#62 - Funky Monkey Wine Company, Orlando FL

The ALSD conference always ends on Wednesday early afternoon.  A lot of the attendees either leave Wednesday morning, or immediately following the last session that afternoon.  I see no reason to race back to reality, so I stay the night and head back Thursday morning.  Blair and his wife ordered in at the hotel, so Krista and I made plans to go somewhere delicious for dinner.  The concierge suggested Funky Monkey Wine Company, located in Pointe Orlando, a shopping and dining area about a mile from our hotel. 

Funky Monkey is a great restaurant, with a pretty large outdoor patio.  But, it looked like it might rain so we went inside.  We were seated at a pub table next to the window.  We ordered wine, and it was really good.  But I don't remember what kind we had.  I really need to do a better job of that moving forward.

I thought about sushi, but none of the rolls really jumped out at me.  And as I looked at the rest of the menu, there were a few very unique items that I wanted to try.  I couldn't decide between the Funky Monkey or Drunken Monkey salad, but since Krista got the drunken salad I got the other one.

Blue cheese crumbles, avocado, grilled onion, bacon, tomato, blue cheese dressing

My salad was awesome.  I mean with those ingredients you really can't go wrong.  For dinner Krista got the scallop & shrimp Maque Choux, and I got the seafood pasta diablo

Shrimp, mussels, scallops, spicy tomato broth, linguine

Yep, forgot to take a picture of Krista's meal, but she said it was really good.  My dish was fantastic.  The broth was spicy and had lots of flavor, and on the menu it said "spicy" in italics.  It definitely had a kick, but not in a crazy way.  I've tasted much spicier in other restaurants.

Since it was our last meal we went with dessert.  I can't remember what it was called, and there's no dessert menu listed on the website...

The crust was made of cookie dough!  And the outside edge of the cake was a big piece of white chocolate.  This cake was phenomenal.  We shared it, so it wasn't too much.

Our waiter was both a positive and a negative.  When he was attentive, he was great.  He knew his stuff and gave great suggestions.  However, when we were ready to order he was nowhere to be found, and when we finally saw another waiter head our direction and asked for our waiter, he just took the order for us.  When we were done, the waiter disappeared again, and we had to wave another waiter down to pay our bill. 

Will I go back?  Yes I will, if I ever go back to Orlando.  The food was delicious, the wine list was substantial, and I don't want to let one waiter's inconsistency to ruin my whole impression of the place.

#61 - Spencer's for Steaks & Chops - Orlando, FL

There's always one night during the conference when there's no venue tours, the exhibit hall closes by 7 and we have the evening to ourselves.  So we're always looking for something fun and delicious to do for dinner. 

Over the past couple of years we have become good friends with Jeff, Tom and Ed from Perlick, a company that provides refrigeration systems (wine coolers, keg fridges, suite fridges, etc).  They've kind of become honorary members of CD4L, our college division group.  Not because they have any specific tie to us, but just because they're really fun!  Jeff couldn't come to the conference this year, so it was just Ed and Tom. 

We decided to go to Spencer's for dinner.  It's right in the hotel, and is one of the top restaurants in Orlando and one of the top steakhouses in the country. The main dining room is all dark paneling, white tablecloths, and lots of wine glasses on the table.  We were seated in a private room, which eventually proved to be a very smart idea.  This was a beautiful space that seated 12, with large windows to outside and a full glass wall full of wine bottles.  Even though we only ended up with a group of 7, I was glad they didn't move us to a table in the main dining room.  That would have been kind of boring.  The below picture is from the website.

Our waiter, Scott, was fantastic.  He immediately could sense that we were there to enjoy each other's company and the food, and never made any attempt to rush our choices.  He anticipated our needs very well, made excellent suggestions on each course of our meal, and was extremely knowledgeable. 

Earlier in the day Krista and I had seen a sign for The Holy Land Experience theme park on our way back from our trip to U of Central Florida.  We had no idea there was any kind of religious theme park anywhere.  Have to admit, we joked about it, but when I looked it up online we were surprised at the size and scope of the park.  When we were discussing it that evening at dinner, Scott told us that the owners of the park eat at Spencer's frequently.  If you've ever turned on Trinity Broadcasting Network (by accident or on purpose) you've seen them:

Yep, that's all hair.  She kind of reminds me of Tammy Faye Baker on steroids. 

