Overall, I was impressed by my visit to China Garden this evening. I wouldn’t mind coming here to get a bite to eat with a friend or when visiting A Comic Shop or Reign Streetwear boutique in the same plaza. Other recommendations include the sizzling Hong Kong pepper steak or the salt and pepper trio, a salty and peppery fried mix of shrimp, squid, and scallop. I enjoy China Garden also because of their community minded philosophy and their generosity to students (10% off for students with ID)

Tasty Chomps RATING!
4 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!!

China Garden
407-671-2120
118 S Semoran Blvd
Winter Park, FL 32792
http://www.chinagardenwp.com/

Bikkuri Sushi is an old favorite of mine from the college days where cheap eats was the way to go. I appreciated Bikkuri for its fresh and decent tasting sushi for a affordable price, thus making it all a great value for those poor students who want to stretch their dollar.

Bikkuri Sushi, just west of Bumby Avenue on Colonial Drive, used to be just a place where you can go to satisfy that sushi fix quick and easy. Before it opened its upstairs dining / lounge / weekend party room, it was only the first floor that made up Bikkuri.

Today the first floor is only for take out orders or for those who really really? want to eat there. It is a lot more bare bones with a few tables and chairs and also, I noticed, a bit of a mess of newspapers and random stuff on the shelves, probably from neglect from having its more popular, bigger, and newer sister upstairs get all the attention.

The upstairs room of Bikkuri Sushi (and Noodle House) is elegant and charming; huge windows allow the guests to peer below onto the marvelous traffic that is Colonial Drive on those wispy summer afternoons. They have more menu options upstairs as well including sukiyaki, a meal with rice and meat of your choice cooked in a special soup, ramen noodles, golden curry, okonomiyaki, and don buris.

There is also a sake lounge as mentioned previously where they host dj’s and music on the weekends and you can also use for parties or events (see flyer here and lounge photos) which though intriguing, I have yet to try that option out so far.

On this occassion, I decide to get some quick take out and order downstairs. I order the dynamite tuna roll/spicy ($5.25) and a half tuna half salmon don ($9.99). The dynamite roll was made with sushi rice, seaweed, cucumbers, spicy tuna, and topped with orange masago. Simple yet refreshing and delicious.

The tuna/salmon don is also a delectable item, with chunks of savory diced salmon and tuna, sushi rice and sesame seeds topped with avocado slices. Mixed in with some soy sauce and wasabi, the tuna/salmon don is like a burst of sushi flavors and textures like a sushi roll undone in your mouth.

Overall the sushi may not be the best quality but it is still a great place to get some sushi for the price.

TASTY CHOMPS RATING!!!
4 out of 5 TASTY sushi CHOMPS!!!!

President Barack Obama was greeted with cheers last week when he stopped by Capitol Hill burger joint Five Guys.

The president was joined by NBC anchor Brian Williams and a crew that was filming a behind-the-scenes “Inside The White House” special.

Five Guys burger: its US Presidential approved

80lbs of Crawfish from New Orleans, Louisiana

Since my partner is gone for the next few weeks, I will be out on my own to explore and conquer the culinary offerings in Central Florida. Luckily I got a call from one of my bros, Lap, to come over for a old fashioned southern crawfish boil at his place. It’s dinner with the boys.

I picked up some lemon and butter and a 2.0 liter pepsi to share. Little did I know I would probably have needed more than a 2.0 liter bottle for refreshment.

Lap had previously ordered 80 lbs of crawfish from Louisiana, where 98% of the crawfish harvested in the United States come from, for about $1.75 a pound and they had just arrived by air the day before. Louisiana produces 90 percent of the crawfish in the world and consumes 70 percent locally. Crawfish “season” typically runs from March through about June. This is when you will get your best crawfish.

At the house, they had been experimenting with various spices throughout the day using Zatarain’s Crawfish/Shrimp/and Crab boil in a bag which contained mustard seed, coriander, dill seed, and other cajun spices to flavor the crawfish as they cooked.

