The sleigh ride to Ragnar's is a Steamboat excursion not to be missed. The ride up the slopes is fun and beautiful and the dining experience at Ragnar's is fabulous.
The journey begins with complimentary hot chocolate and cider. Then, the sleighs (actually just huge tractors) are loaded, and the journey begins. Blankets are provided for the cold trip up the mountain.
The food and drinks at Ragnar's are extremely impressive. The meal begins with a delicious plate of appetizers, including bacon-wrapped scallops, meats and cheeses, shrimp, and more--though the appetizer menu does change periodically. This is followed by a soup and salad of your choice. Meanwhile, the drink menu includes lots of "wintery" drinks. I recommend the Steamboat Olympian, a spiced rum and cider drink garnished with a cinnamon stick.
I tried the rack of lamb for my main course, and it was nothing short of amazing. The portions were not particularly large, but the food was very, very good. Some other dishes sampled by my group included the filet mignon and a seafood pastry. Everyone was very pleased with their food.
For dessert, there was an elaborate plate of mini cheesecake, torte cake, raspberry tart, tiramisu, sorbet, and more. To me, the dessert was a bit excessive--nobody could seem to finish it. I would have preferred a larger main course, and a simpler/smaller dessert.
The sleigh ride back was much darker and much colder, but everyone was in good spirits. Throughout dinner, we enjoyed the music of an acoustic guitarist playing music by the Beatles, the Eagles, Neil Young, and more. All in all, it was a great experience, and well worth its price. Highly recommended to all who visit Steamboat.
Steamers offers great value and quick service. Located across from UF's campus and situated next to a laundromat and convenience store, the restaurant itself is relatively small; the inside can be very cramped, hot, and noisy. Luckily, there is a pleasant outdoor seating area.
The menu is split into three categories: curry, fried rice, and sandwiches. Everything on the menu is less than $8.00, yet the portion sizes for the curry and fried rice dishes are extremely generous--enough for two people to share.
The fried rice is pretty standard fare; the taste is nothing to get excited over (in fact it is sort of bland), but at around $5.00 for lunch for two, it is pretty satisfying.
The coconut curry is a lot more interesting, and it's available in five levels of spiciness ranging from no spice at all, to a taste only suitable for the brave. You can use a variety of meats or vegetarian options, and the sauce really is great. I like spicy food, and I think their "Mild-Plus" heat level option is really good.
The "Steamer" and other signature sandwiches make this final portion of the menu pretty interesting. The sandwiches are touted for being healthy alternatives; the Steamer, for example, is sort of a loose ground beef sandwich that is steamed instead of grilled.
Literature inside the store claims that their cuisine is Indonesian. I'm not sure how authentic it is, but the value and taste are great (especially among the coconut curries).
Dakshin Indian Restaurant seems to have a nice ambience, though we have never actually sat down for a meal there. Â There are lots of lovely paintings, wood sculptures, and gold accents. Â The people are helpful and polite.
I'd never been to Logan's before but had heard great things about the steaks and overall food quality. I must admit that our waiter was extremely friendly and funny, and did everything he could to give us a great experience, but the overall customer service and food was subpar. Management did make up for it in the end though by comping about half of the food. According to some of the people I dined with, these problems seem to be limited to this particular Logan's location on Colonial Drive in Orlando. Here's what happened:
First we were seated underneath an extremely cold air vent (in the middle of a hard freeze outside) and spoke to the manager multiple times trying to get it fixed. He didn't move us and didn't turn off the air, citing that they need to keep it running because of "peanut dust"; I assume this has something to do with potential allergies. After asking about five times to do something about the air--we were sitting in the same heavy jackets we were wearing outside and still felt cold--we were finally moved to another area which was much warmer and full of open tables. We wondered why he didn't put us there when we first asked.
We had been seated for over an hour before we got our food. When the food finally arrived we were very disappointed. Out of six dishes, four had something wrong with them. Many items were cold, undercooked, or overcooked. One plate of shrimp was soggy and soaked in grease. There was an extremely overcooked/burnt sweet potato. An order of ribs came with sauce when "no sauce" was requested. Two plates of vegetables came out cold and crunchy, essentially completely uncooked. And one steak that we ordered medium arrived decidedly "well done."
We poked at the food for a few minutes but finally a member of our party flagged down our waiter. He brought out a different manager this time, who was MUCH more accommodating. He very quickly brought out replacements for all of the unsatisfactory food. Then he brought of the bill, and comped us on three of the dishes. The bill did have some errors--we were charged for drinks that we hadn't ordered. We decided just to leave it. And then, our waiter brought us four free mini peanut butter mousse desserts, which were delicious!
Onto the food itself. I ordered the steak and ribs with sides of macaroni and cheese and a sweet potato. The steak was soft and very flavorful, with nice spices on it (nothing too exotic though--it tasted just like the Montreal Steak Seasoning I buy at the grocery store). The sides were pretty much what you would expect and tasted pretty good. The so-called "famous" ribs were kind of gross, however... very dry and stringy.
Would I return to Logan's? Probably not on my own accord, but despite their mistakes I felt that they rectified the situation satisfactorily. I've heard good things about their other locations, but I think the location on Colonial should be avoided until they bring things up to par.
