Airport Breakfastary Food - Part VIII Orlando International Airport (MCO)[1], Orlando, FL (Sunday, 12/23/2018) https://zazacubandiner.com/ Place: zaza™ - Cuban Café Location: Airside 3 (Gates 30-59), Orlando International Airport, One Jeff Fuqua Boulevard, Orlando, FL
Hours: open daily at 5:00am Meal: Egg & Cheese Croissant; a Cuban Guava Pastry-thing (puff pastry filled with guava jelly); and to drink, a Colada[2] (Double Espresso) ~ a double shot zaza™ Cuban Espresso, infused with cremita sugar (which I made sure to have them uninfuse)[3]
(I have been told that the Jive Aces originally all hailed from República de Cuba.) Because I had eaten large homemade breakfasts (everything from gingerbread waffles and gingerbread pancakes, to French toast, to Eggs à la Grêg, to Christmas cookies [do not judge me], to etc.) almost every day during the past week while vacationing in "the City Beautiful"[4], I decided to get a simpler and smaller meal for my early morning repast on my return trip back home. So I simply and smally chose to eat at zaza™ - Cuban Café at the airport. This shop is more of a "grab-and-go" kinda place, but there were a few seats and tables at the back along the runway-side windows. The choices of actual good "sit-down" style restaurants were limited in this part of the terminal, anyway. There were really only a few other viable options off their breakfast menu for those of the stupid vegetarian ilk: Veggie (uggh!) Scrambler ~ prepared with onions, peppers, tomatoes and cheese, served with Cuban toast; Oatmeal al Caribe ~ creamy oatmeal prepared with cinnamon sticks; or Egg & Cheese Cuban Sandwich ~ fluffy scrambled eggs prepared with cheese on our toasted Cuban bread (initially I had asked for this, but the lady at the counter [counteress?] misunderstood me and entered the order incorrectly; I suppose it would have been basically the same meal as I ended up with, but with Cuban bread instead of a croissant).
meh! I suppose this was better'n most of the breakfastary cr*p you might be able to order at your local King Wendy in the McDonald's Box fast-food joints, but it really was all still rather sadly torpid in taste. The guava pastry was okay, though. The double-shot of Espresso seemed a tad bit on the short side; I wonder if they gave me a single-shot also accidentally. In the way of condimentary supplementation, all that I saw available were those plastic one-serving packets of Texas Pete®Original Hot Sauce. Unfortunately, I did not see those until after I had already finished my meal; this banal breakfast really coulda used an extra flavour boost. Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Egg & Cheese Croissant ~ 5.5; Cuban Guava Pastry-thing ~ 6.2 ___________________
1. The airport code "MCO" stands for the airport's former name, McCoy Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation, that was closed in 1975 as part of a general military drawdown following the end of the Vietnam War. 2. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: The Spanish word "colada" translates as "strained" (or "wash/laundry"). I had always (mis-)assumed that it was just the Spanish word for "coconut" ~ as in "piña colada", because I knew "piña" meant "pineapple". However, it refers to the "straining" process to extract the fresh pineapple juice used in that drink. For what it is worth, the Spanish word for "coconut" is simply "coco" (see, sometimes this cunning linguistics stuff ain't cirugía de cohetes) and another Spanish word for "pineapple" is "ananás". 3. Café Cubano (also known as Cuban Espresso, Cuban Coffee, Cafecito, Cuban pull, and Cuban shot) is a type of Espresso that originated in Cuba. Specifically, it refers to an Espresso shot which is sweetened with demerara sugar which has been whipped with the first and strongest drops of Espresso. (So, technically, I just had a plain ol' Double Espresso.)
4. Yes, this is the actual chosen nickname of Orlando, Florida, USA. I do not want to insult any of the 280,000+ residents of "the City Beautiful", but I have been to downtown Oakland, California and Council Bluffs, Iowa and even they could claim that silly moniker if they really wanted.
