As alto of us now, I was on vacation this past 2 weeks down in Florida. We made a few stops, Orlando(twice), Kissimme, Clearwater, Indian Rock and St. Pete.
while in Orlando, we stopped at our favorite place for dinner. Salt Island on International Drive. We have gone there for several years. Casual formal atmosphere, meaning its crystal goblets and fine china but your are welcomed in there in flip flops and shorts. We always return there when we go to Florida, even if its out of the way. Outside deck has a steel drum player and some island music.. inside comfortably A/C and more quiet.. Nice bar area surrounded by big fish tanks.. We always eat outside.
We always have gone for the great seafood, always fresh, prepared however you want, even if its not on the menu. Service is impeccable. Several times we went, our waiter would stand no more than 10 feet from our table(his station) and polish glasses or silverware, always within eye shot and your water glass is never empty. If the food is not to your liking, they will make it again and make sure they get it right. But anyway, i digress...
The grill in the restaurant is a large about (6x20 foot) wood fired grill next to the meat cases.. right where you can watch the cooks... it has a huge 5-6 spit double sided rotisserie in the center for chickens.. the fuel is a bed of oak coals and logs.
This time around, when we walked in, the showcase in the front had some absolutely incredible looking porterhouses and filet mignon. They showcase their seafood and meats, on chipped ice in big glass cases.. Click here and play the videos I could not stop drooling over those steaks. When it came time to order, I passed on the seafare for the main course.. Ordered the scallops on fire( a jerk seasoned scallops in the shell with a cream sauce) and the 30 ounce porterhouse. James got 2 buckets of steamed mussels and Sharon got the sea bass.. Jackie and my niece Danielle got some other seafood/pasta dishes.
The 30 ounce porterhouse.... was a thing of beauty when it came out.. about an inch and a half thick. I looked at this big ass hunk of beef on my plate and checked out their fru fru seafood plates and couldn't help doing the Tim Allen ar-ar-ar-aghhh...:mrgreen: i was about to got to heaven.
I asked for it med-rare and it came out........get this...... a perfect medium rare, getting a little rarer close to the bone.
first slice with a steak knife... proved, no reason for the knife, this steak can cut with a fork. The flavor was absolutely incredible.. according to their website, they use wet aged prime beef, (i think its unseasoned) except for the wood. Every bite i took got better and better.. I was beyond impressed.. in all my years of paying attention to good steaks, this was by far the best i ever had. 5 star steak houses here on Long island, and even in NY paled in comparison to this one steak I was eating.. PACES steakhouse, my favorite place here on L.I., where I go for the marinated Porterhouse could not compare.
I gave a piece to Sharon and asked her, "am I really hungry, or is this the best steak you ever had??"..Her reaction was the same as mine.. James buzzed thru his bucket of mussels like a vulture, so i gave him a piece of the steak.. within a few seconds, he asked if he can order one too.. He wanted the NY strip, but i figured for a few bucks more he can have another porterhouse and I get to help him with it.. (you get the BIG side and I get the "little side" right James?" :twisted: :twisted: ... here comes another filet mignon for me!! ). These steaks have a perfect flavor.. you can easily taste the wood flavors as they are dominant on the seared outside, yet somehow they get it to penetrate inside too, Not smoky.. but wood flavor hinting behind the meat, but not overpowering.. totally amazing..
I had to meet to the guy who cooked these.. while waiting for the second porterhouse, I asked if I can meet the chef doing the cooking...
Enter stage left.. Star.. he didn't say much.. smiled alto.. A big dude with an island accent, i think.... (Jamaican maybe).. we spoke for a bit, I told him that i don't consider myself a Joe bloe off the street when it comes to steaks, gave him a little rundown on what we do here and also competition BBQ, etc.... and then told him that he produced the best damn steak i ever had in my entire life.... while we were talking, he took James steak off and sent it to the table... James inhaled the strip side and filled up just as he got to the filet(whew)... i had to be a good father and help him eat that. :eusa_clap . unfortunately, Sharon had to be a good mother and help too.
