Restaurant Review - Mellow Mushroom, 2015 Aloma Avenue, Winter Park, FL

No, it’s not an all-mushroom menu at Mellow Mushroom, as my oldest son envisioned as we headed to the restaurant on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park with Grandma and Grandpa. It’s actually a pizzeria although it’s hard to tell from the cute chalet-looking exterior with a large covered patio on the side. The patio had plenty of whirling fans above and looked like it might be okay, even in the summer. There are a few parking spaces around the actual restaurant itself with more parking available at the nearby shopping mall.

The interior of the space is bright yellow with reproductions of famous Masters paintings throughout featuring the two Mellow Mushroom mascots, who are mushrooms, of course. So think "Starry Night" with two mellow mushrooms hanging out viewing the stars. The rest of the décor is very subtly psychedelic including the motto of “Give Pizza Chance”. We were seated at a table by the small bar, near the booths that are on the raised level of the restaurant. While there is no children’s menu, our server brought the boys coloring pages and crayons to keep them busy.

After reaching the table, LB decided he needed to go potty so we followed the signs to the “Mellow Flushrooms” which had me chuckling. When we returned to the table, we perused the menu. Besides pizzas and calzones, there are also salads, hoagies, and appetizers, as well as mircobrew beers and wine. There is an emphasis on healthy and premium offerings such as pizza toppings like tofu, tempeh (another soy-based product like tofu), pesto, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and other fresh ingredients. There’s also a hummus appetizer and most of the hoagies are topped with sprouts.

We ordered drinks, including iced tea for BB and chocolate milk for LB. Grandpa tried one of the microbrew beers called Purple Haze - a wheat-based beer with raspberry tones. He liked it but wished it had more fruit flavor. I almost tried the “Monk in the Trunk” microbrew just because of the name, but decided I wasn't in the mood for a beer and ordered an iced tea.

We decided to try a small order of Parmesan Pretzels (3 for $4.25 or 6 for $7) and a small Greek salad ($4.75) to start. The pretzels are more like breadsticks in the shape of pretzels. They were thick and doughy, basted with butter and topped with Parmesan cheese, and served with a warm marinara sauce. They were very filling and had enough flavor even without the sauce on the side. The Greek salad came with the house Esperanza dressing which is like a light Caesar-type dressing. The dressing perfectly complemented the fresh crunchy vegetables, big chunks of feta cheese and Kalamata olives that topped the salad. BB helped me with the salad while everyone tried the pretzels.

Mellow Mushroom pizzas range from 10 inches to 16 inches and are $7.50 for a small cheese up to $22.50 for a large Specialty pizza. Hoagies are around $4.50 for a half and up to $7.75 for a whole. To try a little bit of everything, we ordered a small cheese pizza, a half ham and cheese hoagie, and a medium House Special pizza ($17.50) which is topped with pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, tomatoes, bacon, ham and extra cheese. Wow, when they brought the House Special pizza, it was completely loaded with meat and veggie toppings yet still had a generous Parmesan-topped crust border. Each slice was like a meal in itself and the dough is more bread-like than a NY-style crust. The cheese pizza was a perfect size for an adult or for two kids to share. Grandma, Grandpa and BB worked on the specialty pizza while LB and I shared the cheese pizza. The cheese was nice and stringy and the Parmesan coated crust really added to the flavor.

The ham and cheese sandwich, which was for me along with two slices of the cheese pizza, was on a toasted sub roll with thick slices of ham and cheese, generously topped with sprouts, and with mayo as the only dressing. I typically prefer thin-sliced ham so the thick-sliced was a little too "hammy" for me. Also, I would have liked more dressing, such as the Esperanza, so I probably wouldn't order a hoagie again. I did like how the sprouts added a nice crunchy texture, though.

Needless to say, we brought home leftovers, and will definitely be back for more.

Restaurant Review - Jockamo's New Orleans Kitchen, 3042 W.Sand Lake Rd, Orlando, FL

This weekend we headed to Jockamo's New Orleans Kitchen, at the corner of Sand Lake Road and John Young Parkway, because Grandpa wanted to try their crawfish boil. Jockamo's holds a crawfish boil every other Saturday starting in January and running until the season ends. They start selling the crawfish in one or two pound servings starting at 11 am and then keep going until they are all gone. We went on Saturday around 12:30 pm and by 2 pm, they had completely sold through the 500 lbs. of crawfish they started with. The crawfish come in straight from Louisiana so one day they are swimming around the muddy waters and the next day they are sitting in a vat of boiling water and spices at Jockamo's. Not good for them but great for you if you like the spicy little (and some were not little) mud bugs.

