Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆ ☆
Cost: $$$
Author Archives: Malini Sood Horiuchi
PALMGROVE, Chennai, India
If you are looking for a really great authentic South Indian breakfast spot in Chennai City then Palmgrove Hotel is the place to go. Their restaurant Menaka is a hot spot for Chennaites over the weekends. The place has virtually no décor – it’s a very cafeteria like setting but one really does not go there for ambiance.
Sangeetha Fast Foods, Chennai, India
Sangeetha Fast Foods is one of my favorite breakfast spots in Chennai city. I love the local feel of the place. At Sangeetha, they serve a good variety of south Indian breakfast fare. My favorites are the vadas, dosas, mini idlis and upma. If you want to try a little bit of everything then order the “meals”. They make really good South Indian coffee too.
PALKI KHANNA, UDAIPUR, INDIA
Palki Khanna, located inside the City Palace complex in Udaipur, gets its name from the word “palki” or palanquins, which were often used during the Maharajas time. This casual café offers an eclectic mix of foods, with an emphasis on western café food. The food at Palki Khanna was one of the better meals we had outside of the offerings of 5 star hotels in the vicinity.
NATRAJ, UDAIPUR, INDIA
Natraj is a very popular local dinning spot in Udaipur. The food is all vegetarian – they don’t even serve eggs here.
Natraj is known for its thali meals that offer a filling meal at a great price. This is probably the best thing to eat here.
The place is very bare bones – there is no décor to speak of and the service is really sloppy. The food was all right. I tried their Daal Bhati (a traditional Rajasthani dish), which was pretty good. We tried their Chinese and it was pretty awful. I would stick to the Indian food.
All in all – I really didn’t think Natraj was worth the trek out there. There is no culinary experience that awaits you to make the effort to eat here. There are plenty of places that are more centrally located that offer a better experience.
THE RESTAURANT AT DEVIGARGH, RAJASTHAN, INDIA
Devigarh Fort Palace is a beautiful retreat, set in the picturesque Aravalli hills of Rajasthan. It is about 30 kilometers away from Udaipur. Devigarh Fort was built in the 18th century and recently opened as a heritage hotel after years of restoration.
AMBRAI, UDAIPUR, INDIA
Ambrai restaurant is one of the more popular local restaurants in Udaipur. It is all about location, location, location which makes this a real tourist hotspot. Situated on the banks of Lake Pichola, dinning here provides a spectacular view of both the City Palace and the Lake Palace.
TILURAMS PICKLE SHOP, UDAIPUR, INDIA
If you have a little extra time in Udaipur and are a hard-core pickle fanatic like I am, then you must visit Tilurams. They have been making all kinds of pickles, jams, sauces and murabbas (a kind of jam) for many decades.
At Tiluram’s they just about pickle anything from seeds to fruits to vegetables. Their pickles are stored in giant vats and you can ask to taste just about anything in the store. Some of my favorites were the jackfruit pickle, the lime murabbas (which they highly recommend) and the garlic chutney.
The Jain Temple in Ranakpur, Rajasthan, India: Food
Ranakpur in Rajasthan, India, houses one of the largest Jain temples in the country. This temple dedicated to Adinatha, is replete with 1444 pillars, each carved from single pieces of stone. The mastery of the elaborate craftsmanship of the sculptures in this temple is beyond belief. In this Jain temple, its beauty lies in the complexity of is simplicity.
Udaivilas, Udaipur, India : Food
The Udaivilas in Udaipur, India; is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever experienced. Rated as the top resort in Asia and the 5th best in the world, the seamlessly gracious service and beautiful environs truly justify these accolades.
In a city that is steeped in Indian history and surrounded by the most beautiful ancient palaces, temples and forts, Udaivilas offers the perfect sanctuary of luxury. It’s stunning setting overlooks the gorgeous blue of Lake Pichola and soothing green of the Aravalli hills. The hotel itself is styled mimicking a traditional Mewari Palace. It houses a wildlife conservatory with rolling landscaped gardens that lead to reflecting pools, open courtyards and many quiet thoughtful spaces of beauty.