My bro Cuong, who was one of the few who had experience in this kind of thing, also added habenero peppers to the boil to bring out a super spicy kick to the crawfish.

There were also kilbasa sausage, potatoes, and corn cob that were added to the mix. Crawfish juices and habenero spices engulfed my mouth as I take crunchy bites out of the crawfish.

It was a delicious feast.

Watermelon to cool the tongue.

Mr Bones Barbeque – Anna Maria Island, FL

While on beautiful Anna Maria Island for our weekend getaway, we had the opportunity to dine at a few of the local establishments, one of places being Mr Bones BBQ for dinner.

Outside the restaurant, a sign with “Mr Bones”, a dancing jovial skeleton in a chef’s hat, beckons us in. Not going to lie it was a bit creepy at first glance, not knowing what the inside may look like, perhaps a dark coffin?

Thankfully it wasn’t; the interior decor is voodoo-inspired, with decorated masks from the pacific rim and skulls hanging on the tiki straw-covered walls.

A sign above the doorway reads “No salt, pepper, ketchup, etc in dining room. Don’t even ask. Our food is expertly made by New Orleans trained chefs. No improvement is needed”

I wondered how true that would be, but luckily it was for the most part.

We began with the crawfish gumbo to share ($5.99) a rich stew made with rice, crawfish, okra, and other veggies cajun style. The gumbo was hearty and was a great start to the meal.

For our entrees, we each order a 1/2 order of Baby Back Ribs ($10.99) with one side. I got the original Mr Bone’s BBQ sauce flavor and my partner ordered the honey glazed ribs sauce, with creamy cole slaw as our side. Other side options included potato salad, candied yams, or BBQ baked beans. The ribs were sweet, succulent and flavorful, not too tangy as some bbq ribs can be some times and served with slices of toasted garlic bread.

Indian specialities from chicken tikka marsala to their famed biryhani rice, a hot curried rice sweetened with raisins, almonds and coconuts served with a side of cucumber yogurt raita can also be found on the menu and are local favorites.

For the dessert, we got the homemade bread pudding ($5.99) which was okay, but not the best tasting dessert ever. The bites were soft but chewy with a slightly bitter taste of chocholate, pecan and nutmeg.

Service was friendly and cheerful, not bad at all.

Overall, Mr Bones did not disappoint although it may at times need some improvement.

Tasty Chomps Rating!!!!
4 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!!

Mr Bones BBQ
3007 Gulf Dr, Holmes Beach, Anna Maria Island, FL 34217-2149
Phone: (941) 778-6614
Website: http://www.mrbonesbbq.com/

Nine Unhealthiest Foods You Can Order
CSPI’s List of Most Unhealthy Restaurant Foods May Clog Your Arteries Just to Read It

Top Nine Unhealthiest Foods to Order

The Olive Garden: Tour of Italy
1,450 calories,33 grams of saturated fat, as well as 3,830 milligrams of sodium

Chili’s: Big Mouth Bites
1,580 calories and 28 grams of saturated fat. The burgers also pack 2,930 milligrams of sodium.

By comparison, for a 2,000-calorie diet, the USDA recommends that an individual eat no more than 20 grams of saturated fat per day.

The Cheesecake Factory: Fried Macaroni and Cheese
1,570 calories and 1,860 mg of sodium, 69 grams of saturated fat

Red Lobster: Ultimate Fondue
1,490 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat and 3,580 mg of sodium.

Chili’s: Half Rack of Baby Back Ribs
490 calories and 12 grams of saturated fat, plus an extra 2,050 mg of sodium

Uno Chicago Grill: Mega-Sized Deep Dish Sundae
2,800 calories and 72 grams of saturated fat

The Cheesecake Factory: Chicken and Biscuits
2,500 calories

Applebee’s: Quesadilla Burger with fries
calorie count tops out at 1,820, with 46 grams of saturated fat and 4,410 mg of sodium

The Cheesecake Factory: Philly Style Flat Iron Steak with cheese sauce and fries
2,320, saturated fat goes up to 47 grams, and sodium hits 5,340 mg

——

These foods are stacked full of calories, sodium, and fat ! yikes watch out diners when you are eating out.

