Lance Around Orlando

Mrs. LanceAround enjoying the Woodlands

Everyone has a “favorite restaurant”, don’t they?

And doesn’t your “favorite restaurant” change from time to time?  (Not very often, but occasionally)

And, isn’t it a wonderful experience when you find a new “favorite restaurant?”

That’s what happened to Mrs. LanceAround and I this week.  Mrs. LanceAround needed to see a medical specialist who happened to be from South India.  We were talking about our mutual love of the South Indian dish known as Masala Dosas, when he recommended that we try the Woodlands Restaurant.

Woodlands  is located just north of the Florida Mall at 6040 S. Orange Blossom Trail.  We went there immediately after our visit to the Doctor.  It did not take long for us to realize that we both had a new favorite restaurant–Not just a “one of our favorites”–But a brand new “this is our absolute favorite restaurant in the whole world” favorite.

We really liked it!

We spoke with the owners, Ragavendra and Suma Sheregar.  They were born in Udupi in the Indian State of Karnataka, located on the western coast about halfway between Mumbai and the southern tip of India.  They had about 25 years experience in food service before starting the Woodlands restaurant around seven years ago.

According to their website, Woodlands has locations in Charlotte, NC and Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  I was not told if Ragavendra and Suma own all three locations, or just the Orlando one.  Their menu proudly states “Pure Vegetarian South Indian Cuisine” but their website does not mention that the restaurants are vegetarian.  Since Mrs. LanceAround and I are vegetarian, this was an added bonus of Woodlands.

But even the die hard carnivore will have a hard time not liking the plethora of Indian delicacies offered at Woodlands.  Masala Dosas are one of their specialties.  The one they made for us certainly was the best we had ever tasted.  From 11:30am to 3:00pm on Tuesday through Friday they have a hearty buffet that changes daily.  When we were there, we enjoyed daal, malabar adai, vegetable curry, avial, coconut-tamarind-mint chutneys, raita and some Gulab Jamoon for dessert.  We loved every single dish we tried.  Mrs. LanceAround was especially taken by the flavor of the potatoes in the vegetable curry.  They were scrumptious.  The buffet was only $7.95.

Also impressive was the personalized service.  When I told the owner that Mrs. LanceAround’s doctor recommended the Masala Dosas, they went into the kitchen and cooked up a batch.  After serving us one, they took a sample to every other table in the restaurant.

Wow!

Woodlands, 6040 S. Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL  32809  Phone:  407.854.3330

Jamal and Ali are proud of their fresh Mediterranean food

A great falafel sandwich is always a treat.

Just over two miles east of Disney World on Highway 192, in the center of a small strip mall, is the new King O Falafel restaurant.  They feature excellent Mediterranean cuisine, all of it made fresh from scratch.

The owner, Jamal Blen, is from Palestine.  He was friendly and gregarious.  Most importantly, he was very open to feedback–Both the good and the bad.  And there was not much bad!  He was assisted by his kitchen helper Ali, who was from Morocco and who was jokingly referred to as the “Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee.”  Also behind the counter was a friend from Syria who was helping for a short time, making it a true melting pot of Mediterranean influences.

When I asked Jamal if I could blog about his restaurant, he asked me if I was going to write good things or bad.  I told him that I would not say until I either had or didn’t have his permission.  He said he would be happy to have me blog, even if the review was bad, because listening to bad feedback can only help him make improvements.  Boy, do I like and agree with that kind of attitude.

Mrs. LanceAround had the falafel sandwich and I had a falafel sandwich with potatoes.  We had an appetizer of hummus and a spinach pie.  Jamal went to great lengths to explain why his hummus tastes so good.  He uses a special tahini that costs a little more, but is not blended with other oils.

For dessert, we had ordered some rice pudding and kinafa.  In addition, we were presented with something that Jamal’s friend from Syria identified as “The King Special”.  He could not come up with an English word or description for it, unless, he said, it was something like “aarias,” a type of pastry or cake, that  appears to have some tradition revolving around women attempting to become brides.  He had trouble explaining what that meant and we just enjoyed the ambiguity and sincerity he expressed while trying to translate it for us.

