Pier 36 Fish Camp, Casselberry - Closed

I had dinner (only open for dinner as of now) at this new (three weeks) seafood (says oyster bar outside) restaurant on 436 across from the roller rink. It used to house a Hooter's (the first restaurant I ever ate at in Orlando). It has been empty for a LONG time. I'm glad someone finally did something with it. I had a dozen raw (Victoria Bay - Jacksonville) oysters and a half dozen fried oysters (with side). The "raws" cost $14. They were probably as good as southern oysters can be. Nice medium sized white shells. Salty and bland. A hint of meatiness. The shucker did a pretty good job. He/she didn't dump all the liquor or leave a lot of "shell dust". The fried oysters ($12) had an offensive batter. It was sour and spicy and salty. Made it seem like the oysters were bad. And the remoulade dipping sauce was almost an exact copy in liquid form. No contrast. The batter looked properly fried, but, it wasn't fried all the way to the oyster. More unpleasantness. Surprisingly, the salad (that they let me sub in instead of slaw or fries) was really fresh. Fresh spring mix and fresh onions and tomatoes. Even the sweet balsamic dressing wasn't that cloying. They serve most things from the sea. Prices were in line for seafood. The guy next to me had a head on fish. They have shrimp and grits and oysters steamed, raw and fried. Mahi was around $16. Grouper $17. They did a total refurb. Giant fish tank. Assembly line ceiling fan. Big TV's. High ceilings. Stuffed fish. Raw bar. Bar bar. The place seats about one hundred. It was near capacity. They have a volleyball court outside that I believe was a relic from the Hooter's days. A guy was wandering around the place "singing" with a guitar. I think he may have been part of ownership. No joke., Large parking lot. Service was good. Worth watching. I liked it better than that supposed oyster legend near 50 and Kirkman. I forget the name of that town. Probably, not as impressive as that place in College Park (near the lake ) that I just reported on. Lakeside? Simply because of the scale of the other place. The place will be a real hit with families, Florida locals and the blue collar set. In other words, it's not pretentious.

Grub Crawl - College Park: Cafe Linger (Closed) and The Pastrami Project (Closed)

I had brunch and then lunch at these two places today. The first is a cafe that opened a week ago. The second is a food truck that has been around for a few years.

Cafe Linger - The are on Edgewater Dr in the old NYPD Pizza location. They have a breakfast and day menu. I think they do the brunch menu on the weekends. They close at 7pm. I had an open faced crepe with leeks in cream and a fried egg for $8 And smoke salmon tartare with avocado and a half slice of toast for $12. Both were good. Maybe too much cream sauce. And a slightly runny egg. The salmon and avocado were plentiful. Not enough toast (whole grain). They serve things like avocado toast, steak frites and chicken and waffles.Around a dozen things. And pastries and fancy coffee. Pricing was reasonable. The place is made up to look like a home. Couches, tables, book cases, etc. The room has a rectangular shape. An exposed kitchen and counter ordering in the rear. They had a guy playing guitar on the far left wall. The AC was a little forceful. They have some tables outside in the front. I would ping pong back and forth between them and the next review if I lived near College Park. And not just to see the attractive German co-owner. Do you have to let it linger? I should think not. Try it asap. It will be on my Favorites list.

The Pastrami Project - I just re-caught the Diners, Drive Ins and Dives episode they were on last week. It's a year old or so. I was in a hotel in Maine and was bemoaning the fact that I never had crossed paths with this guy. It's only my home town for f's sake. Lo and behold, I was driving to try a place in Winter Park and I passed right by him. He is in an old gas station that seems to have turned into a flower shop (Daisy's Flowers). It's on that street that has the Drubsdread golf course. The receipt says 175 E. Par St.. Right underneath I-4. It looks deserted. I had a pastrami on rye (with slaw and half pickle) for $10. It was great. I was a little worried because the guy seemed a little disheveled and angry. Could he be wallowing in a "unappreciated artist" phase of existence? He is in the middle of no where. Was that a sign that the guy (and the food) on tv no longer existed? Not to worry. Like I said it was very good. I forget how he seasons the meat, but, I think I tasted some cinnamon and some cocoa in addition to the usual spices. He cooks it low and slow. The portion was respectable. The rye bread was fresh. The slaw was roughly chopped with celery seed, lemon (or bitter orange) zest and a little mayo. Tasty. The pickle was good as well. Not sweet or garlic-y or salty. Most of his items are pastrami related. He self-cured some salmon on the show too. That looked great (on the show). I had salmon at Cafe Linger, so, I passed on it. Will go back and get it soon. I suggest you try and beat me there. This place will also be on the Favorites list.