BENCHMARK RESTAURANT, Park Slope, NYC
Food: ☆
Service: ☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Foodies, Family-Friendly Dining, Cheap Gourmet Eats
Dishes not to miss: Blueberry Muffins
Special Features: Bar Dining, Farm to Table, Outdoor Dining, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Weekend Brunch
SUSHI YASUDA, Midtown East, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Fit for: Sushi purists
Dishes not to miss: Flash fried blowfish, White king salmon
Special notes: As of January 2011, Chef Yasuda has moved to Tokyo to open a restaurant there. However the quality of Sushu Yasuda seems to have been unaffected by this move.
SHAKE SHACK, Upper East Side, NYC
THE POLYNESIAN AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
The Polynesian is Disney’s island style resort where little adventures lurk in every nook and cranny. The landscapes of this hotel are rather impressive with a volcano style pool, the jungle atmosphere and a little beach to lounge around in.
The lobby is a flurry of activity where you might find a group of residents doing the hula to island beats or others just enjoying the gorgeous waterfall and greenery that adorns this space.
The Polynesian offers a few choices for dinning and thought we missed the popular “Luau” dinner we did have breakfast at the following spots. The food is very average but the wonderful servers more than make up for that.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS – SEUSS LANDING, Orlando, Florida
SEUSS LANDING 1000 Universal Studios Plaza Orlando, FL 32819 (407) 363-8000
Hats off to universal for truly capturing the spirit of Dr Seuss. This cheery land is beyond adorable.
You really feel like you have stepped into anyone of the crazy worlds that he created.
Characters like the Cat in the Hat, the Grinch and Thing 1 and thing 2 are all around doing cute little shows.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal: Food, Orlando, Florida
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
8504 Universal Blvd
Orlando, FL 32819
With two kids who are obsessed with Harry Potter, we had to hit the brand new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal this past summer. It was a wonder for the kids to see one of their favorite stories come to life. They have done a great job of Hogwarts but I found everything was made a little too small – I think they grossly underestimated the popularity of this world. In any case here are some of the food spots we hit whilst at Harry Potter world.
Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Orlando, Florida
Animal Kingdom – Food, Orlando, Florida
This might just be my favorite Disney theme park. Animal Kingdom has been fashioned with utmost care. Its Disney brilliance a its best.
They truly have managed to recreate an authentic, nostalgic feeling of Asia and Africa, right here the USA.
I really enjoyed soaking up the great attention to details that every little tea stand and food stall has been done with.
Here are some of my favorites ( more about the aesthetics than the food).
EPCOT: FOOD, Orlando, Florida
Epcot is my lifeline when it comes to food.With all the countries represented in the World Showcase, you have to figure there are some decent meals to be had.
I always try and schedule Epcot towards the middle of our trip because by that time I’m really hankering for anything ethnic. For me spice is quintessential to my survival. When I reach Epcot, the very first thing I do is head to Mexico to the indoor market place to buy me some kicking habanero sauce. This stuff is seriously potent – I mean a 9 on the Richter scale of heat. Once I’m armed with this sauce – any bad meal can be turned into passable as long as it is doused in this heavenly hot sauce!
My favorite Epcot World Showcase food spots are the Tangerine Café in Morocco, Yakitori House in Japan and a semi decent meal at San Angel Inn. The very worst are in the UK – The Fish and Chips place and Lotus Blossom Café in China ( it really is despicable food). France offers a nice little dessert stop off at its Patisserie and China has a nice little tea stand which offers some interesting teas to cool you off.
Here are some of the restaurant I tried:
SAN ANGEL INN
TANGERINE CAFÉ
YAKITORI HOUSE
NINE DRAGONS
LOTUS BLOSSOM CAFÉ
TUTTO ITALIA RISTORANTE
1900 PARK FARE AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
NARCOOSSEES AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
Narcoossees is the extremely popular seafood restaurant at the Grand Floridian. The setting is very charming as it overlooks the lagoon and is a great spot to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom from. One can also catch the night-lights show on the lagoon.
