Restaurant Reviews and News

Written By Scott Joseph On August 4, 2017

News from the Flog

Recent Restaurant Reviews

LemonShark Poke

lemonshark exterior

Sometimes when a food fad starts trending, we scratch our heads in befuddlement of what all the fuss is about. (I’m looking at you, cupcakes.)

But occasionally, you’ll happen upon someone who is doing the current food a la mode in such a way as to produce an aha moment, where you say, “OK, now I get it.”

If you’ve been wondering about the surge in restaurants offering the Hawaiian raw fish bowls, your eureka! is waiting for you at LemonShark Poke on Restaurant Row.

I must say I rather enjoyed my brief visit to Himas Indian Cuisine, a Punjabi restaurant that opened earlier in the year. Despite its Tourist World location, adjacent to an outlet mall and across the street from the now-defunct Artegon Marketplace, Himas offers a relaxed and pleasant dining experience with welcoming service and very good food.

As with most Indian restaurants in the area, lunch at Himas means a buffet. This one is smaller than most, but it offers a well thought out array.

News

New Location for Chianti’s, and Some Downtown News

Chiantis sign

Updated with information about Ono Poke below.

Chianti’s Pizza & Pasta, which opened at Seminole Towne Center in 2015, will take over the former Carmela’s of Brooklyn space in Longwood Village Shopping Center. Chianti’s president and CEO, Ian Schneider, said that construction is currently underway and he hopes to have the pizza ovens fired up late September or early October.

Other Stuff

Main Streets Restaurant Week is Aug. 4-12

MSRW 2017 Logo 4C Tags copy

I know you’re all sitting around waiting for the start of Magical Dining Month, but you don’t have to wait for September for some great dining deals.

The third annual Main Streets Restaurant Week starts Friday, Aug. 4, and runs through Aug. 12. It highlights the restaurants in Orlando’s Main Streets districts that offer special menus and deals for the week.

But unlike MagDinMo, which features only one prix fixe option (at $35 this year!), Main Streets Restaurant Week has an array of restaurants, from casual to full service, and a variety of menu options that range from $5 to $30 depending on the type of restaurant and the menu offered.

You can see the full list of participating restaurants at the Main Streets Restaurant Week website; you’ll find links to the deals and menus there, too.

If you’re receiving this e-mail because someone forwarded it to you, and you’d like to be eligible to win one of the gift certificates Scott gives away, click this box:

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Chow Hound Report for Aug. 4

A video wrap up of the week’s restaurant reviews and news. (This week’s backdrop is from Bofinger’s in Paris.)

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