So anyways, on to the food and drinks.  Ed and Tom ordered wine, but we figured we should order cocktails while we waited for the wine.  Krista ordered a French 75. (champagne, Cointreau, gin, lemon juice)  We all thought she was making it up.  Scott also said he had never heard of it, but he went to the bar and appeared a few minutes later with the drink.  I love a waiter who takes on a challenge full force.

With the bread came butter on a Himalayan salt block.  I had never, ever heard of that before, but it was really cool, and definitely a conversation piece.

Apparently you can cook on it, but it takes a long time to get hot and the food can slip off the block pretty easily.  But it's a very cool way to impart salt to your food without going overboard. 

Before we even ordered dinner, Scott came and discreetly closed the door to our private room.  I knew we were kind of loud, but we were having a great time, and the restaurant only had a couple of tables full, so we really didn't think about it. Not sure if we were disturbing the other guests or if he just pre-empted it, but it worked.  I like that Scott just came and shut the door, and didn't try to keep us quiet.  I'm honestly not even sure how well that would have worked.

We all decided to skip the appetizers and go full force into the food.  I went with the Spencer's steak, the 14-oz boneless ribeye.  I thought about the bone-in for a minute, but decided that might be a little too much.  I added the crab & béarnaise sauce on top, at the suggestion of Scott.

My steak was phenomenal, but huge!  It was perfectly cooked, and had so much flavor.  I know the ribeye is probably the fattiest cut of meat, but that's why I like it...the fat imparts tons of flavor to the final dish.  I will say that the béarnaise sauce was too heavy for my tastes, and I ended up taking off most of it.  I should have asked for it on the side.  Actually, I should have done the Cabernet sauce, because Blair said it was amazing.  And it looked more my style.  But oh well, live and learn.

Like all of the high-end steakhouses, Spencer's menu is all a la carte.  Scott suggested that we get 3-4 sides to share because they are big.  But since we'd had quite a bit to drink, we were deciding with our eyes instead of our stomachs.  So we got 2 orders of the loaded hash browns, truffled creamed corn, asparagus, creamed spinach and fries.  Yes, we went way overboard.  I can't believe I forgot to take pictures.  Maybe because they're all just basic sides.  But they were all absolutely delicious.  The hash browns were highly recommended, and we weren't disappointed. 

Can't remember the exact part of the meal that this happened, but Ed got a little aggressive with his wine glass

Scott said this happens all the time, and not to worry about it.  So we didn't.

As if we hadn't been gluttonous enough already, for some reason we felt the need to get dessert.  I honestly didn't even know that anyone had ordered anything until it arrived on the table. 

Strawberry Rhubarb - Pavolva, brown sugar, sour cream, ginger 

Apricot Chamomile - Honey goat cheese panna cotta, pistachio, oats

Mango Chocolate - chocolate flourless cake, mango Gnache,
cayenne Aglaise, kiwi, Chantilly cream

I'm gonna have to say, the desserts were the least favorite part of the meal.  They were a lot of fluff and not nearly enough substance for my taste.  Of the 3, the Apricot Chamomile was the best.

Will I go back?  Well, it's definitely a special occasion restaurant.  But next time I'm in Orlando and am looking to celebrate that occasion, I certainly will.

#60 - Tropics Pool Bar & Grill, Orlando, FL

One of the perks of my job is that I am a member of the Association of Luxury Suite Directors (ALSD).  Most people wouldn't consider an association as a perk, but this one is. Every year it's in a different city, we do venue tours each night, I always learn a lot and am able to take ideas back, and I've made lifelong friends.  The conference starts on a Sunday, but I always get there the day before.  My first couple years I arrived on Sunday early afternoon, but I was always so tired that by Sunday night I could barely keep my eyes open.  3 years ago in LA was the worst, as I was falling asleep at the bar.  So after that I started getting there on Saturday. 

Saturday afternoon I spent a little time at the pool, took a nap in my room, and when I woke up it was almost 8pm.  The closest off-site restaurants were about a mile away.  I didn't want to pay for a cab and didn't want to walk back in the dark, so I went downstairs to Tropics Pool Bar & Grill, out by the pool.  I decided to take my order to go, since I had wine up in my room.  As I was trying to decide what to get, I noticed the guys next to me had gotten the specialty surf & turf pizza.  I asked how it was, and they both said "it's awesome" before I even finished the question.  Sold.

The pizza was SO good!  It was steak & lobster, and yummy deliciousness.   I'd never had lobster on a pizza, but it was fantastic. I would never normally eat a whole pizza like this myself, but I came pretty close this time.  I ate 2 pieces Sunday morning, and there was only one more piece left when I was finally done with it.