Summer is here. It’s been sunny and hot in central Florida so I decided to go out for something to cool me down. I decided to visit Rita’s Ice Custard Happiness, tucked inside a Winter Springs plaza on the corner of Tuscawilla Road and Red Bug Lake Road.

Rita’s is more famously known for its Italian ice, or water ice as some call it. This time I decided to go for some of the traditional soft-serve frozen vanilla custard on a waffle cone with rainbow colored sprinkles. I felt like a kid again; its been a while since I’ve had any type of ice cream cone with sprinkles on top.

The custard was light and sweet, but not as sweet as ice cream, which is perfect for my taste. The servers were a few young teenagers probably from the neighborhood who served with a smile and were quick to ask if I wanted any samples.

The decor was white everything and a smatter of color from the Rita signs.

TASTY CHOMPS RATING!!!

3.5 OUT OF 5 TASTY CHOMPS !!!

Whole Foods Market: Chilean Sea Bass with Black Bean Sauce, Chinese Spinach, Asparagus and molten lava chocolate cake for dessert

My partner is leaving for south florida for a few days so as a good bye dinner she made me something delicious using ingredients from Whole Foods Market. As you may know Whole Foods is one of the few places you can buy really fresh seafood and this Chilean sea bass came for around 10 dollars for 6 ounces, not too bad. The asparagus and spinach were also bought from Whole Foods. The ingredients were all fresh tasting and the end result was delicious. Bravo to the chef! 😛

the spinach was sauteed in a chicken broth and garlic sauce

the chilean sea bass dinner with brown rice made with love

Dessert was a molten lava cake made from a recipe from foodnetwork.com, topped with toasted coconut flakes, macademia nuts, raspberries, and served with a side of Blue Bell’s vanilla ice cream. bon apetit!

Although it can be a bit expensive to buy from Whole Foods Market, this dinner was made affordable with the cost of about $15 per plate total. The market is located in Winter Park on Aloma Ave right before Lakemont.

Whole Foods Market
(407) 673-8788
1989 Aloma Ave
Winter Park, FL 32792

I have also recently joined Restaurant Reviewers BlogRoll! check it out on the right hand side!!!

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse: Millenia Mall

BJ’s located right outside of Millenia Mall on Conroy Rd reminds me of a upgraded mixture of Pizzeria Uno’s and Cheesecake Factory. They have a great menu of pastas, sandwiches, burgers, salads, specially brewed beer,

I ordered the BJ’s favorite mini pizza, a Chicago style deep dish pan pizza with sausage, tomatoes, pepperoni, green peppers, black olives, and more. The mouthwatering pizza was savory and satisfying, each bite more succulent and rich than the last.

For dessert, we order BJ’s Pizzookie, a fresh out of the oven-baked, rich and delicious cookie topped with 2 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream and served in a deep dish. We choose the oreo flavor and it was great, the oreo bits delightfully flavored the cookie and the cool ice cream went well with the warm baked cookie. Our friend chose half white chocolate macademia nut and half oreo pizzookie to diversify his tastings.

There are also great deals at lunch for pizzas and sandwiches for around 6 to 8 dollars, definitely a great value for the food offered.

BJ’s Favorite Mini Pan Pizza: $9.50

Honey Mustard Fried Chicken Salad $9.95

BJ’s Oreo Pizookie

Oreo and White Chocolate Macademia Nut Pizookie!

TASTY CHOMPS!! RATING!!
4 out of 5 TASTY VALUE CHOMPS!!!!!

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse
4151 Conroy Rd Orlando, FL 32839 – (407) 352-0225
www.bjsbrewhouse.com

Graze and the Sanctuary Diner, upscale sister restaurants owned by the SK Restaurant Group, have closed in Thornton Park near downtown Orlando.

