Norman's Orlando

After years of anticipation, Norman's Orlando has finally opened on Sandlake.

We had dinner there this evening and it was an elegant and delicious experience. 

Norman's 3.0 is located in the Dellagio Plaza on Sandlake Road. 7924 Via Dellagio Way, Orlando, FL 32819

https://www.normans.com/

They have a bar, patio and the main dining room. The decor is stylish and the service is formal. Our server was excellent, friendly and knowledgeable.

We started with some bread rolls, served with butter and salt and pepper. I wasn't really sure what the intention was with the salt and pepper so I just sprinkled it on the butter after I spread it. These rolls had a unique texture. 

We started with a seafood appetizer Shrimp Ceviche with the salsa of life and cucumbers, this was tangy.

Next up was my favorite of the meal...

Brazilian styled Shrimp & Mussel chowder $20 - made with saffron, orange, star anise in coconut milk. This was very tangy and so delicious I could have easily ate another full bowl. This seems to be chef Norman's twist on Moqueca

For my entree I had the scallop dish.

Seared Diver Harvested Sea Scallops over fermented black bean sauce. Served with tortellini filled with a very creamy cheese.

As you can see the scallops were seared perfectly. The sauce with black beans which was a unique choice. 

The tortellini was filled with boniato and queso fresco. I had never heard of boniato, but apparently it's a relative of the yam and it's popular in South Florida where chef Norman has a lot of history. Boniato

My dining companion opted for the fish entree. Pan-cooked fillet of Key West Yellowtail Snapper - served with Swiss chard and garlicky mashed potatoes and citrus butter.  $39

We finished with a decadent dessert. 

Dedo de Chocolate (chocolate finger) - Chipotle chocolate mousse salted butter caramel, macadamia bark, chocolate sorbet - $13

This was quite rich and delicious.

Overall dinner was excellent and we will definitely be returning. 

Here is the menu from the night we went, they will possibly change the menu on a regular basis so don't expect to see all the exact same items. Since my visit they have added an adobo pork dish. What will you choose?

Dessert Menu 

Additionally they have a separate menu at the bar.

Bar Menu

Patio

Wine Cellar

Norman's Orlando

(321) 754-1025

Reservations strongly suggested

https://maps.app.goo.gl/uYnA4XVS3VvJ2PY19

Additionally I would suggest reading chef Norman's autobiography. I'm really enjoying it.

No Experience Necessary: The Culinary Odyssey of Chef Norman Van Aken

This is also worth a listen.

Getting the Band Back Together with Norman Van Aken of Orlando, Florida’s Norman’s Restaurant (An Andrew Talks to Chefs Special Conversation)

Simple Greek Oviedo

The Simple Greek is now open in Oviedo.

They serve Gyros, Greek Bowls, Soups, Hummus, Spanakopita, Garlic Green Beans, Baklava.

The primary concept is bowls or pitas filled with your choice of protein, sauce and toppings.

I recently visited and tried the hummus, gyro, village salad and baklava all of which were good.

I especially enjoyed the village salad, the dressing on it was very good.

The Simple Greek is located at the new beautiful plaza which also houses a few other interesting restaurants.

945 City Plaza Way, Oviedo, FL 32765 https://goo.gl/maps/7PFRycgkVyw

Here are some pics:

Greek Fries With Feta

Greek Bowl

Gyro

Baklava

Menu

Menu

Sushi Pop

Went to dinner last night at Sushi Pop Oviedo, had a lot of different items. Salmon Belly, Bluefin Tuna, Buffalo Rock Shrimp. Here are a few photos. Great as always.  

Tasmanian Trout with chives and bourbon barrel maple syrup.

Korean Fried Chicken Wings

Salmon Belly - Blood orange ponzu, sesame seeds, radish, olive oil, kaiwari, fried pickled shitake mushrooms, lemon grass xo on Himalayan salt

Yuki Hana Fusion Sushi - Oviedo, FL

Yuki Hana Fusion Sushi is located on Aloma at the Intersection of Tuskawilla very close to the 417.

They opened about 2 years ago.  Chef Eddie has over 15 years experience as a Sushi chef and trained with several Japanese Master Chefs at a fine Japanese restaurant in Long Island, New York.

Not just a traditional Sushi restaurant, Yuki Hana has all kinds of different dishes from various Asian locales. Some unique standouts from the menu are the Wagyu Beef,  Korean Seafood Pancake, Scallops with Uni cream risotto and the Oxtail tacos.

