shaun&miranda
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2005
- Messages
- 221
On our trip this Christmas, we went to a couple of really nice off site restaurants.
First, Texas de Brazil, up by the Prime Outlets. We went on a Saturday night at 9pm - you definitely need to reserve or you will need to wait for about an hour!
It was really very good, but was expensive. The idea is that you get to your table, get served some amazing little bread rolls with melted cheese in the middle, then you go to the "salad bar" and then servers bring around 14 different cuts of meat on skewers. You signal with a drinks coaster whether you would like to be offered more meat or not.
The best points about this place were the quality of the meat, and the incredible range of the salad bar - HUGE platters of parma ham, mozzerella, italian/mediterranean salads, roasted peppers etc.
The worst thing was that there was no real system for getting into the salad bar queue - you just had to muscle in somewhere, and it took forever to get all around the display (like 20 mins - it is enormous!). Was also a bit annoying that Coke etc is only sold by the bottle with no free refills.
There is NO point coming here if you don't like steak. There is stuff for veggies to eat on the salad bar, but seriously, the point of this place is BEEF!
Overall, we did really enjoy Texas de Brazil, and will definitely go back, but was more expensive than we expected!
Another great restaurant we tried was on I-Drive by the Mercado - Cafe Tu Tu Tango.
This was another really good meal - very different! There is art all over the walls and music that plays quite loudly to set the tone. We saw belly dancers who did tricks with stacks of (lit) candles and walking canes etc.
The food you order is "tapas" style - small plates for about 6 bucks a piece, with enough stuff on for a good few mouthfuls each. We had some great chicken wings, meatballs, marinaded kebabs and a quesadilla. Didn't really care for the shrimp we ordered, but that was a personal taste thing - was cooked really nicely.
The atmosphere here was terrific, with a live artist painting while we ate too - we will definitely go back here. The price was also VERY reasonable!
We also went to the Olive Garden by Florida Mall - terrific value. You go in and order a dish - I had Spaghetti with chicken, peppers in spicy tomato sauce, and they bring you limitless garlic breadsticks (yummy) and you can choose soup or salad -we chose salad and it comes fresh tossed in a huge bowl with fresh grated parmesan cheese unless you say no to the server. The salad also gets refilled if you like. Then your food comes!
You get lots of food for your dollars here - we paid about 20 bucks for an enormous meal and came away very happy. It wasn't a gourmet experience, but it was a very welcome great value meal!
We also ate twice at Benihana in the Lake Buena Vista Hilton near Downtown.
Benihana is a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant - 8 of you sit around a large hot plate and a chef comes to cook your food in front of you, to the way you ask for it.
The food here was outstanding. We ordered chateaubriand and filet for about 30 bucks each, and each meal comes with soup, salad, a shrimp appetiser, veggies and rice. We upgraded for a couple of bucks to the fried rice- well worth it! You can order cheaper meals - I think the chicken meal is 20 bucks.
The chefs do tricks like making the onions look like a volcano and making the veggies into a hidden mickey - it's really cool. Definitely recommend Benihana!
Happy eating everyone, hope this helps you in your decisions!
Miranda
First, Texas de Brazil, up by the Prime Outlets. We went on a Saturday night at 9pm - you definitely need to reserve or you will need to wait for about an hour!
It was really very good, but was expensive. The idea is that you get to your table, get served some amazing little bread rolls with melted cheese in the middle, then you go to the "salad bar" and then servers bring around 14 different cuts of meat on skewers. You signal with a drinks coaster whether you would like to be offered more meat or not.
The best points about this place were the quality of the meat, and the incredible range of the salad bar - HUGE platters of parma ham, mozzerella, italian/mediterranean salads, roasted peppers etc.
The worst thing was that there was no real system for getting into the salad bar queue - you just had to muscle in somewhere, and it took forever to get all around the display (like 20 mins - it is enormous!). Was also a bit annoying that Coke etc is only sold by the bottle with no free refills.
There is NO point coming here if you don't like steak. There is stuff for veggies to eat on the salad bar, but seriously, the point of this place is BEEF!
Overall, we did really enjoy Texas de Brazil, and will definitely go back, but was more expensive than we expected!
Another great restaurant we tried was on I-Drive by the Mercado - Cafe Tu Tu Tango.
This was another really good meal - very different! There is art all over the walls and music that plays quite loudly to set the tone. We saw belly dancers who did tricks with stacks of (lit) candles and walking canes etc.
The food you order is "tapas" style - small plates for about 6 bucks a piece, with enough stuff on for a good few mouthfuls each. We had some great chicken wings, meatballs, marinaded kebabs and a quesadilla. Didn't really care for the shrimp we ordered, but that was a personal taste thing - was cooked really nicely.
The atmosphere here was terrific, with a live artist painting while we ate too - we will definitely go back here. The price was also VERY reasonable!
We also went to the Olive Garden by Florida Mall - terrific value. You go in and order a dish - I had Spaghetti with chicken, peppers in spicy tomato sauce, and they bring you limitless garlic breadsticks (yummy) and you can choose soup or salad -we chose salad and it comes fresh tossed in a huge bowl with fresh grated parmesan cheese unless you say no to the server. The salad also gets refilled if you like. Then your food comes!
You get lots of food for your dollars here - we paid about 20 bucks for an enormous meal and came away very happy. It wasn't a gourmet experience, but it was a very welcome great value meal!
We also ate twice at Benihana in the Lake Buena Vista Hilton near Downtown.
Benihana is a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant - 8 of you sit around a large hot plate and a chef comes to cook your food in front of you, to the way you ask for it.
The food here was outstanding. We ordered chateaubriand and filet for about 30 bucks each, and each meal comes with soup, salad, a shrimp appetiser, veggies and rice. We upgraded for a couple of bucks to the fried rice- well worth it! You can order cheaper meals - I think the chicken meal is 20 bucks.
The chefs do tricks like making the onions look like a volcano and making the veggies into a hidden mickey - it's really cool. Definitely recommend Benihana!
Happy eating everyone, hope this helps you in your decisions!
Miranda
