Restaurant Name: Cecil’s Texas Style BBQ
Address: 2800 S. Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32806
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter / Website

The Meat Sampler – March 23, 2018

Last weekend I did a quick 48-hour trip down to Orlando, Florida to watch a few rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational with my dad. I flew down first thing Saturday morning, we watched pretty much all day, ate dinner at STK – Orlando, and repeated the same thing Sunday. When the invitational was complete, my parents wanted to get dinner before I flew back and we decided BBQ was our choice. We weren’t near a 4 Rivers Smokehouse so I opened up the Yelp! app and did some researched and Cecil’s BBQ was only a few minutes away. 

Looking over the menu and seeing the nice variety of smoked meats they had, my dad and I decided getting the Meat Sampler was the best way to go to get a good sampling of all the smoked meats they had. 

The meat sampler included four side dishes so we got baked beans, jalapeno mashed potatoes, collard greens, and potato salad.

I will admit that the appearance of the plates of food looked AMAZING! Starting with the sides, everything had your traditional look and they just looked delicious. The meat platter looks like a lot of food and if I’m being honest was a lot of food for my dad and I (my mom had a few pieces). When I inspected each meat individually you could for the most part see the infamous “smoke ring” that BBQ is known for. Some meats had it more than others. 

Taste wise…the sides didn’t disappoint in any fashion. The Texas Toast was buttery and crispy. The greens, with a little hot sauce added to them, were spicy and salty. The jalapeno mashed potatoes were actually very complimentary flavors. I hadn’t seen many/any restaurants do that mixture but Cecil’s did a really good balance of jalapeno heat and earthiness of the mashed potatoes. The potato salad was also really good. I find myself going back and forth between white or yellow potato salad. Sometimes my flavor pallet fancies the creamier white and sometimes it’s the tangy of the yellow mustard potato salad. Cecil’s may be tipping the scale in the white potato salad as it was good sized but soft chunks of red potatoes and a balanced amount of cream. The baked beans I wasn’t overly impressed with which was a little bit disheartening as BBQ and baked beans are typically hand in hand.

The meats flavor ranged from excellent to just OK. If I had to rank the meats in order of my most favorite to least favorite it would be: pulled pork, ham, sausages, spare ribs, turkey, & chicken. I’m going to put the emphasis of this post on the pulled pork as it was excellent! It had a strong but not too strong smokey flavor, tender, and still moist without having to drown it in sauce. It had the smoke ring on some of the bark pieces which were mighty tasty. The portion that we had was still very easily pulled apart even more implying the tenderness was super all while still maintaining a good level of moisture with the meat. The ham, sausages, and spare ribs were good but not great. Hints of smoke were evident in the taste but needed some sauce. These three meats were moist but these are also difficult meats to dry out.  

I was disappointed in the chicken and the turkey though. They were dry and needed some sauce. The turkey slices looked great as they had a solid bark on the outside, but the meat was dry still and made it difficult to taste the smoke as I had to use sauce with nearly every bite. Chicken and turkey are tough birds to BBQ and keep moist so it’s understandable and I’ve been there.

SUMMARY

All in all, I enjoyed my visit to Cecil’s. I’d return for sure for the pulled pork. Maybe try it on a sandwich and topped with some coleslaw like my BBQ friends in the Carolina’s do. Accompany it with some potato salad or the collard greens and it’ll be a fine lunch hour.

Restaurant Name: Lucky Dog Grill
Address: 729 Reading Road, Mason, OH 45040
Social Media: FACEBOOK / TWITTER / WEBSITE

Super BLT – March 9, 2018

Yesterday I wrote about Jamaican food joint Island Friday’s in Cincinnati, OH which is what I and a coworker had for dinner. Between meetings with different subcontractors and suppliers we grabbed lunch at the Lucky Dog Grille and I enjoyed this tasty classic of a BLT.

This dish was so tasty! Before I get into flavors, let me share about the appearance of the plate. It’s a very well organized plate with half of it covered in the sandwich itself and then the other half covered in the fried onion petals. The rye bread was an excellent choice as it provides a darker tone and some color depth to the plate. 

When I think about a BLT…I think that the most important thing is of course the BACON!!!! I’m quite picky when it comes to eating bacon whether it be by itself or as part of a dish. To me bacon needs to be crispy and near burnt but not fully burnt obviously. I like the crunch and the sound of a strip of bacon snapping when I bite into it. Throw in some brown sugar and black pepper coated around each strip of bacon it’s like candy. 

