Mexican

So pretty much everyone loves mexican, but we all seem to lump tex mex into the same category as real authentic mexican, so for the purposes of this article I am only speaking of actual mexican restaurants. I actually live right behind the original PR's in Winter Park but I have to say that I still feel the need to get into my car and drive the 2 miles to Paco's on Fairbanks and Clay. I admit that this is partly due to nostalia - having grown up in College Park this was one of my favorite restaurants to visit with my dad, nevertheless the food is incredible. From the outside it looks like someone's old home and the inside could use an update but the tortilla chips are always hot, the salsa tasty and hands down the best guacamole in town. I'm faithful to the chicken enchiladas and rarely branch out, people that I have dined there with have ordered other things but always end up liking mine better. Only real downside to this place is that they don't have a full bar so no margaritas with your tacos but the beer is cold and the service is consistent- most of the staff has stayed around anywhere from 5-15 years.
Other good places to check out- Garibaldi's which is a chain (locations near FL mall, on Semoran and in Apopka), Salsa in the FL mall is another fav especially with Wednesday ladies night 2 for 1 Margaritas, PR's is good enough if you can overlook the countless health code violations (order the blackened chicken fundido) try and be there when the train goes by to get a free shot of cheap tequila. Thats just about it as far as real Mexican places that I love (except Chipotle which doesn't count).

Thai

I want to talk about Thai while I still have the wonderful meal I had at Thai Thani (I Drive and Central FL Parkway) a few nights ago fresh in my mind. While there are deffinitely a few other places I find acceptable this has become by far my favorite over the past year or so since I found it. It's hard to peg down one specific dish to call my favorite so I alternate between the Three Tastes Fish (fish of the day fried whole or fileted in a spicy garlicy sauce) and the Spicy Chili Prawns either way I usually get an order of the house fried rice which tastes of curry and is incredible if you order it Thai Hot. Theres just something about the Thai iced tea here that I can't get enough of, I usually finish my first one in about 30 seconds flat. I wouldnt neccessarily call this place expensive but deffinitely not cheap either, dinner for two without any cocktails will run you about $40, fair price for yummy Thai food.
A new addition to Orlando's Thai scene is Tang's in the Dr. Phillips Marketplace. While not extremely authentic it boasts a small menu of French and American influenced dishes with the flavors you would expect from a Thai chef. I oredered the daily fish special and chose the grouper over salmon (easy choice), the entire table agreed this one was the best. But I did try my husband's braised short ribs which were incredible as well. Not suprisingly my favorite was dessert, the manager brought us over a Thai doughnut, my only complaint is he didn't bring two. Great little place that I think everyone should try when they don't mind spending a bit of money.
Other good places to check out: Red Bamboo on Kirkman and I Drive, Royal Thai on Semoran, I've heard excellent things about Thai House although I'm not too certain where on Colonial it is. And luckily for the rest of the places here I've yet to have a remarkably bad Thai meal in Orlando, but don't get me started on some of the places I've checked out while on the road.

Sushi

I think my first post will be sushi since that is what I had for dinner tonight. While it is not my absolute favorite tonight I chose Sushiology, frankly because my husband and I didn't want to break the bank. For those who don't know Sushiology is located on the north side of International Drive, basically right in the middle of the most heavily populated tourist section. It would be easy to miss driving past but it's behind the rip off of Boston Lobster Feast minus the Boston part and also next to Ponderosa (of which we will never speak again). Now I am a firm believer that with sushi you get what you pay for so in dealing with potentially dangerous raw fish expensive is always better. Sushiology is the one exception I have found to this rule. Generally when my husband and I go out to sushi we pick two rolls each and share, most places this would run you $40- 60 but here we've never topped $35. The roll I swear by here is the Kamikaze, and at $4.50 you can't beat the price. It's basically a spicy tuna roll with tempura crunch inside that is then rolled in masago (fish roe). But they've just recently added a few new slightly higher end rolls (about $8.50 each) including the Fantasy roll which consists of crab meat and tempura flake and is topped with mango and shrimp, yum. The catch here is that they basically do take out. So if you're looking for a romantic date or to impress someone this is not the place to go. But if you're looking for killer sushi at way low prices this is deffinitely a great choice, provided you're ok with sitting in a bit of traffic.
As I said before Sushiology is not my top choice for sushi, so I suppose I should tell you what is, but I won't be suprised when you've never heard of it. Nagoya Sushi in the Dr. Phillips Marketplace is by far the best kept sushi secret in Orlando. While you wait for a table at Ichiban or get snubbed by your server at Shari, I sit at the bar of this quaint little hideaway laughing with the chefs and enjoying an incredible selection of signature rolls. Now the server will suggest they're most popular the Mexican Bubble Roll, tempura shrimp, avocado topped with tempura flake and spicy mayo, and you'll enjoy it as much as I did. However you would be missing out if you didn't try the Lover Roll, spicy crab with tempura flake inside topped with tuna sashimi style and then dabbed with a mixture of scallop, massago and the delicious spicy mayo. The down side to Nagoya is you're paying the high price expected from Orlando's own notoriously expensive restaurant row. But believe me it is well worth is.
Other good sushi places to note: the above mentioned Shari (Just inside Thorton Park on Central) and Ichiban (smack in the midst of downtown chaos on Orange Ave), Also Fusian by UCF, Fuji with a location in Winter Park and one on the Conroy/Turkey Lake intersection. Oh and the sushi bar at Wolfgang Pucks in Downtown Disney while extremely limited is incredibly fresh (try the Big Kahuna Roll).
A few I'm not so fond of: Seito (Baldwin Park/ Celebration/ Winter Park Village), Mikado in Hunter's Creek, Kobe is just okay, Bikkuri (on Colonial near Mills) used to be good but last time not so fresh. And frankly I think Amura (Sand Lake and Church Street locations) is highly overrated, there I said it.