*8/30/2018 - I returned today to try the brisket and smoked salmon. The brisket didn't seem smoked. It was a bit fatty (on top), but, still very good. The portion size wasn't huge. It cost $10 and came with a pickle and celery seed cole slaw. He put a slightly sweet brown (donkey) sauce on it. The bagel with lox was better. Great even. It cost $9. I believe he cures his own salmon. I'm half Viking, so, I knows my salmon and this is quality stuff. The portion was big. Not too salty. The bagel was crisp and chewy. The cream cheese was good. It came with red onion and capers. Addictive. Tried to take a bite and finished it all off.

Fajitas, Sanford - Closed

I tried this new (one month) inauthentic Mexican restaurant on 17-92 (S.Orlando) near Lake Mary Blvd tonight. It's weird because every one working there was Mexican. I'm not sure why the food was so Tex-Mex. I sampled quite a few things for you. I had: a shredded beef quesadilla for $4, a regular hard chicken taco for $2, a traditional carinitas soft taco for $3, two chicken flautas for $2+ a piece and some free tortillas. All were bland. Both salsas were bland. A regular and some kind of chipotle bbq sauce. The fact that they delivered alot of food in each portion didn't exactly compensate for the disappointing lack of flavor or authenticity. Each meat could have been substituted for each other and you wouldn't have noticed. The hard shell taco was full of chicken and bland iceberg lettuce and gummy tomatoes. Light on the shredded cheese mix. The flautas were similarly boring. The carnitas meat may have been the worst (and driest) carnitas style pork I've ever had. It doesn't deserve the association. The quesadilla beef was ok. Way too much though. It ruined the quesadilla feel. A soggy lump instead of a crispy, light cheese snack. They did little to the interior (it was an Italian place called Kiko's or Kika's or Kaka's). Some pinatas and decorations. Two other tables were occupied while I was there. I was the first in and it seemed like the staff wasn't expecting a rush. They were all lounging outside on the patio. Not of interest if you desire real Mexican cuisine. Maybe they do fajitas really well?

I've been forgetting to mention some interesting dishes I've encountered in my rovings. They may interest you. Turkish eggs, huitlacoche quesadilla with peach, chopped green lip mussels with egg yolk, butter soy salmon taco, corned beef cheese fries, taquito dog, egg salad with pickles, trout benedict, a sandwich (any) pressed in a waffle iron, coffee milk, potato pie, egg and lobster eclair, sticky date pudding and carrot lox

Paizano's, Sorrento

I stopped here on the way back from Mount Dora. It's a little "roach coach" on the side of the road (46). A bar called Oasis is diagonal from it. I've been meaning to stop for a while. I grabbed a lengua taco for $2. I had an order of ribs in the passenger seat or I would have tried more. The taco was good. The lengua was a bit tough. I suspect that it had a little age on it. The fact that they reheat it on oil (on the flat top) didn't make it less cooked through. Still ok. They used two corn tortillas that seemed hand made. Lime. onion and cilantro. Hot sauce (hot) on the side. Alot of meat. Big chunks. They serve tacos, quesadillas, tortas and a papusa. Closed on Sunday.

Grub Crawl - Mount Dora: Lake House and Mermaid Juice

I went to these spots on North Highland St (the one where you make the first right off of 46 to get to downtown) about a week ago.

Mermaid Juice - I was told that they brew. They don't. A shack with bric a brac that serves craft beer. It has been open for six years. No need to make a special trip for. I'm sure you have one of these near by. Parking is limited.

Lake House Bar and Grill - Not much more than the unremarkable mediocre eats place I suspected them to be. I think they have been open under this name for three years. I grabbed a half rack of ribs (with waffle fries and a salad) to go for $13. They said they were ready to go. They weren't. Took a half hour to get them. Ribs (6) weren't bad. Sweet sauce. Way too much sauce. Is Mt Dora the "over sauce" capitol of the nation? Waffle fries had a coating. Salad was a lame "fresh out da bag" supermarket special. It's like a Duffy's. Not as polished and the food is a little worse. They tried to play up the food provenance, but, I wouldn't expect anything to be special. Try the place on the corner for that. I forget the name. It's in an old gas station.

