Archive for April, 2010

Happy Hour at Crave Orlando

Apr 26, 2010 food and drink

Rhonda and I noticed the other day that there was another new restaurant, Crave,  over by Millenia, so we decided to try out their happy hour for a cheap early dinner today. It’s right next to the TGIFridays on the corner of Conroy and Millenia.

042610-cravefoodWe went in and were sat at a booth in the bar. We almost got derailed because it seems Mondays are also Burger & Malt night, where the restaurant has a special menu of burgers and malts/shakes available. The specialty menu even had “adult” malts with alcohol. But we decided to save it for a future visit.

Not knowing how big the food portions were on the happy hour menu, we decided to order three items. We tried the Mini-Burger ($3), the Loaded Waffle Fries ($4) and the Korean Chicken Nuggets ($4).

The burger came cooked to order, topped with bacon and cheese melting off the side of the burger onto the Ciabatta bread. It was served with a side of root vegetable chips that tasted like they had just come out of the fryer. We agreed this would be a good-sized portion for one person.

The waffle fries were good, but a bit greasy. They were topped with chunks of mostly lean bacon and melted cheddar cheese. They were OK, but nothing spectacular.

We both agreed the chicken was the best of the three appetizers. The chicken was cut into bite-sized pieces, coated with Tempura batter and deep-fried. Then they were coated in a red sweet/spicy Miso sauce and served atop a small pile of mixed greens. Not being a huge fan of Miso, I didn’t think I’d like it, but I found the sauce to be just the right blend of sweet and spicy. The portion was definitely enough for a meal, but a small bit of white rice on the side would definitely kick this dish up a notch.

We both topped off the Happy Hour meal with a $3 Leinie Sunset Wheat on draft. Being from Wisconsin, we both get excited when we see our fave indie brewery on tap somewhere. Total with tax and tip came to about $22, which is pretty good for two. I think next time we’ll skip the waffle fries.

The service was good here, too, and if you miss the 3-6pm happy hour, it starts back up again at 9pm.  The atmosphere was upscale bistro, and I would imagine they get quite packed on weekend evenings.

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Dinner and a Trip on the Hot Tub Time Machine

Apr 10, 2010 food and drink, movies and tv, Orlando

041110-hottubtimemchneMet up with Clare tonight out at Downtown Disney. We started with dinner at House of Blues. I haven’t eaten here in a few years, but I had a Restaurant.com gift certificate to use. Unfortunately we just missed Happy Hour, but I wasn’t feeling up to drinking alcohol anyways. The food was good, as I remembered it, but it was a bit higher priced. My blackened Cajun chicken sandwich with a side of mashed potatoes was $13.  Rhon’s sandwich was about the same price and Clare’s salad was a  bit more..

Afterwards, we went over to the theater and decided to see Hot Tub Time Machine. Clare ended up having to leave after we just got into the theater, so it ended up just being Rhon and I watching it. Neither of us had any real expectations from the trailers we’d seen, but it turned out to be a rather funny film.

I think we enjoyed it so much because of the pop culture references to the 80s. A lot of the humor was non-PC, but it was kind of like if Judd Apatow directed an episode of VH-1′s “I Love the 80s.” We loved the cameo by William Zabka (still hot despite the moustache) and the soundtrack was great, too. The only thing I feel they missed the boat on was somehow working in a way for John Cusack (who not only stars in the film, but produced it) to parody his classic Say Anything boombox scene. This will probably be one we’ll get on DVD when it comes out.

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My Article List for March 2010

Apr 2, 2010 travel, work, writing

I don’t just write here. I also contribute articles and posts elsewhere on the web. So in case you’ve missed any of them, I compile a monthly listing of all of the links. Most, as can be expected, are travel related, but I did do a few entertainment pieces, too.

Here are my March 2010 contributions to the web universe:

Lodging Blog at Uptake.com:

Suite101.com:

Why Go Vegas:

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