A special for the holidays, which is offered from now until the end of the year. They are serving a rare treat, whole fish. The whole fish dinner is offered Fri-Sun by reservation only. The fish is a steamed striped bass with ginger scallion shoyu sauce.  It is served with a soup course & family style sides, such as sautéed chinese broccoli, mapo tofu, dumplings and a dessert course. The whole fish dinner is available for 2-8 people.

They also have some good happy hour specials. Monday Night from 5:00 – 10:00 pm and Tuesday – Thursday from 5:00 – 6:30 pm they have 2 for 1 drinks on with a purchase from the happy hour food menu.

On a recent visit I tried a vast array of the menu items, see pics below:

Dining Room

Lemongrass Hot & Sour Seafood Soup $7
Shrimp, scallop, calamari, mussel and assorted vegetables

Ahi Poke $ 13
Ahi tuna seared with shichimi pepper and tossed with hot sesame oil, Sriracha, scallions, and masago. Served on crispy wonton chips and avocado

Kanpachi Crudo $15
Hawaii yellowtail, black garlic, basil oil, tobiko, cucumber, lava salt, lemon confit, and togarashi

The Kanpachi Crudo was very light and fresh tasting with a tangy sauce

Crown Royal Roll $ 16
Lobster tempura and avocado inside and topped with seared Angus marble beef, bacon jam, radish spouts and spicy mayo

Fire Cracker Roll $14
Assorted fish, krab, asparagus, and cream cheese rolled inside, crispy fried. On top is tempura scallops mixed with tobiko, chives, sweet chili sauce, and eel sauce, served with fire on the plate

Such a dramatic presentation, Fire on the plate!

Live UNI with raw quail egg, ikura.

Live Uni

This dish had a very elaborate presentation served in the sea urchin shell, it was a special, Live Uni flew in that day from Santa Barbara. Served with a raw quail egg and Ikura(Salmon eggs).

Fuji Mountain Roll $13
Shrimp, krab, mixed with tobiko, bacon, melted mozzarella cheese, tempura flakes on top, inside asparagus, avocado, drizzled with eel sauce, and spicy mayo

This was my favorite dish, lots of good flavors and a nice little crunch here and there

Vietnamese Sashimi Roll $13
Tuna, salmon, yellowtail, and shichimi pepper rolled together with spring mix cucumber and caramelized shallots in clear rice paper. Served in hot sesame vinaigrette, mango sauce and crushed peanuts

One of the few sushi rolls made without rice, lots of peanuts, good sauces

Uni Sampler

Chocolate Lava Cake with Ice Cream

Overall everything was very good, the atmosphere, service and food were all great. I'll be making regular stops here to eat and try all the unique menu items.


Menu pics:

HAPPY HOUR MENU:

Sushi Pop

On April 2, I visited Sushi Pop for a complimentary sampling of some of its existing and potentially new menu items. I'm glad that I went as I previously had not been to the restaurant, although I always have wanted to try it out. The food I tried here definitely invigorated my interest!

I sat at the counter, with the kitchen and its workers directly in front of me. Throughout the evening, I interacted with several very friendly employees. Chau, Sufian and their fellow employees were attentive, genuine and polite.

I the first menu item I tried was the So Fresh & So Clean (Hawaiian yellowtail, tuna, tempura asparagus, tobanjan aioli, Asian relish, radishes). It was really good! This is something I definitely will consider ordering during future visits.

The second item presented to me was the Bacon-Wrapped Scallop (below; kampyo, avocado, crab, tobanjan aioli, scallop, orange kosho, fleur de sel, chives, torched Iberico Lardo). This was excellent and one of my favorite sampled items.

I might have the order wrong, but next up may have been the boquerones, which were prepared with an aioli, spicy garlic panko and fried capers. I've never been a fan of anchovies, but these were very good and totally different from my general perception of anchovies.

The Octopus a la Plancha (below; charred white scallion and shishito chimichurri, nori purée, sweet potato) was another one of my favorites.

Perhaps the best item I tried was the Black and White (below; cobia, venere rice, black edamame, poached quail egg, yuzu vinaigrette, tempura sea beans). As far as I can remember, I never had cobia until going to Sushi Pop. I was very impressed by its presentation and preparation. The cobia was tender and delicious. I highly recommend the Black and White.

