Grub Crawl - Universal Area: Boiled Fish, Tomatoes and One Lounge

I tried these spots on Friday at lunch. The first two are in a strip mall  on Turkey Lake Rd south of that horrible intersection at Sand Lake. The last is in the corner of the strip mall on the northeast corner of I Drive and Kirkman. 

Boiled Fish - Hunan. A mountain province in south central China. Home of Chairman Mao. Known for spicy dishes. I'm unsure how many we have here. This was good. Simple. Mostly soups. Probably will be a Favorite. I had the lemon flavor sauerkraut fish soup for $17. Huge bowl. Maybe their dishes are family style? No kraut. Lots of swai (fresher than most places, but, still tinny). Lemony fish broth. Fungus, fresh tofu, dried tofu strips (looked like tennis racket sweat grip), red chili, yuba, sprouts, bok choy (was listed as cabbage), wide vermicelli noodle (clear), lemon slices and something they called jelly vegetable. Some of those items were new to me.  The only heat was in the peppers pieces themselves. Came with a needless bowl of rice. I was too full. Couldn't finish. They also offer eight apps like sesame ball and crispy pork and chicken and beef (regional speciality). Seven soups (Golden, Laotan, etc). An even larger size soup is $26. They give you a large pitcher of water. Sodas are $2. Square, white, orange and gray tones. A gold sign with their name. White faux marble tables. Modern. Tablet menus. Good service. I think they are the owners. Two girls. Mostly take outs while I was there. Maybe four orders. I think they need traffic. I suggest you try them. If only for the change of pace. Open for a month.

Tomatoes - They said this is location two. Opened four months ago. One of these terrible Arabic places that ruin western dishes like hamburgers and pizzas trying to serve a customer base that doesn't want shwarmas, etc. Those looked ok. But, I wasn't going to risk one before a travel day. I thought this place was going to be Italian anyway, so, I wasted $7 on an individual. Thin, undercooked, tasteless. The usual. Like a tortilla. The place looked pieced together. The wall between kitchen and counter were cardboard. Mouldering lettuce in the fridge. One group of four and a single eating there. Neither seemed discerning. One guy doing everything. Pass.

One Lounge - Uzbeki. Also saw a Georgian dish and some others. Tried for Uzbeki samosas. Wouldn't prepare them. Settled on beef plov for $17. Beef was good. Probably brisket. Tender. Some flavor. Rice was a greasy mess with soggy julienned veg.  Ok cucumber, tomato and onion salad too. They did a little decorating. Now it is white and black. Dark still. Black curtains. This places has been many failures. I hope they get customers at night. Hopefully, more of a bar/hookah place. Empty at lunch. One hostess was the staff. Lunch and dinner M-F. 5-11 Sa and Sn I'm not sure it's worth it. Even with the dearth of options from the region. Open for a few months.

Grub Crawl - Orlando: K-Jumak, Southern Style BBQ and Over Rice *MX Travel Notes

 I tried these spots around the intersection of Lee Rd and Edgewater Dr on Saturday at lunch. The first is on Edgewater. One block north of Lee in what may be the longest running worst strip mall in the area. The second is at the intersection on the far left if coming from I-4. The last is back towards I-4 on the south side in a strip mall next to Mee Thai. I should say that none of these was Plan A. And FYI - A place on Lee called Cookies is just a head shop.

