did you know that Z has a stubborn streak? If everyone and their dog watched Titanic, he’d pass. If everyone jumped off a bridge, he couldn’t! If anyone and everyone ate at In N Out, he would only do it if I asked nicely. Just out of a desire not to follow the crowds I suppose. But we did. Drove through a drive through and picked up a couple of singles (no double doubles animal style for us). Nothing spectacular. He thought the burger tasted like Wendy’s.
september was (was! I am so behind!) Magical Dining Month here in Orlando. It is a month where various restaurants around the city have three courses for $30 per person. We usually try to make it to at least one of these. Last month was crazy for us and we only made it to The Kitchen. The Kitchen is a signature restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel. It is on the property at Universal Orlando.
The decor is kind of what you’d expect – lots of artifacts from the world of rock n roll.
We were surprised how quiet it was. They didn’t have much of a buzz and it was half empty. This was a little weird for us and we felt a bit conspicuous. We perused the menu and while I appreciate that there is a hefty entertainment ‘tax’ on restaurants like this their menu was surprisingly pricy. We stuck to the magical menu and I chose -calimari for my app. It was funny with both rings and tentacles and was a bit fishy for me. I also chose… surprise!!?! a burger. I don’t know what it is with me. I just love them. This was an $18 dollar version and probably more expensive that any I have ever had. When it came to the table it was sized for three people which may have had something to do with it. It was super beefy on a nice butter roll and had ALL the requirements – onion ring, bacon, cheese, beefsteak tomato and lettuce and a huge oversized and cute condiment cup of fries. A huge deep fried pickle closed the deal. It was all really tasty- kind of excessive even. Z had nice bruschetta, much chefier with heirloom tomato, balsamic reduction and crispy bread. He also had some nice cedar planked salmon with corn pudding. Very nod to fall. By the time we hit our banana bread pudding we were spent. The portions were so huge I could hardly enjoy my bruleed bananas and rum sauce. It was all just a bit overkilled and didn’t have perfect execution. We enjoyed our time though and I did love the burger.
We spent a few minutes as we wandered our way out looking at guitars and rockers outfits.
since I am on a roll with the big revelations-I will admit that I bought a new book that borders on ridiculous. Food, Cookin’ it. Livin’ it. Lovin’ It by Guy Fieri That’s right. I can’t tell you the draw but it is full of drawings, photos and sort of cranked up classics, everything from apps to dessert. We cooked a new burger out of it. A bit different than many I’ve made in that it has a mix of beef and pork and is topped with sizzled pepperoni and mozz making it a kinda pizza burger. Fun book that I am looking forward to burning though although hopefully not the food.
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| the welcome burger |
standing around chatting about future weekend and dinner plans last week the idea for this burger was presented to me by it’s namesake. So a shout out to her. It was one of those conversations that rolled between me being a hater of chain restaurants (but not always) and liking food sometimes better at home but I was encouraged to try this one out and tonight we did. I am not sure if I made it true to her letter but it was pretty darn good and is a keeper. I did change from her recommended sauce out of necessity but this worked out really well.
Potato bun – lightly toasted with a little butter
Ground Turkey griddled and basted with reduced Lawry’s teriyaki marinade with a bit of added brown sugar
thick slice of grilled Vidalia onion
slice of grilled pineapple (I have a Lodge Cast Iron Grill Pan – awesome)
Pepper Jack Slice
Bacon Slice
On the side we had a new product, Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs (glorified sweet potato tots) They were tasty but not crispy in that normal sweet potato way. I’d probably cook them a bit longer next time. I enjoyed them but wished for that crispy crunch.
friday night we left the house under dubious skies and struck out for a new restaurant in Winter Park called Jimmy Hula’s It’s been open for about a month so should have surpassed the newbie opening error stage, It is a fast casual kind of place decked out literally with a large wraparound porch and comfy seats inside that look like boat seat cushions. There is surfing lifestyle paraphernalia everyplace including boards and tiki huts. You stand in line which is kind of slow and watch the menu board flip by. It is a little complicated to figure out what you want based on the flip actually. I had the advantage of perusing the menu online before we went so had some idea – Z less so and for him it was hard to figure out what he wanted. I think they probably lose some sales and ad-ons like apps because of it.
I ordered the Burnt Reynolds burger – fried egg, bacon, potato chips and ketchup. Z had a Pipeline Pork – citrus marinated pulled pork with voodoo sauce. The pork was really tasty. His sandwich was better than mine though – my burger was not hot or particularly juicy. We also ordered three sides to go with. Jalapeno bottlecaps, onion petals and curly fries. All had sat just a bit too long – they weren’t really fresh or crunchy. The voodoo sauce on the side of my petals was tasty.
I think they could have done better. For the mediocre food – it was packed – which shows that this is what people are looking for. The prices are reasonable and it had good ambiance. We were there for the food though and it could be kicked up a notch.
My Urban Pantry 