I went to these spots on Wednesday at lunch. The first is on Edgewater at Digress Wines. The second is on North OBT one block north off Lee Rd. I think that was 441? The next two are in a strip mall off 434 half way between I4 and Ronald Reagan. Don't ask me how these fit together. Alot of things I thought had opened hadn't. Oleo - didn't seem close. Tieling Express - couldn't find it at reported location on Edgewater. Pop Up Bagels - said they were waiting on city to hook up electricity. Joe & Juice wasn't close. Naya - said next month because waiting on inspections/permits. One was even closed on a Wednesday (Yumee Katsu)! After that ball punch, I was just trying to salvage an excursion.
Zayn & Co - For a few weeks they have occupied a little hut to the left of Digress Wines. Their food truck (Mashawi) serves on Wednesday night. I tried two snacks at $4 a piece. The first was a meat focaccia. A baked, sealed dough concoction of chipped beef in a red sauce with tahini coating. Good. The second was also in a baked sealed dough and had pieces of chicken in it. Possibly with onions? A bit bland. They called this a Julia's Triangle. They gave this to me for free because the POS device rang it up as $8 and I guess they were too apologetic about that. They did have a $8 item. I forget what it was. Something similar. They also had a cheese one and another of these baked items (veggie?). They also serve drinks. I think that is the focus. The cuisine could be called Palestinian. Seems mutable. A nice couple runs it. Probably a Fav for behavior/attitude/price alone.
Grand Roopram Roti - Seems to be a fourteen location franchise from Suriname. That's NE South America to the uninitiated. Four in the Netherlands (it was a colony). We are the first in America. Open for a few weeks. Seems to be in an old fast food location. I had something new to me. They call it barra with chicken. It is a brown roll (probably pea flour) filled with chicken in a yellow (probably tumeric) powdered curry. It cost $9. The chicken was a bit tough. Plus it was supposed to be chicken livers. It was ok. One note. Flavorful in only a savory respect. No brightness, sweetness, spiciness, etc. Don't love the raw and gritty taste of powdered curry. How about we simmer the chicken in it? I also had to have a roti at a roti place. I had the plain roti for $3. I asked for the small. They didn't hear that either. Maybe if they had more than one guy taking orders from the drive thru and the counter...? It was great though. Made right then and there. Makes such a difference. Made with pea flour or whatever that is. The menu is pretty big. Rice dishes, roti, barra, etc of many kinds. Some odd fillings. They called out tumeric flavored in a section of dishes. To be honest, I have never experienced an expat Indian cuisine to be as good as the motherland's (even though it is usually better than the native cuisine). But, it is a novelty.
Jerry's Pizza & Italian Restaurant - I think I ate there a long time ago. They sent out mailers trumpeting a reno, so, it had been in my sub-conscious as a fallback. I hope the rest of the Italian menu is better than the pizza special I had for $8. Two terrible slices and a soda. NY style. Underbaked even after reheating. Bad cheese. The worst flavor combo for a pizza sauce - sweet with garlic. The place had two rooms with around sixteen tables. A bar in the side room. Some tvs. Spaced out tables. Some Orlando Lions stuff. This place is a dime a dozen.
Paddy's Pub - I had a fairly good Irish Cheese Steak (corned beef) with steak fries for $13. Apps, salads, wings, baskets, sandwiches and burgers. Prices were fair. Wish I knew about the $5 eat in burgers on Wednesday. Also had $1 wings on Thursday? I had been here once before. Don't remember it as being good. Looked new and clean. A bit gloomy. Seven electric dart boards. Three pool tables. Six large tvs. Thirteen little ones. Sports only. A large bar. Maybe twenty tables. Black and wood and a gray accent wall. Slight smell of cigarettes. Seems like they only had one guy maning the kitchen. One bartender. Pretty empty at 2pm.
*I also saw that a place called La Fonda or something at the left corner of the strip mall with Ali Baba is becoming a Colombian bakery. I read that a bbq place is opening on Ronald Reagan. I also learned that day old pizza toasted crusts can fill in for a bagel.
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