Fujiyama - Awesome Japanese Lunch

Fujiyama Sushi is a little place located in the Suncrest Shopping Center on the corner of Dean Road and University Blvd, and is therefore in a prime location to cater towards the UCF crowd when they get a hankering for sushi. While not the most traditional sushi restaurant by any means, Fujiyama does serve up great Americanized sushi dishes, and the lunch specials are really an awesome deal. That said, if you don't want to simply capitalize on the lunch specials, go ahead and spend a little more to get a taste of some very well prepared sushi staples such as the ubiquitous spicy tuna roll or the less common but equally delicious volcano roll. On this particular visit, however, I went with my parents for a quick lunch, so we indulged in the lunch menu offered.

House Salad and Miso Soup

When ordering from the lunch menu, diners are given the choice of house salad or miso soup to precede the main meal. My parents who frequently eat salads didn't surprise me when they ordered -salad. It's not a bad salad, consisting of iceberg lettuce and a sort of sweet/miso dressing, but it certainly does not set itself apart from any other competing sushi houses. I thought my miso soup was much better than the salad, but again, while a competent preparation it doesn't set itself apart from any other decent miso I've had.

I know I've been emphasizing the sushi portion of the menu, but Fujiyama does offer up many different Japanese dishes as well, from udon and soba, to teppan and tempura. Chances are you'll find what you're looking for, and if you want to go for cooked food rather than the raw sushi, Fujiyama can definitely satisfy.

Teppan Steak

My mom ordered this item which comes with vegetable fried rice and steamed vegetables as part of the lunch deal. Also, two sauces, one a ginger sauce and the other Japanese white sauce are also offered to enliven the food. I did not try the veggies, but my mom liked them and from previous experiences I know the fried rice to be very tasty, much better than your average fried rice. Her meat was cooked significantly more than I would have personally liked, but the flavor was still good, especially when combined with one of the sauces. The only real complaint concerning the meat itself though (it was cooked the way she wanted it) would be that while lean, it was kind of chewy and even a tad dry.

Teppan Salmon

My dad had this special with the same condiments and accompaniments as my mom's dish. All three of us agreed that the salmon was a much better choice than the steak. Moist and possessing a pleasant texture, the only other thing this fish needed to be excellent was some great flavor - which it had!! Slightly sweet with a strong salmon flavor coming through after the initial sweetness, this baby is a winner.

3 Roll Lunch Special - (Hamachi, Spicy Tuna, California)

Yes, I had some of the most commonplace rolls out there, but hey, they're tasty!! (I haven't been to Japan or places like Masa and Urasawa; I'm still allowed to love these Americanized preparations!! ;) ) All the rolls consisted of good quality fish and were generously portioned. One of the best features of Fujiyama's rolls is that they still allow a lot of the constituent fish's flavor to shine through without being muddled by the condiments. The Hamachi was probably my favorite, but I love yellowtail anyway, so that doesn't come as a surprise. The wasabi supplied on the plate is not the authentic stuff, but it does the trick and adds some kick (the waitress, who is familiar with my eating habits, brought me an extra blob of wasabi to satiate my desire to incinerate my intestinal tract - Hooray!!)

Well, that was it for our meal this time. Another satisfying foray into the realm of Fujiyama, and a foray I would recommend to anyone in the area looking for some good Japanese food. Needless to say, I shall return.

Tilted Kilt - More Beer, Lassie!!

Well, unbeknownst to your humble narrator, the Tilted Kilt is actually a national chain...but this fact came to light during the meal, so it's still being logged :)

Well, the first impressions my brother and I had upon entering was - "hey, this is a Scottish themed Hooters!" My friend who later joined our little party had similar thoughts. Yes, my friends, you are greeted by a scantily clad hostess and then directed to the main dining area...or bar should you wish it (it is a restaurant AND pub, after all). All of the waitresses are dressed in wardrobe probably a little more revealing than that of competing establishments, but the mood is exactly the same - this is a sports bar that patrons frequent to enjoy beer, bar food, the game and the wait staff.

Naturally, the service is very attentive and very efficient, but I would say that it caters to the 14+ year old male crowd the most. However, plenty of families and women were present and seemingly having a great time, so don't worry about anything inappropriate here, just enjoy yourself! Of course, this blog does not just dilly dally upon the service and ambiance - A man's got to eat and drink after all!!

TK Signature Lager

Tilted Kilt's own house lager. It's very reminiscent of Killian's Red, but I think it actually has a little more of a malty flavor and I can say that I prefer it to Killian's, so overall not a bad way to start the meal.

