very very brief dining reviews

[Keith]

Few places tried so far .... I'll have forgotten some I'm sure

victoria and albert in the grand floridian (christmas day)
The highlight for sure. Even more expensive than usual given christmas day and no discounts because it was a holiday which meant the 20%+ tip kinda hurt too ;-)
That aside, wonderful from start to finish. Perfect service and wonderful food. Can't recommend it highly enough

California grill (christmas eve)
This one can be variable for sure both service and food. We started by arriving an hour early and asking for a window table. They obviously hate this and gave us the whole "it'll be hours until we can help you" talk. Anyway we stuck it out and in the event there were loads of free tables by the window even for the fireworks (why so weird about it then????) and we were seated promptly. The view was just to die for and the food was every bit as good as expected. It's just a shame they're a bit... hmmmm..... up themselves ;-) sometimes.

Golden corall
opposite end of the scale but this one by the premium outlet mall doesn't disappoint. Hot food, incredible variety and helpful staff. For a few meagre dollars there was a beef joint from which to carve, all sorts of chicken, chinese, fries... I popped into the kitchen pretending to lose my way to the loos just to see if it was a horror scene or anything and it looked to me extremely clean. I know people don't rate this place highly and yah, it's not V&A ;-) but when you want lunch and have no idea what you want, I can recommend this one.

Longhorn Steakhouse (on US 192)
These seem to spring up all over but we'd never tried before. I tried a ribeye which was OK but as lower end steak joints tend to do, covered in some kind of herb/spices. Having said that it was hot and flavoursome. Chicken salad was as usual MASSIVE. Wine was cheap enough but they didn't really know what to do with it ;-) took an age to open, no opportunity to taste etc. No range of sauces for the steak either (no peppercorn, au poivre etc.). All in all good hot, tasty food but a heck of a long way away from charleys/ruths chris/mortons etc.). I would go again but you get what you pay for. Casual atmosphere, middle of the road food.
PS we were shown to a very small booth for two despite the place being 90% empty and there being loads of larger booths. They had trouble fitting the plates on our tiny table :/ whyyyyyy?

KFC (US192)
I had to include this because I went on a dare from the guys back home. At work we have KFC a little too often for lunch and we joke about how awful the staff are. Very obviously students who dont wanna be there but want the cash. In the UK KFCs we go to you often here " we're out of chicken what else do you want". Well what else do you have in KFC other than chicken???? "nothing." LOL oh dear... so they dared me to try a US KFC thinking it'd be the home of KFC so must be better right? WRONG!
We got there about 9:20pm and they'd stopped cooking chicken so were asking people if they'd rather have more fries instead? Otherwise theyd have to put in more chicken and it'd take 50 minutes!!!! Anyway, enough people moaned that they reluctantly threw some more chicken in... then the assistant manager tried to throw half the queue out because it was 10pm closing time! She REALLLLLY lost it and had a major meltdown.
We got to the front of the queue at about 10:40pm well over an hour after going for some quick service food, the guy said "erm oh sorry we forgot to put yours in what would you like instead? some more sides or something?" erm no, I'd like what we ordered please? so another 20 minutes whilst they cooked them.
The food once obtained was ok pretty standard KFC except potato wedges rather than the UK fries. However, mega management failure at this place and I can only recommend going if you happen to be someone in KFC corporate and you want a "fixer-upper" project.

Dragon Court
Decent enough Chinese. Not expensive, smaller selection than most on the buffet but watch out for the 3pm change to the more expensive dinner menu! if they can, they'll stick you on this one even at 2:30 when the dinner items (which are mainly just fish based) aren't out yet!

New york china super buffet
hmmmm well. No alcohol served here which is a turn off for me right away. Other than that a huge selection of food, all medium-hot. All very average and nothing special at all.

Cheesecake factory (mall at millenia)
superb as always. Love the omlettes! Wait times up to two hours at times through this vacation!

