Just a little plug for the Central Florida VegFest at Loch Haven Park on October 23, 2010 from 10am to 6pm. There will be lots of vegetarian and vegan food, vendors, free samples and information. Some of last year’s food vendors were Khayisat, Dandelion, Drunken Monkey, Ethos, and Loving Hut (among others). Hopefully they will be at VegFest again this year. It’s a lot of fun and you get to support local vendors, artists, and craftsmen. Hope to see you there!
7 Oct
White Wolf Cafe – Once a gem, now lost in the dust
This is a hard review to write. I was so looking forward to going to White Wolf Cafe on Antique Row near Lake Ivanhoe in downtown Orlando. The atmosphere was great, the drinks were cold and the food was wonderful and thoughtfully prepared. Yes, I did say was.
We ended up at White Wolf Cafe after seeing a local play at the Downtown Theatre just a few blocks away. The last page of the program had a coupon for a free drink, so that gave us even more incentive. After we sat down and ordered our drinks, we only quickly glanced over the menu because, hey, I knew what I wanted – Eggplant Rolatini. But then I look closer and it’s not there. Uh-Oh. What’s going on? That was a very popular item. In fact a few of the times we had been, they were actually sold out of it. We then start looking more closely. There use to be several vegetarian options, good entrees and mouth-watering appetizers that can serve as a meal. But now, there is just a small handful of basic options that fail to impress.
We started with the hummus appetizer. We’ve had this before and it was always a very tasty homemade hummus – creamy and a good consistency. This time it tasted like it came from the grocery store. To top it off, it was very stiff and cold – like when you first pull a store-bought container out of the refrigerator. Uh-Oh again.
We then shared the Tijuana Flatbread. It was not what I expected. The bread part of it was only crispy on the outer rim. There was way too much cheese, but it seemed like the veggies were tossed on late because they were not melted in and instead were falling off in every direction. The cook had also failed to properly drain the beans, which made the whole thing very soggy and difficult to eat. It wasn’t prepared with the same care that we normally experienced with the other food served there.
For dessert, we ordered the Tiramisu, which I have also had before. It was formerly quite delicious, this time it was served half falling over and breaking apart. Coffee and rum flavors were completely missing; the taste hardly worth the price or the calories.
Frustrated by the obvious decline in quality, we asked our server about the changes. He explained that the owner wanted to have everything on the menu “made-to-order” instead of made hours in advance. He confirmed that yes, the Eggplant Rolatini had been one of the more popular offerings, but was axed because it took too long to prepare.
So while he gave us the company line highlighting “freshness” and “made-to-order”, what we heard was “In order to reduce operating costs, we are limiting the amount of prep time needed each day by simplifying our menu and changing some of our homemade items to frozen/canned”. Good food takes time, but clearly WW can’t be bothered and have abandoned what once made them great. And thus, the downfall of one of Orlando’s best restaurants.
31 Aug
Mellow Mushroom – They have trivia too!
Mellow Mushroom has become a fairly regular staple of our diet. They have a wide selection of vegetarian (and vegan) choices, use fresh and quality ingredients, and the food is just damn good! Oh, they also have a nice selection of beers, including 4-5 rotating microbrews, a beer club, trivia Tue & Fri nights, and a myriad of others special events.
First up, a little about the restaurant. Mellow Mushroom is an Atlanta, Georgia based chain that operates dozens of locations throughout the southeast and parts of the midwest. They seem to be most popular in areas near colleges/universities, as it does have a funky and off-beat feel, but rumor has it that each location is given a lot of leeway to be different from all the other locations. Locally, in the Orlando area there are two MMs: on Aloma in Winter Park (next to Whole Foods) and just west of the intersection of E Colonial & Alafaya (somewhat near UCF & Waterford Lakes). The UCF location is the one we frequent.
The Beer: The UCF MM offers a Beer Club where the goal is to eventually try 50 different beers. Once you hit 50, the big prize is that all future beers you purchase at MM come in a 20 oz glass for the price of the usual 16 oz. There are also a few other prizes (including a t-shirt). There are also rewards along the way to 50; i.e. you get a free order of Wild Garlic Balls when you hit 20.
Munchies: The Wild Garlic Balls are fantastic! They are the must-try item if you’ve never been to MM. They are pieces of their pizza dough, perfectly seasoned with garlic and parmesan cheese with marinara sauce for dipping.But aside from that, the Bruschetta is far from what you would see in a traditional Italian restaurant but is quite good. The pretzels are also good, although we’ve only had the Garlic & Parmesean kind.
