Paxia is a newest restaurant in the College Park area. Their menu describes themselves as “Modern World Meets Traditional Mexican Cuisine” followed by their motto, “Expect the Unexpected”. It is located across the street from Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub right on Edgewater Drive. On the night we visited it was quiet with just a couple at the bar and one other table seated. The atmosphere is warm inside and you definitely get the Mexican vibe. The restaurant is split in two, the bar area on the right and the restaurant seating area on the left. Both offer food service.

We started at the bar while we waited for our guests to arrive.  The main bar is situated at the front left and the right side has comfortable lounge seating for two, big enough to relax and eat a meal. The bartender was very excited to see us and boasted of his wonderful Margarita making skills. We obliged and ordered two. They were excellent margaritas although small for $11.  It was a bit pricey for the type of restaurant and locale. This isn’t New York City, its College Park in Orlando.

After our guests arrived we moved from the bar area to the restaurant area. By the time we sat down we were the only ones left. We ordered a bottle of wine and two appetizers, Queso ($9) and Guacamole ($5). The guacamole was excellent and fresh. The queso came out on a hot plate and was basically just cheese flatten out and melted on the plate. One word: dry. It just wasn’t good, that’s all I can say.

For our entrees we ordered the Flautas ($11.75) and the Skirt Steak Fajitas ($13.75). Both were good sized portions, especially the fajitas. The flautas were tasty and perfectly fried. The fajitas were loaded up with veggies and a good portion of chicken. I’d recommend both dishes. For desert we tried the Flan ($6), it was ok, nothing spectacular.

Overall it was a great meal with only a few complaints. Our waitress stated that the owner was in every night and loved to visit and chat with the guests to see if they were enjoying their meals. We were the only customers in the restaurant, yet no visit from the owner. As I said above, the prices for a margarita are too high. And finally, the bartender kept encouraging us to stay and eat at the bar and our soon to be waitress was hovering near the bar waiting to seat us. It became very apparent that they were both fighting over our tips. This was very unprofessional.

This is a new restaurant that still needs to work out its kinks. Will it be around in a year? I’d say it’s a 50/50 shot. The food was good but it always seems to be empty when I pass by. It’s hard to compete with Garibaldi’s which has consistently been rated the best authentic Mexican food in town. And as far as their motto, “Expect the Unexpected”, there was nothing unexpected about the experience.

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Now I’ve never been to Japan, but if I could picture a small family run sushi restaurant in the middle of Tokyo, Sushi Hatsu in Downtown Orlando would be it. Compared to the other Downtown Orlando sushi restaurants I would say Sushi Hatsu’s look and feel is the most authentic. It’s been opened since the 90’s with a focus of good sushi that’s cheaper than the competition.

We started off with an order of their Edamame ($4.30), a Chuka Salad (green seaweed, $4.60) and the Gyoza ($4.95). Not much to say about the edamame except they weren’t overly salted which is nice. The Chuka Salad was excellent. None of the seaweed was crunchy. The Gyoza dish, steamed beef dumplings, was excellent by itself but the sauce it was served with was super salty and overwhelming. I’d recommend the Chuka Salad and on a night when the hand shaking the salt isn’t so heavy, the Gyoza.

We ordered three rolls, the Sunflower Roll ($13.50), the Buffalo Roll ($6.50) and the Crunchy French Roll ($7.50). We also ordered 2 pieces of White Tuna Nigiri ($4.50). The Sunflower Roll had an excellent presentation.  The roll was positioned into a circle with chunks of chopped tuna in the center. Inside the roll were tuna, cream cheese and avocado. The tuna was fresh and the overall flavor was great. The Buffalo roll had shrimp tempura delight rolled with cucumber, scallions, flying fish and a spicy sauce. This roll was ok, nothing special to mention. The last roll was the French Roll. It had crab and crunchy tempura crumbs in a roll that was deep fried and then rolled up in another roll and lastly perfected with a touch of eel sauce. Now I was a little worried when it first came out because it was a big roll, but it was surprisingly good. The crunchy bits added a good texture to the overall flavor. I loved this roll! The last thing we tried was the white tuna nigiri. It was simply fresh and melted in our mouths. It was excellent.

Overall the meal was excellent. If you’re looking for an alternative to the more expensive sushi restaurants in Downtown Orlando such as Amura or Ichiban, then Sushi Hatsu is your spot. Two people can share some starters and rolls for about $40.

Hours:

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Urban Flats is one of the newest restaurants to move in at The Plaza, Downtown Orlando. They have several locations in Central Florida, including Winter Park. On their website they describe themselves as “an eclectic fusion of ancient world style flatbread in a modern urban setting.” In other words it’s thin crust pizza shaped in rectangles with a better selection of topping than your average pizza joint.