Peppino's, Curry Ford Rd - Closed

I had lunch at this Sicilian stylized Italian restaurant today. It is near Bumby and Curry Ford in an area closer to Orange that the are trying to label as the Hourglass district. Why the area in Longwood (that has Hourglass Brewing) is not called that is open for debate. I guess they are (or a similar sounding brew crew) opening an outpost (or relocating) next door. So, we can have a walk off. Is that what they called it in Zoolander? Anyway, they have been open since November. The owner owned a place in Annapolis that I think was called Maria's. It was in a photo on the wall. Both his first and last name end in vowels, so, we have that going for us. The place is a contradiction. The name sounds like it would be a soulless chain restaurant. The decor makes it seem like a artisinal hipster hangout. The menu evokes Federal Hill or Little Italy. I didn't know what to expect. I ordered the chicken parmigiana because it cost as much as the regular pizza and came with choice of soup or salad, bread, Sicilian butter (just herb-ed olive oil) and spaghetti. It was delicious. My favorite parm dish is at Il Vagabondo near the 59th St Bridge in Manhattan. It a bone in veal number. It's huge. This doesn't quite match up, but, it is closer to that than most parms in CF. Most experts would say the coating was mushy and the chicken a little dry, but, it didn't lessen my love. I like it a little dry/grainy for the texture it supplies. That counteracted the mushy coating a bit. Plus the meat fell apart more easily as I cut it. The sauce was just tomato on its own. Very fresh. The quality of the mozzarella melted on top was nice. The proper amount. The spaghetti was al dente. Both the portion of the spaghetti and chicken were enormous. And I ordered the SMALL size. You are definitely leaving with leftovers or a food baby after this meal. This is how much I liked it. I wasn't even supposed to eat here. I'll explain below. I wasn't in the mood for Italian. I made my own chicken parm two days before and spaghetti in tomato sauce last night. I ate every bite. I left in that stage of fullness where you can't concentrate, you need a lay down and you think you might have filled your intestinal track to the point of forcing the other trains out of the station. The bread was ok. The soup was a pot luck of leftovers. Chick peas, meatballs, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes. It was ok. A cup. Mostly the aforementioned. Little broth. It seemed freshly concocted. The peas were firm. Like just out of a can. They have a lunch and dinner menu. Some breakfast fare on the lunch menu. They have a brick pizza oven. They do some pasta and panini and apps and salads and entrees. They add steak and two chicken dishes and some more pasta at dinner. The lasagna has walnuts in it. The place has a bar area. a small dining area and an enclosed patio in the back. The main inside deco element is corrugated tin wainscoting. There are wood embellishments as well. It had a family friendly vibe. Service was polite and knowledgeable. I wasn't relishing coming here. It has been on my list all year. All year I have given it the brush off. I don't usually like American-ized comfort Italian. This is exception to that rule. And since most people around here love this classification of food, they really should enjoy this place.

* I was around here because of a place called Iron Cow. I don't want to go there at night because there is no parking in the Milk district and it isn't really a super fun time party experience. I've tried three times to have lunch here. It is never open. Some guys in the parking lot told me that they aren't really serious about food. It's just some slop they muster up during drinking hours. I think I'll drop them from consideration. And the Italian deli (Stasio's?) that was supposed to open on Bumby and Robinson has still not. I've also heard talk about Sandwich Bar. It is closed. Another food place took the location. I think I read that some big, permanent food truck space is opening around there too.

In the Hourglass district, Foxtail Coffee and Leguminati aren't open yet. There is a new Mexican place aside them though. Claddagh Cottage is open. It is across from Peppino's.

If you take Bumby from the north side of the 408, remember it snakes around a little lake/pond on the way to Curry Ford. Make sure you follow the sign that keeps you on Bumby (veers a little right after the pond).

**6/11/19 - Replaced by F&D Italian.

Rice King, Sanford

I tried this new (a month or so) low end Chinese restaurant for lunch yesterday. It is near the Walmart on Rinehart Rd. It was a cheap pizza place before this. It is your typical take out menu. They have a $8 lunch buffet. Two low level entree selections and some fried junk. I had a lunch special to go for $7 in all. I chose Szechuan Chicken, fried rice and wonton soup. The chicken was yet another recipe. This one was pounded strips of chicken in a sweet and garlicky sauce. How many types of Szechuan chicken can there be? I had one plastic-y piece of chicken. The rest were ok. The veg were mainly onion slivers. If I wanted vegetables, I'd probably feel cheated. The fried rice was bland. They filled those "side' cups in the to go box with them. Not a lot. The wontons were over boiled (soft), but, they included three. The place is clean. They make some attempt to acknowledge their heritage in the decor. It's just another in a long line of take out Chinese joints. Who are pricing themselves out of the market if you ask me. I often wonder if it wouldn't be better for them all to join in a super chain. The menu and pricing is already uniform. Maybe then we could get some uniformity on execution? Swipe left. They are the King of All Media-crity.