So, if anyone is ever in the Orlando area.. (offa1a, get your butt there), i highly recommend salt island.. Seafood is excellent, but don't pass up the steaks... I have been doing that for years and now that seafood place, just became my favorite steakhouse..
attached are some pics of me and Star.. and the porterhouse, but that got a little fuzzy.. i was in a hurry to get back to eating..
while in Orlando, we stopped at our favorite place for dinner. Salt Island on International Drive. We have gone there for several years. Casual formal atmosphere, meaning its crystal goblets and fine china but your are welcomed in there in flip flops and shorts. We always return there when we go to Florida, even if its out of the way. Outside deck has a steel drum player and some island music.. inside comfortably A/C and more quiet.. Nice bar area surrounded by big fish tanks.. We always eat outside.
We always have gone for the great seafood, always fresh, prepared however you want, even if its not on the menu. Service is impeccable. Several times we went, our waiter would stand no more than 10 feet from our table(his station) and polish glasses or silverware, always within eye shot and your water glass is never empty. If the food is not to your liking, they will make it again and make sure they get it right. But anyway, i digress...
The grill in the restaurant is a large about (6x20 foot) wood fired grill next to the meat cases.. right where you can watch the cooks... it has a huge 5-6 spit double sided rotisserie in the center for chickens.. the fuel is a bed of oak coals and logs.
This time around, when we walked in, the showcase in the front had some absolutely incredible looking porterhouses and filet mignon. They showcase their seafood and meats, on chipped ice in big glass cases.. Click here and play the videos I could not stop drooling over those steaks. When it came time to order, I passed on the seafare for the main course.. Ordered the scallops on fire( a jerk seasoned scallops in the shell with a cream sauce) and the 30 ounce porterhouse. James got 2 buckets of steamed mussels and Sharon got the sea bass.. Jackie and my niece Danielle got some other seafood/pasta dishes.
The 30 ounce porterhouse.... was a thing of beauty when it came out.. about an inch and a half thick. I looked at this big ass hunk of beef on my plate and checked out their fru fru seafood plates and couldn't help doing the Tim Allen ar-ar-ar-aghhh...:mrgreen: i was about to got to heaven.
I asked for it med-rare and it came out........get this...... a perfect medium rare, getting a little rarer close to the bone.
first slice with a steak knife... proved, no reason for the knife, this steak can cut with a fork. The flavor was absolutely incredible.. according to their website, they use wet aged prime beef, (i think its unseasoned) except for the wood. Every bite i took got better and better.. I was beyond impressed.. in all my years of paying attention to good steaks, this was by far the best i ever had. 5 star steak houses here on Long island, and even in NY paled in comparison to this one steak I was eating.. PACES steakhouse, my favorite place here on L.I., where I go for the marinated Porterhouse could not compare.
I gave a piece to Sharon and asked her, "am I really hungry, or is this the best steak you ever had??"..Her reaction was the same as mine.. James buzzed thru his bucket of mussels like a vulture, so i gave him a piece of the steak.. within a few seconds, he asked if he can order one too.. He wanted the NY strip, but i figured for a few bucks more he can have another porterhouse and I get to help him with it.. (you get the BIG side and I get the "little side" right James?" :twisted: :twisted: ... here comes another filet mignon for me!! ). These steaks have a perfect flavor.. you can easily taste the wood flavors as they are dominant on the seared outside, yet somehow they get it to penetrate inside too, Not smoky.. but wood flavor hinting behind the meat, but not overpowering.. totally amazing.. I had to meet to the guy who cooked these.. while waiting for the second porterhouse, I asked if I can meet the chef doing the cooking...
Enter stage left.. Star.. he didn't say much.. smiled alto.. A big dude with an island accent, i think.... (Jamaican maybe).. we spoke for a bit, I told him that i don't consider myself a Joe bloe off the street when it comes to steaks, gave him a little rundown on what we do here and also competition BBQ, etc.... and then told him that he produced the best damn steak i ever had in my entire life.... while we were talking, he took James steak off and sent it to the table... James inhaled the strip side and filled up just as he got to the filet(whew)... i had to be a good father and help him eat that. :eusa_clap . unfortunately, Sharon had to be a good mother and help too.
So, if anyone is ever in the Orlando area.. (offa1a, get your butt there), i highly recommend salt island.. Seafood is excellent, but don't pass up the steaks... I have been doing that for years and now that seafood place, just became my favorite steakhouse..
attached are some pics of me and Star.. and the porterhouse, but that got a little fuzzy.. i was in a hurry to get back to eating..