Well, if this dessert does create new brides, it would have worked for me as it was also delicious.  Another great feature of the restaurant were the reasonable prices for such exceptional food.  The falafel sandwich, for example, was under four dollars!  The desserts were mostly less than two dollars.

King O Falafel is located at 5045 W. Irlo Bronson Hwy, Kissimmee, FL 34746.  407.979.4940.

Lines on Opening Day at T-Rex Cafe

Grammy (my mom) flew down from Pennsylvania today to spend a week with us.  Our number one son, Brandon, told us he wanted to take her to the new T-Rex Cafe–A dinosaur themed restaurant in Downtown Disney holding its grand opening today.  We called them at 4:22pm to see if they were open.  They informed us that they opened at 4:00pm for the first time.  When I asked if they were taking reservations, they said no and that the line was currently wrapped all the way around the side of building.

So off we went to explore this newest feature at Disney.  True to their word, the line was wrapped around one side of the building and we were informed that the wait was 35 minutes to an hour.  Mrs. LanceAround and Amber held our place in line while Grammy, Brandon and I went exploring the front of the restaurant.

Before we even reached the inside of the restaurant, our immediate thought was that it looked just like a Rainforest Cafe.  There was a large, dinosaur-head shaped podium informing those waiting that “Your expedition is about to begin.”  [At Rainforest Cafe the line is, “Your safari is about to begin.]  To your right, there is a store that features all manner of dinosaur themed clothing, games and memorabilia.  To the left was the cafe.  Sure enough, our research uncovered that the cafe was owned by Landrys–The same company that owns Rainforest Cafe.

The restaurant is loaded with audio-animatronic dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes.  They are enhanced with creative lighting and fog effects.  There are several major room areas, each with a different theme.

The bar is located under a giant octopus whose tentacles wiggle and whose eyes roll.  There are large fish tanks around and wondrous jellyfish overhead.  Tables are spread around other areas in a cave like environment with dinosaurs that sway their head from side to side.  Fossilized bones and geodes adorn many walls, including the restrooms.  (Well, at least the “He-Rex” bathroom, I can’t speak for the “She-Rex” bathroom.)

Ice Cave at T-Rex Cafe

One area is themed as an ice cave.  The eerie ice-like walls become even spookier every 20 minutes or so as the entire restaurant comes alive when a “meteor shower” rocks the restaurant and the ice cave walls change from milky ice-white to ice-blue, to pink, to purple.  Photos that Brandon took during this time have a very Andy Warhol feel about them.  The lights dim, the sky shimmers, meteors streak across the ceiling and crash into one another as planets explode.

While the interior was impressive, I was apprehensive about the meal.  I used to enjoy Rainforest Cafe, but in the past few years the quality of their food has gone downhill.  While waiting in line at T-Rex, I grabbed a menu and looked it over.  I was dismayed.  Vegetarian options were few and they seemed to go out of their way to promote products such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Smoothies and other well known brands of dubious quality.  The line greeter assured me that once inside, the chef (who they called either the “fire tender” or the “fire chef” and who works in the “kitchen of fire”) would come out and let us know which menu items could be prepared vegetarian.  While waiting, two different people walked past the line and informed us, without being asked, that it was worth the wait.

Again, true to their word, the wait was only about 40 minutes and the chef was at our table helping us to select some vegetarian entrees.  For appetizers, we ordered the flat bread pizza (sans chicken), onion rings, eggplant bruschetta, and waffle fries.  For entrees, we got tortellini (one with Alfredo and one with pomodoro sauce), mushroom ravioli, linguine with nothing but Parmesan (Amber’s personal favorite) oh, and a big, well done burger for our carnivorous Grammy.  We also got three smoothies and two sodas.

