Category: food review

food share | [ORL] kai asian street fare

There are very few things I would want to do and if money wasn’t a thing that stopped me, I would want to be a “professional” food tester. Haha, is that a thing? (It is. I looked it up.) Then again, I say this because I have no clue what exactly happens in this field.

Today was a very cold and windy day. So JW and I looked up a new place to try out.

“What are you feeling to eat right now?”
“Mm, soup? Sounds good since it’s pretty cold.”
“Ooh, okay!”
“Have you tried *****?”
“Mm, I have.. wasn’t impressed by the service last time I was there.”
“What about this place?”
“What’s it called?”
“KAI Asian Street Fare.”

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KAI Asian Street Fare – 1555 State Road 436 Ste 1171 Winter Park, FL 32792

The atmosphere of the place had such a good vibe. They were playing 90’s hip-hop. The kitchen was little so you can see the cooks, obviously doing their thing, and jamming out to the music. It wasn’t busy at the time we went so it was not crowded. I chuckled at the signs they had about how certain orders take time and quotes about being patient and how they have feelings. I liked that because it gave a reason to want to be patient because they only wanted to serve the best of what they have, and if that included us (as the consumer) to be patient, we were going to have to respect that.

Where we sat, facing the kitchen. Specials were written on the far left on the chalkboard.

I was telling JW how in NYC, there’s this place in Koreatown where they have these dank chicken wings. (It’s called: Pelicana Chicken, btw.) Then I looked at the menu and I was shocked. No freaking way. I was thinking about these wings and there’s a possibility I can get my craving fulfilled?! Get. The. Chuck. Out.

  • IN LOVE WITH THE PHO PHO
    Vietnamese beef noodle soup
  • LEGENDARY NOODLES
    Developed in a secret lab, this special garlic noodle with shrimp or crab may cause a noodle addiction
  • KOREAN-STYLE CRISPY WINGS SOY GARLIC
    The Original
  • DESSERT
    Toasted bread with vanilla ice cream dusted with matcha powder and drizzled with honey
  • DESSERT
    Toasted bread with vanilla ice cream dusted with matcha powder and drizzled with honey

JW committed to getting soup and it exceeded expectations. It was comparable to a Vietnamese restaurant version. Pretty decent for a fusion place! You could say it hit the spot when it came to the soup, especially when we didn’t go to a place specifically for Pho.

I ordered the Garlic Noodles with Chicken. Well, I suppose I could make this so why did I order this? Cause it’s garlic and I LOVE garlic. I don’t love the process of have to cook with garlic all the time so here’s my chance to just eat a dish with LOTS of it without the smell stained on your fingers. I’ll probably make this in the future though. Mmm…

We shared the 10 piece Korean style Chicken Wings with the original Soy Garlic sauce. Listen you, I don’t say this often but this beats any version of chicken wings you’ll ever have in your entire life. No one does freaking fried chicken like the Koreans do. Do you want fried, yet light, crispy, delicious fried chicken wings? Try it the Korean style. Forget that fast food style. This is the stuff you want to upgrade to.

“It’s freaking steaming!”

The chef saw us enjoying the food so much, I waved to them and yelled out with my mouth filled with the food, “What’s in this? And why is it so good?” You could say they had a good chuckle at us; stuffing our faces like hungry goblins. (Well, more like me.. heh.) So they threw us a bone and made a dessert for us since we enthused them with our eating.

We were stuffed by the time we left the place. We will most likely be back and I can’t wait to try the other stuff they have.

IN LOVE WITH THE PHO PHO: ♥♥♥

LEGENDARY NOODLES: ♥♥♥♥

KOREAN-STYLE CRISPY WINGS SOY GARLIC: ♥♥♥♥♥

food share | [ORL] garp & fuss

I’ll admit, I’ve been out of the food scene for quite some time. I thought I’ve hit most of the “popular” joints of Orlando and that there isn’t really any places worth trying out. Whoo! Boy, was I super wrong about that, and I’m glad for it.

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garp & fuss – 348 N Park Ave #5, Winter Park, FL 32789

Sign for those who are visually impaired. o_o

Garp & Fuss is definitely a new hot brunch place that perhaps not very many native “Orlandonians” (Err.. not sure what to call locals?) know about. Wait.. I could be wrong! (Whatever. I’m just making this part up. Haha!) It has a certain low-key yet sophisticated vibe happening. It felt like I was in another city other than Orlando and I liked that very much! Here’s what I mean.

Hanging plants, open skylight, outdoor seating, brick walls!

Next, the drinks were great as well. I’m not particularly picky with my beverages. I don’t like them too sweet. I did order a mimosa and asked the waitress to surprise me with whatever flavor. I believe I got pineapple (mm!), and JW got a grapefruit mimosa. VB and AB both ordered the “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and it was a very good cocktail. I would definitely recommend if you need some direction where to start. (Sorry, no photos!)

Here we go.

Garp – $15
our spin on the Chi-town classic Italian beef with homemade hot giardiniera served dripped or dry, with fries
Fuss – $14
fried chicken, hot honey, marinated cucumber, arugula, boss sauce, blueberry relish
Banh Mi – $13
roasted pork, house-pickled veggies, cucumber, herb trio, pho mayo, jalapenos

JW and AB got the Garp. AB recommends you ask for it “dipped” which I believe is the meat portion is “dipped” in the sauce it comes with. So it should come “wet” in some aspect, but it gets messy anyways as you eat it anyways! Use caution when eating or be prepared to use your hands. If you are a heavy protein eater, I suggest this one. You’ll devour it in no time!

