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.