Salads: I know, I know; a salad is often the last resort when we are stuck at some veggie un-friendly restaurant so why get one here? Because they are really good and fresh, that’s why. They offer a handful of different salads (I like the Brutus, myself), but you can also build your own from scratch. If you want something on the lighter side or are watching the calories, these can be a really good option. But if you are hungry for something really good, might I recommend…
The Subs: Finally, a place that offers more than a lousy salad on a roll; these are some
awesome subs! My hands-down favorite has to be the Tempeh sub (Pictured right): Marinated & grilled tempeh with mushrooms, grilled peppers & onions, pesto mayo, feta cheese and sprouts. It’s a delicious (and a bit salty) bit of heaven. But honestly, so are the Capri (a Bruschetta-esque sub also with pesto mayo) and the Portobello & Cheese (pictured left) which comes with Artichokes & sun-dried tomatoes. Ok, so they’re all my favorite.
Pizza:
The dough that Mellow Mushroom uses is made with Spring Water and has a unique, slighlty sweet taste. It’s perfectly cooked and rises to form a crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside crust. It isn’t a thin crust, but is no way near thick either. Just enough to give you a taste and support your toppings. Mellow Mushroom has put together some very unique and delicious pizza combinations.
And don’t hesitate to ask for substitutions. I’ve never been denied a substitution nor have they ever charged me for doing so. So go ahead, get the Jerk Chicken Sub (sub Tempeh for Chicken – its good), or the Philosopher Pie (sub Tempeh for Steak – it’s really good). And better yet, multiple locations carry Daiya Vegan Cheese – check their website for which stores carry it, but for you locals I’ve heard that Winter Park recently started offering it.
And while you are there, the UCF location has group trivia every Tuesday at 8 and Friday at 9:30. Prizes are gift certificates to Mellow Mushroom. It’s a lot of fun and the trivia host Mike does a great job. But man, some of his questions are HARD! If you are interested in trivia, check out their Facebook page – Orlando Shroom Trivia before each game for a clue to one question.
Hope to see you there!
16 Aug
First Watch
On Sunday, we ventured out with the family to try a new breakfast place and decided on First Watch. They have several Orlando locations, but we went to the one at 3402 Technological Avenue, which is on University just east of Rouse Rd. They are open 7am – 2pm everyday. They serve breakfast, brunch, and lunch.
Our mistake was getting there at 11am on a Sunday, it was packed… really packed! And because of the heat, everyone was waiting inside. When we signed in, we were told the wait was 20-25 minutes. It turned out to be more like 35 minutes, but this was not because of the restaurant. They were moving to get people seated as quick as possible, but they have very limited seating that accomodates groups of 5 or more. Most tables/booths are your standard 2 or 4 top. They did, however, have free coffee & water available for waiting patrons; a much appreciated gesture that should be an industry standard, but sadly is not.
Vicky: I ordered the Florida French Toast. It was very fresh and yummy. It was 3 pieces of sourdough french toast, with wheat germ and powdered cinnamon sugar, covered with fresh bananas, kiwi and berries and a warm blueberry and raspberry syrup. It was delicious. The french toast was light and cooked just right, and the fruit was freshly sliced. The syrup was a nice combination with the toast. It was very filling and I ate 2 of the 3 pieces of toast, while Matt finished the last piece for me.
My mother ordered the diced veggie skillet. This came out with seasoned potatoes and cheese, topped with two scrambled eggs. It was also served with an English muffin and fresh fruit. You can get the eggs anyway you want them. She said it was very good, but a lot of food. She couldn’t finish it all. The potatoes were seasoned perfectly, not too spicy, and not too plain, but the vegetables could have been cooked a little more.
Matt: I ordered one of the day’s specials: a Spinach & Artichoke Dip Omellete which came with potatoes and an English Muffin. First, the potatoes. They serve proper breakfast potatoes at First Watch, the kind that are like little cube-shaped French Fries, and they are well done. As for the omellete though…I was hoping for the spinach & artichokes to be incorporated into the omellete, but instead it was like someone just dumped a generic spinach artichoke dip on top of a cheese omellete and slapped some sliced tomatoes in there. It was ok, but I would not get it again. Instead, I’d go with the Diced Veggie Skillet that Vicky’s mother ordered; I’ve had it on previous visits and it was pretty good.
Bonus: Every table comes equipped with Chulula Hot Sauce; a fine complement for the potatoes and/or eggs.
First Watch seems to really pride itself on presenting a healthy and tasty alternative to the sea of calorie & fat-laden IHOPs, Dennys, and greasy diners that are too often the accepted standard of Sunday Brunches across America. But for such a health-focused group, I’m a little suprised that there aren’t more vegetarian options available. They offer dining guides for those with Low-Carb, Gluten-Free, or Allergen considerations, but no love for vegetarians or vegans. Veg options include: French Toast, Pancakes, Greek or Veggie Omellete, Veggie Wrap, and a handful of other options. They have a nice list of salads, but every single salad comes standard with chicken and/or bacon. As for you vegans out there? The Veggie Wrap (sans feta) is really your only option, because their Allergen Guide confirms that the crepes, pancakes, and french toast all contain eggs.