“Both are simply victims of these tough economic times,” said Steve Kodsi, president of Historic Creations Design/Development Group and founder of the SK Restaurant Group. “I still believe in the South Eola District and I think exciting times are yet to come for this area.”

Celebrated local chef Jephanie Foster was hired in 2008 to oversee Graze but eventually became managing director for Fifi’s as well and orchestrated Fifi’s transformation into the eclectic Sanctuary Diner in February.

from orlando sentinel’s cooking gal: the dish

——————-

another one bites the dust…

another casualty of the Great Recession? or a victim of their own misgivings? Is it possible that it is due to service or the quality of the restaurant? a lot of central florida citizens are wondering the same question and some agree with the latter. I had not the opportunity to visit but would have loved to check it out for myself.

Its interesting to note that Sanctuary Diner had just been revamped from the previous dining establishment Fifi’s Patisserie.

Review from Orlando Weekly: “Sink the Pink”

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, by Jennifer 8. Lee. (Twelve, $13.) An American-born Chinese (and a New York Times reporter), Lee investigates the Chinese restaurant business — the origin of fortune cookies (Japan), the beginning of door-to-door delivery in New York, the relationship of General Tso to the dish that bears his name. She also looks at the difficult lives of Chinese restaurant workers.

About: Readers will take an unexpected and entertaining journey—through culinary, social and cultural history—in this delightful first book on the origins of the customary after-Chinese-dinner treat by New York Times reporter Lee. When a large number of Powerball winners in a 2005 drawing revealed that mass-printed paper fortunes were to blame, the author went in search of the backstory. She tracked the winners down to Chinese restaurants all over America, and the paper slips the fortunes are written on back to a Brooklyn company. This travel-like narrative serves as the spine of her cultural history—not a book on Chinese cuisine, but the Chinese food of take-out-and-delivery—and permits her to frequently but safely wander off into various tangents related to the cookie. There are satisfying mini-histories on the relationship between Jews and Chinese food and a biography of the real General Tso, but Lee also pries open factoids and tidbits of American culture that eventually touch on large social and cultural subjects such as identity, immigration and nutrition. Copious research backs her many lively anecdotes, and being American-born Chinese yet willing to scrutinize herself as much as her objectives, she wins the reader over. From Publishers Weekly.

General Tso’s Chicken, who some say never really made the dish, as it was created in America.

Who took a chomp out of my egg roll??

Oh, it was me

I have recently started reading The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8. Lee and so started to crave the fast food variety of the chinese cuisine. I stumbled upon China Chef after a recommendation from a friend and found it to be quite interesting: tucked between the abandoned k-mart and a abandoned movie theatre on Goldenrod road and University Boulevard lies this peculiar Chinese restaurant.

At first glance it appears that it is a chinese take out place, but after a closer look, it is fully a sit down restaurant with newly decorated furnishings. Nice, I thought to myself, maybe it’ll be worth the try.

And it was. The general tso’s chicken was fresh and hot out of the kitchen and had a tender, sweet and spicy flavor. The pork fried rice was steaming and flavorful. The egg roll however could have used some better quality ingredients as it was my least favorite. All in all this place was a nice stop on the way home for a quick chinese fast food fix.

TASTY CHOMPS!! RATING!!
3.5 out of 5 TASTY CHINESE CHOMPS!!!!!

www.chinachefwinterpark.com

THE FORTUNE COOKIE CHRONICLES: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, by Jennifer 8. Lee. (Twelve, $13.) An American-born Chinese (and a New York Times reporter), Lee investigates the Chinese restaurant business — the origin of fortune cookies (Japan), the beginning of door-to-door delivery in New York, the relationship of General Tso to the dish that bears his name. She also looks at the difficult lives of Chinese restaurant workers.

Buy it here:

TASTY CHOMP’S RATING!
3.5 TASTY CHOMPS OUT OF 5

As any resident of Orlando, I have been watching the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs between the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. I am glad that the Magic are doing well this season as it has been a LONG time and with the new upcoming performing arts center, I can’t wait to see next year’s games. I have one thing to say though: Lebron James is a beast and probably haunts many people’s nightmares. Dwight Howard is a beast as well and his beastly shoulders are an inspiration for my work out.

