wheat, Porter or Stout. Dark Honey and Light Honey. I settled on the Dark Honey. It was sweet. Little carbonation. Probably little alcohol. It cost $6. It was good. The other non-honey beers seemed a little weak/watery for my neo-American influenced palate. Maybe that is good. Most of the breweries around here (and country wide) are churning out similar tasting stuff. We kind of need an old world reminder/supplier. They will also serve East European/German food. They remodeled. I believe they do lunch. Odd name for a place where they probably have the least hop forward beer. Friendly service.

Grub Crawl - Sand Lake Rd Area: Kokino (Closed) and Gyu-Kaku

I tried these places on Turkey Lake Rd (right off Sand Lake) on Friday night. This was going to be a well deserved crucifixion of two pains in my ass after multiple missed connections, but, I ended up liking the first and loving the second.

Kokino - I must have tried to eat here five times. They changed the times. They stopped lunch. The buffet was ridiculously priced. I just had a beer here (out of spite), but, the vibe was good. Hot PYT's (staff too) with a boozy disposition. The menu (tapas) was a little small and ordinary. Not many there for dinner. Nice, modern decor. Maybe they should expand the bar area. It is in that strip mall with the gym (World or Gold's) and Graffiti Junction.

Gyu-Kaku - I tried them at their announced opening last summer and they kept having construction delays. Then it was that they weren't doing lunch yet (though advertised). Then a private party. Then a huge wait. It never came together. Then I went to San Mateo and saw they were a CHAIN! It was over and done with. But, my list is dwindling and I needed to excoriate Kokino, so, they got the call again. Golden bullet with their name on it ready to go. And then another wait for a seat. It was almost go (to go order) time. But, I found my chi and they really did find me a table fast and it was a lesson in Zen from there. The place is a chain from Japan, but, it is unimportant. No one else really offers this kind of robata (grilling) experience. Some do it. For you. Some boil. Some (Koreans) have a similar type of self-cooking experience. But, I seem to recall they all use an electric heat source. Now hot coals are supposedly the best, but, I think I've only done that in Koreatown in NYC. They use gas under a metal disc with holes at Gyu. I had toro beef, toro pork, chicken breast and pork belly. The toro are thin cuts from the stomach area. The beef was great and cheap ($5 from around ten slices). The two pork items ($6 and $5) were ok. I preferred the chicken ($4). All orders had around ten slices. Very fresh. Very fun to cook. They had tons of options: veggies, tongue, intestines, all cuts of beef, waygu, shrimp, duck, etc. Lots of apps from fried sushi rolls to dumplings. Also some rice dishes and soups. Not everything is Japanese. They also drop the prices after 9pm (and at happy hour) automatically. On booze too! My pork belly dropped to $4 and a Sapporo dropped to $3. They also have a decent selection of mostly affordable sake. Service was very polite. My white server even tried to act/speak Japanese. It was full even at 9pm. People of all types. Lots of good humor. I wish they had a few more of these around town. Will be on Favorite's list. It is across from the Kokino strip mall before the gas station on Sand Lake.

Millenia 106, Mall at Millenia Area - Closed

I had lunch at this newish  (under two months) American (with Portuguese and Brazilian undertones) restaurant on Friday. It is across from the Jag dealer in that strip mall on your left at the first turn into the mall off I-4. It is not the first place to try and make it at this spot. It deserves to. It is something I imagine I would conceive if I ever chose to get into the game. A reasonably priced, cleverly sourced, balanced, avant garde, menu in a tasteful and inviting environment and lacking in self-reverence. It doesn't have many (if any) worn out/fad dishes. It avoids being pigeon holed. Like a man/woman who has style, it ignores what is trendy for what is eternally tasteful (even adds a bit of their own personality). I had the fresh fish (the waiter said it was a golden version of mahi mahi) sandwich with a side for $12 and the lunch special (I chose the Margarita pizza - with salad and drink -  to go) for $13. I asked blend the two meals (salad would have wilted and I needed the drink), so, I ate the salad then and there. It was very fresh and opulent. A very clean leafed assortment of field greens and spinach with cherry tomatoes in a lightly applied citrus dressing. Two minor criticisms: the tomatoes were ice cold and the sea salt they added didn't bring about what ever effect they were looking for. It just clashed with the citrus. The batter (beer) was under cooked on the inside. It made the quality of the fish hard to assess. Sticky. A slight timing adjustment. Otherwise, it was refined. It created a crisp and fluffy shell you see on the best examples of fish and chips. The bun and veg were top notch. A very tall sandwich. Whatever mayo-y spread they added was applied with restraint/finesse. The side (chips/fries) were perfect. Shoe string. Crisp. Not sticky batter application. No stupid skins. No brown flaccid mutants. A large amount. I had the pizza for dinner and it was ok. Maybe 12". They didn't pound the CO2 out of the dough, so, the pizza had many bubbles. A rookie mistake. It was also a bit "crusty" for me. Not thick crust. Just wide. The cheese and fresh tomatoes showed respect for the diner. It was ok. Should have sampled the duxelle infused burger for you folks instead. It was also a lunch special possibility. The rest of the lunch menu is pretty small. Dinner has a few more entrees. And Sunday brunch was the biggest. I don't recall seeing anything north of $16. The wine and beer selections were thoughtfully selected for price, quality and singularity. I'm having a hard time recalling the menu items. That's what a red eye from the Coast will do to you. But, also because they weren't what you find everywhere else. I recall a red shrimp dish, an avocado toast with something on it, a Brazilian conglomeration of some sort, fresh oysters, an interesting pasta dish. I hope you get the picture. And if you don't, Take a flier or just trust me. The interior was fully retouched. It has a minimalist and earthy tone. Almost like some one's upgraded private loft. A gleaming open kitchen surrounded by everyday items (like cook books - see if you like the chefs they follow). The bar is up front. The tables (twenty-ish four seaters) are spaced well and symmetrically. There is a curtained off private room in the back. Two big long tables. It's casual and elegant. Masculine and feminine. They even have sports on tv at the bar. It should be acceptable to parties composed of a "mixed" social strati. Burgers and pizza for the Chili's and Applebee's goofballs (or kids) and the rest of the menu for the 1%-ers. Access in and out, mall congestion and parking is a little bit of a pain. Suffer through it. It's cheaper and more intimate than Earl's Kitchen. This is clearly a chef dominated restaurant. And this guy has his head about him. They also of a ridiculously affordable happy hour (I think 4-6 or 7). Closed on Monday (I think). Not a hard ticket to get at this point. You should be able to walk in. They will be on the favorite's list.