K-Jumak - It is Korean. Internet has them as Korean Jumak too. They opened three weeks ago. Still in soft opening. Menu was small. Not sure if that is the trial menu. They had two apps. Dduk Bok Gi (they said it was a fried rice cake) at $15 and Soondae (beef small intestine) at $18. Love apps that cost more than mains. Two bops. Bi Bim Bop at $15 and a Stone Pot one at $16. Seven soups from $16 to $18. I'm only listing them in English - ox bone, beef innare/lean meat, beef intestine, blood pudding, pork back bone, beef fern and collard green beef rib. One Galbi Tang (Collard Green Beef Rib Stew) at $45. I had the Yuk Gae Jang (beef fern soup) for $16. Because I've never tried it before and have rarely tried fiddlehead fern (which is what I think it really is). It was good. Not too spicy, red broth. Like a minestrone. Beef broth. Stewed down onions, scallions, long stringy sprouts and something that looked like a non-spicy jalapeno (sliced and halved). The beef was in long strands. Tender. I was shocked. Scrambled eggs. And the ferns? They looked like dark green, skinny string beans. No circular tops. They tossed in a side of properly steamed white rice. Also, four bonchon (sesame oil bean sprouts, kim chi and two spicy roots (burdock and daikon?). The place is a blank, white square. Maybe eight tables. I mean it is good that something (anything) is coming to this area. I'm not sure you have to make it a bucket list item. But, it is fine if you are in the neighborhood. Not a ton of (or any) Korean places around. Like I said, the soup was tasty and they did have some more adventurous items. Open for lunch and dinner. Not sure if they take a day off. I had a great topical joke around the similarity with their name and the Big Mac, but, I will probably get shadow banned again if I tell it. Not that I am probably still banned anyway.

Southern Style BBQ - Wednesday through Saturday. Open for two years (but I swear some entity has been in this spot for a long time). A food truck with grills on the road. You can smell it in the air. I didn't inspect the heat source. Parking is tough. I tried a 1/4 chicken plate (two sides) for $8 and rib tips for $7. Both portions were huge. The chicken was smallish and had that weird pink look and rubbery texture you get with smoking. Still ok. Lots of potato salad and mac and cheese. I think the potato salad was store bought. It had that vinegar-y taste. The mac may have been home made. It tasted of bad American cheese. Never had that brand before if it was store bought. Mac was cooked properly though. I had a mix of Gold and another sweet bbq sauce on the chicken. I had hot bbq sauce on the tips. Good. Almost boneless. He also offered up sausage and hamburger (they looked fat and juicy) plates. Same price. Wings starting at 10 for $10. He said fried. I saw some on the grill too. Ribs starting at $18. Slab was $34. Sandwich was $13. Pulled pork sandwich at $8. Other sides - collards, beans and cole slaw. Sirloin sometimes. As I've said before, these set ups usually are more grill than smoke to my mind. It gives a different flavor/texture. I prefer low and slow. But, this is one of the better "grills" I've come across in town. That and the reasonable prices and large portions may tempt you too. 

Over Rice - A Hawaiian/Filipino brick and mortar for a food truck you may have seen. Open for a year. I, stupidly, got talked into a "pork belly" banh mi special for $13. I should have stuck with the $3.50 spam musubi alone. That was ok. Good rice. Freshly made. Thin spam slice though. The banh mi should have been an embarrassment to serve. 95% of the "belly" (seemed like stew meat) was inedible. And I mean you could not eat it. It was like hard rubber. It could not be chewed. And the sad thing was that I had to wait for it. One cook. And I was first in line. The baguette seemed made by a multi-national. Those little, industrial ping marks on the bottom. Little veg. Ok aioli. They also sell two versions of kulua pork or hali hali chicken or one other thing (beef?) for $16. Moco loco and sisig (but not real sisig). Lumpia (fried spring rolls). Salmon on rice. It's small. A few tables. Some Hawaiian decor. Based on the disrespect that banh mi represented, I obviously can not recommend them. And I've had some of these dishes in Hawaii for nearly half the cost.

