Tag: mamak

A new addition to Sundays

by ginnyinshanghai

We’ve added another to our weekend jaunts – our godson, Connor. It’s giving us a chance to introduce another person to the eating delights of Central Florida. One of our first forays was Mamak, asian street food.

We started with one of my favorites, fries dusted with asian spices.

And another fave, golden wontons.

One more dish was ordered, hokkien char mee, Singapore’s signature dish with chicken, shrimp and pork. It was v.e.r.y tasty.

We’ve had a few different dessert items but none that bore a repeat. However, fairly close by is a dessert pretzel, at Ten10 Brewing Company. So what exactly is a dessert pretzel? Think warm chewy pretzel, coated with cinnamon sugar and having a tub of cream cheese icing nearby – love it!!!!

Another weekend, we had a visit with Rich and Hunter and we stopped at Deadwords Brewing.

Interesting story about it’s location. Notice the phrase ‘Parramore district’ in the screenshot below? This is not known as an upcoming neighborhood. I was curious why here?

While this is a new building the ground beneath has a fascinating story. A couple from Indiana moved to Central Florida in 1948 and took ownership of the old Arrowhead Restaurant on this site. They changed the name to Chastains. For 40+ years they served up home-cooked, generous helpings of American country-style cooking to all walks of life: common laborers, politicians, sports celebrities, the sheriff and tourists. In the 1097s it was a safe space to discuss civil rights issues. Even in the 1980 and 90s it remained busy with concertgoers attending events in the nearby Citrus Bowl. In the late 90s, the Chastain’s son called it quits when no one else in the family wanted to take over the business.

The building was demolished and the space turned into Al’s Army Navy Store, remaining that way until 2019 when the brewery leased the property. The brewing group liked that there was history in the location and were excited to be a part of what happens next. There you have it.

They have this fabulous communication board, highlighting their current beers and throwing in a few bits of trivia. It is mesmerizing. The ‘clacking’ of the individual letters draws your attention towards it. Seriously, it does.

Why the name Deadwords? The owner was resurrecting the latin language.

With our group of 5 we ordered a variety of items. They have one of the best charcuterie boards in Central Florida – just saying!

Naturally there was a pretzel as part of this mix. The poutine appetizer was also part of the choices.

Throw in a few flame-fired pizzas and we had enough to fill everyone up.

Here’s the whole group for this outing. We’ve got to remember this place when others come. It has a variety of choices on their menu that should suit the pickiest of eaters.

Kind of empty when we first got there but by the time we left they had a nice Sunday afternoon crowd. We’ll be back.

Ginny

Mamak……….pronounced Mah-mahk

by ginnyinshanghai

What in the world! This was the beginning of another culinary adventure.

As can be seen in the photo above, mamck is an asian street food establishment – in Orlando no less. So, what exactly does that mean? The name ‘mamak’ comes from Southeast Asia meaning street vendor or food stall. These stalls are owned and operated by local chefs putting their own spin on traditional recipes. Here’s a bit more info found on their website.

This restaurant was founded in 2014 in Orlando, Florida. The first generation of the Lo family immigrated to New York in the early 80s, making a living from what they knew best – cooking. They eventually opened four restaurants before relocating to Central Florida.

Many of the home-grown recipes on their menu came straight from their grandparents. But enough talk, let’s see the food.

They have a robust selection of menu items, along with wine, beer and soft drinks.

Drinks were ordered and came while still looking over the menu……………BTW, the beer is mine. Occasionally I try saki, but have yet to acquire a taste for it. Of course, that’s what I used to say about beer. 🙂

A good deal of their menu was small plates, perfect for sharing and tasting LOTS of items. Upon preparation, they were brought to the table when ready, never served together – which I love. These skewers were ageta shokushu – lightly battered octopus tentacles. I had such great, awesome, mighty tasty octopus in Iceland, I keep trying to find something similar. While the others thought these were quite good, I’m still looking.

I’m always up for fried rice or Nasi goreng Indonesia – fried rice with an egg, simple yet satisfying. Wok-fried shrimp and chicken are hidden under that egg.

OMG – Golden wontons – one of my favorites no matter where we eat.

NEVER expected to order fries – but here you are. They were tossed with their signature five-spice seasoning and served with a side of sweet thai chili dipping sauce. They will be a repeat!

Left you have 2 potstickers (we ate the other 3 so fast, didn’t get a photo) with roti canai malaysian flat bread and spicy dipping gravy on the right.

This was not for me – nope. Tender seasoned, fire-roasted pork belly. They had plenty to share with each other.

A different fried rice………..mamak nasi goreng. Little bits of shrimp, chicken, eggs and onions. YUM.

Another dish ordered was Char kway teow – Malaysia’s signature street dish, fried rice noodles, with shrimp, chicken, eggs, beansprouts and chives.

I personally like the curly noodles – much easier for me to use chopsticks. And the name………don’t know and couldn’t find it on their on-line menu.

Can you have a meal without dessert? A rhetorical question usually. We tried the fried banana – battered and deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar, drizzled with honey and caramel, topped with sesame seeds, served with vanilla ice cream. It was good, maybe not a repeat, but satisfying none the less.

Whew! Lots of food photos to share, Really should let everyone know………..this was a compilation of several visits! There’s no way we could have eaten all of this at one seating. Man-o-man there were more items we wanted to try. Going to have to schedule another visit. Twist my arm.

Ginny