Unfortunately, we dined there on a Wednesday night. I say unfortunately because upon entering the restaurant it was like we had stepped into front row seats at a NASCAR race that never ended. It was the loudest restaurant I’ve ever been in, ever. I asked our waiter if it was always this loud and he said only on Wednesday night. He told us every Wednesday night they offer a “Wine Down Wednesday,” a wine tasting which allows you to sample their selection wine, flatbreads and appetizers for $20. There were about 100 adults in their 20’s and 30’s crowded around outside, at every table inside and at the bar. We found ourselves literally screaming to each other in order to chat about the food and what to order.

Atmosphere aside, all the flatbreads on the menu looked appetizing and the wine list was sizeable. We started off ordering their Arugula, Artichoke and Blue Cheese Dip ($8.50) until we could decide on which flatbreads to order. The appetizer came out after about a 10 minute wait and was served warm accompanied by baked pita chips. The dip was pretty good. It had good size chunks of artichokes and good flavor. I’d order this appetizer again.

We ordered three flatbreads: Fig and Prosciutto ($9), The Black and Bleu ($10) and the Fire Roasted Chicken ($9.50). Our waiter informed us the flatbreads are all prepared and baked in their wood fire oven which is visible from the front of the restaurant. Each flatbread was about 12” by 7” and cut into 8 pieces. The Fig and Prosciutto flatbread had fig jam, prosciutto, blue cheese and mozzarella. This was our favorite. Anyone who has had a fig wrapped in prosciutto knows what a great flavor combination this is. The figs were caramelized perfectly. I would definitely order this one again. The Black and Bleu had strips of steak, bell peppers, spinach, roma tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, blue cheese and a balsamic glaze drizzled all over it. This one was also good. The balsamic glaze saved this flatbread from being dry. The strips of steak were a little tough but that’s expected when you bake small bite sized strips of steak in a wood fire oven for 10+ minutes. I’d try another one next time before ordering this one again. Finally the Fire Roasted Chicken.  This flatbread had Sun-dried tomato pesto, fire roasted chicken, mozzarella cheese and goat cheese on it. Not much to say about this flatbread. The chicken was overcooked and dry. It’s hard to enjoy it when it’s the focus of the whole flatbread. I would definitely not order this one again.

Overall I’d say the food at Urban Flats was good but nothing special. If you’re looking for a new trendy spot with a different take on the traditional round pizza, then this is a good place to checkout. The volume level was definitely an issue but if you’re going to check the place out, avoid Wednesday nights.

Open For Lunch and Dinner.

http://www.urbanflats.net

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Bento Cafe is a new hip and trendy sushi restaurant located in the Plaza Building in Downtown Orlando. The concept was originally developed in Gainesville where it’s been successful enough to expand to a second restaurant there and open one here in Orlando. The atmosphere inside is, as mentioned above, hip and trendy. Visiting their website, shown below will give you an idea of the look and fell, as well as the music that plays. I for one am not a fan of techno and house music with a lot of bass while I eat, but hey, some people may be! The restaurant was pretty much empty, which I will address more below. Its location is not the best as it’s hidden underneath the building. If you don’t know about it, you won’t find it.

Upon entering instead of being seated, you grab two double-sided menus, order and then seat yourself. As frequent sushi diners know, this can become a problem. The menu (sample below) is so large and overwhelming that it’ll take you about 10 minutes to look through everything and decide what you want. It’s much easier to sit and decide. The menu offers a large range of selections from bento box rice bowls, noodle soups, noodle bowls, sashimi bowls, salad bowls, and two pages of sushi rolls. On top of this they have another menu for their specialty drinks called Boba Teas which come in various flavors with additional add-ons.

Our order included the following: 2 Beers ($3.75), Cold Sake ($8), Edamame ($3.95), Szechuan Chicken with Veggies Noodle Bowl ($6.95) & Chicken Katsu Udon Soup ($6.95). The edamame came out and the first thing I noticed was there was no salt on them. This was unusual as they always come with salt. Each one I ate was dry. I just didn’t like them. It took about 15 minutes for our main courses to arrive so we sat and enjoyed our beers and sake and pushed the edamame aside. So to readdress my empty restaurant comment above, my guest and I couldn’t help but notice each time we looked up (we were sitting along the back wall facing the sushi bar) the two  sushi chefs behind the bar were constantly staring at us. It made for a slightly uncomfortable meal and we eventually just had to ignore it.

Our main dishes arrived and they were both good. Both came in large bowls with very large portions. The Noodle Bowl was spicy, just what you’d expect from a Szechuan dish. Although the chicken was overcooked, I was able to overlook it since the noodles were so good and tasty. The Udon Soup was pretty good. Lots of udon noodles with sliced breaded chicken on top which was soaking in the soup. This of course made the chicken nice and juicy which was a great compliment with the udon noodle.