Sunday I was planning to walk to the restaurants for lunch, but I was way too comfortable at the pool, reading my book.  And I knew they would bring my food to me so I wouldn't even have to lose my lounge chair.  So I ordered a blackened mahi mahi wrap

So good!  The blackening was very flavorful but not too spicy, it was a big piece of fish, and the avocado added an awesome flavor.  The fries were hot, crisp and fresh.  I got the tarter sauce on the side, because the waitress said they usually put a lot on it.  I'm glad I did, because too much would have ruined the flavor of the wrap.  And I liked that it was a wheat wrap too.

The last night of the conference we had just come back from a day trip to Tampa, and they provided beers on the bus for us.  There was lots of extra beer, so some of the guys took it out to the pool bar.  And eventually a game of flip cup erupted.  I'm not sure the hotel staff was too fired up about the beer or the flip cup, but they tolerated us for a while. I took the opportunity to go on the lazy river. It was super relaxing, and doing it at night is a much smarter idea than during the day when there are 8 million kids out there.

Wednesday after the last session Krista, Blair, Jamie and I went out to the pool to relax and start to recuperate from the conference.  We had a late lunch, and I got the mahi mahi wrap again.  And it was just as good the second time.

If I ever stay at this hotel again, I'll definitely be eating here.  It's good food, reasonably priced, and a great view.

#59 - Surf Shack - Tampa, FL

Bree and I have been friends since college.  I honestly can't remember exactly how we met, but we worked together in the Maryland Football office for 6 years.  It's way too long to go into lots of detail, but suffice it to say we did a lot together, and had tons of fun...Ocean City, Preakness, away football games, Final Four lacrosse, Bentley's, The Cellar, and lots more.  After she left Maryland we fell out of touch for a while, and then it was pretty sporadic over the years, but we've always remained friends.  And we always will.  I was going to Orlando in June for my annual suite director's conference, and since it was only about 90 minutes from Tampa, went a little early to stay with Bree, who's been living down there for a couple of years.  I'd never met her husband, or her twin 2-year old daughters, and figured this was the perfect opportunity. 

We both forgot that she had to work on Friday, so I entertained myself by going to Honeymoon Island state park, about 30 minutes from Bree's house.  It costs $4 per car to get in, but the beach is well worth it.  And if you live in Florida you can buy an annual pass that gets you into any of the state parks.  The beach was pretty quiet, very peaceful, and beautiful Gulf water.  I spent most of the day Friday there, and then again Saturday morning before heading to Orlando.

Friday night we went to dinner at Surf Shack.  I was all for it, seeing as they had lots of seafood.  It's a neat place, located in a strip mall not far from Bree's house.  There's a covered patio in the front, and you walk through a tiny portion of it to get inside.  It was hot (big surprise in Florida in June) so we decided to sit inside. There's a bar and a few bar area tables to the right, and the main seating is to the left.  There's a really cool design feature behind the bar that looks like it's a water wall, but I think it's just made to look that way.  The restaurant was pretty crowded when we arrived, but luckily we were seated immediately.

I thought about having a drink, but the kids were with us, and nobody else ordered a cocktail, so I just stuck with my water.  They bring you out chips and salsa, which were both very good.  The salsa had a little kick, but not too bad.  We also ordered wings.  It comes in an order of 10, and you get your choice of 3 different sauces.  I honestly can't remember what sauce we got, and of course I forgot to take a picture.  But the wings were amazing.  They were huge and meaty, and I was really impressed.  Good thing there were 4 adults, because it kept me from eating a bunch of them. 

For dinner, I couldn't choose between the fish tacos or the pacific pork tacos (orange-chili pork with pineapple salsa).  Both sounded so good, but I wanted to stick with fresh fish as long as possible, so I went with the Longboard fish tacos

Beer battered cod, chipotle sour cream, surf slaw and pico de gallo
in a pair of flour tortillas

These were awesome.  The cod was light, and the cole slaw was delicious.  The sour cream was good, but they were a little heavy handed with it.  I should have ordered it on the side.  The first taco I ate with the tortilla, but by the second I knew it would be too much so I just ate the filling.  It also comes with a side of the surf slaw, but it wasn't much.  But that's okay, because I was full from the rest of the meal.

Will I go back?  Next time I'm in Tampa, definitely.