TK's Irish Nachos (crispy potato chips, cheese sauce, ground beef, tomatoes)

A bit different from ordinary nachos, the chips in these nachos were somewhat thin potato wedges that had a very pleasing bite and flavor. The cheese sauce, which thankfully was not applied too liberally (it didn't exactly taste that great) was definitely the weakest part of the dish. Ground beef and tomatoes, however, were excellent and mixing potato, beef and tomato produced some awesome "Irish" nachos. In fact, I think I prefer these to the regular nachos available everywhere else!!

TK Signature Wings
(No image...sorry guys, the pic was lost in the transfer from camera to computer)
These 12 wings were tossed in the house medium heat "tilted" sauce. They were awesome!! Any sports bar worth its salt needs to have some great wings, and tilted kilt delivers - great sauce, moist, meaty.

Black and Blue (Blue Moon, Guinness)
(Another fallen image)

At this point in the meal our waitress convinced my friend and me to try a couple of the beer cocktails served by the bar, and my friend tried the "Black and Blue." Well, he didn't enjoy the flavor too much, and I personally would have rather just had a pint of Guinness, but then again, neither of us are huge Blue Moon fans to begin with.

Blacksmith (Smithwick's. Guinness)
(One last fallen image, sorry!! It won't happen again, I promise!!)

I thought my selection, the "Blacksmith," was much better. Combining the creamy nature of Guinness with the somewhat crisper Smithwick's melded into a very pleasant drink that I was happy to have ordered.

The French Connection Burger (Swiss, Mushrooms, Onions, Au Jus)

My friend ordered this sizable burger and asked for it medium-rare, which the kitchen obligingly carried out perfectly. Overall, the burger was more quantity than quality. Don't get me wrong, it was certainly better than many burgers out there, especially when drenched in the accompanying au jus, but otherwise the meat, while there was nothing wrong with it, was not the most flavorful out there. Luckily though, the sautéed mushrooms and onions stepped up and improved the burger's taste substantially. The burger came with fries, but my friend decided to substitute garlic fries for the ordinary ones. This was a good idea, as the garlic fries were rather addictive!!


Chicken Tender Wrap (Chicken Tender, "tilted" sauce, Lettuce, Tomato, Ranch, Provolone, Japapeno Tortilla)















My brother's entree of choice, this was a deceptively heavy and tasty dish. The tilted sauce, exactly the same as what we had on our wings, married beautifully with the chicken tenders. The rest, is history - ranch, jalapeno tortilla, tomato, lettuce...it was a very good combination, and, very filling for a wrap. It came with the same garlic fries that my friend had.

Danny Boy's Shepherd's Pie (Ground Beef, Carrots, Peas, Mushrooms, Gravy, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Parmesan Cheese, Garlic Bread)

Oh Boy. This is one heavy dish, probably best enjoyed by a real trencherman in the winter...the summer is not the time to be relishing in such heavy folly. So, on the one hand, ordering the pie was a bad idea...but on the other it was an awesome idea. Rich, heavy and very flavorful, this incredibly filling course was also tremendously satisfying. My only gripe might be that perhaps too much potato is given in the pot, which does mute the other flavors just a tad.

Tilted Guilt (Chocolate Chip Cookie, Vanilla Ice Cream, Powdered Sugar, Chocolate Syrup)















This was the star of the dinner. My dining companions and I unanimously said "Hell yeah" in reference to this dish. The cookie is served half-baked, and no, that does not mean it has been engaging in some illicit activities, but simply that the consistency is much gooier than a normal cookie, like the cookie dough in cookie dough ice cream. When combined with the ice cream and syrup, one truly awesome dessert is to be had, an excellent recommendation from our waitress.

Your narrator with most of the restaurant's wait staff. Our waitress was Annie, second from right


So, would I recommend Tilted Kilt? Absolutely! We had a great time and devoured some tasty food. The food is heavy, so come prepared for that, but otherwise, I can't think of a better place to watch a game or just hang out with friends, enjoy some of the drink specials on offer and put away some of the Celtic themed classic American bar foods.

Ceviche - It's Tapas Time

Well, my mom decided that she would like to celebrate Mother's Day today rather than on the actual holiday in order to beat the rush of mothers and grateful families jam-packing every restaurant to maximum capacity and creating a scene reminiscent of the now demolished Kowloon Walled City of Hong Kong. My mom's restaurant of choice for this celebratory occasion was Ceviche in downtown Orlando on Church Street.













One of four locations in Florida, the other three being in Tampa and Sarasota, this restaurant has a lot of energy. It's loud and busy, but that works very well here and sort of adds to the dark yet festive ambiance. So, while probably not the best place for an intimate, quiet date, it'll work for almost anything else.













Service is very good, with efficient, friendly and knowledgeable wait staff. Our only real complaint upon being seated was the rather small table which became a little difficult to work with as the meal progressed. Now, on to the most important part - the food.