Although it is a chain, one of my favorite delivery chomps is Pizza Hut’s Supreme Pan Pizza. The pizza is baked with a thick pan crust and is pretty delicious especially with all of its toppings. This time we added pineapples to our pizza order and it went really well together with the zesty tartness of the pizza’s tomato sauce.

Another thing I love about pizza from pizza hut is that it is really good as a left over, either cold straight from the fridge, or simply placed in the toaster oven for 2-3 minutes to bake. It comes out crispy and hot and tasty like new.

Also, according to espn.com, Hedo Turkoglu of the Orlando Magic eats mozzarella cheese pizza from Pizza Hut before each game! WHATT

Tasty Chomps rating:
4 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!

I went to meet up with fellow alumni and bros at Fort De Soto Beach in St Petersburg Florida for a Memorial Day weekend barbeque. Ft Desoto Beach was actually named the top most beautiful beach in the US by TripAdvisor. I had a great time with the bros and had some great food which consisted over 80 lbs of ribs and chicken meat and more. The weather was great, sunny and slightly cloudy, despite having rained all week here in central Florida. It was good to see some sun again. We played a round of football and I got a little bruised up.

Tasty Chomps reader and bro Ed Ta and
his girlfriend Cecelia chompin down on some ribs.
I am currently on week 5 of his fatality work out plan and have
been seeing results. He is an inspiration and fellow foodie.

Chicken wings and ribs destruction

Corn on the cob, a crate full for $12 at Publix, as it is corn season

Watermelon chomps!

Chicken wings and ribs on the grill, marinated by my bro Jere Ngo

Vietnamese Goi Salad with beef

Assorted tasty cooked barbeque

“Ragu” A Vietnamese soup dish eaten with french baguetttes and made with ribs

Bros eating and having a good time

Grand little Chris Chen going in to join the elite eating group “Kobayashi” of which I had declined to join on this day. I did not feel like puking today. Notice the look on his face as he tries to finish his last piece.

Chomping down on his last chicken wing. He finished 17 mega chicken wing/legs, 8 pieces of ribs, and 6 corn on the cob and is finally a new member of the Kobayashi club.

Fable, the half chow chow half labrador doggie

9 members of the UF alpha class saluting with their corn

Bonefish Grill on Sand Lake Rd in Dr Phillips Area

On the way to watch the newly revamped Star Trek film at the Festival Bay mall’s Cinemark movie theatre, we stop by the Dr Phillips area on “Restaurant Row” to dine in for dinner. My partner and I had heard of Bonefish Grill before (not to be confused with Fish Bones down the street or Moon Fish across the street), and wanted to try their seafood offerings. We were in for a pleasant surprise.

Upon entering, there was lounge music playing in the background, alternating between bossa nova to other city sounds, definitely giving the place a urban-modern feel. The tan colored walls and dim lighting gave the restaurant a sophisticated atmosphere and yet at the same time still very relaxed and down to earth.

We begin our order with an appetizer: crabcakes (2 for $9.90). The crab cakes are crispy on the outside and filled with jumbo lump crab on the inside. Hardly any of the cheap “cake” breading that is often found in lower end crabcakes, and definitely more delicious lumps of white crab meat than anything. My partner remarked that this is the probably the best crabcake she has had so far in Orlando. The crabcakes came with a zingy tartar/mayo sauce.

We also get a cup of corn chowder with lump crab soup ($2.70 with entree) that was acceptable although not the best corn chowder ever, it was fresh and the lump crab meat was generous. It was a tad bit bland and may have needed some seasoning.

For our dessert, we ordered the incredibly rich chocolate brownie ($5.50) that was made without flour and served with a side of vanilla ice cream and raspberry sauce, topped with macadamia nuts and whipped cream. The dessert was as big as my head and tasted amazing. It was the best dessert I have had in a long time.