Grandpa decided to get the one pound serving for $6.29. It was an extremely generous portion and he declared the crawfish sweet and spicy at the same time. There is also a two pound serving which comes with potatoes, corn, onions and garlic for $12.49. A couple near us got it and I can't imagine not sharing since it is such a huge portion. The crawfish boil happens outside the strip mall in the parking lot in front of the restaurant. The rest of us went inside to find other items on the menu for us to eat. Due to the crawfish boil, the restaurant was pretty crowded and there were a few empty tables that had not been cleaned up yet. We sat down at one and did our best to clean it until a table runner came and started to wipe it down for us. Then, with Grandpa picking through his crawfish, the rest of us got into line to order at the counter.

Jockamo's definitely has a N'awlins menu with Po' Boys, Muffulettas, gumbo, jambalaya, and fried everything else on the menu board (even gator). For dessert, there are beignets and bread pudding, with chickory coffee to drink. The Kid's "Little Jester" menu has fried Baskets (choice of fried chicken tenders, shrimp, catfish, grouper, or crawfish tails served with fries) or Po' Boys (choice of ham & cheese, fried shrimp, chicken, catfish, or crawfish plus one side), all for $4.49 which includes a drink and a beignet for dessert. BB choose the shrimp basket and said he was okay with the fries, which was strange because he usually doesn't like fries. LB was very undecided but finally went with the fried chicken tender Po' Boy, with nothing on it. His side dish choices were fries, rice & gravy, chips, beans & rice, or buttered rice. I knew he would go for buttered rice as soon as he heard it and he did - he loves anything with butter. I was stuck with not knowing what to get. I love muffulettas -- a special deli meat and olive salad sandwich -- and I also love Po' Boys sandwiches. Po' Boys won out this time and I ordered the original Hot Roast Beef & Gravy, fully dressed for $7.59. At Jockamo's fully dressed means with mayo, shredded cabbage and pickles on it. It also came with a side and I chose the red beans & rice. Grandma wasn't very hungry so she went for dessert getting an order of three beignets for $2.82 and a chickory coffee for $1.39.

Not long afterwards, the table runner called our name and placed our food on the table. The fried shrimp and fried chicken tenders had a light batter on them and were very good. BB ate all but one of his shrimp and then, as expected, decided he didn't want the fries after all. Grandpa obligingly finished them off for him by dipping them in the remoulade sauce available at the condiment counter. LB ended up eating half of his buttered rice and then plucked the chicken tenders off of the bun they were on and ate them plain. I have no idea why he decided he wanted the chicken sandwich instead of the chicken basket because he did not eat any of his bread. He did a good job though and was ready for dessert. LB then happily ate his beignet, a square, puffy, fried doughnut topped with a very generous amount of powdered sugar, and proceeded to cover everything in his immediate vicinity in the white sugar. BB claimed he was full and couldn't eat the beignet so he said I could have it. What a good boy!

My Roast Beef Po' Boy was a huge sandwich, loaded with slices of roast beef, ladles of beef gravy, and topped with the cabbage, pickles and mayo. Definitely messy to eat but very good. The taste really took me back to the time I visited New Orleans for Spring Break in college. We had just gone to the local market and asked for a roast beef po' boy, fully dressed, at a counter in the back. This sandwich had the same exact taste. The mayo and the gravy mix together and the cabbage and pickles add the tanginess and crunch. I couldn't even eat the whole thing and had to bring half the sandwich home. I tried the red beans & rice but the taste, after eating the roast beef gravy, just didn't go together well. I realized I should have gone with my gut and gotten the fried pickles. Next time, I certainly will.

Restaurant Review - Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine, 7760 W. Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL

I had eaten at Roy's for dinner before with one of my girlfriends for a night out and with my husband for our wedding anniversary, however, tonight I was on a date with someone else... my 8-year-old son. I decided we needed some talk time away from his little brother who has been monopolizing my time lately. I called ahead to make reservations and said that I was going to be on a "date night" with my child. We received an aloha greeting at the podium and then we were promptly escorted to our table. There was a sprinkle of curling ribbon at our table to signify the special occasion, which was a nice touch.