Bread













The Bread was a simple white bread, but it was soft, warm and pretty flavorful; a good example of its kind. What made it special though was the accompanying green sauce. Clearly made from olive oil, garlic, peppers and probably some cumin and onion, the flavors were intense and delicious and really made the otherwise quite ordinary bread stand out. In this picture you will also see the Moritz beer imported from Spain that I decided to indulge in. I've gotta admit, I liked it! Very hoppy and crisp, the golden libation was a pleasing accompaniment to the meal.







Ceviche de Salmon (Salmon marinated in lemon, lime, sweet onion, cilantro, topped with caviar)













A competent Ceviche, the fish was of good quality and had some of its flavor come through, but the citrus marinade completely dominated this dish, with the onion, cilantro and caviar barely noticeable.







Portobello Relleno (portobello stuffed with spinach, shallots, manchego, drizzled with sherry)














This was awesome. Now, I must admit that I'm an absolute fungophile, so I am a little biased. The mushroom was meaty and tender with a flavorful stuffing. Its sauces elevated it to another level though - the lighter sauce had a strong mushroom savor and the darker one was very beefy. When all of the components were mixed it created a spectacular dish which we absolutely ravaged, leaving no sauce behind. That is one thing about Ceviche - the sauces are phenomenal, so make sure you keep ordering that bread to mop up all that goodness!!




Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes tossed in aioli)













Our starch was good, the potatoes having a pleasing, slightly crisped outside and a creamy interior, but the flavor was a little mild. Using the sauces from the other dishes was a must to give these wedges some needed flavor. After the application of said sauces to the potatoes, these became much more enjoyable.



Churrasco al Cabrales (NY Strip medallions, compote of white leeks and shiitake, cabrales sauce)














Cooked medium rare, the steak was a little tougher and drier than my brother and I would have liked, but our parents really enjoyed it. The meat itself was of good quality, lean and full of flavor. The Cabrales sauce was a very tasty, creamy sauce based on Cabrales cheese. A second sauce was present on the plate, this one a sort of demi-glace very similar to the one used with the portobello relleno. Definitely a heavily sauced steak, this simple liberal arts major arithmetic can demonstrate the winning combination - Cabrales sauce+demi glace+steak=WIN! ;) In short, combining the two sauces and the meat produced an excellent savory flavor. A compote of leeks and shiitake on the side was also very good.




Mahi-Mahi al Papel (braised mahi-mahi in parchment paper with mushrooms and saffron sauce)













Next, a plate with a semi-spherical paper bag was presented to us. Upon cutting open this bag and freeing the fish from its parchment prison, the liberated cooking juices flowed freely and our noses were attacked by the peppery odor of the sauce. Even though the dish description said that the fish would come with mushrooms and a saffron sauce, we clearly had a pepper sauce on our hands...in any case, it was still pretty good, but definitely the weakest course. The fish was moist and had a pleasing texture, but the only flavor to detect was that of peppers from the sauce. Luckily this was tapas style dining, as trying to finish this dish on one's own would have become very boring, unless of course you have a pepper fetish or something like that.




Jamon Serrano (Serrano ham from Spain, figs, diced fruit)













Not a whole lot to say about this course. The ham was good but really nothing breath taking









Pollo al Ajillo (chicken, olive oil, parsley, garlic, Spanish sherry)













Presented inside a sizzling pan came our next dish. Once delivered to our table, garlicky vapors immediately tantalized our olfactory senses...we were excited to consume this bird!! Our noses did not lead us astray - the chicken had a wonderfully tender texture and the sauce it had been sautéed in was ample and delicious. We ended up ordering another round of bread just for this dish to make sure we could get every last bit of the awesome liquid!!!




Torta Valenciana (chocolate cake, vanilla cream, raspberry sauce, orange zest, fresh berries)
















Well, this was the weaker of our two desserts. It was very rich, and very sweet while having a very mild chocolate flavor. The accompanying vanilla and raspberry sauces didn't help much as they were even sweeter than the cake...and tasted more of lemon than anything else. Also, no orange zest was to be found. Oh well.








Almendrado (Crisp almond pastry, homemade vanilla ice cream)













This dessert really satisfied. I'm not normally the biggest almond fan, but here I did enjoy the flaky, crispy pastry and its almond filling. When combined with the ice cream, this really turned out to be a great dessert.




So, there you have it. A sampling of dishes and overall we left very happy. Nothing (well, maybe the torta) was disappointing, but a few of the dishes were excellent. I would have no hesitation recommending Ceviche to anyone and would love to go again. Just make sure you go with a group and maximize the high energy levels of the place and the food sharing tapas concept.

Greetings!!!

Hello everyone, welcome to Florida Feast!! I'll document my meals here in Central Florida and anywhere else I dine, so I hope you find this interesting and maybe even helpful if coming through the Central Florida area.