On our never ending quest to sample the best variety of restaurants in Orlando we happened on this one quite by chance. Not having much of an idea what it was like, other than it was billed as yet another “all you can eat”.
That was the first mistake of the evening; this is certainly NOT yet another “all you can eat”. Nothing could be further from that description, which conjures up visions of Sizzler, Ponderosa et al. This is in fact a superb restaurant with a delicious menu, which just happens to subscribe to the philosophy that the customer should never leave hungry.
Situated just before Belz, on International Drive, it’s an unlikely place to find a little gem of an eatery. Unless you are looking for it, you would probably drive past without another thought, so used to the idea that the Belz area only contains shops, shops and more shops, with a few fast food establishments thrown in.
The bar area is spacious and welcoming, with large, well stuffed sofa’s and chairs to relax in while you wait to be shown to your table. Centrepiece of the whole restaurant is the huge wine cellar, which is stacked floor to ceiling with over 400 varieties available to sample. The house connoisseurs can offer a wine pairing for every dish available on the menu. There is even a good selection of bubbly if you want to push the boat out.
After a short wait we were shown to our table and introduced to our server for the evening. He explained how dinner is served here. The salad bar is a 40 item selection, but don’t be fooled, this isn’t your usual lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber effort. The variety of vegetables, dressings, breads, cheeses and soups would do a vegetarian establishment proud, and this is a steakhouse!! You can visit the salad bar as often as you want throughout your meal.
We all had strange disks by our place settings and our waiter then explained how these work. They are green on one side and red on the other. You put them green side up to let the “gaucho’s” (South American Cowboys) know that you are ready to sample the meat. Each gaucho wanders around the restaurant carrying huge sword like skewers with different meats on each, and when they spot a green disk they arrive at the table to offer to slice off the meat for you. They are very observant so remember to turn over your disk to the red side when you have enough on your plate.
I found the salad bar so wonderful I didn’t manage more than one slice of beef, but the rest of our party all said the selection of meats and various cooking methods were all perfect.
The restaurant also offers a couple of a la carte menu items, shrimp cocktail and lobster tail which you can order to eat with the rest of the meal. I’m not sure how anyone would fit anything else in with all the things already on offer though.
When you have finished the main course they offer a selection of desserts as well. I can highly recommend the chocolate mousse cake . The crème brulee was also highly praised.
All in all, this was a brilliant find and we will definitely go back. The service was second to none, the food was superb and the atmosphere very relaxed, yet professional. Highly recommended.