This dish is taken over the top with the fact that it has 12 STRIPS OF BACON in it! This sandwich is essentially 3 strips wide by 4 strips tall and the bacon was on point delicious. The rye bread was a nice bitter flavor to go with the sweet and salty bacon. The lettuce and tomato are nice color compliments but don’t overpower the sandwich by any means and the focus is really on the BACON!

The only downside to this sandwich was the lack of mayo! I was caught off guard as I dove more and more into the sandwich and didn’t get the smooth, creamy, and unique taste that mayonnaise brings to this sandwich. I would’ve liked to have had some mayo but I guess the exorbitant amount of bacon will counter this knock on this sandwich. 

SUMMARY

Overall, this is a mighty tasty sandwich. The bacon is 100% on point and definitely takes the sandwich up a notch. Some mayo would’ve been a nice add, but the fact that this sandwich has 12 STRIPS OF BACON in it is definitely a must try. Maybe ask for a side of mayo and then add it on your own.  

Restaurant Name: Island Friday’s
Address: 2826 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OH 45219
Social Media: FACEBOOK / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM

Jerk Chicken Dinner – March 8, 2018

Today and really this whole week I’ve been traveling for work and by traveling I literally mean I’ve been driving all over much more than usual. This past Tuesday I had a pre-construction meeting at a project in Lafayette which isn’t really too bad because it’s near my alma mater of Purdue. Wednesday I ventured up to St. John, IN for a pre-bid meeting and then hurried back for Wednesday Night Youth Service at Club 365. Today I woke up early and hit the road at 7:00 AM to go to a northern suburb of Cincinnati, OH known as Mason for a full day of meeting with subcontractors and suppliers. 

With my evening plans freeing up, it opened up the opportunity to return to my absolute favorite place to get 100% legit and authentic Jamaican food at Island Friday’s. You may have heard about this place near the University of Cincinnati as it was featured on the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-in’s, & Dive’s”. When you think about Jamaican food you may jump right to the exotic of curry goat or a fish dish, but for me I think of Jerk Chicken.

Let me begin this review with the “appearance” review. Obviously, you can’t score really high when your meal is served in a styrofoam container. I’m not hating on places that do, but when it comes to appearance of the dish to me a styrofoam container doesn’t look appealing. When you open the container though the Jamaican greens jump out and the shine of the jerk sauce on the chicken. Not even taking into account the flavor of the steam that hits your nostrils is amazing!

Taste…where to begin when it comes to the taste of this dinner. The jerk seasoning/marinate is AWESOME! So awesome I bought two jars of it as I was leaving. I like to consider myself as a person who likes hot and spicy foods, but I don’t like hot just because I can and burn your face off hot. I prefer hot but robust and flavorful hot and the jerk seasoning and sauce here bring it 100%. I do love the choice to use bone-in chicken thighs as thighs are meatier and typically easier to keep moist. The chicken wasn’t dry except for maybe in a few spots where the skin may had been peeled back, but overall the meat itself was moist. But obviously the jerk seasoning and the sauce is what makes this dish come alive. It is so full of flavors your tastebuds will be getting stamps all over its passport in each bite. 

The jerk seasoning sauce (also known as “Island Magic”) has ingredients like habaneros, onions, scallions, garlic, thyme, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pimento, seasoning salt, soya sauce, & vinegar as it’s primary ingredients. Seeing this list it speaks ROBUST FLAVORS all the way. Hints of sweet, savory, salt, bitter, and then a nice little jab of heat in every single bite. If you’re looking for melt your face off hot, this sauce isn’t it, but if you’re looking for a tastebud adventure it’s a must try flavor profile.

The sides were all really good too. The Jamaican greens were tasty…didn’t need any hot sauce as I typically do with most greens but they were a good accent to the dish. The red beans and rice were awesome especially the portions that got some of the jerk seasoning sauce on it! Mighty tasty bites there. Fried plantains are unique. They don’t have a distinct flavor that blows my mind, but they do provide a nice subtle sweetness to the dish. 

Negatives of this dish…really just come in the presentation. I think most of their customers get their food to go, but it’d be nice if for people dining in to get their food a plate of some sort vs. a styrofoam container. The food itself I wouldn’t change a thing!

SUMMARY

Overall, jerk chicken is one of my favorite flavor profiles. It’s a whirlwind of flavors in every bite that really is good on anything…just so happens to be commonly on chicken. Great choice to use chicken thighs and perfectly cooked side dishes were complimentary flavors to the focal flavor of the jerk chicken.