An odd name – it comes from a book about Florida by Patrick Smith. But it’s a good restaurant, though not the best steakhouse. If you’re a prime rib lover, this is your place, but be prepared to pay dearly. The restaurant has been known to close on evenings when the hotel’s capacity is low, so always call first.
Though it is situated in the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel’s golf clubhouse, the atmosphere is more along the lines of a hunting lodge. Very clubby. Service has always been first-rate.
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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.

This is the latest in the ongoing trend of sushi bars in hotel lobbies. But this isn’t just a slap-dash sort of place. The sushi here is unfailingly fresh and creative.

Banshoo is the latest in a mini trend of hotel lobby bars. Here, chef Yoshi prepares skillfully crafted rolls and nigirizushi for hotel guests and locals looking for fresh sushi. Banshoo means sunset, so naturally it is open only in the evenings.

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.

Brick House fancies itself as a “man cave.” Take that as you will. I wish they’d spend less time thinking about the man cave concept and a little more about the food, which is marginal. Brick House is a fledgling chain out of Houston.

One of Darden Restaurants’ most recent acquisitions, and easily their most upscale. The steaks here are very good, and the service is attentive if not downright solicitous. I had the Delmonico, basically a bone-in ribeye, that was had a flavorful, well-seasoned crust and beautiful red center. The higher fat content of the cut made it juicy and tender. My companion chose the Kansas City sirloin, offered as a special on the night I visited. Also a bone-in cut, the steak had a characteristically coarser texture but was cooked just as perfectly as the other and was every bit as flavorful.
Atmosphere is clubby and posh.

It’s big and splashy, but early indications are that more effort was put into the ambience than into the food, which is under the direction of James Beard Award-winning chef Guillermo Pernot. It would seem the vibrant flavors of Cuban cuisine have been dumbed down for the tourist trade. Even the drinks are disappointing. It’s bad enough that they can’t seem to make a decent mojito, but you’d think they could at least have a stellar Cuba Libre.We started with a salad of watercress with crumbles of Cabrales, the tangy blue cheese of Spain. Fresh, but indistinguished.
A fish course followed comprised of sea bass a la plancha a Chino-Cubano. Yes, a Chinese version of a Cuban dish, complete with fried rice and a sesame sauce. I found it rather strange, although the quality of the fish was good.
The meat course had grilled skirt steak on a sugar cane skewer paired with roast pork stuffed mofongo — not an ingredient in the bunch that I don’t love. Yet it was all almost flavorless, without any seasoning. It looks like this will be another Latin restaurant that’s afraid of offending the delicate palates of tourists. That’s a shame.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House has come into the area in a big way, with an emphasis on the big. The new restaurant on International Drive is huge.

Of course, the main event here is meat — big, expensive hunks of it, nicely broiled and juicy.

Even though this is a restaurant out of New York, don’t confuse it with the legendary Manhattan steakhouse. Not that you would once you stepped inside this casual yet boisterous place. The signature item here is the same-named cut of meat.
I must say it was an impressive looking steak, a beautiful 24-ouncer that had been cooked perfectly to the requested medium-rare. And with the exception of the first bite, which was all gristle, the meat was quite tender, and at $19.99 for such a large steak, it seemed to be quite a deal.
So would it have been too much to ask that the steak have some flavor? It had none. It was ultimately just a big slab of meat that could substantially fill an empty stomach without offering much in the way of enjoyment. It was served with a side of penne with a passable red sauce.
Unfortunately, management seems to think that anyone coming in through the door is a tourist. They’re not treated poorly, they’re just not treated as though they’re coming back again. There are dozens of places on International Drive that are better than Delmonico’s.