Oh! Que Bueno is… Well, Muy Bueno!

Oh! Que Bueno
1125 S Semoran Blvd., Orlando, FL 32807
Tel: (407) 447-5026
Hours: 11a-9p Monday-Thursday; 11a-11p Friday-Saturday; 11a-9p Sunday
Accepts major credit cards.

Consistent. I really don’t have a lot of consistency in my life. I have teenaged daughters, so you can probably imagine that each day when I wake up my sole wish is NOT to have a fun (or not-so-funny) “surprise” spring up. The good news is that a little oasis of consistency exists at Oh! Que Bueno, a fantastic Colombian restaurant on South Semoran Boulevard just north of Curry Ford Road.

Oh! Que Bueno is a casual establishment that has been added to over the years. Starting out as a simple restaurant, the owners have put on a deck and additional seating in the back as well as a large, open room with a bar in the front. There are murals painted on the walls which contain scenes of Colombia, and there are flat-screen TVs mounted throughout the restaurant playing various soccer games.

The awesome wait staff is bilingual and furthermore, they don’t laugh at me when this gabacha completely butchers the names of the menu items. Always super-friendly and kind, they happily walk you through any menu questions you might have and suggest substitutions and different combinations that are exactly what you’re hungry for. My youngest regularly creates her own entrees from side dishes, which are served with no confusion or hedging at all as is so common in other restaurants who don’t care to take an extra step for their guests. What a refreshing change of pace.

Start out with a water with lime, a delicious yogurt smoothie, alcoholic beverage, or a variety of Latin and American sodas. Their wine list isn’t extensive, and it will be brought to you in a single-serve bottle. They serve sodas in the can, which I love, but also give you a glass with ice to pour it over.

The menu is traditionally Colombian, with huge platters of bandeja paisa and bandeja campesina, both national dishes. Another fantastic item is their steak, which is done in a variety of ways. The bistec apanada is breaded and lightly fried, and the churrasco steak (flank), entrana, and the punta de anca are all grilled to perfection. Other entrees include a wide variety of fish, such as red snapper and tilapia, and also shrimp platters, chicken done in a variety of ways (bone in and breasts), and pork.

[churrasco steak with fries]

[arepitas with warm butter]

Appetizers are plentiful and delicious, from beef empanadas to arepitas (small corn meal patties that you can dip in warm butter sauce; I wake up in the middle of the night craving these, I’m not going to lie to you). If you’re in the mood for something larger than an appetizer but not as plentiful as the enormous bandeja paisa/campesina platters, you can try a rice, pork, and bean bowl (garnishes with fried potato sticks - YUM!) or some mofongo (mashed green plantains fried up with pork and seasonings … something else I crave at 3am).

[red beans, rice, and pork bowl]

I would like to stop at this point and revisit the bandeja paisa. This dish is a MONSTER. For just a little over $10, this bad boy easily breaks down into two meals (three, if you’re more of a dainty eater). It comes with a huge scoop of white rice, an egg sunny side up, a HUGE piece of grilled steak (tender and lightly seasoned), red beans in sauce, chicharrón (fried pork back - almost a meal in itself), chorizo (seasoned pork sausage), morcilla (YUM - blood sausage with rice), one or two arepitas, fried sweet plantains, and a slice of both an avocado and tomato. I honestly wonder how all of this meaty goodness can fit on one single platter…

[I love you, my bandeja paisa]

A strange phenomenon I have yet to get to the bottom of is the fact that the bandeja paisa tastes JUST AS GOOD REHEATED IN A MICROWAVE. How is that even possible? I’m not complaining or anything, but it’s not going to help me break my addiction anytime soon.

If you’ve got any room left after your entree, try their delicious tres leche dessert or some flan (either vanilla or cheese). If you like figs, try the brevas con arequipe.

Consistent, fast, family-friendly service and consistently low prices make Oh! Que Bueno a must-stop on my list. Thank me later when you’ve gone into a meat coma after the bandeja paisa!

