Babbi Babbi Korean Kitchen wasn’t exactly what I was expecting it to be. In fact, I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed when I walked into the new eatery at Phillips Crossing and discovered it was a quick-serve (order at the counter) operation. Even more annoyed to discover that the classic dish Bibimbap was offered as an assemblage item, with the diner tasked with choosing type of rice, which meat and what toppings to enhance or possibly ruin this traditional rice dish.

But I found plenty of other dishes on the menu that didn’t require me to act as an inexperienced chef, and I soon learned that even though one orders the food at the counter, service is supplied throughout the meal. And even better, the food was quite good.

Located in the Lake Nona Wave Hotel, Bacán is vibrantly upscale in both decor and cuisine. Go early and walk through the sculpture garden with a glass of wine or cocktail before heading in to dinner.

Dinner at Bice is not an inexpensive night out. But when you consider cost vs. quality, you’ll find that Bice is not overpriced.Just consider the restaurant’s signature dish, ravioli stuffed with beef short ribs and spinach. The pasta was delicately thin and tender, and the braised meat inside had a rich, fatty mouthfeel that blossomed with the sauce of mushrooms and Marsala wine. Absolute heaven.Or another from the list of primi piatti, big, fat tortellini filled with spinach and ricotta and dressed with a sauce of butter and sage.From the secondi my companion had the scalloppine di vitello, flattened medallions of veal sauteed with a darkly rich mushroom sauce and served with a timbale of potatoes similar to a potatoes Anna dish.I chose a special of the evening that featured sea bass in parchment. Enclosed inside the envelope with zucchini, yellow squash, red and green peppers, and a few salty olives, the fish took on all the vegetable flavors while maintaining a fresh and moist texture. The taste was buttery and absolutely delicious.
Desserts are worth lingering over.

It turns out that it is at the Bohemian Hotel Celebration, a sister hotel (or maybe it’s a brother; I always have trouble determining the sex of lodging) to the Grand Bohemian in downtown Orlando. Of course the restaurant there is called the Boheme, and you find it by walking through the bar and under the piano rotunda to the ornately designed dining room.

Step inside the front door of the Celebration hotel and you’re in the lobby, and, apparently, also in the dining room. A bar is off the the side and there are several tables with glasses and flatware, the sort of setting that I, as a trained observer, immediately recognize as places to eat.

The sausage was really quite good, and if it were available as an entree I would have gladly made it my main course. The texture was surprisingly smooth, almost like a boudin, and there were several nice spice notes. It seems to me that making sausage is one of the best uses for gator meat, which can be a little tough.

Best seating is outside at the lakefront patio.

Technically, this is a buffet, but it’s like no other buffet you’re likely to encounter. For one thing, the food is all wonderfully prepared. The food, which features a variety of meats, fish and vegetarian items based on African dishes, is adventurous in scope with brilliant flavors. And instead of steam tables most of the food is served on state-of-the-art (if all-you-can-eat technology can be called art) surfaces that allow the foods to be served in pots, pans and other vessels while still keeping them hot.

Bonefish is one of those restaurants that “gets it.” It offers a good product at a fair price in a pleasant atmosphere. Nothing fancy, nothing overblown but a consistently good dining experience. New location at 5463 Gateway Village Circle, Orlando,FL 32812 Phone: 407-816-6355.

Originally called Anatolia, but now owned by the same folks who have the very good Bosphorous on Park Avenue. The menu combines Lebanese and Turkish traditions, the former for the wonderful array of appetizers and the latter for the meaty entrees. Hot appetizers included arnavut cigeri, which sounds so much better than fried calves liver. This featured little bite-sized chunks garnished with tomatoes and raw onions; and icli kofte, an egg-shaped patty fashioned out of cracked wheat and filled with ground lamb. All of it was delicious — even the liver.For my entree I had the mixed grill, an ample sampling of meats, each available also as a single entree, that could easily serve two people. It had adana kebab, seasoned ground lamb formed around a skewer; lamb shish kebab, cubes of tender meat; lamb chops, just in case you didn’t have enough lamb before; dana kebab, cubes of grilled beef; and tavuk kebab, which would be chicken. All were well seasoned and delicious, and were accompanied by rice, a medley of grilled vegetables and small, skinless baked potato. You could make a feast of vegetarian options here.

Boston’s Fish House and I both made our Orlando debuts in the same year, 1988. The restaurant opened in February and I rode in to town in May. We didn’t meet each other until that November, but it was instant love, at least for me.

A new location for the popular SoDo grilled chicken restaurant, the Avalon Park Brazas also serves traditional Peruvian dishes.