There are several seating areas at Roy's and each one has a different mood. When I dined at Roy's for our anniversary, my husband and I were seated in the much quieter front room. I would highly recommend requesting this room if you would like to have a romantic dinner. When I ate with my friend, we asked for the sushi bar area which is great for friends as you will be seated with other diners, either at the sushi bar itself, where you can watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen, or at a large family-style table in the bar area. Then there is the main room which, I think, is the place to sit with children. It has enough noise that your children will just blend in, yet you can still hear each other at the table.

As soon as we sat down, a server brought us Roy's seasoned edemame as a complementary appetizer. A little too spicy for my son, but he enjoyed the soy beans after he flicked off the spices.

My son ordered off of the Keiki's (children's) menu - a sort of prix fixe menu for kids. For $12, children receive an appetizer of cheese quesadillas and vegetable crudites (a fancy word for some carrot and celery sticks) with ranch dressing, a choice of entrees, as well as a sundae for dessert. Kid's entree choices range from buttered pasta or crispy chicken and fries, to short ribs, salmon, or even a children's sushi entree. My son decided on the short ribs, which is a smaller version of the adult entree.

I decided to order off the regular menu versus the relative bargain of the prix fixe adult menu. If you are eating at Roy's for the first time, or if you have a limited budget, I highly recommend the seasonal prix fixe dinner. For $35, you have a choice of one each of selected appetizers, entrees and desserts. Everything on the regular menu sounded good to me so I asked our server for her recommendations. She recommended the Island Style Ahi Poke appetizer ($13) and the Pesto Seared Opakapaka (Hawaiian Pink Snapper) for an entree ($34). I went with both suggestions and was glad I did. The poke tuna salad had sushi grade cubes of tuna surrounding a mound of sticky rice and covered with mixed greens topped with an Asian vinaigrette and slices of pickled ginger. As I dug down to the bottom, the sticky rice had a brown sauce on it that I could not place. I asked our server about it and she very knowledgeably told me it was made with kukui nuts, sometimes called a candlenut, which are also used in Hawaiian ceremonies to make bracelets and leis. In Hawaii they are roasted and made into the condiment called inamona, which I then remembered seeing on the menu as part of the appetizer. The whole dish was very complex with lots of flavor layers. I found my main dish to be the same way. I had originally wanted to try the butterfish as I had eyed it on my last trip to Roy's but the new Opakapaka entree looked very intriguing. Topped with a pesto sauce, it was served with a buttery burgundy cream sauce and accompanied by potato and chive "raviolis" and carrots and leeks. My son tried the raviolis and said they tasted like his grandmother's pierogies and I realized he was correct as it was the same concept. However, the pasta for these raviolis was very light, almost translucent so that all you tasted was the potatoes and chives. The fish had taste of Italy due to the pesto sauce and also came with slightly spicy finely diced tomatoes on top.

My son's short ribs were so extremely tender that the meat just pulled apart with a fork. It had a slightly mustard taste and was served with wonderfully flavorful mashed potatoes, asparagus (which he didn't touch - pretty much the only vegetable he doesn't eat) as well as squash and other vegetables (he ate all those).

Since I had requested a "date night with your child" dinner, our server told us we were going to receive the chocolate souffle for dessert, compliments of the restaurant. The chocolate souffle was served with a molten hot chocolate lava flow in the center that oozed out when the outer cake layer was cut open. It was served with a raspberry sauce swirl that ended with two actual raspberries hidden in the large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Most special was the chocolate writing that said "Aloha to mom and [my son's name]" -- awwww.

The service was absolutely impeccable. As soon as we were done with a dish, someone came to take it away. Plus, all of the servers and managers made it a point to come by our table and talk about our special dinner. They couldn't have treated us more nicely. From the Aloha's at the door to the Mahalos when we were leaving, we were treated as treasured guests through our meal experience. It was a very enjoyable evening that I'm sure my son and I will remember for a long time to come.

Restaurant Review - IKEA Orlando, 4092 Eastgate Drive, Mall of Millenia area, Orlando, FL

As promised, I visited the recently opened IKEA store in Orlando to check out their restaurant and food. Oh, and their furniture and stuff, too. I had tried the IKEA restaurant in NJ so I was eager to see how the Orlando store compared.


