Shin Jung - DT

So Mike says “Hey you should go to the Korean place across the street from Barney’s”. I trust Mike, so we went. I think it’s been there a while. It was half full on a Friday. Again I am guessing by the demographics that this is “authentic” Korean cuisine. I hate the word cuisine. It’s so cliché. DJ ordered the chicken lunch, RB ordered the beef. I wanted the chicken but I thought I should get something different for the sake of the blog. I got the pork lunch. The lunch included miso soup, a very salty, marinated bean sprout served cold, cold kimchi, small ginger salad, white rice (fried rice $1 more) and the meat. Typical miso broth with scallions. The sprouts were ok. I found it best to just mix them with the fried rice. I’ve never had kimchi before so I can only say that it was alright. Salad was typical. I sprang for the $1 fried rice. More egg than I expected. The pork was prepared in a sweat marinade with lots of rub. Almost too rich but I ate it all…I always do. Overall, having never eaten Korean victuals before, (ahhhh not cliché) I enjoyed it. The atmosphere was chummy and the service good. I would eat here again.

Service: 4 out of 5
Quantity: plenty
Price: lunch/water just over $9

Shin Jung - DJ

1638 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803
407.895.7345

Shin Jung is a cozy little restaurant with 12 tables; eight of which have built-in BBQ burners in the middle, so you can cook your own meat. We decided on the box lunches - beef, chicken, and pork boxes. DT opted for the fried rice. We had steamed rice. This came out in little stainless steel containers with a lid. The rice had been cooked in these separate little containers. We each had 3 sides of marinated bean sprouts, kimchi, and a small salad.

The meal began with the delivery of miso soup. Then the box lunch came out. The salad had a sweet and sour dressing that was very good. The bean sprouts were slightly sweet. The kimchi, well; it was kimchi. I would haved to describe it as marinated cabbage that was served cold. The marinade on the grilled chicken was slightly sweet.

RB said I had not said a word for the last ten minutes. I guess I could not talk and eat with chop sticks at the same time. I enjoyed the meal.

Orlando Weekly says Shin Jung has been around to 10 years. The restaurant was full when we were there. Almost everyone else were Koreans. This is a place we will add to our list of places to go for lunch.

Service: Good (5 out of 5)
Quantity: Plenty
Meal/Water/Tip: Under $9.50

FHO - Topping Off Party - DT

We are appreciated at FHO. They treated us to a free lunch today. Hamburger, chips, watermelon, drink and fresh churned ice cream (with toppings). The ice cream was outstanding check 'em out. FHO treats us to a strawberry festival in the spring and a corn festival in the summer. This summer they opted to celebrate the "topping off" of the new tower by having a full blown picnic lunch. Not too filling and the service was good. For the money, I give it 10s all around!

FHO - Topping Off Party - DJ

The FHO Topping off Party was held today. The food was an excellent value - FREE! We had burgers with no toppings, chips, watermelon and "Old Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream". The burger was actually pretty good, they were grilled outside beside the tents that the food was served from. RB stated that it might be the best meal he has ever had at the cafe. The ice cream was excellent. I had strawberry. It was just the right consistency, and it was served at the right temperature.

Ming's Bistro - RB

The Steamed Pork Buns were very good. It would be worth going back just for that. I also had Duck Noodle Soup with thin rice noodles, it was very hard to get the waitress to understand which noodles I wanted in my soup. The duck was tasty but the broth was very bland. Next time I'll try something other then the Duck Noodle Soup.

Service: Good (4 out of 5)
Quantity: Plenty (3 small buns to an order)
Appitiser/Meal/Water: Under $11.00

Ming's Bistro - DT

Definitely not you average General Tao Chicken place located just off Mills and Colonial. I'm not an expert but compared to the Chinese food at every other stripmall, I would call it authentic. Being the only non-Asians in the place reinforced that impression. I ordered the Singapore Rice Noodles and asked for it to be spicy mild. It was just right. We all agreed the meals were prepared a little on the bland side but I can add my own salt. (You can't take it out). It was half full on a Wednesday. The waitress was very nice and even tried to help me pronounce "thin rice noodle" in chinese. I think it was "Mi Phen". I definitely enjoyed the roasted poultry (mostly poultry) proudly displayed hanging in the heating booth then cut up on a tree stump by the nice lady with the cleaver. Bonus! DMJ and RB ordered the noodle soup with roast duck. Not sure they cared so much for the more exotic parts of the duck. I would eat here again for sure. Colorful description aside, I found the place clean and relaxing and my new favorite place for Singapore noodle.

Service: Good (4 out of 5)
Quantity: Plenty (I told RB not to let me eat the whole thing)
Meal/Water: Under $8

Ming's Bistro - DJ

Ming's Bistro
1212 Woodward St
Orlando, FL 32803, US

I had the Roast Duck Noodle soup. With a bit of difficulty, I was able to order my soup with some surprisingly large rice noodles. The soup was rather bland looking with the duck accompanied by bok choy and those wide rice noodles. Ming's Bistro seems to be a more authentic style of Chinese restaurant, than we usually encounter. The dishes looked like something that would have come directly from China rather than the Americanized versions.

I'm not sure I was ready for that experience. Next time I'll walk around the corner to Viet Garden.

Service: Good (4 out of 5)
Quantity: More than I wanted
Meal/Water: $6.50