For the prices, everything at Bonefish Grill was reasonable and the portions more than made up for cost. Service at Bonefish Grill was good, the waitress was attentive and caring with a slight sense of humor. The dishes all arrived promptly to our table and we were able to catch our movie at Festival Bay on time. Star Trek proved to be a great revamping and had all the fun summer blockbuster features from explosions and exciting action sequences to high tech graphics. That “mall” needs a good revamping though, not sure why it sucks so much but they need to get their act together especially in this recession.

Tasty Chomps RATING!
4.5 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS !!!!.

Bonefish Grill
7830 W Sand Lake Rd, Orlando

http://www.bonefishgrill.com

Village Tavern of Orlando at Millenia Mall is closed
(reblogged from Heather McPherson of the Orlando Sentinel)

-__- I was about to review this place too sigh.

Orlando – Village Tavern at Millenia Mall – CLOSED
4158 Conroy Rd Orlando, FL 32839 – (407) 581-1740

Their website has no mention of the Orlando location
http://www.villagetavern.com/

It just opened in early 2008. sigh.
—————————–
We came here to Village Tavern the other day to celebrate my partner’s sister’s graduation from her masters program at the UCF Rosen School of Hospitality. She chose Orlando’s Village Tavern at Millenia Mall on Conroy Road to celebrate and I was happy for this decision because I had previously enjoyed a delicious dinner here before with their lamb shanks and prime ribs.

The restaurant can be most accurately described as a upper middle end dining restaurant with prices that are quite reasonable. The decor is elegant and modern American with light browns and warm hues. Towards the back of the restaurant there is a great curtain that divides the room to a smaller private section and towards the center is a giant fireplace.

We start the meal off with the small plate sampler($14.95), a sampling of their popular appetizers: Calamari, Spring Rolls, Crabcake & Toasted Bruschetta accompanied by four sauces. The calamari was tender and tasty and served with a thai chili sauce. The spring rolls were a mix of chicken, Napa cabbage, garlic, soy and ginger. The bruschetta came with marinated tomatoes with capers, black pepper, basil pesto and shaved Reggiano Parmesan cheese. The crabcake was made of lump crab meat, house made tartar sauce, mixed greens, tossed in Miso dressing. The appetizers were all to our liking and were a great way to begin the meal.

A few of the dinners began with salad and I particularly enjoyed mine because of their unique Miso flavor dressing.

A man (imagine one of those guys from Sopranos) stands behind the counter, behind the glass cases displaying the specials of the day, resplendent pizza pies and strombolis, sicilian style grandma pizza slices and more. He asks in a Long Island accent, “what would you like to order today?”

Despite his looks, he was more considerate and especially attentive to our orders than what may at first appeared.

Something about the place reminded me of being transported back to the time when the first Italian immigrants came to America and brought with them the old world pizza and began transforming it into a distinctly American icon. The place is Pizzeria Valdiano at Winter Park Village, right next to the Winter Park Regal Movie Theatre.

I thought to myself that this place, this finally would be the place where I could come again and again for a slice of pizza pie heaven, after being disappointed for years with pizzas that were overly greasy, whose crust tasted as though they were made with cardboard scrapings, and tomato sauces straight from a can.

But I had no idea at the time.

I tend to prefer the Chicago deep dish style pizza and for a moment contemplated going for the Sicilian, a deep focacia style version, but after reviewing a menu that boasts over 30 Specialty Pies, I finally differed to the traditional pizza pizza, regular New York style.

I ordered the Pizza Valdiano ($3.25) and the pizza maker simply and quickly whisked the pizza into the hot baking oven and within a minute the pizza was ready. It looked so simple and easy and yet the tastes that were to come were completely infinitely times more complex.

Sausage, pepperoni, meatballs and green peppers, mushrooms and onions laid on the exquisitely melted mozzarella. An exact amount of oil was used, not too much that it would overly grease the pizza, but just enough to dance with the dough making it a perfect balance for the crust.

The crust was particularly crispy yet fluffy at the same time making it incredibly delicious. The smell of the pizza was absolutely intoxicating.