Part the First San Francisco International Airport (SFO) (Saturday, 03/26/16)
http://www.larkcreekgrill.com/ Place: Lark Creek Grill Location: Terminal 2, SFO (the one in California) Hours: open at 5:00am(!) daily (which was plenty early enough for me to eat a leisurely breakfast and still have plenty of time to make an 8:20am flight) Meal: Greek Omelette ~ sautéed (which I would like to point out that they even had it speld kerrektly with the "é") spinach, red onion, mushroom. tapenade, and Feta cheese, served with home fries and choice of toast; and a nice cuppa (and a half-refilla) Mr. Espresso® (didn't catch the roast/blend, though) http://mrespresso.com/
(I am pretty sure that I have linked the first EweToobular juxtaselection before [at least once]. If you don't like it, tough! Start yer own 'd*mn 'blog-thing. As for the second song, everyone loves a little Noel Yang, right?) Sometimes it's nice to relax (if you have the extra time) at a real sit-downy restaurant-joint (and in this case, one that even uses actual cloth napkins for zhlubs[1] like me) with waiters (server-persons, whatever) and enjoy a nice breakfastary repast before heading out on an all-day plane ride. So, it was nice to see that there was still plenty of seating available at Lark Creek Grill so that I wouldn't have to rush with my breakfast. (Heck, it was only about 6:30am and my boarding time wasn't until 7:50am.) At this time, I would especially like to give big kudos to the waiter-server-guy that morning, Jake ("If it's jake with Jake, it's jake with me!"). He was execeptionally knowledgeable and very alert and friendly at that un-gawdly hour even. I heard him ask several other tables "How much time before your flight?", and then suggest some good breakfast ideas depending on their time-table. Another kudo for Jake, later during my meal, when he asked if I'd like more Coffee, he politely laughed at my stupid joke, "No thanks. I'll be up all day." And this was even after I had already paid and tipped him! Now that is true serviceman-ship!
Otherwise, there were slim pickens from which to choose, Mr. Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. The only other choices in Terminal 2 (once inside the post-security area) were: Andalé Mexican Restaurant (see previous 'blog-entry from September 11th, 2013); burger joint (where you can probably get a much better version of an Eggamuffin, but it's still just a "burger joint" ~ their name makes claim to that fact); pinkberry® (if you feel like eating somewhat light and healthy for breakfast); The Plant Cafe Organic™ (even more "healthy" breakfast junk); Wakaba Sushi & Noodle (if you prefer sushi and noodles for breakfast; I saw a few Japanese families doing so, and the bowl of noodles actually sounded pretty good for a breakfastary change); or cat cora's kitchen (Cat Cora was the original food network babe before the likes of Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, and Paula Deen... however, I don't think that they are open for breakfast, or they weren't showing signs of opening any time soon around 7:00am in the morning). Additionally, there are even two Peet's Coffee & Tea® from which to choose (and within 100 yards of each other) if you are just in the mood for Coffee and pastries. But there are no (none, nada, τίποτα, ничто, zilch) St*rbucks to be found inside Terminal 2, though. Ha! http://andalemexican.com/ http://burgerjointsf.com/ http://www.pinkberry.com/ http://www.theplantcafe.com/ http://www.flysfo.com/content/wakaba http://catcora.com/restaurants/ http://www.peets.com/
First impressions: I liked the olive tapenade (Kalamata possibly) on the top of the omelette (I would have liked more of it, though, as it was very tasty). There were lots of fresh (well, fresh sautéed) spinach in it, and the homefries were very good (extra crispy and crunchy, just like I like 'em). However, the minuses (the minus?) far outweighed any of the pluses. There was hardly any Feta in the omelette at all. And this is not my usual complaint that I would liked to have had more Feta in my meal. The Feta that was in there was just very minuscule little crumbles. I hate having to repeat myself, but "Everything's betta with Feta!"™ I had ordered sourdough for my toasty choice; however, it ended up coming out as whole wheat. No biggie there, Jake. For condimentary supplementation, Lark Creek Grill had both Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) and Tapatío®Salsa PicanteHot Sauce. I used some of the Tapatío® on my potatoes (I didn't bother bringing any of my own hot sauce collection with me on vacation; besides, the TSA won't allow more than a 2 oz bottle through security). This was the perfect way to start a trip or vacation: relaxed, full-bellied, and a bit over-caffeinated. Part the Second Orlando International Airport (MCO), Orlando, FL (Sunday, 04/03/16)
https://www.rubytuesday.com/ Place(s): Dunkin'Donuts® (pre-TSA check) and Ruby Tuesday(once inside the terminal area) Location: Terminal B, Orlando International Airport Hours: Dunkin'Donuts® ~ ??? (they were open at 6:00am when I had arrived; so that's good enough for me); Ruby Tuesday ~ open at 7:00am daily (pre-)Meal: Boston Kreme (doughnut) and a medium cuppa Original Blend Meal: Veggie Benedict ~ à (nice job on the correctly accent-graved "à", Ruby) la Florentine with sautéed (ditto on the accent-aigued "é", Ms. Tuesday) spinach and tomato, served with breakfast potatoes; and a glassa Tropical Sunrise ~ "Just another drink in paradise. It's a blend of mango, pineapple, and O.J. shaken with ice and served with a splash of grenadine and a cherry. Refills are free."