*Travel Notes - Mexico (Cancun): I used a $150 voucher I got from Frontier (Mid AM flights) and the ticket cost $26. They had few non-stops other than this. I hadn't been in here twenty years. We got delayed after landing both ways. You come in and out at Terminal 4. Odd fact - these jerks have to give you a free boarding pass on international flights. That helps when their god damn web site gets hung up checking you in and they charge $25 for a physical check in. I consulted the tourist booth. Used a HSBC atm at the exit. I took the Ado bus (they have a few ticket counters on the way out) from the airport to downtown for 130P. The exchange rate was down to around 17. These Ado buses also go to places like Tulum and Mayan Riviera. They were fine. Stopped at Terminal 3 for a bit of a delay. The taxis seemed like too much negotiating and the shared buses seemed like a pain. No offices at the airport and a couple I tried online (ahead of time) wanted the full bus fare ($250 - not pesos!) to take you. I grabbed some food at Soriano across from the bus station. Took a R1 (also R2) bus to my hotel on the north part of the lagoon for 12P. Cancun is like a square around this lagoon. You can stay on the top or right side (east) of it. I thought it might be cheaper on the transportation cost if I stayed closer to DT. Nope. One price. I also thought the south road was closed to traffic to and from the airport. Nope. I actually think I cost myself more money taking a taxi (750P) back to the airport because he took the long way anyway. It was a flat fare. Internet said it should be 700P. My hotel probably screwed me out of 50P. I'm not sure if it the same from every hotel. My hotel was called the Real Inn (Expedia 7.8 and VIP). I originally booked it for $110 a night (4). They wouldn't honor the room upgrade and the street side was so noisy as to be uninhabitable. I paid an extra $10 a night for a lagoon view. Best money ever spent. Night and day. Quiet (except for the ice machine and room service/maid trolleys). Good view. They gave you water and daily maid service. Most other hotels under $100 looked like shit in real life. Glad I didn't chintz. I didn't do much except "explore". Found a public beach across the street. Went there every morning. Swam in the pool. Read. Walked to downtown and beyond (Playa Chac-Mool+) one day. Farther (Playa Ballenas) on the bus and back another day. Went to the La Isla mall+ (ferris wheel there for $15). No fridge at hotel. I mostly ate tuna fish (with mayo and mustard I took from ZaZa at the airport) and chips and tortillas. And peanut butter "cups" I swiped from other hotels in the past. You can get these past TSA. Had these pretty good tacos at the OXXO market at their grill called O'Sabor a few times. Chicken Tinga, Machaca con Huevos and Poc Chuc (grilled, marinated pork and onions). Only 24P. I wasn't really excited about going. But, it turned out alright. If I go back, I will take the bus back to the airport. I just didn't want a hassle this time. And stay on the east side. Maybe bundle in the Mayan Riviera. FYI - I had already done Chichen Itza and all those things. It was a little cool for scuba. Didn't think the ferries to Isla Mujeres and Xcaret seemed worth it.

Grub Crawl - Winter Park and Maitland: Chayote, Zymarium and Cow & Cheese

I tried these spots on Sunday at lunch. The first is in Winter Park Village. The second is on Mills. The third is north of The Enzian in a strip mall. If the reviews are short it is because Im using my touch screen on my tablet.

Chayote - They just started Sunday brunch that day. I had a shiitake omelette with goat cheese and a English cream sauce (a mushroom cream sauce). It didn't really work as a whole. Thin omelette. Probably two small eggs. A bit plastic-y. A ton of goat cheese. It was to have come with brown bread. They forgot that. Would have helped dispatch the goat cheese. The sauce was mostly decorative. It cost $19. They knocked $6 off for the bread snafu. Unprovoked. The rest of the brunch menu items consisted of pancakes, eggs Florentine, croque monsieur, alcapurrias, ahi tartare, burger, branzino and some other things. $19 and up. The space is large. Seats about 100. Space between tables. About half full and getting fuller.  A bar between two sections. White, tan, brown stain and wine coloring. Wood. Statue up front. Modern classic. Plush backs. The servers all were dressed up in black with gold ties. Good service. Water was off tasting tap. Cool glasses. Average plates and silverware. People seemed to dress up, but, they let me in with a windbreaker and shorts. No res. The guy has six restaurants in Puerto Rico. They said he was on the line that day. He some relationship with Norman Van Aken, I think. The dinner menu is pricy. I'm not sure if I would pay up for it. This was a nice outing though. And nice extended hand to the hoi polloi. I could live without the banging pots music they were playing. They opened this Fall.

Zymarium - I did a flight of 5 for $28. It was good. They make mead. From regional honey. They have quite a few varieties. The place is black and gold with honeycomb accents. Plush. Minimal. Not open on M-W. Open for a few months.

