Huh? What the heck do I mean with that title? Three of us selected three different cuisines in Central Florida: German, Spainish and Chinese Sichuan. Not so long ago, that would have been impossible. Being a melting pot definitely had a positive effect on our food options. Let’s see how that turned out for us during our Sunday jaunts.
Das Essen – German for food
We repeated a fan favorite in Sanford, Hollerbach’s German restaurant but this time had a new experience.
While they have various themed rooms for eating, along with the outside area seen above (our usual choice), they now have a rooftop Biergarten. When we travel both inside and outside of the U.S., al fresco dining is the preferred option. On previous visits this had not been available but when the hostess mentioned it ………….we jumped on it.
The day of our visit was great for being outside and great for drinking a few brews – of course. There were only a few other patrons this day but service from our (German – really!) waiter was top notch.
When eating German, it’s a mandate to order a pretzel, which we did accompanied by a beer cheese spread and sweet mustard. The pretzel comes to the table piping hot, which we know, but still can’t wait to tear off a chunk and start eating! Ouch! Burned my fingers again.
Something new on their menu was Kasepatzle. Basically house-made, freshly sauteed spaetzle, topped with cheese and crispy fried onions, served with a salad. Delicious! However, V.E.R.Y filling. I brought half of it home.
Adrienne’s choice was a house salad with sliced chicken. definitely the healthiest choice at our table. Eric took a deeper dive into German cuisine, selecting pork schnitzel with a hunter sauce & red cabbage.
We made a great choice eating on the rooftop for this visit. If available the next time – we’re there.
Spanish Tapas – refers to a style of serving food rather than specific dishes.
This felt like a throw-back to our May 2022 trip to Barcelona. Eating (then and now) was tapas-style, ordering small pates to share periodically, then add more if still hungry. Two quick choices were the tomato bread and mixed olives. Both of which we ordered several times on our trip. Both were good, but truthfully, the tomato bread tapas in Barcelona won out. What a surprise, ha!
Another Barcelona favorite was octopus and Toro’s did not disappoint. Add in the thinly sliced Iberian ham and great memories were coming back.
While never seeing the tapas below in Barcelona, it was reminiscent of a selection that Adrienne and I had ordered in an Iceland gastropub: dates, wrapped in chorizo, + goat cheese + honey. Very tasty!
We were just (un)lucky enough to be there with live dancing and sitting next to the stage. Nothing wrong with the dancing, but I’ve never been the biggest fan of live entertainment – call me a fuddy duddy.
There was one unfortuante aspect of this place – its located on I-Drive, a heavily populated tourist area in Orlando. Another aspect………….the food was excellent. We’ll stop by again however during the off season.
Sichuan – refers to a province in Western China, usually incorporates the spicey Sichuan pepper.
This place was located south and west of downtown Orlando.
As you might image with a name like ChiliSpot combined with Sichuan……….yep, food was mighty spicey. We ordered a number of small plates to share – only a few at a time. We knew we would be ‘safe’ with fried rice and pot stickers as starters. Both were good and hit the right pace.
A little further into the heat with spicey cucumbers and sliced lamb with green peppers.
We saw this on the menu and had to try it: Farm Wood Ear Mushroom Salad. When the two adventurous eaters comment that the ‘texture’ was odd, nope, not going to try it.
Totally jumping into the Sichuan heat was this selection: sliced chicken hot pot. Yep, those are Sichuan peppercorns along with other spicey pepper ingredients. Interesting thing about Sichuan peppers………..they tend to number the tongue. It’s not noticeable if Sichuan peppers are an occasional ingredient – like me. But, the first time you experience it, kind of unnerves a person.
There you have it. Three cuisines from 3 countries eaten between the three of us.
Darden Travels 