Grub Crawl - Sand Lake Road Area: Chronic Tacos and Veranda

I tried these two restaurants on different ends of Sand Lake Rd last week at lunch. The first is in the strip mall west of I-4 that has Moonfish. The second is in the strip mall at OBT (Florida Mall) that has Izziban sushi. One street in. You can't see it from the road.

Chronic Tacos - I believe I have been to the original in 2013. That's if it is in Corona del Mar. In any case, I remember them as good. However, I was not about to be bamboozled like I was at the Taco Bus taco bust. Plus I knew I was eating twice at lunch in any case. So, I only had a test taco. A $3.50 carnitas soft taco. It was good. Nice quantity. Nice flavor. Not scratch. Served street style. Could have been plastic bag pork. But, passable. Probably more in my head than in reality. The franchise stigma was playing on me. They opened a month ago. It had a decent size line. Plastic, fast food scenery. Assembly line execution. Plates are $8. They have steak, mahi, shrimp, chicken, al pastor, veggie, breakfast and fake meat options. Almost all a plus one or two dollars from the individual price. Sodas were $2. They have some chips, churros, fries, etc. Not much new here. A little pricy, but, in line with Chipotle (now over $10 for two barbacoa tacos and a soda), et al.

Veranda - I was disappointed by their execution after being intrigued by the extensive Eastern European menu. I gave them a lay up and they missed it. A chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes. I was going to try lamb ribs (chops), but, the waitress said that would take fifteen minutes. The chicken took as long. I'll forgive her. She was cute. The chicken tasted like a dogs chew toy. I've had freezer burn chicken in my life, but, this was beyond. It was hard like the center of the breast bone. I thought for sure I was going to get sick before my plane ride. Thankfully, I did not. And the mystery continues. I asked her to ask the kitchen for an explanation and they had none. Said it was how they always do it. As such, I could never give them a second chance. It was also a tiny piece of chicken. And not pounded flat. The mashed potatoes were awful too. No salt or flavor. It reminded me of all those Soviet era jokes about life over there. How they ate boiled shoes. The chew toy and the play doh cost $15. Another off putting feature (and a stereotype confirmed) was the oonce oonce music they blasted at lunch. It brought back memories of Will Farrell and Chris Kattan in shark skin suits. The place has brick walls. I remember it being low lighted and black and gray and red. They have been open for a month or so. I don't expect them to stay open for long. Unless they are a front for the mob. In which case, it was nice knowing you.

Grub Crawl - Audubon Park: Hinckley's Fancy Meats and Bird of Paradise (Closed) *KOR/TAI/JAP Travel Notes

I tried these two newcomers at the East End Market yesterday at lunch. I was trying to try Sette. It turns out that they don't do lunch. I audibled to Orlando Meat Company and while trying a very good roast beef sandwich, I thumbed through a copy of the OW and saw a review of one of the purveyors. So, I popped in.

Hinckley's Fancy Meats - I was speaking to a man there (I suppose the owner) who told me that he ran a place in NY called Public. I'm pretty sure I ate there and it had a fine reputation. Now, he's here playing with his meat. He does rillettes, pates, terrines, cured meats, game meat (deer, antelope), etc. I had a pastrami sandwich because the article said it was bubby worthy. I don't think many bubbies expect their pastrami to be like theirs. It was very cured. Almost prosciutto like. I've not seen it's equal. Not a compliment or criticism. Just a fact. With the other components in the sandwich (rye roll, mustardy thousand island sauce, red cabbage slaw and some cheese - I'll guess Swiss), it blended well. Alone, it was less appetizing. I like my pastrami juicier and cut thicker. Standard pastrami. This was sliced like prosciutto. I'm not sure if this is the intent or it was old or it was over cured. It is a conundrum. You'll have to sample it and see if you like this result and inquire into its origin. It cost $15. Probably 50% too rich. Like most of the options. They also serve (sandwich wise) a double pate banh mi, blt, chicken salad, porchetta and others. They sell meat by the pound. They opened in February. It's a little stall with no seats.

Bird of  Paradise - This used to be Florida & Co. or something like that. Of course they closed it right after I tried it. This is the same people in a rebrand. It couldn't see any difference. I think I had a bowl there. They still serve that. I think they featured shrimp. I had that. I had the shrimp lettuce wraps for $12. It consisted of five or six romaine lettuce leaves, pickled shredded carrots, pickled root vegetable (maybe parsnip or carrot) and five or six medium shrimp cut length wise. I think they were Florida white shrimp. It was fine. still took too long to prepare. They officially open on Sunday. They said they are going to change the menu. Maybe I just got there too early to see the change.

*Travel Notes - Korea/Taiwan/Japan: Some odd things I saw in Asia (aside from their regional specialties that you might find odd as well). Dry squid covered in peanut butter, canned silk worm larva (sold near the tuna fish) and pickled radish stems (for example - they pickle everything) in Korea. KFC had fried squid and egg and chicken sandwiches. Scallop lip sushi in Taiwan. They have lips? MCD's had a shrimp burger and some wild black and/or green burger buns with other junk on them. I also saw a unique vendor that can be reproduced here as a gimmick for little cost. In Okinawa, they sell octopus and shrimp crackers pressed while grilled/baked in front of you. The gimmick is that they plop a raw shrimp or octopus arms onto the cracker batter and then squeeze the life out of it. It makes an imprint of the creatures on the cracker. You don't really taste the flavor as much as you would expect though. Fun to watch. Kids loved it. Ohh, and they sold a hot dog dipped in batter and covered with potato cubes. Some had cheese inside. The supermarket had a sick selection of sushi and sashimi (in Seoul too). I got amaebi (4 huge ones) for less than $3. for example. The tuna was fresh as all get out.

**Can somebody tell me if Forever Naan is in business? I've been by two times (on days they are supposed to be open) and they were not. They are becoming "Ever? Naan".