Overall the meal was decent. I would give it another shot but next time, try their sushi and rice bowls. The prices for everything on the menu are excellent for the amount of food you get. Two people could have a good meal for around $25 including drinks.

I’ll have to post their hours of operation when I locate them.

http://www.bentocafesushi.com

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Napasorn’s website exclaims “Thai food created by people who know Thai food” and I definitely agree. Located on E. Pine Street, Napasorn is a quiet little restaurant that serves up some excellent Thai courses. The atmosphere inside is lacking but that’s made up for in the food which the owner calls a mix of authentic Thai and Chinese cuisine. The restaurant also has a sushi bar but there are so many other places to get good sushi in Orlando, I’ll stick to the Thai food when visiting.

Drink menu includes the usual, wine, import & domestic beer as well as hot and cold sake. We started off with a small order of Hot Saki ($6) and two bottles of Singha ($5). They also offer a larger size for $9.50 which we should have gotten. For two people, the small order yielded us two servings each. We found ourselves ordering another 15 minutes later, so if you order the hot saki, just go with a large right off the bat. It’ll save you some money.

For appetizers we order the Crispy Spring Rolls ($3.95) and the Sate Gai ($5.95). The spring rolls were filled with ground chicken and vegetables served with a homemade sauce. The sauce was nice and light which paired well with the rolls. Overall they were just a typical spring roll, good, but nothing special. The Sate Gai was chicken marinated in Thai herbs and coconut milk, served with a peanut sauce dip over a cucumber salad. This was nothing more than a chicken satay and the chicken was extremely dry. The only thing good about this dish was the peanut sauce dip.

For our main courses we got the Cashew Nut ($10.95) and the Yellow Curry ($11.95). Both main dishes were excellent. When you order you tell them how hot you’d like the dish. Options are mild, medium, hot and Thai hot.  Both dishes were ordered medium so we could concentrate on the flavor without being too distracted by sweating foreheads and flushing our mouths with water. The cashew dish was described as “slightly” marinated chicken sautéed in garlic, red peppers, celery, onions and roasted cashew nuts accompanied by a bed of white rice. The flavor was excellent and you can never go wrong with sautéed cashews with spicy Thai flavor. The yellow curry dish included sliced chicken with onions and potatoes in sweet yellow curry and coconut milk. The only complaint was there were only three or four pieces of potato in the entire bowl. Other than that the dish was excellent.

Overall the food at Napasorn was great as well as the service. The appetizers were lacking but the main entrees were excellent. I’d definitely recommend Napasorn if you’re looking for great tasting Thai food at affordable prices.

Hours:

Monday - Thursday: 11:00 AM - 10:00PM
Friday: 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM
Saturday: 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Sunday: 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

http://www.napasornthai.com/

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Nonna Trattoria ed Enoteca, Nonna for short, is a little Italian restaurant in College Park. The restaurant itself is actually an old house that’s been remodeled to fit a restaurant. It was recently taken over and renamed by Chef/Co-Owner Kevin Fonzo & his brother Chef/Co-Owner Greg Fonzo. Kevin is most notably known for his restaurant, K Restaurant Wine Bar, which is just a few blocks down the street. Inside Nonna is a small bar with two main dining rooms. With a warm feeling in the dining rooms, the atmosphere reminds me of small Italian restaurants I’ve visited in Italy. Nonna also has an outdoor dining porch which is perfect dining on cool nights. The menu changes nightly and everything is made to order which allowed for short breaks between each course. If you’re in a hurry to eat and run, this isn’t the place for you unless you order takeout.

The wine list offers a good variety of choices. A bottle of 2005 Clos Lachance ($35) was promptly delivered and poured. Not once during the visit was my glass empty, but never more than half full. Accompanying the wine was their Beef Carpaccio ($10). Thin slices of beef with ricotta salata topped off with some lemon oil and basil. It was an excellent dish, the carpaccio dissolved in my mouth and the flavor was perfect.

After the carpaccio was finished two salads arrived. The first was an Arugula Salad ($7) with gorgonzola cheese, grapes and walnuts topped off with balsamic vinaigrette. The second was a Caprese Salad ($8), yellow and red tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil with the traditional balsamic and olive oil. The arugula salad was excellent. The grapes and walnuts were a fine compliment to the sometimes strong pungent gorgonzola cheese. The caprese salad was served a little differently than the traditional mozzarella stacked on top of the tomato. The tomatoes and mozzarella were chopped up and served like a fruit salad. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe; especially the yellow ones had a wonderful sweet taste.

