Steps to eating a Vegan Dog in Orlando

Step one: Make your way downtown. If you were to find yourself standing between I-Bar and BBQ Bar and happened to look across the street.  You would find, tucked between two buildings, a hot dog stand.  Asking the crowds pulling away from the stand, we found that the vegan dog stop is an iconic Orlando staple.
Step Two: You are not about to eat a hot dog, so get the idea out of your head.  Frank orders up two Buddha dogs with all the works.  Soft bun, vegan dog, vegan chili, vegan curry sauce, and "the condiment bar is behind you," he says.  Which is where you would find the familiars; ketchup, mustard's, and whatnot.  I believe that Buddha would have opted for the sriracha, so I topped mine as such.  Ok, eating your dog, first tip...take advantage of the foil you are given (if your going for the works.) Remember, your not eating a hot dog.  The Buddha dog is all one texture, with the dog being slightly firmer then the bun, but the taste is a perfect expression on how you should end your night after a few beers from one of the bars on Orange. 
Step Three: Do as the others do.  Sit on the curb, enjoy your new found way to enlightenment, and watch the people pass.

For us, it was two bites, a recommendation to the people standing around, and we were off to our next stop.    

Shin Sushi...Fish Oil and Omega-3’s

Since the roll out of the blog and the creation of the LBC, we have had a good turn out with food find after food find.  As posted in a previous blog by frank, eating out of “grease trucks,” and indulging in a burgers larger than your grip, it can start to take a toll. 

Among the “healthiest” cuisines in the world, Japanese fare fights to be in the top 5, only to be pushed out by Vietnamese and the territories that fall into the “Mediterranean diet.”  I got a tip saying that “Shin Sushi,” Sushi and Sake Bar, just one block north of Colonial on Orange Ave, is doing justice to the art of sushi and have the freshest Uni in town.  Ok I’m in.

We arrive at 1:00; just an hour shy of them closing up shop for lunch service and the place is packed.  Good sign to me, I love to see a line of locals pouring out of the front door.   Means a steady fish rotation, which in my book is great to see for a place that sells raw product.  Opt for sitting outside with the newest members of the season “the love bugs,” we are seated right away and had the first round of beers before the line at the reception desk even sees hope of being seated.  Two fans blowing over the table, under the black awning on an already overcast day, the cold taste of my Asahi, and I have no envy for those inside.  Our server comes over to greet us with her thick accent “ELLO!” Bets go down on the table, is she British or Australian?  Let’s just say I lost.

Orders are in and I went with the nigiri tokujo moriawase, “for the adventurous sushi connoisseur,” it says…why yes I am, thank you.  Around the table, salmon skin roll, a roadhouse roll, and a spicy sandwich are also ordered, more on that in just one second.  My plate comes with the usual miso soup and ginger salad.  Miso soup is like olive and balsamic served with your bread at an Italian restaurant, you really cannot go wrong unless you have a poor quality olive oil.  Their ratio for hondashi and miso seem to be spot on and I quickly slurp my bowl and move on to the salad.  Now I have never been to Japan, but I would like to think that while you were waiting for your sushi, they would not serve you a glass of lettuce with ginger dressing on it.  Not very interesting is all I am saying, but the dressing is made in house and has a fresh ginger flavor.

Hats of to the Sushi Chef, he did not hold back putting together my plate and I now realize that it was worth the 30 minute wait.  At a glance I spot, eel, shrimp, scallop, and crab legs (that's crab with a capitol C not krab.)  Nose to flesh, and I do not smell a thing, just clean, fresh, sea notes, and I am ready to dig in.  The eel was delicious, you can tell that they just did not open the package and toss it on my rice.  The shrimp, probably my least favorite, was still clean tasting and the rice it was sitting on was fantastic.  The crab legs were my surprise for the afternoon, a little Japanese "mayo," and a dollop of caviar, this nigiri was perfect in ever sense.  Next, my scallop, lightly charred on the top and medium raw underneath, thank you Chef.  Now I traded off my conch for a spicy sandwich but in some aspects I feel it was worth it, but the reaction I saw as my nigiri was being devoured I start to regret my barter to the one on my right.

I cannot express how fresh the fish was at Shin, how well seasoned the rice was, and how much I appreciated that they didnt bother with the red beet nests, match stick carrots, or cucumber fans on my plate.  Just simply nigiri, and the usual condiments; wasabi and ginger, which stayed right on the edge of the plate, no need to muck up a already perfect meal.

To the left:  Salmon skin roll; charred to perfection, and intense salmon flavor.
To the right: Roadhouse roll; Seared beef, shiso, plum sauce.  What made this roll was the roasted garlic chips on top.

Last in the "food" category was the "spicy sandwich."  Spicy tuna (or you can opt for shrimp), with fresh avocado, Japanese mayo and rice all held together with a sheet of bean curd.  Sliced in little (and I say little loosely) triangles, so you can call it a sandwich and you got the perfect finger food.  Eating this wedge of tuna and rice, this concoction screams breakfast for me, I do not know why, and another thing...how come I did not get this sandwich in my lunch box back in grade school?  I know what my kid will be getting....lucky!

Now before I ask for a check and depart, I realized that you cannot come to a sushi and sake bar without...well without having sushi and sake!  Menu please!  I have to say that this place has the biggest sake menu than any other Japanese restaurant that I have been to.  I ask for the most popular and something chilled since it is just a touch on the warm today.  I love the traditional "generous" pour of sake into the masu, a small display that they might actually care about their customers.

Another one chalked up as being a good find in Orlando for the sushi and sake connoisseur's alike.  Before I forget, enough with the Andes Mints, they are made with crap chocolate and seriously over rated.  That said, ginger mint is where it's at!  Super ginger flavor, I am talking intense here, and mildly sweet.  Oh by the way...she was from the U.K.