VB got the Banh Mi and says it’s one of the favorites that’s been ordered so far. The pickled veggies tasted very good and there is a good amount of meat in it! Perhaps the most refreshing Sandwich of the three.

I ordered the Fuss… and if you like fried chicken like I do.. you better just spare yourself the menu and order this. Look at the menu next time you come back. For me, I have not seen honey described as hot. Usually it’s described as spicy. Hot as in temperature or hot as in spicy? (It’s the latter!) And boss sauce? I can’t tell you what boss sauce is but I’ll tell you it’s freaking good, along with the blueberry relish!

Again, I was pretty much blown away with the dishes we ordered. I’d like to say we all have a good idea when it comes to ordering food but I think the whole concept of ordering food you can’t make really makes a difference!

food share | [ORL] mee thai

Every now and then, a group of my friends and I will go eat dinner together randomly and the theme is to find “hole in the wall” places or just food worth trying out. I love Thai food.. authentic Thai food especially. So I can be a smidge picky when it comes to Thai food but I’m also understanding to how difficult it is to get that distinct taste. With that said, here’s the review!

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Mee Thai – 1200 Lee Rd. Orlando, FL 32810

This place was just great! My experience was just about as good as it could get at a sit down place.

Again, I’ll start with what I ordered.

I love me a Tom Kha. The tricky part is to get a sense of “balance” to this beautiful dish, and I’ll be honest with you.. this place gets it. I did make it mild as far as “spicy” yet it wasn’t the spicy that hurts. Nothing was over powering each other; the coconut milk, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir leaves with the mushroom and chicken.. it was refreshing. Period.

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So once again, I tried something I knew I couldn’t make or at least I wasn’t confident in making so I ordered me the Pra ram with tofu. There are only a few places in Orlando that have the “house peanut sauce” with a protein as a main dish (at least that I can think of.) Oh boy, when it came out.. it was such an inviting dish. Again, I got this mild as far as spicy but I think it could have gone up to a medium. It’s a simple dish that hit the spot.

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Now I’ll make comment on some other dishes I was able to try!

Oof, I think the Green Curry was DIVINE! If you are a curry fan, I encourage you to get this. Like the Tom Kha, this too had a sense of balance with flavors. I mean, it was so light yet really eased in the flavors gently on your tongue. I can make green curry but I would order this just because of how thoughtful it was put together.

The Pad Thai was a good and the Pad Se Ew was great, but.. Drunken Noodles.. oh baby! This was good. Almost TOO good. And I would hate for you to think I may be easy to please.. but deng! This wins the noodles category.

Anyways, next time I come back, I’ll order something different to add to this review. Thanks!

Pra ram with tofu: ♥♥♥

Tom Kha: ♥♥♥

Drunken Noodles: ♥♥♥♥

Green Curry: ♥♥♥♥

Pad Thai: ♥♥

Pad Se Ew: ♥♥

food share | [ORL] hangry bison

I was talking to friends about how Orlando is coming up with great food places. It’s not quite there with all the other major cities BUT it has gotten much better over the past 5-6 years ever since and it’s been a quick change as well. I am well aware of other social media of bloggers and foodies putting out their stuff so I wanted to be part of content creating!

With time, you’ll see what kind of “foodie” I am. I’ll explain more later. Let’s get into it!

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Hangry Bison – 480 Orlando Ave #130, Winter Park, FL 32789

The space has been changed several times and it hasn’t found an establishment that can stay put so perhaps Hangry Bison is the one that plans to stay. With that said, it’s a great place for drinks as well as food! Tonight I opted out the drinks.

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This little gem here above is called “The Sockeye.” Salmon burger, honey mustard, bibb lettuce, fresh tomatoes, red onions, swiss cheese, balsamic reduction, brioche bun with roasted corn cobb.

If you are curious with what burger is in the background, it is the place is named after, “The Hangry Bison.” I didn’t try it so I won’t post or have an opinion on it so unfortunately, I can’t tell you anything about it. I think I will purely write on things I have tried.

My “rule” for ordering (when eating out) are typically things that I can’t make myself at home, or things I don’t typically like to prepare at home due to perhaps how complicated the prep is, or I’ll order it because they made something I’ve never seen made before and I’m genuinely curious. 

Back to MY choice, the Sockeye was delicious! It was light and it wasn’t seasoned heavily so you can really taste the flavor of the salmon. If you’re trying to not eat something heavy, this is definitely the one to choose out of all of them. I suppose the bun was appropriate for the burger. [ I majority feel like there is more bun versus meat or things in-between in burgers but that’s a personal opinion. Heh.] There was also a honey mustard sauce added on the side. I kind of just poured drops on my burger with each bite (otherwise it gets pretty messy!) I like that the ingredients were simple yet all tasted great and fresh altogether. Also the corn on the cobb was pretty bomb. [ Yes, I am a corn fan. ]

The Sockeye: ♥♥♥♥