For our entrées we ordered the Veal “Milanese” ($21) and the Roast Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breast “Saltimbocca” ($19). Both entrées were large portions. The breaded veal cutlet came with sautéed crushed potatoes, lemon butter and an olive-caper relish. The lemon butter was perfect along with the addition of the olive-caper relish, a unique combination which worked. A piece of the veal, tender potato with some relish was a superb bite. The chicken breast was stuffed with fontina cheese and sage and was wrapped in prosciutto which was nice and crispy, but not over done. The chicken sat on top of polenta with tomato basil butter. Upon slicing off a piece of chicken, fontina cheese and sage seeped out. A bite of chicken, cheese and the polenta with a little basil butter was an excellent blend of great taste. Both of the entrées were excellent.

Finally their desert menu arrived. We ordered two deserts, a traditional homemade Canoli ($5) and the “Zuppa Inglese” ($7). The canoli was good, but nothing special about it. The Zuppa Inglese was served in a tall desert glass. It had lady fingers, house made preserves with cheese cake gelato and sweet cream. It was excellent and I’d recommend it as an after dinner treat.

Overall the entire meal was great. The service was excellent and non-invading. I’d recommend Nonna if you’re looking for a great Italian meal with great food and flavors.

Restaurant Hours:

Thursday, Friday & Saturday: 5-10pm

http://www.nonnawinebar.com

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Just to give you a little background on Jade Bistro, the restaurant has been a staple in College Park for many years. It is located in the heart of College Park in a small strip mall which houses about 5-7 restaurants/stores.  But before you say “Strip Mall?” Jade was named “Best Chinese” by The Orlando Weekly for 2003-2004. They are open for lunch and dinner and usually have a good size crowd seated. On their menu they advertise Asian Cuisine as well as a Sushi Bar. Jade offers indoor as well as outdoor seating, which is dog friendly if you’re looking for a place to bring along your furry friend.

Upon our arrival we were immediately greeted, seated and promptly brought water, plates, chopsticks and menus. The atmosphere outside was cozy yet elegant with just a few tables and the inside had a warm and slightly modern feel with several booths and tables throughout, not to mention the 20 foot sushi bar in the center of the restaurant.

We started our dining experience with a bottle of cold unfiltered Momokowa Pearl Saki ($14) and an order of the Summer Rolls ($3.95). The peanut sauce, which accompanied the roll’s, had an almost smoky flavor which added a little zing with each bite. The shrimp inside the rolls tasted fresh as well as the vermicelli and green onion.

Next, we were served an order of the Steamed Pork Dumplings ($4.95). 6 total dumplings delivered with a traditional dipping sauce on a plate. Upon first bite, my guest and I noticed that they were cold. Had the dumplings been served in a traditional bamboo steamer, they would have remained their desirable tempertaure. They were quite tasty, but I couldn’t get past their chill.

After the dumplings arrived an order of the Tuna Kobachi ($8.95). The dish is simple. Fresh tuna diced and seasoned with spicy sesame oil and pepper sauce. The taste was excellent. The fresh red tuna melted in my mouth with each bite. 

With the appetizers finished we put in our order for 2 rolls and an order of white tuna nigiri. It took about 15 minutes until our sushi was delivered. First up was the traditional Spicy Tuna Roll ($5). For me, this roll is a staple whenever going out for Sushi, it’s a basic roll traditionally served at all sushi restaurants and it allows me to truly see how fresh their tuna is. First bite and all I tasted was a chewy seaweed wrap. Each piece must have taken me nearly 3 minutes to chew. It was a chewy dry disaster. The second roll was the Mexican Roll ($7). In this roll you will find avocado, masago, a slice of jalapeño pepper and shrimp tempura for that oh so tasy added crunch. First bite, and once again all we tasted was a chewy seaweed wrap. The components of the roll were also flavorless and the tempura shrimp didn’t have that crunchy goodness that I was looking for. I found it hard to get past the chewy seaweed wrap yet again. The last item served was White Tuna nigiri style ($4). It was like butter, deliciousy fresh and delightful. This definetly hit the spot and capped off what looked to be a horrible sushi experience at Jade.

After the sushi was finished we placed an order for some Classic Chicken Fried Rice ($7.55) as well as an order of the Honey Garlic Chicken ($10.95). Both looked enticing. The fried rice wasn’t dry at all and there was plenty to take home as leftovers. The honey garlic chicken was excellent. Slightly crispy pieces of chicken covered in a golden honey and garlic sauce. My guest and I were both completely pleased with these dishes!

Overall the food was good, with the best items being the Tuna Kobachi, White Tuna & Honey Garlic eChicken.  Overall the service was satisfactory. If your looking for a quiet neighborhood restaurant with a craving for Asian Cuisine, then Jade is a great spot.

Hours: 

 http://www.jadebistro.com/

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Welcome to the Orlando Food Blog. Each week we will feature and review a new restaurant and cuisine from around Orlando. If you like what you read, please consider signing up to our RSS feed so you’ll be notified when a new review becomes available.

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