Up next was the Khao Soi (below; duck confit, spicy Burmese curry, squid ink gochugaru noodles, house pickled cabbage, coconut milk). I liked what I tried of this, although I was unable to finish all of it since I was getting pretty full.

I did save a little bit of room for dessert, though, and ate all of the Hot Chocolate Soup (below; seasonal berries, chocolate cake, toasted marshmallow, Japanese black sugar ice cream, spiced chocolate drizzle). This was one of the best desserts I've ever had! Each ingredient perfectly complemented the others. I especially enjoyed the spicy chocolate drizzle, which definitely had a "kick" to it. I think this item is new or not yet on the menu, but I'm sure it'll be very popular once it becomes a menu mainstay. I absolutely would order it again. I also plan to try the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sorbet during my next visit.

  

Overall, this was an excellent experience. I hope to make it to Sushi Pop again soon. It's a very interesting, unique and impressive restaurant. I now know why it is so well-liked in our community. Thank you, once again, to Chau, Sufian and the Sushi Pop staff for accommodating me and making me feel very welcome!

South + York

South + York is located in Winter Springs at the north end of Tuskawilla Road at 434 in the Publix plaza. It's a gourmet farm to table restaurant in the former location of Hollywood Bistro. South + York opened in late 2013.  Their menu changes daily and with the seasons using whatever ingredients local farmer's have available.

Chef Edgar Cruz was born in New York and did his culinary training in the South where he met his wife, hence the name South + York. 

The decor is very pleasant with a mix of stand alone tables and some leather booths, atmosphere is modern and simple yet well done.

 
For dinner we ordered the following dishes:
Tempura Goat Cheese with Cracked Black Pepper & local Honey $8 - This was excellent I would have preferred something to to eat the goat cheese with like a cracker or toast points, they are very soft and delicious but something more firm to counterbalance it would be great.

Arugula Salad - Blackberries, Pine Nuts, Red Onion, Sweetgrass Dairy(link) green hill cheese $9 - The cheese was from Georgia, and is a double-cream Camembert-style cheese. Very good.

Mussels - House made Fettuccine, Swiss Chard, Fennel, Onion, Saffron Broth $22 - Superb seafood flavor, the mussels are served without the shells and the broth had a wonderful bite to it. I was spooning up every last drop of the broth at the end.

South + York Burger - bacon jam, pimento cheese, fiery pickles, fried green tomato, truffle fries $15 - Burger was made medium rare with Wagyu beef. The pickle had a great homemade flavor. The truffle fries were very large I'd call them potato wedges. They had a nice crisp crust on them and the truffle flavor was quite strong.

Another interesting item they had which I didn't get a chance to try was the Fried Green Tomato Oreo which was served with the snapper, I'll have to order that another time. I also hear great things about the seared scallops, see a picture here from their Instagram link

For dessert I had:
Bread Pudding - dried cherries, golden raisins, vanilla ice cream, ginger raisin sauce $7 - strong and sweet flavor, you must like raisins and dried cherries to enjoy this dish.

Overall I'd say my experience was excellent as was the food. I think South + York is a great addition to the Tuskawilla area, the only other restaurants of note anywhere nearby are Stefano's Trattoria & Thai Basil a few miles south. The lack of great dining choices in the area and the excellent food at South + York should be the recipe for success. The location is a little hard to see from the road, hopefully they can get the word out, as we all know good news travels fast.

They also have a decent beer selection, I had a very nice Swamphead IPA from Gainsville, not as hoppy of an aftertaste as I would have expected.

South + York serves breakfast on Saturdays and Brunch on Sundays where you can order unlimited mimosas!

Here are the pics of the food:

Arugula Salad - Blackberries, Pine Nuts, Red Onion, Sweetgrass Dairy green hill cheese $9

Tempura Goat Cheese with Cracked Black Pepper & local Honey $8

Mussels - Handmade Fettuccine, Swiss Chard, Fennel, Onion, Saffron Broth $22

Truffle Fries

Burger with Truffle Fries

South + York Burger - bacon jame, pimento cheese, fiery pickles, fried green tomato, truffle fries $15

Bread Pudding - dried cherries, golden raisins, vanilla ice cream, ginger raisin sauce $7

Dinner Menu

 Breakfast Menu

Check out their website:
http://www.southandyork.com

Yelp Reviews:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/south-york-winter-springs

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SouthandYork

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Southandyork

Instagram:
http://instagram.com/southandyork#

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