Travel Edition – Orlando
Day 1
Magical dining! Every year the city of Orlando hosts “Magical Dining” month. There are many high end restaurants that participate with $35 per person special menu’s that include a 3 course prix-fixe menu with choices for an appetizer, main course, and dessert. Every year they choose a charity and every meal purchased donates $1 to the chosen charity. This year it is all to benefit “Feed the Need Florida” that works to helps those in need get access to healthy food during the Covid crisis.
It is also a great way to try out many restaurants that you may have only visited on special occasions for a very reasonable price. It also falls during our anniversary and my wife’s birthday so we always make it a point to spend at least a weekend or more to relax and enjoy everything Orlando has to offer. Our favorite place to stay is the Waldorf but during Covid they are closed to the public for a “special party” (my guess is it’s the NBA bubble). So, this week we are staying at the sister hotel “Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek” that is also beautiful and as an extra benefit has a lazy river and tubes along with poolside services (drinks and food).
We both chose three restaurants for the week that we wanted to visit for various reasons (menu, classiness, parking, and overall experience or atmosphere) in addition to one that we visit every year as the seventh. The first one on the list was Del Frisco’s which had a nice magical dining menu and valet service (yes, we brought the fancy car which the valet staff at Bonnet Creek was very excited about). The entrance is grand and beautifully decorated with walls made of wine selections (I believe the waitress told us they had a very extensive wine list). The staff seemed to be a little younger but very friendly and well dressed. The lighting was upscale, classy, and romantic. We were quickly led to our table with no wait. We would recommend you make reservations on your favorite app (we use OpenTable) because we noticed they were completely booked on a Saturday night.
They offer the magical dining menu and a normal menu, or you can add anything you want to the magical dining. We ordered our drinks (I of course had a martini with blue cheese stuffed olives and my wife ordered a glass of white wine) and they came quickly. Our staff (waitress and assistant) were funny and made good conversation/ clever comments that make the experience more enjoyable without being intrusive. They made their recommendations and gave us time to enjoy the drinks and make our selections. The bread was a warm and fluffy loaf with sesame seeds which was nice. My wife ordered the wedge salad, filet medallion duo (one with bearnaise and the other with a mushroom bordelaise) that came with mashed potatoes and green beans. And I ordered the Del’s jumbo lump crab cake with green beans and a Caesar salad. The truth is my salad was a bit on the wilted side and my wife’s medallions came out rare instead of medium rare (and yes, we know the difference but when in a fine restaurant we know that it comes out correct so we do not make adjustments to compensate, this one unfortunately was not correct). Both of our meals were still really good, but I would not say excellent. The service, however, was excellent. For dessert my wife had the cheesecake with a pecan crust (which honestly we did not care for the crust) and I ordered Belgian chocolate mousse with salted chocolate caramel fudge sauce to go because we were already full and thought that it would be nice back at the hotel. We were underwhelmed with the desserts and mine did not look appetizing but tasted good.
As I said, the service was excellent, but we felt like they had cut some corners for the magical dining and it did not do their restaurant justice. We were happy to see that they were part of the Landry’s Select group (which is probably the best rewards programs we have ever had, I think we paid $25 for it 10 years ago and have received well over $1,000 back plus, you can skip the line with no reservations at all of their restaurants which is especially helpful in Disney at the Yak & Yeti, T-Rex and Rainforest café). We had an additional reward (which you get on your birthday each year) of $25 that they applied and usually the manager comes by to thank you for being a member (which is a nice touch) but tonight that did not happen (and now that I think of it that may be the first time ever that they have not done that).
We left with our to go desserts and headed for the valet, which is a little awkward because it is 100’ or so from the front entrance and it was pouring rain. I was pleasantly surprised at the valet who immediately remembered me and asked if my wife was at the front then promptly ran over to her with an umbrella which I appreciated.
Overall, the experience was good not great and so was the food. There was a combination of things we liked and were disappointed in and although it is a Landry’s restaurant, we would rather spend our time and money at one of the better ones (like the Oceanaire, which we will be visiting later this week).
Date Nights Palm Beach 