I had just flown into Orlando and after straightening out some mishaps with my hotel, I was ready to eat. I always want some reasonably decent, so this looked like a good option…listed in the Michelin guide, restaurant from Richard Blais, but I did notice while making my reservation on OpenTable that it was only rated at 4.3 which is not great.
In any case, I took an Uber and this was at the Hyatt Grand Regency. It was a little tricky trying to find the restaurant since it you had to walk around out in the courtyard out back to find it. I eventually did find it. I had a reservation, but they said they wouldn’t have a table ready for me for 20 minutes or I could sit in the bar area. I was hoping to get more of the ambiance from a dining room than a bar (although the bar was mostly empty). I only had to wait maybe 10 minutes and my table was ready. They seated me at a table for 4. Ambiance was more of a casual cafe although folks were somewhat dressed up. The dining area was in view of the kitchen area with a high counter blocking the cooking area so you couldn’t really see much of the kitchen although there was a lower counter for the pass but with lamps mounted on the ceiling but dropping down to a couple feet above the counter. That might have been just to keep the light on the pass or maybe they were some kind of heating lamps(?).
As I was seated, there were a couple men at an adjacent table finishing up their meal, but were complaining to their server that the fish did not seem fresh and was not flaky at all and that they had dined there in the past and it was never this bad previously (uh oh). They were comped a dessert.
I started off with a cocktail called Euphoria that was made with cardamon infused grey goose, apricot liquer and various fruit juice and topped with a smoke bubble that had meuse a sage leaf to pop it and drop into the drink. It was fairly meh. Was served some Parker House rolls also meh.
I ordered an Oxtail & Foie Gras Empanada for my starer. I love oxtail and foie gras. It was very greasy. Had a taste of oxtail, but only a minimal foie gras flavor. It was served with some mango chutney which help balance some of the oiliness.
For my main, I had to try the Lobster Mac & Cheese. The best thing about this dish was that there was a decent amount of lobster with a whole lobster tail atop the mac and cheese and still a decent amount of meat from the claws mixed in with the pasta. I did find it as cheesy flavored as I would have liked. The breadcrumbs did give a bit of texture to it. I did later see on the. menu that it was supposed to have chili crisp (I love chili crisp), which I don’t think I received and would have kicked up the flavor a bit.
I also ordered a side of Braised Garlic Brussel Sprouts since I thought I should probably have some vegetable. The brussell sprouts were overcooked and the color ended up being this grey brown mush, but the flavor was ok.
Overall, surprisingly meh and not inexpensive ($20 for cocktails and $40+ for entrees (e.g. my lobster mac and cheese was $45)), but they probably mostly cater to guests staying in the hotel anyway.
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