Sip 'n Dip-licious!

Anyone that knows me, knows my family owns a couple laundromats in St. Cloud. My father decided his helicopter business was getting too expensive or perhaps he got a deal he couldn't refuse and somehow landed in the laundromat business back when I was in 7th or 8th grade. Across from one of our locations was this mom and pop donut shop. To be honest, I think I only went there once or twice while I worked for my dad (roughly a 6 year span). At some point an Asian family took ownership and my sister was recently raving to Marily and I about how great their donuts and croissants are. Since St. Cloud is an easy drive down Narcoossee from us, we decided to go check them out last Saturday. Oh man, oh man...THANK YOU DEBBIE! I honestly would have never thought of that place to satisfy my morning sweet tooth, so thank you for sharing this gem with us.

The Huss family has been rolling donut free for almost two years (minus the infrequent exception when we grabbed one from Publix). Why you may ask? Well, when Marily was about 8 months pregnant with Micah and on bed rest, we had a not so nice experience at the local Dunkin' Donuts. Apparently, you aren't allowed to go through the drive thru unless you already know what you want. Since then we've boycotted them out of principle. Now that Sip 'n Dip has entered our lives, we no longer have to live donut free. I'm sure this is not a good thing for our waistlines but hey they are delicious! We chose to pick up a dozen donuts in order to sample their selection and figure out our favorites.

From left to right, you have Boston creme, red velvet cake, two glazed, chocolate cake, glazed Bavarian creme, two maple, glazed cake, vanilla nut and two vanilla frosted red velvet cake donuts. This maybe represented 1/3 of the flavors available. The verdict? They are all phenomenal. Some of the highlights:

• The glaze donut knocks down Krispy Kreme glaze...not only is it fully glazed but it is thick and fluffy.
• All the cake selections were a-maz-ing! Not only are they an unbelievable cake donut, they are also fully glazed
• Chris's favorite: chocolate cake
• Marily's favorite: glazed cake
• Micah's favorite: anything sweet!!

Not only do they have all the wonderful donut goodness described above, but they also have awesome croissants...buttery and flaky (they are so good, Debbie usually buys two of these every time she stops by). We also got a bacon, egg and cheese (white American) croissant that was the bomb.

How can this get any better you may ask? I can think of two ways. First, for all the KeKe's fans out there...Sip 'n Dip uses the same brand of coffee (Royal Cup). Being a coffee connoisseur, I know how hard it is to get good coffee at a restaurant. All too often they are nothing more than weak cups of colored water. KeKe's and Sip 'n Dip serve Royal Cup which has a nice flavor that stands up to both your standard breakfast fare and sweet treats like donuts. Secondly, what Asian could own a business without selling something from their homeland? Guess what else is on the menu...egg rolls! Now, being Vietnamese-American, I am quite fond of egg rolls. No one makes a better one than my mom. With that said, I know there are different styles of egg rolls out there. The Vietnamese like to make them concentrated on the meat site (ground pork and crab) while the Chinese like to include more vegetables. Hm, I wonder if that is authentic Chinese or just a westernized version that we find in the restaurants? Well, in any case, the Chinese restaurant versions are hit and miss. These are pretty darn good and better than any I've had at a Chinese restaurant around these parts.

I don't recall seeing them on the menu, but there was a picture next to the register and it is all over their Yelp reviews so we asked. They are served at any time of the day as long as they haven't sold out. They will sell you them cooked or uncooked in case you want to take them home and make them fresh at a later time. Oh, I guess there is a third thing...they also have a lunch menu with a list of your standard subs. Since we were there for breakfast, we can't comment on those, but perhaps the next time I have mid day craving for donuts, I'll try some.

So, there go. Sip 'n Dip is CafeHuss approved. If you find yourself near St. Cloud or just want to take a road trip, check them out. There wasn't one bad thing about this place. Enjoy!

New York Diner (Orlando) Review

Here we are again. I feel like I am writing my first blog entry since it has been so long. Our poor, neglected blog has so many digital cobwebs I wasn't even prepared to write a post (translation: no pictures). With all the time that has past, I didn't want to let another opportunity pass us by, so here we are.