Cow & Cheese - They were on The Weekly's Best Bites list. I was going to make the whole review this phrase - urban Shake Shack. Then I learned it is the Chicken Fire guy. So, bingo. I had a double cheeseburger for $6. Ok. I liked the cheese. Gave me a lot of indigestion though. And I hate smash burgers anyway. Let's knock all the juice out of an already leathery piece of meat! Makes sense to me. They don't do much more than multiple patty burgers. Fries. The place is basic. Some graffiti murals. A few tables. It was full at 2pm. Not on my Best Bites list. Closed M and Tu. No cash. Open a few weeks.

Grub Crawl - Oviedo and Winter Springs: Briskets BBQ Shack, Hidoe Sushi, Lemongrass and Cuba Libre Camaguey *Southern Caliifornia Travel Notes

I tried these spots on Wednesday at lunch. The first is on Geneva Dr off 426. Think around where the Townhouse is. Across from that is a pond. Across from that is them. They are doing road work there, so, I think I took Oviedo Dr to a roundabout and you can see their little white structure from there. The next two were down 426 (east) at Lockwood Blvd. Turn right. In a little strip mall on the right. Near each other. I saw them when I tried that ice cream place down 426 earlier last year. The last is on 434 in that strip mall before 17-92. East side. Think Chilangos. The other place I was seeking there has closed.

Briskets BBQ Shack - I read about them on that Orlando Weekly site. Some new guy listed his favorite bites of the year. I think it was a beef rib. That was the first I had heard of them. Open for a year though. I had a plate with brisket and a side (mac and cheese) for $15. The brisket was good. Thickly cut. I think they said 6 oz. Good balance of moist, oil, smoke and beef flavor. Not much middle muck or fat (though a point cut). Not a ton of bark. Pulled apart properly. I'm hoping no liquid smoke. They drizzled a little sauce over it. Two slices of white bread, sweet pickles and a grilled jalapeno on the side. The mac and cheese wasn't as great. Some kind of sweet blend over cavatappi pasta. The pasta was mushy. It worked best when you put some chopped up jalapeno in it. They cook Texas style. The guy is from South Florida though. They also sold sausage, pulled pork, beef ribs (out), ribs and turkey and chicken (quarters) too. The sides were cole slaw, potato salad (not homemade) and I forget what else. Brisket was $40 a pound. I think sausage was $20. The rest were in between. They do sandwiches (mostly in the mid-teens). I'm still a little confused on the pricing for plates with more than one meat and side. It seemed like if you order two and two, they just charge you for what each plate alone would be. They had a $10 taco special. You order inside. Tiny. You eat outside on picinic tables (4?). It will probably be on this year's Favorites List. I'll probably pop back in before that to make sure. Around eight people there. Nice service. Came out quickly.

Hinode Sushi - I just grabbed a $3 miso soup because they wanted +$7 for every roll or two piece nigiri (and it seemed like there would be a wait for anything more challenging). For comparison, Koy Wan is $12 for all you can eat (and I try to eat seventy pieces - no shit) and their quality is just as good as most of these non-high end places. Soup was the usual miso. The menu had usual offerings. Small place. Dull decor. Full. Open for five years.

Lemongrass Thai Kitchen - Menu was as cliche as the name. I had the Tom Kha Kai for $6 because I've had enough Thai lately and I didn't drive here for them but didn't want to ever make another trip here either. It was good. Way too small a portion though. Half of one of those medium sized plastic containers. Chicken was fresher than Neveyahs. Two pieces. Some lemongrass, ginger and onion. Coconut milk broth. Rectangular layout. Modern. Seats on the right side. Counter on the left. The usual menu.

Cuba Libre Camaguey - I figured I'd knock them off the list as well. I just grabbed some finger foods. A ham croquette ($1 but free for me). The usual mushy fishstick. Ham was awol. A ground beef empanada ($3). Good. Not oily. Tender beef. They said they make them. A pork tamale ($3). Looked homemade. Encased in a corn husk. Good. Nice size. Some evidence of pork. The place was pink. Kind of old furniture. Some posters of Cuba. Camaguey is a city in the middle of the island. They also sell potato balls, tostones, fried yuca, 4 salads, 7 sandwiches, Bandeja Criolla (variety plate), 11 entrees, 7 sides, 5 coffees, 5 desserts. Kids menu. Sandwiches were around $11. With fries. They serve breakfast too. Plus lunch and dinner. Closed Monday. Open for a year. They cater. You could probably do worse. I may go back and try a real meal.

