It will be interesting to see if Darden keeps backing this Islands concept, which for some reason has never quite caught on with the dining public. For the most part, the food is good  and the restaurants are attractive and lively, often with entertainment. And they’re a favorite outdoor dining destination for locals.

As for the food, my companion out-ordered me with tortilla soup and a ropa Joe sandwich. The soup had layer upon layer of textures and tastes, with pliant avocado cubes, chicken and strips of tortillas.

The sandwich was, as the name might suggest, a version of the classic ropa vieja specialty of shredded beef served on a Cuban roll. Lots of well-seasoned meat, some cheese, peppers and onions livened it up.

For my starter course, I chose a special of ahi tuna ceviche, which featured tiny cubes of tuna dressed with citrus juices served atop a platform supported by watercress. The watercress was more annoying than helpful. It was wadded onto the plate in long stems, and every time I tried to fork a little watercress with some tuna, a long vine would trail behind.

For my entree, I had another special of triple tail, which sounds a lot more exotic than it is. Triple tail is a mild white fish, emphasis on the mild. In fact, it had no discernable flavor, although it was unquestionably fresh. But it was served on top of a bed of mashed sweet potatoes that were overly sweet. My rule of thumb is that the side dish should never have more flavor than the main dish.

Named for one of the Crown Jewels, Kohinoor is indeed a gem. The lamb korma was wonderful. The yellow sauce was smooth and creamy and coated the tender bite-sized chunks of lamb. It was great spooned over a mound of fluffy basmati rice. The vegetable biryani, a rice dish, was chock-full of such veggies as broccoli, cauliflower and green peas, plus some cashews and raisins. It was an ample and filling vegetarian alternative. The naan, a thick, slightly leavened bread, was delicious. The dining room is showing some signs of age and could use some updating, but the staff remains as friendly as ever.

The menu is extensive – larger than it really needs to be – and does have some genuine Mexican dishes, though it is also chile-peppered with Tex-Mex and other Americanized versions. The food is good and is presented in startlingly large portions.

I wonder if there is a time during the day, any day of the week, when Metro Diner isn’t overflowing. When I visited after 1 p.m. on a weekday recently, there were multiple groups of people, both inside and out, waiting for tables to open.

Such, apparently, is the power of a popular television show like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. I’m not sure the Jacksonville restaurant’s reputation would have preceded it to its new location in Altamonte Springs without host Guy Fieri’s raves.

Not that the raves are not deserved. The food is impressive and sincere, and the atmosphere leaves no question about the diner designation.

The LaCommare family is back in business, this time with son Leo at the stove, but mom and dad Marie and Stefano are always on hand.

The Pass is a ghost kitchen tucked away in an industrial warehouse area in Altamonte Springs whose food is available only for takeout or delivery. The menu, once you find it (more on that in a moment), is supposedly Latin American but tends to hover more around Mexico and the southwest with sections for burritos, tacos, quesadillas and….ramen?

An Altamonte version of the popular Mills 50 restaurant, except bigger and with better parking!

Second location at 463 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs (in front of Altamonte Mall); 407-767-1252. Darden’s latest concept works on a number of levels, thanks to the hard work of manager George Miliotes, executive chef Clifford Pleau and their talented staffs.
The original conceit of the restaurant was that something somewhere was coming into season every week of the year. The kitchen has sort of gotten away from following that too closely, but continues to offer entrees with lots of flavor but fewer calories. Forget about the food being healthfully prepared, you won’t notice a difference when you taste the grilled pork with polenta or the filet mignon. If you start feeling too goody-goody, go crazy and order all the mini desserts. The wine list here – which includes a large number of by-the-glass selections – is especially impressive.
Despite coming from the same company that brought you the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, Seasons 52 is more upscale and casually elegant — there is even a piano player in the bar area many evenings. And just to drive home the point that adults are the target audience, Seasons 52 keeps no highchairs or booster seats on hand.

This Terramia recently moved around the corner to this new address. Although the word pizza does not appear in this restaurant’s name, pizza was the best of what I sampled here. I ordered the quattro formaggi, which featured a perfectly honed crust topped with just the right amount of cheesy goodness. This is not for the people who expect a red sauce to be part of a pizza pie’s base, nor for the lactose intolerant, but I liked it just fine.

Like the original, the menu features authentic New Orleans fare. Also like the original, the food here is about as close as anyone in Central Florida has come to presenting a real taste of the Big Easy.

For my entree I chose the combo of jambalaya, crawfish pie and file gumbo. Both the gumbo and the jambalaya were excellent. The soup had a wonderfully dark rouxy base with good chunks of chicken and spicy andouille sausage, topped with a bit of fluffy white rice. The jambalaya had sausage and vegetables cooked into the rice.

I liked the crawfish in the etouffee, however. A more tomatoey roux served as the base with plump, chewy bits of crawfish and vegetables swimming around an island of rice.

For dessert, the bread pudding was crazy good. Big, buttery and gooey with sauce.