As the title reads, New York Diner located near the Orlando International Airport on Semoran (436) is the subject of this review. The restaurant is located in a new building which also includes Bonefish as an anchor. When you walk through the front doors, you are greeted by a large aquarium with a custom New York skyline inside. Pretty cool design, which I'm sure would make any New Yorker proud. As cool as it was, it seemed to be lacking in the fish department, perhaps they were sleeping. The concept of the restaurant is "taking the 24/7 idea of a diner and adding a more international, upscale flair." It certainly doesn't look like any diner I've been in before (which is probably a good thing). I think now would be an appropriate time to interject that I have only been to New York once and that basically consisted of a late night border crossing from Jersey where I was attending a banquet for my fraternity back in my college days. So, this review is purely on the food since I don't have "New York Diner" experience to compare to.

Now to the important part...the food. The menu was quite large but expected for a diner. Being overwhelmed, it took Marily and I a while to come to a decision on what to order. We finally ordered the beer battered onion rings as an appetizer (after we were told our first choice was not available...tikka masala wings). The onion rings were tasty with an actual hint of the beer in the fried batter. We both went with burgers for our entrees as suggested by our server based on the 8oz patties being made of chuck, brisket and ribeye. Marily chose a standard bacon cheeseburger and with chili cheese fries and I chose a Loco Moco burger which was a burger with a fried egg topped with brown gravy. I upgraded my fries to pomme frites. Those fries turned out to be the best thing we ordered. They were crispy fries tossed in truffle oil, parmesan cheese and parsley. The $11 burgers didn't live up to their hype. My order came out wrong twice, first as a plain burger and secondly without the brown gravy. Even once it was corrected, the burger was overcooked (clearly medium well and not medium like I requested) and really didn't have the quality beef flavor I was expecting. I would rather eat a burger from a food truck (The Crooked Spoon comes to mind) than the one I had before me. The New York Diner also features Juniors Famous Cheesecake and desserts. Unfortunately, we didn't make it that far but they did have several enticing options that were calling get out for us but some how we refrained. Maybe next time!

 Our server was very nice but was either not very good at her job or was simply a rookie server. First issue, she didn't offer us any beer & wine options (typically the first question once you sit down). By the time we noticed others enjoying adult beverages around us, we already had our Pepsi at the table. After a long week, mommy and daddy like to enjoy something better than soda but didn't even know it was an option since it wasn't on the menu. Second issue, no stinking refills were offered. This is my biggest pet peeve with servers. Third issue, even though we elected to skip on dessert, she gave us the check without even asking if we wanted it. I've never worked in the restaurant industry but I'm pretty sure the goal is to get the check as high as possible in order to increase your tip potential.

 Overall, I think the New York Diner has potential. It is 24/7 and has a diverse menu. I'm going to chalk up the issues with the service and kitchen as new restaurant kinks that need to be worked out. I will give them another try in a few months and see if thing improve. Let us know if you try them out and have a different experience.

Chilangos!

Last weekend Marily and I had just finished spending the morning at the Winter Park Farmer's market (once again!).  After scoring some yummy goodies to be used in our Thanksgiving dinner, we realized we were hungry!  We had heard about Chilangos from another blog when we were searching for authentic Mexican restaurants in Central Florida.  Since we were already in Winter Park, I figured this was a great time to go check it out.  We quickly whipped out the trusty iPhone and Google mapped Chilangos and were on our way.

What really spawned our search for authentic Mexican eateries was an Anthony Bourdain episode about the Outer Buroughs of NY and specifically about a tortilla factory in Brooklyn.  I watched that episode and was like "man I'm tired of this fake Mexican, I want some of the good stuff he's eating!!"  So, that is what prompted our search...and Chilangos was exactly what I was looking for.

Chilangos is a nice, small, family run Mexican restaurant.  We walked up to the counter and place our orders.  I ordered Mexican style tacos three ways: asada, chorizo & lingua (beef tongue).  Mexican style tacos have double torillas and topped with cilantro and onions.  Marily ordered her tacos "Amex" (combining the Mexican style with some of the American style extras).  Her meat choices were asada, tinga de pollo (chicken breast) and chorizo.  There is a salsa bar as well as roasted jalepenos so you can select your own level of heat. 

