Here at Oh! Orlando towers we look at our countdown board and see 280 days till we go! And that gets us to thinking about everything we are excited to try when we are back in The Sunshine State! So, without further ado here we go!
Cracker Barrel’s Egg sandwich. Now, this is our go to breakfast. Fact. We have a. Little tradition that the first proper day we are in Orlando normally the Sunday, we head to the Cracker Barrel on the route 27 in Davenport. This particular place is about as American as it gets! A warm welcome, a smile and a “good morning ya’ll” sets us up for the day.
The Egg sandwich is a masterclass in simple food cooked excellently. Scrambled eggs with cheese on sourdough bread with hashbrown casserole on the side and a slice of Beef tomato. Superb. The hashbrown casserole’s are cooked on the skillet so are piping hot with lots of salt and pepper. Mr Oh! Orlando has the same but with the hash browns cooked in the meat juices. Nom nom!
We love it here. Not just for the food but for the service and more importantly the staff. We see the same staff year after year. The service is second to none, always attentive but they know just the right moment to top up the coffee for you. (And that’s quite a lot in Mr Oh! Orlando’s case…)
Every time we go we introduce new people to the Cracker Barrel experience, last year we took Ash and Tiff and they LOVED it! Ash was particularly taken with the pecan pancakes and the sides of bacon, and Tiff was all over the egg sandwich. Happy days eh! We cannot wait to go back. Even though we are not staying in the Davenport area we WILL be making a trip to the same Cracker Barrel for our breakfast on the Sunday morning, that’s written in stone!
Last year we visited a new restaurant in Disney Springs called Chickenguy. And oh my days it was good! It’s all things deep fried and chicken. It’s owned by none other than Guy Fieri, the famous restauranteur, author and tv presenter. This place was off the wall nuts. (Mr Oh Orlando’s words) The vibe and the staff were friendly and fun. The food’s not half bad either! From chicken burgers to tenders and everything in between… now to mention the sauces. 22 in all. Mr Oh Orlando’s was the Donkey sauce, so called because of the kick! As soon as you walk near the place the smell literally hooks you by the nose and pulls you in… there is plenty of seating inside and outside the diner, so you can sit there with your 5 tenders and 2 sauces and your fried pickle chips or ‘frickles’ – my word these are absolutely amazing!!! You really REALLY must try these bad boys. Deep fried pickles with a butter milk sauce. Next level tastebud overload!
Now onto one of Mrs Oh Orlando’s faves from last year, the Top Golf cauliflower base Garden Pizza. We went to Top Golf for Ashley’s birthday treat and it was a fabulous evening out. The highlight was the food, as normal we were expecting normal bar food, but boy oh boy we were suprised. Everyone’s food was way above the normal standard of just being called ‘bar food’
Mrs Oh Orlando opted for the cauliflower base pizza with vegetarian toppings. This was a masterclass in how to make the ordinary into extraordinary. The base was crispy without being burnt, and the toppings and cheeses plentiful. We had never seen Mrs Oh Orlando scoff a meal so quickly!! Again, as we keep saying its the people that make our holidays what they are, and the staff here were some of the nicest we have interacted with. We cannot wait to re-visit Top Golf and hit the range, and the pizza!
Another of our favourite places to visit to eat is Denny’s, a diner with a huge menu. It’s great to visit for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The portion sizes are very generous as are the drink sizes. Mrs Oh Orlando was very impressed with the breakfast skillet called the Fit Fare Sizzlin’ Skillet. A hot plate full of red skinned potatoes, fire roasted bell peppers and onions, mushrooms and broccoli. Served with egg whites and a side of salsa. This was a most impressive dish, from the noise of it sizzling and popping on the skillet to the incredible smell and it was served to the table! The beauty of Denny’s like a lot of the other restaurants now in Orlando is that they now all serve relatively healthy breakfasts and lunches. Lots of places now serve 500 calorie meals. Brilliant for when you want a lighter bite, then you have more room for Churros….
Now Mr Oh Orlando’s absolute favourite sandwich is the Reuben sandwich. This is a sandwich without peers in Mr Oh Orlando’s opinion (for what that counts for). The sandwich is a classic diner staple, extra thinly sliced corned beef, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut, on rye bread. This is a treat for the tastebuds! Tangy, salty and sweet with loads of cheese, what’s not to like?? Mr Oh Orlando always has one of these when he visits Perkins or the little diner in Celebration, each place makes it slightly differently using either corned beef or pastrami. Either is good by us. They are normally served with a side of ‘chips’ (crisps for us from the U.K.). And you’ll need plenty of iced tea to wash it down. That’s also something else Mr Oh Orlando is looking forward too, proper iced tea with a slice of lemon. Very refreshing on a hot Floridian day.
Churros, now everyone loves a churro. They are foot long deep fried heaven. Plain and simple. They now come in many flavours and fillings. A different one for each day?? Hmmmmm… the parks serve the standard flavour, coated either in sugar or cinnamon, these are some of our favourite treats to eat, but now there is a game changer in Disney Springs. The sunshine churro trucks and stands, they sell the normal churros but along with those they also sell a vast array of flavours such as Salted Caramel, Strawberry Cheesecake, Apple Cinnamon Cherry Limeade and Peach Mango. OR if you are feeling ‘extra cheeky’ you can opt for the dipped version that is extra big and dipped in either Nutella or Dulce de Leche. We think that staying on Disney Springs in the Holiday Inn is going to be a both a blessing and a curse, I mean, bars, shops and restaurants AND churro stands within walking distance. Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear oh dear….
So, that’s a few things we are really looking forward to munching again, but there is so much that we haven’t tried yet! Such as a Dole Whip, yes, I know we have NEVER tried one of these! But both of us are not big fans of Pineapple however it seems now there are many other flavours to tickle the taste buds, Lemon/Lime or cotton candy or mix the flavours – what exciting times we live in!
The vegetarian and vegan options seem to be increasing each time we go so Mrs Oh Orlando is looking forward to trying some of the new offerings in the theme parks – having been to Carey’s Corner last year for the first time as they now do a vegetarian hot dog! Oh the joy. At last there is getting to be a good choice of theme park snacks and treats and meals available for people with eating restrictions.
We are also looking forward to trying a few of higher end meals in a couple of the Disney Hotel restaurants we have been wanting to visit for some time. We are perusing menus and will be ready for our 180 day advance dining reservation choices when the calendar clicks into that 180 day mark!
Black Spire Outpost on Battu has a restaurant called Ronto’s Roasters they sell themed ‘space snacks and food’ the breakfast wrap looks next level. Scrambled egg and a sausage wrapped in a pitta, yummers!
The France pavilion in Epcot sells warm fresh baked baguette’s for few dollars, scoop up some free butter and jams and you are onto a winner snack wise! And when you’ve scoffed that ‘pop’ to the Germany pavilion and grab a caramel apple cake from the Karamel Kuche and sit down and relax…… at this point Mr Oh Orlando has gone off to find a bib for the drool…. see you all next time!
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