Swim on Over to Sea Thai

3812 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, FL 32803
(407) 895-0985
Lunch: Mon-Fri 11a-2:30p, Sat & Sun 12-3p
Dinner: Mon-Thurs 5-9:30p, Fri & Sat 5-10p, Sun 5-9:30p
Accepts American Express, VISA, MasterCard, and Discover

In an unassuming shopping center (I tend to frequent these, apparently) sits a quiet oasis of surprisingly-delicious-yet-exceptionally-reasonable Thai food.

I’m always on East Colonial for some reason … PetCo, B&N, Target, Starbucks, the Fashion Square Mall. I’d driven by Sea Thai quite often, but the sign and little strip mall it sits in were so nondescript, I had barely noticed it. One evening, completely wiped out from shopping for the family, I opened the door to Sea Thai and was immediately shocked.

It’s GORGEOUS. The interior is high-end yet comfortable, full of deep, rich browns and dark wood tones. The wait staff is all dressed in nice, crisp white long-sleeved shirts and black pants with linen aprons. The lighting is soft, and the booths are deep and comfy. It seriously looks like it belongs on either Park Avenue or Downtown. If my first reaction was to be blown away by the decor, you can probably guess that my second reaction was, “Great - how expensive is THIS going to be?”

My second surprise of the day was how affordable the menu prices were. A lunch appetizer runs from $2.95 for fried Spring rolls to $6.95 for coconut shrimp (very delicious; I highly recommend those). Dinner appetizers are in the same price range, with a few more offerings (some at a little higher price). An average lunch entree is $6-7, and one thing I love about their lunch is that you can choose between a noodle, fried rice, curry (FIVE different types!), or sauteed dish and add chicken, beef, tofu, vegetable, shrimp, or a combination of chicken, beef, and pork. Side dishes are plentiful (rice, noodles, peanut sauce, steamed vegetables), and so are the desserts (be sure to try the tempura cheesecake).

Dinner offerings are the same as lunch, but with about four more menu pages. Their house specials run from $11-$16, and you can choose from a chili jam sauteed dish to a panang duck to a soft shell crab yellow curry to the requisite pad thai and pad see ew. For you fish lovers, they have six different fish dishes. Alcoholic beverages run from Gewurztraminer, Banzai, Chardonnay, Hot/Cold sake, plum wine, Merlot, Cabernet, Singha beer, Bud/Bud Light, Corona, Heineken, Kirin Light, and more.

Most dishes can be made vegetarian upon request. And if you’re into tea, they have both hot and cold, flavored (raspberry sweetened and jasmine), and delicious thai tea.

You will be seated and served quickly, no matter if you are there for lunch or dinner. The quality is consistently excellent - I have never had a bad meal at Sea Thai. In fact, I’ve never even had a mediocre meal at Sea Thai.

One thing I love is their music, which is usually covers of popular artists by various world cover artists. Bob Marley done in Bossa Nova or a softspoken Eastern artist singing The Beatles, I always delight in hearing something new and unexpected!

Whether you’re famished after shopping or would like a pleasant date night, head to Sea Thai. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with the food or the prices.

[all images courtesy of Sea Thai’s website]

Nelore Churrascaria: Getting My Steak On

Nelore Churrascaria
115 E Lyman Avenue, Winter Park, FL 32789

Phone: (407) 645-1112
Hours: Lunch: Tue-Thurs 11-2pm, Fri 11-4:30pm, Sat 11-4:30pm, Sun 11-4:30pm
Dinner: Tue - Thurs: 5pm - 10pm, Fri - Sat: 5pm - 10:30pm, Sun: 5pm - 9:30pm

Payment Options: AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

I was invited to Nelore Churrascaria for a ladyblogger dinner (yes, I *have* been accused of being a lady from time to time), and even from a quick peek at their website I knew that this was going to be an amazing dinner.