(Why a the Corrs song? Everyone knows they run on Dunkin'Donuts®. It's really such a shame that those Irish sisters are so extremely homely. And who/why is that old man playing the guitar with them?) I think that I have only eaten at a Ruby Tuesday once before (wayyyy back in October 1983 ~ Orange County/Los Ångeles area). Once again, it was nice to be able to eat at a sit-down restaurant and relax before taking off for another all-day flight. (There were no Jake, nor cloth napkins, but the waiter-server person was still very friendly and paper napkins are more than good enough for this zhlub.) There wasn't an awful lot of choices from which to choose on their menu, but a few other ideas could have been: Sunrise Combo ("This breakfast combo has a little bit of everything to get your morning started right. Two eggs cooked to order paired with a choice of crispy bacon or sausage patties. Served with white or wheat toast [What? No sourdough?!], breakfast potatoes, and fresh, seasonal fruit."; which I could have ordered without the dead, decaying porcine junk); High Five Stack (pancakes); or French Toast (French toast).
(This photo was purposely taken with a bit of bokeh to produce an early morning, bleary-eyed view. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.) This was a simple and basic rendition of Eggs Florentine. The spinach ended up being fresh (not sautéed), which I actually preferred, anyway. This had a decent enough Hollandaise sauce, too. I liked the blended juice drink-thing; however, I am pretty sure that they cheated me outta the Formaldehyde... er, I mean... Maraschino cherry. Ruby Tuesday only offered Tabasco®Brand Pepper Sauce (Original Red Sauce) as a condimentary supplement. So, I went without any that day. However, I did pick up a new bottle for my collection while in Orlando: Dixie Crossroads Hot Habañero [ sic ] Pepper Sauce, but I packed it away in my stowed luggage so as not to cause any undue trouble with those TSA guys (it is a 5 fl. oz. bottle). Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Greek Omelette ~ 6.3 (this could have been much higher with a decent amount of Feta in it); Jake's excellent service ~ 7.7 (I thought about taking off 0.1 point for his terrible taste in humour); Boston Kreme ~ 6.1; Dunkin'Donuts®Original Blend ~ 6.0; Veggie Benedict ~ 6.2; Tropical Sunrise ~ 6.5 (with or without any Formaldehyde cherries) ___________________ 1. Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: Many people probably know this Yiddishism as "shlub" (or "schlub"). However, whenever it comes to any Yiddish words, I prefer to go with the spellink from the authoritative lexicon of Leo Rosten's "TheJoysofYiddish". zhlub zhlob Pronounced ZHLUB or ZHLAWB, to rhyme with "rub" or "daub". From Slavic: zhlob*, "coarse fellow". 1. An insensitive, ill-mannered person. "He acts like a zhlub, that zhlub." 2.A clumsy, gauche, graceless person. "Vassar-Shmasser, the girl's still a zhlub." 3. An oaf, a yokel, a bumpkin. "What can you expect from such a zhlub?" A Jew came running into a railway station, the perspiration pouring down his face, panting and crying, "Stop, train, stop!" A zhlub said, "What's the matter?" "I missed my train!" the man exclaimed. "By twenty measly seconds!" "The way you're carrying on," said the zhlub, "one would think you had missed it by an hour!" See also KLUTZ, BULVON, GRAUB. *(Secondary stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day: The word "жлоб" ["zhlob"] in Russkij translates somewhat to "redneck", and the same word/spelling in Ukrainian means "parasite/swindler".)
