On Sunday, Mark, Gary, Karen and I ate down at Tchoup Chop at the Universal Studio’s Royal Pacific Resort.  This Asian Rim-Fusion restaurant has just a hint of the Emeril New Orleans flair.  It was an interesting experience and worth writing about.

 This is my first foray into restaurant review, but I think I am uniquely qualified to be a food critic. Years at a four star Long Island restaurant plus growing up and experiencing top New York Restaurants and all the traveling in the US and romping around Europe has taught me a thing or two about what constitutes a great restaurant.   

I would put Tchoup Chop in the category of a top Orlando restaurants but nothing really worth getting all mushy about.  And certainly the prices did not justify the quality of the food.   But before I wax lyrical about my meal, I need to qualify it by saying, it was good for Orlando. Central Floridians just have to accept the fact that we have tourist food here.  Every once in a while a bright light emerges like the Woodlands or Thai Delight, but most of the food here is pretty tame. 

Tchoup Chop had all of the criteria that would set it apart in the Orlando restaurant scene.  A great location, beautiful setting and tasteful décor.  The food overall was very well done at times.  Gary and I had a great meal, Karen and Mark were less than impressed.  The food is very much fusion inspired, however not every dish appears to be quite as exotic.   Mark’s Filet Mignon was usual and not at all on the par with say Ruth Chris.  

Prices:

Salad's $13 ea

Mark's Filet $35

Cyn's Snapper $27

Drinks @ $10 ea

Here is a quick summary of my food.  Unfortunately I didn’t note every ingredient, assuming I would find a menu online, but since I didn’t I’ll just talk anecdotally. 

We each had a different drink to start.  I had the special of the night, which was an Iced Green Tea Mojito.  It was very smooth and sweet and loaded with fresh mint.  Karen didn’t like her drink but Mark and Gary did. Mark had some frozen green concoction also loaded with fresh mint and rimmed with green sugar-it was pretty.  Sarah had one of the kid’s drinks, of course being Universal and all, they had a vast kids menu. 

My salad was wonderful and definitely the highlight of the night. I had the special.  I am very biased by properly sliced citrus slices anyway and paired with mixed greens, cheese and nuts, it was reminiscent of a salad I used to get on LI.   It used sliced blood oranges, which had a wonderful contrast to the blue cheese.  I thought the dressing was just a little too sweet, I would have expected it to be just a bit tangier.  

I chose the Red Snapper for my main dish, which was done Asian, well almost Thai style.  It had lemon grass and sprouts and a spicy tangy sauce.  Served with sticky rice.  The fish was very good, well prepared, but not anything special as far as the quality of fish goes.  Snapper isn’t known to be the kind of fish that melts in your mouth, but I think the quality and freshness was just average.  As I mentioned, Mark had the Filet and it was by no means anything to rave about.  It had a hint of Asian spice but all in all no big deal. 

I liked the food a bit more than everyone else, but I got lucky and ordered well.  This definably wasn’t a five star restaurant, well except for the prices.  I’d give it a solid 3.5 and I did like it better than Roy’s, which is the same exact theme. 

 Link to Emeril's website:   http://www.emerils.com/restaurants/orlando_tchoupchop/index.html