I was absolutely not disappointed. I’m plotting my return, actually.

Nelore is located in Winter Park on Lyman Avenue, just off of Park Avenue. I went on a Thursday evening, and although Park Avenue was certainly alive with activity, I had no problems parking. Inside, I was greeted by a hostess who seated me at a table large enough for my group.

The ambience at Nelore is fantastic. Full of dark, rich wood trim, including the chairs, the decor is decidedly not busy but also not spartan. There are brick, wrought iron lighting sconces and a beautiful bar located in the eating area yet not on top of the tables. The ceilings are low enough that you don’t feel claustrophobic, yet not high enough to get that “warehouse din” noise (you know, where you feel like you’re eating at a Costco and practically shouting to be heard by your tablemates). The tables are big enough to be intimate, and you don’t feel like you are sitting on top of your neighbors. The tablecloths were linen, as were the napkins … classy, yet not snobby.

The wine list is quite extensive, I was happy to find. There were rows and rows of red offerings, but the price per glass was a little more expensive than I’m used to. Obviously, that didn’t stop me, and I had an amazing 2007 Argentinean Malbec … two glasses with my meal, in fact.

Our waitress explained to the table how eating at Nelore’s works … you begin with a large salad bar, and then gauchos (the meat carvers) circulate from table to table offering different types of meat. A little poker chip-like disc next to your plate is flipped either on its red side or green to indicate to the gaucho that you are ready for them or not. It’s nice to have that kind of control during a meal, although I probably kept my Gaucho Meat Indicator on green the whole night so it wasn’t a necessity! A girl’s gotta eat!

The salad bar was the first thing that I attacked, and there is a reason why it is offered as a standalone meal. Offered as a buffet, it was laid out very artfully. And unlike other Brazilian steakhouse buffets I’ve been to, it was immaculately clean. I watched as throughout the night, the buffet was refilled often and kept fresh.

Some of the items on the buffet were:

- chicken salad
- carreteiro rice or white rice and black beans with pork
- fried yucca with pork
- romaine or spring salad (with a chimichurri dressing - SWOON!)
- artichoke hearts and hearts of palm
- assorted cheeses
- smoked salmon
- shrimp
- mashed potatoes
- tabbouleh and couscous
- asparagus

The bread at the end of the buffet was incredibly moist and delicious, and the little cheese rolls on the table were absolutely addictive. For you veggiesaurs, the salad bar is labeled with any meat items so you can safely graze through their many offerings.

The meats were unreal. I’m not sure how a restaurant can possibly cook all of those different types of meat and keep them moist and seasoned perfectly, but Nelore certainly knows the secret! The meats I had were the flank steak, the lamb, and the filet mignon. The flank and the filet were unbelievable, and seasoned so deliciously I wanted to run back into the kitchen and steal their ingredients. I didn’t care for the lamb at all, though, as I felt it tasted gamey although it was moist. One issue that I always have at churrascarias is that I spend too much time on my salad bar offerings and don’t get to try all of the meats. Other meats that my tablemates tried were chicken breast wrapped in bacon and also the beef ribs. These items never got around to me even though I waited for them to come back to the table … I don’t feel comfortable waving the “go” side of my poker-chip indicator at the gauchos. If you’re a slow eater (read: Big Talker) like me, keep your eye on the meat choices and ask either your waitress or a gaucho to bring the items to you. I’ll take my own advice next time.

I didn’t try any of the desserts as I was too full from the meal. One of the owners, Angel, came out and gave us a little more information on the restaurant. They opened in November 2009, and have been very successful (in fact, she recommends reservations for dinner on the weekends). They have a sister location in Texas, and are planning to open one in New York City. Angel explained that there is live music on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and they are also very involved in the community. This includes giveaways for the American Cancer Society, raffles, and tastings with the proceeds going to charity. They also choose a menu item each month and have a portion of the proceeds from that item go to charity.

I hope to return soon and try some more of their meat offerings … and their desserts.