The pizza here was something special.

In addition to the pizza, I ordered the pasta of the day ($7.95): “Tortellini Primavera” (primavera means spring in Italian)

The legend has it that the tortellini came into conception after a man looked upon a beauty’s keyhole in an inn, and all he saw was the woman’s navel (she turned out to be Venus, the Goddess of Love). The man rushed to the kitchen in ecstasy and created the tortellini in its image. Kind of creepy, I know, but it still made for a great pasta design?

The tortellini was filled with mozzarella and served in a light creamy alfredo sauce ripe with plum tomatoes, red and green and orange peppers, red onions, minced garlic, fresh sliced mushrooms and chopped spinach topped with parmesan grated and two garlic rolls brushed with olive oil on the side. A satisfying meal for the palate and the heart.

On my way out the man asked how things were.

I told him truthfully,

“absolutely delicious”.

TASTY CHOMPS RATING:
4.5 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS ! ! ! ! .
(food taste outweighs all else)

Note: Pizzeria Valdiano’s is a 6 time winner of Orlando Sentinel’s Foodie award for Best Pizza 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Pizzeria Valdiano
510 N Orlando Ave # 103,
Winter Park, FL
(407) 628-5333
pizzeriavaldiano.com

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE RESTAURANTS AND LOCAL PLACES VIA
ORLANDO WEEKLY’S BEST OF 2009 POLL

Past Best of Winners
Orlando Weekly Best of 2008

I think I will do my own Best of Orlando restaurant list soon 😀

On my way to visit my bros Mike Cho and Xi Guo at their newly opened store, “Impress Ink Tees” in a warehouse right behind McDonald’s on Goldenrod and Colonial Drive, I stumbled upon this place:

Tortilleria La Mexicana

Seeing the words authentic, mexican, and $5.99 special got me in the door. The problem was there was a language barrier inside. Luckily the young cashier at the grocery store helped me out and let the waitress/order lady know what i wanted. (The tortelleria, grocery store, and even a ice cream store are all in the same place, kinda like a mexican super store for all your mexican needs)

I order one of the combos that came with a hard taco and two enchiladas with a side of rice and drink. I also bought a bag of habenero flavored chips.

This is Mike Cho, co owner of Impress Ink Tees in his t shirt making apron

Bag of Toreadas, habenero flavor

Overall the meal was disappointing, the meat was not freshly cooked and was rather rough and the taco shell seemed a bit stale. the enchiladas were just okay. overall i would give it a second chance especially seeing that they are reknown for their tortas. I will try their tortas next time.

Shameless Plug of the Day

Impress Ink Tees is a multipurpose t shirt making company that is located in the Orlando area. If you need their service, visit their website at http://www.impressinktees.com/ and tell them Tasty Chomps sent you.

Tasty Chomps Rating
2 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS !!

Tortilleria La Mexicana
1718 N Goldenrod Rd
Orlando, FL 32807
(407) 384-8757

An article from the NEW YORK TIMES: A Chili Sauce to Crow About

While many mistakenly assume the sauce originates from Thailand or Vietnam, it turns out the zesty red condiment, manufactured by Huy Fong Foods, is very much an American sauce, “a polygot puree with roots in different places and peoples.”

Sriracha was created in Los Angeles in the early 1980s by David Tran, a Chinese immigrant from Vietnam, who developed it as his own take on a traditional Asian chili sauce. The rest is history. Today, it’s everywhere, inspiring cooks, copycats and competitors. You won’t find a pho shop without it.

Free Food: Free Lettuce Wraps from PF CHANGS!

Free Chicken lettuce wraps for everyone in America? It’s an offer from the popular restaurant chain P.F. Chang’s.

The china bistro says the free food is to celebrate the chipping skills of PGA Pro Briny Baird.

Baird is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Nationwide Tour.

He’s known for his odd putting style.

Briny Baird has never won a PGA tournament but finished second in four of the tournaments.

get your coupon here:
http://www.pfchangs.com/briny/