Narcoossees is one of the fine dinning restaurants that the Grand Floridian offers. The price points are high and in my opinion the food does not live up to the hype. The scallops was the best dish of the night and their desserts were pretty good but other than that nothing impressed me. Next time, I’d save my Disney dollars and spend them elsewhere
Here is some of what we ate:
Crab Cakes
Crab Salad
Steamed Whole Maine Lobster
Scallops
Crab-Crusted Mahi Mahi
Grilled Filet Mignon
Warm Chocolate-Almond Gateau
Strawberry Shortcake
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Narcoossee’s | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★★☆☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| American New / American Traditional | |
| * Street Address | |
| 4401 Grand Floridian , Orlando, FL 32830 | |
| * Phone | |
| (407) 939-3463 |
THE GRAND FLORIDIAN CAFE AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
The Grand Floridian Café is a casual café, which offers a nice relaxed setting for those who would like to have more leisurely, sit down meals.
The food is reasonably good – a shade better than Gasparilla Grill. I would recommend trying the Lobster Eggs Benedict for breakfast.
The service is a little slow but the servers are very charming and friendly. They spend a good amount of time chatting you up which is a quintessential part of the phenomenal Disney service. So if you are in a hurry to hit the theme parks and don’t want to dwell on your meals, the Grand Floridian Café may not be an ideal choice.
Here is some of what we ate:
PANCAKES
STEAK AND EGGS
LOBSTER EGGS BENEDICT
TWO EGGS WITH BACON AND HOME FRIES
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Grand Floridian Café | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★★☆☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| American Traditional | |
| * Street Address | |
| 4401 Grand Floridian Way , Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830 | |
| * Phone | |
| (407) 824-3000 |
GASPARILLA GRILL & GAMES AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
Gasparilla Grill is the essential, informal, hang out spot for any family with young kids. It’s a casual cafeteria style; self serve café, which offers a reasonable range of quick foods
The offerings at Gasparilla Grill are superior to the regular hot dog and chicken nugget menu that you get at most kid friendly restaurants. They have a nice selection of hot foods served at each meal and a fresh sandwich bar. They also have a host of cold foods that include sushi, wraps and salads.
Gasparilla Grill is a great option for those who want to eat quickly and get to the theme parks on time.
Here is some of what we ate:
BREAKFAST PLATTER
PANCAKES
HAMBURGER
FLORIDIAN TURKEY CLUB
LASAGNA
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Gasparilla Grill and Games | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★☆☆☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| American Traditional | |
| * Street Address | |
| 4401 Floridian Way , Orlando, FL 32830 | |
| * Phone | |
| (407) 824-3000 |
THE GRAND FLORIDIAN AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
The Grand Floridian is the grandest of resorts within Disney World. The old world, elegant charm it exudes is unmatched.
The lobby is my favorite spot to hang out in where you can sit and soak in the enchanting ambiance. It’s not unusual to find Cinderella and Prince Charming taking a whimsical stroll through the hotel lobby whispering sweet nothing to each other.
In my opinion, the Grand Floridian offers some of the better food choices within the theme parks and neighboring hotels. They have plenty of restaurants to choose from which cover a good range of price points and sophistication.
Here are a few that we tried:
GASPRILLA GRILL & GAMES
THE GRAND FLORIDIAN CAFE
NARCOOSSEES
1900 PARK FARE
MAGIC KINGDOM – CINDERELLA’S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST AT DISNEY WORLD, Orlando, Florida
Food: ☆
Service: ☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Getting a seat at Cinderella’s Royal Table is one of the toughest ticket in town!
You really do have to book a few months in advance to get a seat at this table.
I guess in Disney terms – it is the ultimate destination – dinning at the Cinderella’s castle. The room has a lot of old world charm – you really do feel like you are dinning at the castle (which in fact you are!). After all it is all about location, location, location!
The food is possibly the worst breakfast I have had at any of these dinning experiences but no one (other than me) goes there for the food. With Cinderella and her barrage of princess friends who keep showing up to entertain their tiny guests, one stays distracted enough from what is going in the mouth.
Do call a few weeks ahead and make reservation at 1-407-WDW-DINE or book online, as last minute reservations can be difficult.
Here is some of what we ate:
Bacon, eggs and french toast