The waiter was very pleasant, although he did not seem to listen very attentively.  The rest of the staff was very attentive.  We had at least five different employees stop by our table to check on us.  At this point, the only noticeable annoyance was the sheer cacophony of noise stemming from the drum beat music, the din of other diners, the bustle of the wait staff and an acoustically poor design that made it impossible for me to converse with my mom sitting at the other end of the table.

The drinks came (without the water we ordered).  After getting another staff  member to attend to the water, we discussed the pending meal.  Mrs. LanceAround was warning me to not be too negative as I was getting hungry and grouchy and preparing myself for a bad experience.  I told her that the fact that the chef did not even know the ingredients for the batter on the onion rings (whether or not they were vegetarian) meant that they were not prepared fresh.  For entree items priced from $12 to $25 dollars, I argued that at those prices the wait staff should know all the ingredients.  She reminded me that the prices had much more to do with the elaborately themed interior and the restaurant was, at best, casual.

Mrs. LanceAround, Grammy and Amber React to the Meteor Shower

Our discussion was interrupted by the arrival of pizza, onion rings, bruschetta and fries.  One bite of the bruschetta and Mrs. LanceAround was happily munching away with an expression of “I told you so” and a reminder that I had to blog about the balsamic glaze sprinkled over the pizza and bruschetta that was out of this world.  The flatbread pizza was superb–Goat cheese and fresh basil enhanced by the drizzle of balsamic created a very pleasant flavor.  The onion rings that I had talked myself into dreading were also the best I had eaten in a long time.  Things were looking up!

By the end of the appetizers, we were all pretty full.  Had we stopped at that point, the meal would have been satisfying, delicious, and somewhat reasonably priced.  But the entrees soon arrived to relatively positive but somewhat mixed reviews.  Once again, the waiter’s inattentiveness was evident as Amber was given the wrong entree.  Brandon enjoyed his tortellini with Alfredo sauce.  Mrs. LanceAround also loved her pomodoro tortellini and I had mixed emotions about the mushroom ravioli.  Was it really just average or was I just overfull?  Grammy was clearly disappointed with her burger, saying the bun was too hard and the onion ring placed on top of the burger (dramatically presented with a knife sticking like Macbeth’s dagger through the top of the bun, past the onion ring and into the belly of the burger) was not desirable.  Amber perked up noticeably when her linguine finally arrived.  The Parmesan shavings interlaced throughout the pasta was a nice touch.

We had intended to order the Chocolate Extinction dessert–An impressively presented tray of chocolate brownies, ice cream and the creme de la creme smoldering volcanic glass in the center with who-knows-what creating a mist arising from the glass.  Alas, we were too full, so I gave my credit card to the waiter and asked him to go ahead and run the bill.  Another mistake.

When the credit slip arrived the amount of $175 for the five of us seemed excessive.  I double checked the bill and noticed that we were charged $10.99 for each smoothie that was advertised at $5.99 and Amber was charged for the rigatoni dish she did not order but that they prepared for her.  I spoke to the waiter and he called over the manager.  They were nice for the most part, but when they explained that the smoothie charge was for the T-Rex smoothie glasses that we get to take home, I informed him that we did not order that.  His curt reply of, “well then you can’t take them with you” did not come from a contemporary customer service manual.  We informed him that we were happy to not have the glasses and after a prolonged wait our bill was reduced by $28.  Again, except for the initial reaction from the manager, our concerns were all responded to graciously.

Crazy Diner Kissing a Dinosaur at T-Rex Cafe

Overall, the atmosphere was fantastic.  Kids, particularly, will love this venue.  The food was mixed–From acceptable to excellent.  The price was reasonable for the venue.  The staff was friendly and attentive.  And, most importantly, the experience was unique and enjoyable.  If you are on a budget, you don’t need to overindulge–A trip to the bar for a shared smoothie or a meal of only appetizers will leave you feeling satisfied and you get all the enjoyment of the venue.  But for a special night out, particularly with the kids, this will be a nice addition to the Orlando offerings.

—–***** 5 out of 10 stars for food

–******** 8 out of 10 stars for atmosphere

—*******  7 out of 10 stars for service

—*******  7 out of 10 stars overall