I tried these places on Sunday at lunch. The first is in a decrepit strip mall on the northeast corner of Lee Rd and Edgewater. The second is on Morse off Park.
Yumee Katsu - Open for a few weeks. In the K-Jumak location. Doesn't seem to be a chain. Also promotes the name Robot Lounge. Not sure on the why of the Korean spin on this Japanese invention. I had a Yummee Katsu for $16. The menu and board lists it at $15. It was good. Nicely fried pork loin. Eight strips. Not pink, but, I wouldn't want it that way anyway. It cames with four little cups. Kimchi, pickled radish or root, ssamjang and salt. Rice and a slightly spicy (black pepper) beef broth soup with fried rice puffs. They sell six katsus ($15-$19), seven curries ($17-$21), two specials katsus ($17-$20), six soondubu ($1-$18), six mains ($16-$35) and three noodles ($13-$20). The place is grubby. Way too grubby for a newbie. Why I had it to go. Eight tables. No ambience. One order taker. Closed on Wednesday. The dish was good, but, everything else is lacking. So, no Fav for you.
Luca Turci - Open for more than a year. Exactly what I thought it would be. Exactly why I didn't make a bee line. I had the tagliatelle with mushrooms for $25. Stodgy. Very thick and rich mushroom sauce. Probably canned mushrooms. Unnecessary microgreen garnish. Impossible to pick around and ruined any bite it was a part of. If you must, just add edible flowers. At least one can eat around those. The pasta was good. I assume it is fresh. That is their claim to fame. They served foccacia and slices of grana padano (cheaper than parm-reg) with balsamic drizzle with the meal. The foccacia was a bit stale. If it seems like I'm being a bit tougher than usual, it is because of the price points. I liked their Dad's place in College Park. I hope to like their new venture in Maitland. I have just always thought, since I first saw the menu, that they were acting a little above their station. Here are a few (non-food) examples. They have a fresh tulip (good) in the vase at the table. It was wilting (bad). The tablecloth is plastic. The waitress never refilled the water glass. If you want to charge like a cloth napkin sort of place, you need to attend to these sort of details. The menu has around eight dishes in each category. Lasagna was up to $37 and in the Mains portion. Meats were over $50. Salads were in the teens. My pasta was the cheapest. None of them were too creative. They had a prix fixe of four courses with one glass of wine for $69. The place is small. Ten tables. Six on the patio. Faded brick covered with astroturf walls. It's cute. Pergola walkway. Sinatra+ music. Glass windows up front. Four or five, uniformed staff. Only open for lunch on Sat and Sun. No to go. The liberal dress code was nice. One special occasion table while I dined. A family came in as I left. Two parties inquired as well. They left. Unsure why. Price? Zero parking. I'll reiterate that I didn't dislike it. I just don't consider it a good value.
*I re-reconned Tieling Express. It does seem to be a gross looking food truck aside a restaurant called Los Brothers. Both were closed. I also saw that a Thai (Saba?) food truck was parked in the gas station Chevron?) in front of Cairo Express on Lee Rd at the I4 on/off ramp. And to be comprehensive, a cool looking Mexican air stream food truck (not new) sort of across from Tieling. All not open.
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