We both agree that the tacos were fantastic.  I really enjoyed the lingua.  I had tried it once before at Tacos del Rancho, but they didn't even compare.  Chilangos cooks theirs for at least four hours in the pressure cooker and let me tell you, it was more tender then the asada.  The beef tongue has a strong beef flavor, but I loved it.  Marily's favorite, and mine too, was the chorizo.  The flavors were delicious and what you would expect from a good chorizo dish (if you haven't had any, you are missing out). 

Chilangos is a great little Mexican restaurant and makes the top of our list (they recently were voted the #2 Mexican restaurant by the Orlando Sentinel).  If you are looking for some good authentic Mexican food, stop by and check them out.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza & Put A Cork In It

Marily's dad had first told us about Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza after he tried it in south Florida during one of his many business trips.  So, in the mood for some pizza and some place new, we headed out Anthony's.

The restaurant is located in the Whole Foods plaza near Sandlake Road and Turkey Lake.  We arrived for a late dinner on Friday night, about 10PM.  There were a few other tables seated, but it was mostly empty (which wasn't too surprising given the hour).  The interior was your basic pizzeria, perhaps scaled up a notch, with a bar along the right side wall.

Intuitively from their name, I assumed the pizza was cooked over coals or in some sort of coal oven.  I'm guessing not everyone figures that out as our waitress immediately warned us that the pizza would come out well done, crispy and with a charcoal bar-b-que like flavor (OK, those weren't her exact words, but you get the jist).  Anyway, it sounded good to us so we continued to place our order.

We started things off with some Orange Blossom Pilsner which is from a Florida based brewery.  It is made with 2.3tsp of orange blossom honey in each bottle (but isn't too sweet)!  It is a nice refreshing beer which we don't find too often.  The bar was stocked with your typical beer selection with a couple Italian imports to fit the style of food, as well as wines.

The menu consisted mainly of pizzas, their coal fired wings with caramelized onions & focaccia bread, and a few sandwiches.  Being a wing guy and curious with the herb seasonings and caramelized onion combination, we went with that for our appetizer and ordered a traditional pizza.  We added pepporoni and italian sausage to half of the pie, in order to give ourselves a baseline.

We both enjoyed the wings which had a great flavor from the herb seasonings, but were really delicious when eaten with the caramelized onions. The flavors and texture from being coal fired was a nice change from your typical deep fried wings at most pizzerias.  The focaccia bread was nice and buttery and disappeared quickly from our plate.

The pizza came out shortly thereafter and was different then we expected.  Instead of the tomato sauce spread over the entire pie, it is simply spooned on in "dobs."  The tomato sauce tasted fresh and wasn't too acidic.  Since it wasn't spread over the entire pie, each bite left you hoping to reach a section of the slice with some sauce (but not in a bad way).  The Italian sausage had a good flavor without being too spicy.

Our waitress provided great service and never let my drink go empty (my primary gauge for servers!).  Overall, we enjoyed Anthony's and would return.

We headed across the street to the Rialto Plaza in search of dessert at Menchies.  Unfortunately, we arrived too late.  Conveniently next store, we found Put A Cork In It and opted for a night cap.  As you might expect, it is a wine bar, selling bottles of wine as well as by the glass.  If you were planning to dine at either Ocean Prime or J. Alexander's located in the Rialto Plaza, they also have an arrangement where you can buy the wine from Put A Cork In It and be served at the restaurants without any corkage fee.  Pretty nice!

As you might expect from a wine bar, the interior was dimly lit, leather seating arranged throughout and music playing softly in the background.  Bottles of wine line one side wall as well as the rear wall and the bar is located in the back corner.  Additionally, there are a couple LCD TVs spread throughout the room, and at least that night, showing ESPN.

Marily order a glass of a Rose Champagne (didn't catch the name), which she thought was nice without being too sweet...

...and I ended up with the number 10 wine of 2008 (per Wine Spectator magazine), the Seghesio Zinfandel.  The Seghesio is a nice, complex red with a spicy finish, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I really enjoyed it after my first glass (a Syrah) was mysteriously knocked over.  The gentleman who was working the wine bar (who we believe was the owner or one of them) graciously gave me a little extra pour to make up for it.