Olive Branch, Mount Dora

I grabbed a second lunch at this Mediterranean place on 3rd Ave (near the tracks) yesterday. Sometimes you get a feeling about a place and it proves right. I've been bypassing them for other restaurants in town because of the prices and my belief that cooks at "Mediterranean" restaurants aren't very good at their own cuisine let alone that of other cultures. And this place offers little Mediterranean fare. It's Italian with some American. I decided to take my medicine at lunch because that is when the prices are more reasonable. About half off. So, a plus $20 lasagna is now $12. Making it an acceptable risk. I should have tried that. I tried the penne ala vodka. We used to eat that every Sunday night at a fashionable East Side restaurant until we found out how many calories were in it. It has been years since I've tried it again. This was a poor attempt. It was DROWNING in sauce. A sauce that wasn't very good. Four or five times too much volume. It was a soup. Too thick. Too milky. And they used cheap, wide penne. Probably Barilla if not a supermarket generic. And they were overcooked. Soft. There was also supposed to be prosciutto in it. There were four, half finger nail sized pieces of something in there. That's all. I'm not even sure if a true ala Vodka is supposed to have prosciutto in there. And the waitress wanted me to add chicken! It cost $12. Probably double at dinner. A soda was almost $3. They also supplied some bread with oil and vinegar mixed in a bowl. That is another sign of poor Italian in my mind. Oil only please. It's not a salad. Would you consider Ranch? I know the Pizza Hut crowd would love to dunk their bread into that. Preposterous? Now you know how I feel. Service was fine. They have a deck and an interior dining room. They have to double their sophistication or cut prices in half to get into the conversation. I don't mind aspirational ownership, but, be a bit aware of what it takes. Don't be the guy in white leather loafers. If I had to concoct a story about this place, I would say that the owner and/or cook worked at a pizzeria when they were young and thought to him or herself - "I could take this menu to the rich part of town and charge double. All I need are a few table cloths and some cushioned chairs."

Calle 3, Apopka

I tried this new (four months) Mexican street kitchen today at lunch. It was fairly good. It is listed as being at 1664 South OBT. I typed that into a search and it sent me to downtown. I even drove back OBT to the north where the numbers changed and it wasn't there either of course. When I typed in Apopka and the address it gave me the right directions. And the signs and map say 441, so, I'm not sure why they insist on saying it is on OBT. I had a fried stuffed triangle (3 to an order) called a Kekadilla for $6. They were covered with cotija and chipotle mayo. They were ok. I also had a Carnitas Taco Grease for $2.50. It was good. The pork was a little dry. I was the first customer, so, maybe all the juice settled to the bottom of whatever they were storing it in and they just picked my portion off the top of the pile? I hate having to make excuses for places. The taco came with pico, pickled onions and avocado crema. It was served in a freshly made corn tortilla. I also had two street tacos at $1.50. A asada and a pollo. The pollo was plastic and salty. The asada was better. Still salty. Also, on corn tortillas and with raw, white onions and cilantro. Maybe some salsa. They offer a chorizo street taco as well. They have three other grease tacos. Two flautas. Four apps. Three snacks. Two tostadas. Four mains. They also throw in some dark brown, slightly thicker and smaller tortillas with every order. The style is Mexico City. The menu says that the owner has twenty years experience as a chef. The place is smallish. It is in a strip mall in front of a Walmart. It is rectangular. You order at a counter. The tables have a metallic look. White and black paint. It's trying to be foodie friendly. If they tighten up the execution (less salt and fresher, less cooked meat) it could be something. I liked the starch based components. I would tell you to find it if it wasn't so far out of the way and if there weren't an overload of these types of places in every neighborhood.

El Rinconcito, OIA Area

I grabbed dinner to go at this Latin restaurant aside the last gas station on 436 (before you get to OIA) last week. I tried a Puerto Rican sandwich for $7. I think it was shredded chicken and ham. The fact that I can't recall is not an endorsement. Maybe it was pulled pork instead of ham? It was actually pretty good. A fair amount of filling. Pressed. Cheese too. It came with fries. The fries weren't fried long enough. They have a full Latin menu. Don't think of it as a gas station add on. It's just a restaurant in a curious location. The dinner prices were way worse than the lunch and breakfast prices. Double. Lunch prices were around $5 or $6 bucks for things like a quarter chicken meal. They also serve alcoholic drinks. It has a drive thru. The inside is large. You order at a counter. I think they were open every day and I think they close at 11pm or 12am on F-Sn. 10pm or 11pm on the other days. They named a sandwich after PR and one after DR, so, I guess the food is a representation of those two islands. Not a bad last stop before airport pricing.