Johnnies Hideaway
Disney/Lake Buena Vista / Orlando
Johnnies Hideaway is an excellent choice for a restaurant close to the Disney property that isn't a chain and serves great food. I'll admit I was a bit concerned about this recommendation while trying to find restaurant as you drive down a strip mall road passing several chain restaurants. My fears were quickly dissolved as we were greeted by a smiling valet. As we're "Yankees" and it was a beautiful 80 degree early March night, we opted for the deck outside. Be sure to block out the highway on one side & the strip mall traffic on the other and focus on the hour hour menu!
Giant Shrimp cocktail, mussels, oysters, shrimp & lobster fritters available to order per piece could be a meal in itself! Absolutely amazing. Throw in a nice dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed olives, made to perfection, I might add, and you have perfection!
The menu includes a huge selection of seafood options, this is the restaurant's specialty and I suggest you make your selections in this direction. My dining partner had an enormous grouper with crab cake special, it was incredible. I on the other hand choose the filet and crab claw add on. The steak was what you'd expect for a chain restaurant, quite a disappointment. The baked potato with your selection of toppings at table side was quite good but as big as your head. The crab claws were good but difficult to crack. We learned that Mondays bring a full on crab feast, that would be worth coming back to Johnnies to experience.
For the area, I'd say Johnnies is a winner! Pick the seafood & enjoy!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Timpanos Orlando
Timpanos
Orlando, FL
This restaurant offers free shuttle service to local hotels which is a bonus after a long day of travel or conventions. be cautious of the drivers schedule for your return trip as you may need to wait, however the management will do there best to keep you informed.
Timpanos is an Italian Chophouse, from my visits to the restaurant, I find it to focus more on Italian specialties and seafood or this seems to be what I and other patron around me were gravitating to order most. Timpanos offers an excellent wine list. The bar area is very trendy and comfortable and outside seating is available when the weather permits.
The Jumbo Lump Crab cakes with Sriracha-lime and basil aioli sauces was amazing, I'd highly recommend this as an appetizer to everyone. The Wedge salad was a very nice, light variety of a wedge with a red wine vinaigrette.
For the main course, I enjoyed the Shrimp Fra Diavolo, this was an interesting version of this dish which included Shrimp, asparagus, spinach in a spicy rosa sauce with a dollop of goat cheese & pine nuts. The portion was on the smaller side but very good, my bowl was practically licked clean.
At any Italian restaurant, I find the real test lies in something as simple as a meatball, and a meatball lover I am! So, as expected I ordered a side a meatballs. I received a loney ball with little to no sauce. It seemed tender on the meatball scale but didn't provide a good overview of the sauce that might come along with it.
The Tiramisu dessert was ridiculous! It came out and was the size of my head. It was very good but could feed a family for a week.
Orlando, FL
This restaurant offers free shuttle service to local hotels which is a bonus after a long day of travel or conventions. be cautious of the drivers schedule for your return trip as you may need to wait, however the management will do there best to keep you informed.
Timpanos is an Italian Chophouse, from my visits to the restaurant, I find it to focus more on Italian specialties and seafood or this seems to be what I and other patron around me were gravitating to order most. Timpanos offers an excellent wine list. The bar area is very trendy and comfortable and outside seating is available when the weather permits.
The Jumbo Lump Crab cakes with Sriracha-lime and basil aioli sauces was amazing, I'd highly recommend this as an appetizer to everyone. The Wedge salad was a very nice, light variety of a wedge with a red wine vinaigrette.
For the main course, I enjoyed the Shrimp Fra Diavolo, this was an interesting version of this dish which included Shrimp, asparagus, spinach in a spicy rosa sauce with a dollop of goat cheese & pine nuts. The portion was on the smaller side but very good, my bowl was practically licked clean.
At any Italian restaurant, I find the real test lies in something as simple as a meatball, and a meatball lover I am! So, as expected I ordered a side a meatballs. I received a loney ball with little to no sauce. It seemed tender on the meatball scale but didn't provide a good overview of the sauce that might come along with it.
The Tiramisu dessert was ridiculous! It came out and was the size of my head. It was very good but could feed a family for a week.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Vines Grille & Wine Bar Orlando
Late February 2012
Vines Grille & Wine Bar
Orlando, FL
The bar was busy and lively with a terrific wine list. Starting with a glass of Chardonnay Mer Soleil at the bar was a magical start to the evening.
Although it was a Tuesday night, I'd still recommend reservations, by the time we had finished a glass of wine and moved over to the host desk to sit for dinner we were informed in an eye rolling manner that we had about a 45 minute wait for a table but were welcome to eat at the bar. Although our bar stools had been quickly snatched up, we found a comfortable high top table that was a little further away from the live music which actually made conversation more enjoyable. Our waitress was friendly & attentive. As this Vines is known for it's beef, we ordered a bottle of The Velvet Devil, a Merlot that is very smooth and reasonably priced.
Dinner started with an app of calamari which included a unique twist by adding hot peppers in with the calamari rings. Following salads came the main course of Wagyu beef filet mignon which was absolutely delish! Probably one of the best steaks I've eaten. The marbling in the beef makes it tender but not fatty, it was cooked very well. For sides, we had the lobster Mac & Cheese, it was a bit lackluster, not really cheesy or lobster filled as well as the asparagus, which was expected.
Overall, Vines gets a high mark for it's fantastic beef, nice wine list and lively atmosphere.
Vines Grille & Wine Bar
Orlando, FL
The bar was busy and lively with a terrific wine list. Starting with a glass of Chardonnay Mer Soleil at the bar was a magical start to the evening.
Although it was a Tuesday night, I'd still recommend reservations, by the time we had finished a glass of wine and moved over to the host desk to sit for dinner we were informed in an eye rolling manner that we had about a 45 minute wait for a table but were welcome to eat at the bar. Although our bar stools had been quickly snatched up, we found a comfortable high top table that was a little further away from the live music which actually made conversation more enjoyable. Our waitress was friendly & attentive. As this Vines is known for it's beef, we ordered a bottle of The Velvet Devil, a Merlot that is very smooth and reasonably priced.
Dinner started with an app of calamari which included a unique twist by adding hot peppers in with the calamari rings. Following salads came the main course of Wagyu beef filet mignon which was absolutely delish! Probably one of the best steaks I've eaten. The marbling in the beef makes it tender but not fatty, it was cooked very well. For sides, we had the lobster Mac & Cheese, it was a bit lackluster, not really cheesy or lobster filled as well as the asparagus, which was expected.
Overall, Vines gets a high mark for it's fantastic beef, nice wine list and lively atmosphere.
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