Put A Cork In It has only been open for about a month and has primarily been going off word of mouth advertising.  It is a nice cozy wine bar which we feel has potential to become a nice place to go hang out, enjoy some great wine and have good conversations with friends.  If you are in the area, go check them out and let us know what you think.


7339 W Sand Lake Rd, Ste #412
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 351-8400
http://rialtowinebar.com

A Trip to the BriarPatch

Recently while on a farmer's market Saturday, we strolled down Park Avenue with some friends.  OK, actually, let's be realistic.  Our friend, Sharmila, was actually craving this brie, apple & ham omelette a neighbor had raved about. So, we made our way in search of the BriarPatch Restaurant.  Like many restaurants on Park Avenue, they had outside seating, which we love to see.  I mean, who doesn't like to people watch while scarfing down delicious food?

The outside area has a comfortable, porch like feel to it.  Once through the front doors, you immediately are drawn to the ice cream parlor in the front where they offer ice cream, milk shakes and ridiculously large cakes (more on that later).  We got there around lunch time and it wasn't too busy, so we were seated right away.

Marily ordered the blackened grouper sandwich and I opted for the gorgonzola filet mignon sandwich (and yes, Sharmila got her brie & apple omelette - no ham).

Blackened Grouper Sandwich

Gorgonzola File Mignon Sandwich

Marily was not impressed at all with her blackened grouper.  This is Florida, so I'm not sure how you can go wrong with this choice...well OK, here's how:  bones (the noticeable ones...ones that should have been noticed by the kitchen staff), lack of flavor (didn't we say it was blackened? I mean the definition of blackening is to dredge through herbs and seasonings) and the lack of a condiment (an aioli perhaps...maybe some freshly made tarter sauce...or heck, a dab of mayonnaise would have sufficed).

I had much better luck with my selection.  I honestly didn't know what to expect, since this was under the "burgers" section of the menu.  As you can see in the picture, it was literally a small filet mignon on a bun.  Joining the steak was the gorgonzola, romaine lettuce and a tomato slice.  The filet was properly seasoned and perfectly cooked.  The gorgonzola was amazing and was a wonderful compliment to the protein, offering a nice buttery, salty and bold flavor to the sandwich.  I had to fight Marily off my plate, only allowing her a few bites ;-)  As delicious as it was, I thought there was some room for improvement.  I don't think the romaine lettuce did the filet justice and something more along the lines of a spring greens mix (or just something more gourmet  and able to stand along side the filet would have been a better choice).  Also, the bun was almost english muffin like...while I can't put my finger on what would have been the better fit...I know the one chosen didn't have me screaming that it was a culinary, orchestrated masterpiece.  Neither the bland romaine nor bun was enough for me to deny this was an overall good sandwich, that I would order again.

Unfortunately, we didn't have room to try any of the desserts.  I'm not sure if it was the fact that we had eaten bagels and cinnamon rolls at the farmer's market earlier on top of the sandwiches or if we were just intimidated by the gigantic cakes in the display case:

It looked like the options were red velvet cake, carrot cake and a chocolate layer cake amongst various pies.  Next time, I vow to order a slice of one of these cakes (even if I have to share it with the whole table).

Overall, the BriarPatch was a good restaurant offering good service, good food and some potentially delicious desserts.  We would definitely return for the gorgonzola filet mignon sandwich and find Marily another option!

Orlando Magical Dining & Le Coq Au Vin

Orlando Magical Dining month is a "culinary celebration sure to please our palate and your wallet."  During the month of September, select Central Florida restaurants (both casual and upscale) participated in this  fantastic charity event benefiting the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children (each restaurant donated $1 from each meal).  There were more than 75 restaurants participating this year!  Each restaurant provide a special menu where diners could select an appetizer, entree and dessert for either $20 or $30.

Being budget conscious this year, we weren't able to fully indulge in all that Orlando Magical Dining had to offer. Due to our recent culinary reemergence, we couldn't let this month pass without at least trying one of these restaurants.  Marily and I set a date for tonight (the last day of the event!).  She asked me, "So, where do you want to go?"  As we looked over the list of 75+ restaurants, we first had to narrow things down.  We decided we deserved a nice night out, so we skipped the casual restaurants and went straight for the upscale listing.  I wanted to try something different...something that I felt would have more unique offerings and landed on Le Coq Au Vin.  Marily reluctantly accepted the choice.  She always wanted to try it, but the special menu just wasn't appealing to her senses.  I managed to convince her somehow (or she just gave in...I can be pretty stubborn!)