In all, First Watch is an acceptable vegetarian option for breakfast but nothing too outstanding. I’d rather make breakfast at home, or better yet, make that Sunday morning drive on down to Ethos…
16 Aug
Broadway Ristorante & Pizza
We work at UCF, and many days we want to run out and grab something quick for lunch. Broadway is located across the street from campus at 12279 University Blvd, in the shopping plaza on the NW corner of University Blvd and Alafaya Trail (They have 4 locations throughout the greater Orlando area, plus locations in Tampa & Jax). It’s a small restaurant with about 8 booths, 2 tables, and 3 outdoor tables. The inside decor follows the predictable NYC theme with a large mural of NYC and Broadway play posters scattered around the restaurant. They are open Sun – Wed 11am – 2am and Thurs - Sat 11am-4am. At lunch time it can get quite packed, mainly due to its proximity to UCF and Siemens. We found out today that this will be alleviated in the coming months, as Broadway is expanding and taking over the suite next door that was Fusion. They will also be adding a full bar, whereas they currently only serve beer and wine. This plaza is quite the college hangout and expanding and adding in a full bar is a move in the right direction. Broadway also delivers to the nearby area, which is perfect for those days you want some yummy pizza, but don’t want to get in your car.
We have been eating here for years. So much so that the server, Johnnie, knows what our “usual” is. We also really like that we can get our Sweet Tea in a large to-go cup from the start to take with us back to work. We’ve seen lots of other regulars do this as well. We have been here a few times late at night. And by late I mean 1 or 2 am on the weekend. Nothing is better after a night out than a good pizza! But its worth noting that they do stop selling individual slices at 5pm, so late night visitors will have to order a whole pie. If you go during mid-afternoon (between 2-5), you can get discounted slices and their always available $1 Buds, making for a cheap meal.
On this particular visit, I (Matt) ordered two slices of Sicilian Cheese Pizza. It is usually very good, but the one drawback we’ve noticed with Broadway is that there appears to be some inconsistency depending on who is in the kitchen. On this visit, I felt the pizza could have used another minute in the oven as the cheese wasn’t quite melted as much as it should be.
On this visit, I (Vicky), ordered the calzone lunch special, which consisted on a cheese calzone and a house salad. The house salad was basic, but tasted good. It consists of iceberg lettuce, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and olives (I had them hold the olives). I went with blue cheese for the dressing. Matt and I share always share the salad.
The calzone came out hot enough that the cheese was melted throughly, but not too hot to eat,and had melted butter on the top. The side of marinara sauce was warmed perfectly for dipping. It’s a decently sized calzone, and even with sharing the salad, I couldn’t finish the whole thing. This lunch special was well worth the $6.25.
Appetizers : The appetizer menu is making my mouth water. For us vegetarians, there is a lot on this menu. From a Pesto or Asiago Bruchetta to Fried Ravioli to Jalapeño Poppers. Throw in a few types of garlic bread and some mozzarella sticks and you’ll see the majority of this section is vegetarian.
Dinners: There is a section of the menu devoted to “Vegetable Dinners”. These are your pasta dinners whose focus is the vegetables. There is no meat on these dishes. You have the Italian restaurant standards: 5 Cheese Ziti, Eggplant Parmigiana, Spinach Lasagna. You also have Eggplant Florentine, Tomato & Basil Tortelloni, and a Tuscan Veggie Pasta. On the “Traditional Dinners” section, you have the basics, Spaghetti with marinara sauce, Stuffed Shells, Ravioli, and Fettuccini Alfredo. We have confirmed with the manager that their marinara sauce does not contain clam juice.
Pizzas, Calzones & Strombolis: Broadway serves New York style pizza and Sicilian. They have the standard pizza toppings; sorry no tofu or tempeh here. They have a Stuffed Veggie Pizza as well that looks really good. Of course, no pizza place would be complete without calzones and strombolis. The base calzone comes with mozzarella and ricotta cheese and you can add in any of the pizza toppings. They also have a stromveggie with green peppers, mushrooms, onions, spinach and cheese. Both the calzone and stromveggie are served with marinara sauce on the side.
All in all, if you are in the area, Broadway is a great place for lunch. We can’t wait to see how their expansion turns out and will do another review then, with a specific focus on some of their dinner entrees.
Vicky
Matt
