One of the many reasons we love traveling is having
the ability to expand our culinary experiences.
And if you’re in or around Orlando, Florida before or after your cruise, or you’re otherwise
in the area, there are seemingly an unlimited number of dining options available to enjoy!
In this video we’ll provide an overview of the four interactive dining experiences
we enjoyed in Orlando during our Summer 2021 visit.
Before traveling to Orlando, our family watched videos,
read online reviews, and voted on which restaurants we wanted to try.
The criteria we used to select restaurants were: it was not located at a theme park,
it was not a national chain,
it was rated four stars or higher on Yelp and Google Reviews,
it was family-friendly,
and it was a new restaurant for us.
Colorado Fondue Company -- which is named after where the owner
first experienced fondue -- is located a bit northeast of Orlando in Casselberry.
The restaurant has been around since 1992 and the combination fondue experiences
ranged in price from $15 to $39 per person during our visit.
After being seated and talking to our server, we ordered the Expert Combination Trail for two
since she promised it would be more than enough food for our family of three.
The combination included four different courses.
The soup and salad course was pretty straightforward,
but our JellyBean really enjoyed the included rolls.
For our Cheese Fondue course, we ordered the kid-friendly
Cheddar Fondue that was served with raw veggies, fruits, bread, and tortilla chips for dipping.
Our entree course included filet mignon, sirloin, chicken, shrimp, pork tenderloin,
a few ravioli, and vegetables.
The food was served with two 600-degree
cooking stones and a fondue pot full of steaming hot broth.
We followed our server’s recommendations and tossed the veggies and ravioli into
the fondue pot and cooked our meats on the stones.
As we cooked and ate over and over again,
the seemingly small bites of food quickly started filling us up.
When it came time for our Chocolate Fondue course, we were pretty close to stuffed.
Still, we wanted the full experience and ordered the Thin Mint Cookie fondue,
which was served with fruits, cakes, Rice Krispie Treats, and more.
We truly enjoyed our experience at Colorado Fondue Company and our bill was $68.48 before tip.
If you plan on visiting, reservations are recommended.
U and Me Revolving Hot Pot is located about three miles northeast of Disney Springs.
Hot pot cooking originated in Asia
and involves cooking raw ingredients in a simmering pot of broth.
JellyBean really wanted to visit this restaurant
after watching videos about Peanut, the restaurant’s robot host.
During our visit, the all-you-can-eat dinner was priced at $26.99 for adults,
$16.99 for kids ages 8 to 10, and $9.99 for kids ages 3 to 7.
When we arrived at the restaurant, Peanut escorted us to our table and JellyBean was super excited!
After talking to our server, we each picked from a selection of
seven broths for the base of our hot pot, then we visited the food bars.
The first bar included raw meats, chicken, and seafood.
The other bar included sauces, condiments, and other seasonings.
We all enjoyed experimenting to make our own personal dipping sauces.
Like Peanut, another unique feature of U and Me Revolving Hot Pot was that vegetables, noodles,
and other starches came to each table on a non-stop revolving conveyor belt.
JellyBean loved “catching” ingredients for us as they went by.
Our broth-filled hot pots were placed on individual,
adjustable heating elements and we followed our server’s recommendation
to only cook a few pieces of food at a time to maintain the hot pot’s temperature.
Thankfully, all cooking times were conveniently posted at the table.
We all enjoyed our delicious meal at U and Me Revolving Hot Pot
and our bill was $75.58 before tip.
And much to the delight of JellyBean, our bill was delivered by a second robot!
If you plan on visiting, reservations are HIGHLY recommended.
Korean Gogi Grill is a Korean BBQ restaurant located about 5 miles
southwest of Universal Studios and about 5 miles northwest of SeaWorld.
Gogi is the Korean word for meat and the restaurant features tables with
a built-in grill for experiencing the popular Korean cooking style
of grilling the beef, pork, chicken, and seafood they serve.
The restaurant menu is pretty straightforward and we ordered a dinner combination meal for two
people during our visit, knowing there would be plenty of food for our family of three.
The combination meal featured beef bulgogi, which is thinly-sliced marinated meat;
marinated chicken breast; pork belly; beef brisket;
Korean barbecue short ribs; and jumbo shrimp.
The combination meal also included soup,
fried dumplings,
and various side dishes, as well as white rice.
We had a lot of fun picking and choosing which meats we wanted to cook
and JellyBean enjoyed being our official “Flipper of the Meats.”
All of the food was delicious, but the beef bulgogi and the Korean barbecue
short ribs were definitely the highlights of the meal.
And, as we expected, the meal for two was plenty of food for our family.
The cost of our meal at Korean Gogi Grill was $69.23 before tip.
Taverna Opa is an authentic Greek restaurant located on International Drive at Pointe Orlando,
about 3 miles north of SeaWorld and about 5 miles south of Universal Studios.
The restaurant is themed like you’re sitting outside in a Greek neighborhood
and features traditional Greek and Mediterranean foods, as well as music
and a belly dancer that literally had us and other guests dancing around the restaurant!
The Taverna Opa menu features appetizers, soups and salads, kabobs, meats,
seafood, traditional greek favorites, desserts, and family style options.
We started our meal with the restaurant’s housemade hummus and saganaki.
The hummus was served with pita bread and was prepared with a mortar and pestle.
The freshness definitely added to the taste, as did the pieces of chickpeas you could taste.
The saganaki was made with a Greek sheep’s milk cheese and was flambéed tableside
to the sounds of “Opa!” throughout the restaurant.
For our main course, we ordered a Meat Platter for two so we could sample a
variety of the restaurant’s wood-fired meats, including lamb chops, chicken, beef, and pork.
The platter also included vegetables and spinach rice.
For dessert, we ordered loukoumades, which are Greek donuts topped with honey syrup and walnuts.
We loved everything we tried at Taverna Opa, but the highlight was still the fun atmosphere.
In addition to the music and dancing, the “Opa’s”
were practically non-stop and always included the throwing of napkins.
By the time we left, the floor was covered in napkins!
We also watched another couple stand on top of a table and take shots to celebrate a birthday.
The cost of our dinner experience at Taverna Opa was $90.53 before tip.