Here is Le Coq Au Vin's special menu.

If you've lived in Orlando, you must have driven by this restaurant at some point in your life (located off Orange Ave and Holden).  This is definitely an unpolished diamond in the rough (speaking of the surrounding area, not the food).  We arrived around 6:30pm on a Wednesday to this out of place French country cottage.  To our surprise, the parking lot was pretty full (a testament to their existence since 1976), considering it was the middle of the week.  There was a quaint courtyard out front with tables and seemed like a nice place to enjoy some wine and cheese.  As we stepped  over the threshold, we were transformed into another country.  The interior of the restaurant oozed what we assume must be French country decor (having never been there).  From the hostess attire to the chandeliers to the stained glass windows, we thought they really hit a home run with the ambiance.

Our waiter was a recent transplant from Miami with a friendly attitude and very knowledgeable of the menu and wine selection.  We informed him that we never had the pleasure of dining at a French restaurant and he immediately suggested to try the special menu, since it would give us a good introduction to French cuisine.  After listening to his recommendations we chose to go with the following:

Appetizers

Tarte a L'Oignon 

Alsace style caramelized onion tart, crisp smoked bacon bits, herb boursin, goat and cottage cheese

Mousse de Foies de Volailles

Chicken liver pate served warm with toast, onions, tomatoes and cornichons

Entrees

Sanibel Golden Tilefish

Tilefish served with ratatouille finished with mango vanilla bean vinaigrette

Tournedos

Beef tenderloin steak on shredded shortribs, bleu cheese crust, morel mushrooms, port

wine sauce, carrots with thyme, au gratin potatoes

Dessert

Creme Brulee

While we waited for our appetizers, the waiter brought out some fresh, hot baguettes with rooster shaped butter, that even the waiter questioned and guaranteed us it didn't taste like chicken!  We have never had such perfectly made bread...wonderfully crunchy crust and perfectly soft on the inside.

The appetizers arrived and while excited to try the Mousse de Foies de Volailles, I'd never had liver before, let alone chicken liver pate.  I didn't know what to expect...but couldn't wait to dive in.  I spread some on a slice of toasted baguette, topped it with the other fixings and took a bite.  It didn't have a strong, overpowering, iron taste like I expected.  It had probably what most would call an acquired taste...but we definitely enjoyed it.  The other appetizer was the star of the first course.  It was like a buttery phyllo pastry with with bacon and onions and yummy, creamy cheese.  Alongside was warm greens with a vinaigrette to cleanse your palette.  Sorry no pictures...in our excitement, we ate it all up before remembering the camera!

The main course brought two very very hot plates, one with two thin filets of tilefish and the other with the a nice sized filet.  The tilefish was topped with an amazing beurre blanc and mango chutney.  We couldn't get enough and were sad when the fish outlasted the sauce.  The Tournedos was certainly the best part of the meal.  The perfectly cooked (medium rare), blue cheese crusted filet sat atop of braised shortribs in a port wine sauce and it was amazing...it must be what people eat in heaven.  The filet simply melted in your mouth and may have been the best filet we've had in Central Florida.  The au gratin potatoes, haricots verts and carrots complemented the proteins nicely.

The dessert course brought us creme brulee.  It was well prepared, with the custard cold, the correct texture and a nice crunchy carelmized layer on top.  It wasn't the best creme brulee (that goes to Bravissimo's Espresso Creme Brulee), but it was good and cooked well...which you can't say for every restaurant.

During our meal, we couldn't help but notice the constant influx of customers and the dining rooms (there were three) filling up.  We had to ask the waiter if it was normally that busy and he responded "this is actually a slow night!"  That says a lot to me that a restaurant is regularly busy midweek and is a testament to the chef.  Overall we were very pleased with our experience and we will definitely return to try more of their menu (they have foie gras and sweetbreads!).