Ruby Tuesday (florida mall)
Menu hasn't been all that good for years now and the service is average at best we keep trying it because it's convenient but avoid any high price items as they won't do them justice. Stick to it as a place for a sit down with expensive snacks and you'll be ok. (they do have free att wifi though)

Charleys Steakhouse (celebration)
Superb as always! We always love this place. Sadly theyve changed out the great bread for some kind of soft onion bread which we don't care for. If you want a great steak though this is the place! This is to longhorn steakhouse as rolls royce are to kia cars definitely recommended (sign up to their vip club for $25 off coupons)

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
Everyone always tells me this is a cut above Charleys and I can see that. It's a little more upmarket in terms of layout and service although pricing is very similar. This probably edged out Charleys for top steakhouse spot this time around! Very highly recommended

Mortons steakhouse
Ach what to say what to say. I've been to Mortons in other Cities and it's just an utterly reliable, top end steakhouse. In Orlando the atmoshere is lacking and they just haven't captured what Mortons is all about IMHO. Stick to Ruth's Chris

[Johnie]

I have the exact same thing happen when we go to KFC here! How does a place run out of chicken when it is in their NAME?? So strange.

Love Cheesecake Factory. If you go back, try the sweet corn tamale cakes on the app menu. SOOOo good, not spicy at all. It is my fave app.

And I don't know who says we are in a recession, cause you sure can't tell when we go out to eat!

[foreverducky]

I love buffets and do enjoy Golden Corral. They serve this bourbon chicken that is to die for. I mean absolutely delicious. I fill a plate just of that. It's just that good.

KFC: haven't eaten here in about 3-4 years, but I'm always confused on how the popcorn chicken can cost more than the regular chicken. Really, it's just more bread in all reality.

The Cheesecake Factory. Outrageously expensive, but man oh man, so freaking tasty!

[Johnie]

I don't think CF is more expensive than other restaurants of its ilk. I think when everyone starts to get their own piece of cheesecake that the costs spirals up!

I think the buffet chains really depend on what area you go to. I have been to GC and the like here and they are ok. I've been to them in much smaller towns and they are really good.

[Tink]

A serious problem with Longhorn is that it truly depends upon which one you are in. We aren't fans of the ones on 192.

We like the one at Winter Garden Village, and have come to know the main manager there.

However, it is a low end budget steakhouse by all means.

KFC? Oh, no no no no. If you want fried chicken go to Publix. Seriously.

[Wendy]

Wow, you've been to some places Keith I can't remember the last time we actually ate at a Disney restaurant, it would have been YSH, but I can't remember when

You really should give the Hickory Steakhouse a try if you have time, I think you will both really like it

We went to the Longhorn on the 192 (near Target) when it first opened and it was really nice, we went this year and we wouldn't go back, very disappointed. I agree with Tink, the Longhorn at Winter Garden is very nice

KFC? Oh, no no no no. If you want fried chicken go to Publix. Seriously.

We have the fried chicken sub from Publix, it's really nice, you won't be disappointed. Oh and if you want some ice cream, their vanilla and strawberry ice creams are very nice

[Slowhand]

Great mini reviews on your eateries Keith. [You omitted to mention the Columbia though. ]
I guess the Longhorn must be a bit hit and miss as we too have visited the one on US192 [near to Target] several times and as we have never been disappointed, we shall sure be back there.
I keep saying this to you but I must get you to visit the YSH sometime and arrange for Ricardo to be your server. Even if the steak is inferior to some other restaurants you may have tried, this will be offset by Ricky`s "entertainment".
As Wendy said, the Hickory is well worth a visit too.

[Wendy]

Great mini reviews on your eateries Keith. [You omitted to mention the Columbia though. ]

how could you forget the Columbia:

I keep saying this to you but I must get you to visit the YSH sometime and arrange for Ricardo to be your server. Even if the steak is inferior to some other restaurants you may have tried, this will be offset by Ricky`s "entertainment".

Oh definitely, Ricardo is lovely

[Tink]

Hey! HEy! HEY!!!! Haven't you been to Yellow Dog? OMG!!!!

[Wendy]

Hey! HEy! HEY!!!! Haven't you been to Yellow Dog? OMG!!!!

OMG .............. the pulled pork is delicious Chris had Mr Smokey and I can't remember what I had all I know is that it was wonderful Just remember that chips are crisps even now Chris still forgets

You won't have it in your faves on the gps though because we only went this year