*Travel Notes - Southern California: I flew a split ticket (Jet Blue/UA) to LAX for $184. At good flight times. No issues. I rented a car for the week from Budget for $398. It was a cluster fuck at LAX. I got the last car they had (at 3pm) and it was a hassle getting that and it was beat up and they kept screwing up the pricing when they finally figured out how to swap the cars. I canceled the LV portion of the trip because I didn't trust the car. They ended up double billing me. Working that out. I stayed the first night again at the Wave Hotel (Booking 7.4) in Manhattan Beach on Sepulveda for $105 (it was $179 the last time). I grabbed tacos at El Pollo Loco. Drinks in Redondo Beach at Bluewater Grill, The Slip Bar and Tony's on the Pier (since 1952). Their specialty is called a Fire Chief. Drove down to Carlsbad the next day. McD's for lunch. Stayed at Carlsbad by the Sea (Expedia 7.6) for two nights at $99 plus $12 for parking. It was more by the highway and Legoland than the sea. There was a food hall (Windmill Food Hall) in front of it. I had yellow curry chicken with rice from Thai Style for dinner. They used whole pieces of chicken. The next day I went to the Farmer's Insurance Open at Torrey Pines for $80. $20 bribe for parking. All the parking locations they had on the website were wrong. Hot dog and chips at the event. Back to Windmill for dinner. A longaniza and a spam musubi at Rolled Up SD. Potato rolled tacos (flautas stuffed with mashed potatoes) at El Puerto Street Tacos. Beer at Windmill Bar. Finally tried a TB breakfast (egg burritos) the next morning. More filling than McDs. Cheaper too. A taco and chips at Tito's Tacos in Culver City (that's LA) off 405 at Washington. Hard shell. Beef was a consistency between pulled and ground. It is supposedly a legend. I never heard of it when I lived there. It took my alumni magazine to hip me to it. It was average. Took the 405 to 10 to PCH to the 101 to Buellton. Had two (red and white) tastings (they were running a special) at Hitching Post Wines. Tastings were $20-$35. Good. Down 246E a few miles to Solvang (Danish town). Checked into the Hamlet Inn (Expedia 8.8) for $135. Drove back to Buellton for a mixed tasting at Kaena Wine Company. Good. $20. They had one wine aged in a barrel that was 1/3rd Acacai wood. Nice dinner of pea soup with ham, crudite, bread and pork chop with baked potato and cherry tart at Hitching Post II (from Sideways). Fairly expensive. This was $30 something as the cheapest dish on some Restaurant Week special. Back to Solvang. A beer at Solvang Brewing Company. Walked the streets. Been there before. Breakfast custard danish at Mortensen's Danish Bakery. More walking. Old Mission Santa Ines. Was going to breakfast there, but, tons of people bum rushed it (Brekkies) while I was looking at the menu. I also note now that a friend told me to have uni at Ramen Kotori. They opened too late though. Drove to Buellton. Grabbed a bagel with cc at Enjoy Bagels & Sweets. They did a cute thing with mini cupcakes in an egg carton. Down 101 and PCH to Trancas area of Malibu. Had a smashburger with homemade waffle cut chips and beer at Malibu Brewing Company. They hadn't opened yet in the last SC post. Checked into the Mailbu Country Inn (Expedia 7.6) at Zuma Beach for $155. Walked down and to the left to Point Dume (many films like the end of Planet of the Apes and pre-cgi'd Tony Stark's house were filmed here). Walked up it and farther south and back. FYI - the Grease opening was filmed more north at Leo Carillo State Beach. Grabbed some cheese and wine at Pavillion's (tip - they let you enter your phone number at the register to become a member). Watched the sunset. Woke up and finally found (a few miles south) this motel I stayed at when I was moving to LA a while back. Now called Hotel June. Popped into Geoffrey's and finally got a table (without ressy). I've been trying forever. Had a filet mignon with scrambled eggs and roasted potatoes. One of the more expensive brunch options. Only $40. Valet was $15 (added to the bill) and I gave the guy $10. Great table by the ledge. Popped into town and walked to the pier and back. Took Sunset Blvd up past Beverly Hills and back on Santa Monica Blvd to SM. Down 1 to Marina del Rey. Stayed at the mold infested Foghorn Harbor Inn (Exedia 8.0) for $155. It was on the water/marina. Walked to the beach. On the pier. Down to Venice Beach and back. I think they shot White Men Can't Jump and American History X at the basketball hoops area. Muscle Beach of course. What a collection of human trash though. Grubbier than ever. Grabbed wine and cheese at Gelson's on Lincoln. Grabbed spam ramen from L&L Hawaiian near there. Also saw some bar with turtle racing (Brennan's). Wasn't open the next day. Drove to the marina access canal to the ocean. Didn't see Charlie Harper. Up 1 to Malibu again. Ate a too pricy breakfast of three basted eggs, roasted potatoes, avocado, salsa on tortillas at Patrick's Roadhouse (I saw it on S1 of 3D the night before). Schwarzenegger designed some "garbage" plate there. But, it was $30. This is on Entrada Dr (near Will Rogers Beach) off PCH. Probably Santa Monica. I felt queasy after this, so, I just walked the town and Bluffs in Malibu. I was going to get more food. Next time. Down PCH to Lincoln to Manhattan Beach again. I tried the sister hotel (next door) to the Wave for $101. Hotel Pacific (Expedia 7.0). Had salmon and spicy tuna poke and a kulua pork taco at Ali'i Fish Company near the hotel.

