The Woodlands - dj

6040 S. Orange Blossom Trail
Orlando, FL 32809
404.854.3330
http://www.woodlandsusa.com/

The Woodlands is a south Indian restaurant that caters to the vegetarian Hindu tradition. One of the main areas of the menu is dedicated to Dosai’s. These a giant crepe like pancakes probably 24 inches round, they are filled with a potatoes or other savory items and then loosely rolled up like a burrito.

We arrived on a Sunday morning at 11:20, the place was deserted but by 11:30 when the restaurant was set to open people started to arrive. We have been here on a special occasion day like Mother’s Day and there be a two hour wait. There were 4 of us here today so we split 3 dishes and 2 orders of Somosa’s.

Today we had:
Vegetable Samosa - Crispy Flaky Crust Stuffed with Potatoes & Peas.
Mutter Paneer - Peas and Cheese Cooked with Tomatoes, Onion and Indian Spices.
Vegetable Korma- Garden Fresh Vegetables Cooked in Spices and Coconut Milk.
Paper Masala Dosai - Thin Crispy Rice Crepe Filled with Potatoes & Onions.






The Samosa’s are always good, but one of ours was cool inside on this visit. Everything else was perfect. The Paneer a type of homemade cheese in the Mutter Paneer is always good. The Sweet Lassi was sweet yet sour and smooth. The side dish of Raita a cooling yougart salad is always nice to cool down for the flame form the curry.

We always have a nice meal at The Woodlands.
Closed on Monday
Rating: ***
Service: ****
Price: $42.00 for four

What others have said:
Orlando Weekly in 2003

Spice Cafe - DT

7536 Dr Phillips Blvd.
This could be the beginning of a curry phase for me. I told DJ that other than my wife’s curry dressing and the curry chicken wings at the church potluck this weekend, I had never been to an Indian restaurant. Several people within earshot piped up simultaneously “Spice Café”. I guess it must be good. It’s difficult to keep my expectations in check when it comes recommended by the crowd. I have nothing to compare this to so I truly did not know what I was about to experience.
Located across from the Albertson’s on Sand Lake and Dr. Phillips (I know, it’s not Winter Park), you will find this store in an upscale shopping strip. For lunch you can order from the menu or choose from several dishes already prepared at the counter. I had no idea what to get so I pointed to the chicken in a tomato cream sauce and hot mushrooms and onions in a dark broth. I determined later that I must have ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala. Lunch is served with basmati rice and toasted pita bread or “nan”. I was able to sample the Butter Chicken, another tomato and cream basd chicken dish as good as the Masala. I sat eating my meal thinking how will I describe this. I just have no idea how it was prepared. I can’t even compare this to another Indian restaurant. So I just let go and enjoyed. The mild tomato cream sauce is a busy mixture of spices and flavors that I couldn’t even begin to inventory. The mushrooms and onions were cooked in a broth of garlic and curry and… other stuff… resulting in a rich, medium spicy complement to the chicken and rice. So for not knowing what to order, I threw the dart at the Spice Café menu and I was not disappointed.

Service: friendly
Portions: plenty
Atmosphere: clean, comfortable
Chicken Masala, vegetable, rice, nan, water: $7.40

Potluck - DT

Potluck. Love it or hate it, I’m usually not disappointed. You could say I’m just easy to please or I have friends with eclectic culinary skills. Either way, we had a potluck lunch at church on Sunday and I discovered something remarkable and simple that I wanted to share. While helping clean up after the meal, there was left over fried chicken sitting next to what was a crock pot full of Curry Chicken. After considering how much I had already eaten, I decided I had room for one more so I poured some of the remaining curry stock over a chicken wing. OMGoodness! The curry stock is simple:
½ cup of butter
1 cup of honey
2 tsp salt
2 Tsp yello curry
Just simmer this in a small saucepan then pour over a pot of fried chicken wings, cover and shake. I plan to tweak this recipe a little so please let me know if you try this at home. I’d love to hear how you improve on this.

Bikkuri - DT

“I’m telling you the sushi is cheap.” My friends all laugh, “Are you sure you want to eat raw, discounted fish?” Hmm. I personally have never been ill from eating sushi so I still have sushibravado (the opposite of sushihumility). My Japanese friend taught me a new Japanese word the other day, sakoi - (loosely translated) Bring it! Put your pectorals away, the food here is quite good. I have been here once before and they serve other dishes as well. My friends can attest to the Teriyaki Beef with Vegetables and the Golden Curry with Chicken. Both are served in a bowl with rice and carrots and broccoli. They report overall taste and quantity were very positive. Today I had the lunch special, your choice of two maki rolls. The choices are mundane: California, Philly, Spicy Tuna, Eel or Vegetable. I chose the Cali and Philly while my friend opted the Eel and Spicy Tuna. We chose to eat half then swap so we were each able to sample four different rolls. Each roll is eight pieces so sixteen pieces was plenty for lunch. The ingredients were fresh, the fish was cold and not mushy and the seaweed was the seaweediest. DJ ordered a Garlic roll. Cucumber, cream cheese and crispy fried garlic. We think they should call it the Garlic Bomb. Tasty, but I do not recommend you eat this one all by itself and don’t let it be the last thing you eat before you leave. If you do, they serve Bubble Milk Tea for desert. I think I’ve made up enough words for the day. Lastly, don’t plan on having the office party here. They have a significant focus on take-out so seating is limited. Actual seating occupancy is around fourteen.
Bikkuri is located at 1915 E. Colonial Drive, about 3 blocks west of Bumby.

Quantity: good
Service: good
Atmosphere: take-out
Lunch special/water: $6.50