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TastyChomps’ Top 30 Meals and Eats of 2013

Looking back at 2013, quite a few changes have come and gone in the area’s restaurant scene. Scott Joseph does a wonderful job recapping the closings and openings of the notoriously difficult restaurant industry in Central Florida here.

It’s been a tough year but quite a few restaurants and establishments have been able to continue bringing Orlando’s food culture to a new level.

Here are some of my favorite meals looking back both locally here in Orlando and beyond:

Orlando

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1. Bull and Bear’s Pasta Explosion – Decadently rich, house made ravioli stuffed with an airy carbonara mousse, parmegiano reggiano cheese, and serrano ham in a white sauce

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2. Flying Fish Cafe at Disney’s Boardwalk’s – Super Slow-Cooked Kurobuta Pork Belly & Sliced Tenderloin

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3. Bull and Bear at the Orlando Waldorf Astoria’s Roosevelt New Orleans inspired Filet of Red fish on top of oyster poached au beurre blanc, maque choux – part of the Food and Wine Weekends series

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4. Smiling Bison Burger at the Smiling Bison – 6 oz. natural bison, garlic aioli, mushroom ketchup, smoked provolone, house bacon, texas toast

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5. Crab fried rice with scallions and mushrooms at Eddie V’s on Orlando’s Restaurant Row

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6. Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen’s Wild Mushroom Tart – Hen of the Woods mushrooms in a rich truffle scented custard, baked in a flaky crust

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7. Kabooki Sushi’s Kurabuta Pork Belly and Tamaki Seasoned sushi rice – Braised ‘snake river farms’ pork belly, micro basil, tempura shallot

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8. Chef Eddie’s Chicken and Red velvet waffles with green beans

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9. Disney’s California Grill’s Pork Belly Nigiri . . . House-cured Pork, Bacon and Yuzu Rice, Spicy Teriyaki

6 hour braised pork shoulder from Dragonfly Modern Izayaka's "secret" late night menu
10. 6 hour braised pork shoulder from Dragonfly Modern Izayaka’s “secret” late night menu

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11. Cask and Larder’s lamb ribs with green tomato yogurt, burnt coriander honey

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12. Sichuan style ChongQing La Zi Fried Chicken at Chuan Lu Garden

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13. Miso ramen with corn, extra hard boiled egg and cha shu pork at Sapporo Ramen

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14. Crimson Tavern’s House Burger – caramelized onion, gruyere cheese, bread & butter pickles, sesame bun

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15. Sushi and sashimi at Sushi Tomi

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16. Banh Cuon – Silky smooth rice crepes with ground pork and mushrooms at Vietnam Cuisine on Colonial Drive

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17. East End Market – just go and explore the wonderful food vendors and purveyors within!

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18. Luma on Park’s Cocoa beach cobia mi-cuit – with florida citrus, avocado, waterkist farm red serrano

Banh mi at banh Mi Nha Trang
19. Banh mi at banh Mi Nha Trang
Epcot Food and Wine Festival - Brazil’s Crispy pork belly with black beans, onions, avocado and cilantro*
20. Epcot Food and Wine Festival – Brazil’s Crispy pork belly with black beans, onions, avocado and cilantro*

Miami

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21. La Camaronera’s La Minuta – their signature fried snapper sandwich on some cuban pan bread. This sandwich provides a great taste to value ratio, costing only $6. No wonder they take cash only.

Pork belly 'n' scallion (su-shoyu, shichimi, onion marmalade) and short rib 'n' corn (black truffle, corn soy, sorrel, parmigiano) dumplings - very creative take on the traditional dumpling. I am tired of pork and vegetable fillings - these dumplings at pubbelly excited me...and proved to be executed quite well. gone within seconds.
22. Pubbelly’s pork belly ‘n’ scallion (su-shoyu, shichimi, onion marmalade) and short rib ‘n’ corn (black truffle, corn soy, sorrel, parmigiano) dumplings.

Atlanta

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23. Tonkotsu ramen – Sliced cha shu pork, soft boiled egg, fantastic ramen at Umaido Ramen

San Francisco

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24. General Tso’s Veal Ribs at Danny Bowien’s Mission Chinese

Tartine's Morning Bun
Tartine’s Morning Bun

25. Morning Bun at Tartine Bakery

Las Vegas

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26. Bacchanal Buffet at the MGM Grand Las Vegas

Tokyo, Japan

Little Lamb Mongolian Hotpot in Shinjuku
27. Little Lamb Mongolian Hotpot in Shinjuku
Strawberry mochi in Ginza  - Tokyo, Japan
28. Strawberry mochi in Ginza – Tokyo, Japan
29. Tsukemen Ramen at Fu Unji Ramen in Shinjuku
29. Tsukemen Ramen at Fu Unji Ramen in Shinjuku
Nigiri sushi plate outside of Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan
30. Nigiri sushi plate outside of Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan

BONUS!

Personal favorite dish of the year - my wedding cake with my wife on November 2, 2013!
Personal favorite dish of the year – my wedding cake with my wife on November 2, 2013!

Check out our friend Droolius’ favorite 25 meals of 2013!


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5 COMMENTS

  1. Congrats on your Marriage to your beautiful wife.

    Great review.
    I haven’t been to California Grill since the redo.
    I love Pubbelly’s Pork Belly and Chef Eddies Chicken and Waffles.

    I still need to get to some of your other recommendations. Thanks for the great read.

    ~Libby

      • Scratch looks neat! We just moved back to Orlando from Osceola county. Lake Underhill area.

        I’m not to far from the vi-mi area and I’ve only had pho 88 what else is good for pho and a banh mi?

        Also I can’t believe I haven’t been to Luma or Prato

        I am willing to try just about anything except food that is alive. I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to food.

        • Glad to have you back on this side of the county line Libby! lol. Banh Mi Nha Trang is the best for vietnamese subs but you have to wait a little while…the lady is super sweet tho. For pho, check out Pho Vinh or Vietnam Cuisine (my favorite for their banh cuon rice crepes and the oxtail pho).

          I am looking forward to trying the new bosphorous turkish kitchen on semoran too soon!