Weather was perfect. Only the second day (and only in SD) was gloomy. No traffic issues. Didn't see much homelessness. Couldn't do Musso & Frank's. Maude seems like a pain too. Both only do dinner. I chose hotels with free parking (mostly). Didn't get to Vegas. I already have remedied that though. No real deals on hotels there anyway. The only real hiccup was Budget.

Grub Crawl - Downtown: Eola Lounge and Neveyah

I tried these spots on Tuesday at dinner. They are next to each other on South Eola Drive and Church St. Where Stubborn Mule is. Both are only open for dinner. I did find free parking down the street from them.

Eola Lounge - I forget what was here before. Some kind of California themed something something? I don't think they changed much. Maybe a small, platform stage? On the list for at least a year. They have a nice looking bar. A patio area in front. The menu was a bit disappointing. I don't think it is the focus. They divide it into sections like land and sea. Dishes are from all over the globe. I passed on the chicken skewers (Morocco) after learning there were only two of them ($16). I went for the salted croaker fried rice for $18. It was ok. The croaker (if that was what it was) was dried as described. Served as crumbles. That wasn't the problem. It just doesn't taste very good. No desiccated seafood does. I'm not sure from what country this hails from? Laos? They also had a blue crab version. I think that is Thai. The rice was good though. Not too oily. Fresh. Not dry. They prepared it quickly. Fair portion. I remember a burger and some Greek stuff on the menu. There were around 24 options. Some small bites. It seats about sixty. Ten at the bar. There were only six people there (at the bar). Palm tree wall paper. Square floor plan. You can probably skip it.

Neveyah Sushi & Thai - I'm not a fan of this combo. They seem incompatible. I went Thai because the sushi prices were too high (I really can only justify some AYCE sushi at this point). I had Singapore Noodles with chicken for $16. For the record, I can get these at the local Chinese Take Out for $9. It tasted of dry curry powder not sauce. The chicken was a bit dry/old. The ultra thin noodles were good. They tossed in some bland, long, translucent vegetable and some long cut scallion with it. Decent portion. Took too long to cook. They had the usually Thai offerings. There is a sushi bar in the rear. L shaped room. Modern. Dark black mostly. Seats around sixty. Three at the bar and three in seats. Patio too. They used to be open for lunch (why I was there last week). No longer. This was Oudom six months ago. They said they are about to switch up the menu. You can pass on this one as well. 

*I will have Travel Notes and four more reviews on Sunday. FYI - I saw a taste test on tv with the three new Subway snacks. Pretzel ($3) was disgusting. Churro ($2) was ok - thin. Cookie was the best. But the most ($5).