First of all, I was pleased to see that the Smaland (kid's supervised play area) in Orlando was bigger and accepted children between 37" - 54" in height. This had been a problem at the NJ IKEA because my older son was too tall. Here, both boys were able to go inside. There is a comfy TV area where the kids watched Spongebob and then Meet the Robinsons, a rock climbing wall, a ball pit with fun activities like trying to get the balls into cuckcoo clocks, and an art area where kids can draw. You sign the kids in and you have a pager so the counselors can reach you. When I went, we could only leave the kids for 60 minutes (and since IKEA is so big that meant we only did one floor). I don't know if that is variable depending on the day you go.

Once we picked the kids up, we headed to the restaurant on the second floor. On weekends, there can be a pretty long line at the cafeteria but it tends to move quickly. I saw that the Orlando IKEA didn't have kid-sized trays like the NJ one did but we did pick up a fun "tray shopping cart" that LB was very excited to push through the line. It is a wheeled cart that holds three trays on it and it was very helpful so the kids didn't have to carry their trays themselves. The first thing you reach in the food line is the refrigerated cases with the desserts inside. Since both boys said they wanted the 99 cent Macaroni and Cheese for lunch, I figured I could splurge on dessert so said okay when they both asked for their own Daim cake ($1.79) which is like a toffee cake with a Swedish toffee candy included. Oh, and I got an Almond cake ($1.29) for myself. Grandma and Grandpa decided to split a Swedish Apple cake ($2.29).

Entrees range from $2 - $6 and include ham and cheese sandwich, chicken caesar salad, chicken marsala, Swedish meatballs, and salmon. The kids' menu consists of PB&J with a fruit cup and drink ($1.99), five Swedish meatballs with fries or potatoes and a drink ($1.99), or the 99 cent mac-n-cheese with a drink. Note that the PB&J kids meal is entirely pre-packaged - the sandwich is like an Uncrustable and the fruit cup is canned fruit. I grabbed the Gravad Lax (smoked salmon slices with a salad) for $4.99 and Grandma and Grandpa decided to share the 15 Swedish meatballs plate ($4.99). I grabbed glasses for the drinks for all of us -- turned out that I could have asked the cashier for plastic cups for the kids. I ended up going back after we sat down when I saw another table with the plastic cups. One strange thing, there are no straws available. My kids did okay with the plastic cups but you may want to bring your own straws if your kids are not ready for drinking from a cup yet.


I drank the lingonberry juice available at the fountain since they don't have iced tea while BB had Pepsi and LB had water. There is also milk and orange juice and even baby food for sale if you forgot to bring any. In the dining area, there is a kids' eating area with a TV playing videos, some toys and blocks, and small tables for them to eat at. There is also a "family convenience center" that has plastic utensils and bibs for the kids as well as a microwave in case you want to heat up the baby food.

My Gravad Lax ($4.99) had more pieces and was thicker than what I remembered at the NJ store, but I didn't like the sauce - seemed like just regular mustard with dill mixed in and wasn't light enough to accompany the fish well. Most pieces of the Gravad Lax were pink and tender and melted in your mouth. One piece was tough and seemed like it would be chewy so I passed. I picked up that piece and saw it was brown on the bottom - maybe the skin? Grandpa said last time he came, almost all of his pieces were like that so he was very disappointed with the quality of the salmon. I was full at this point so didn't mind - I didn't even eat the mixed greens salad that comes with the dish because I knew I still had to eat the Almond cake. Both boys' Mac-n-cheese was real macaroni not the slender noodles characteristic of the Kraft version. They ate almost all of their portions. Grandma and Grandpa were very happy with the meatballs.

Time for dessert! My almond cake was loaded with slivers of blanched almonds and was light, not too rich at all. Grandma really liked the apple cake with the fresh apple taste. It came with a vanilla sauce and is served cold. I wished it was served warm because I think that would complement the cinamon and spices better (but I am a sucker for apple pie a la mode with a warm pie). Both kids started in on their Daim cakes - BB ate most of his while LB just ate the candy that came with it because he said the cake was too "crunchy". Oh well, I'll know not to get the whole cake next time and just buy the candy in the Swedish food marketplace.

Of course, almost anything in the restaurant was available for sale in the store, from the utensils, to the tables and chairs, to the glasses and plates and even the food. The Swedish food marketplace is right past the check-out counters and I picked up a bag of the frozen Swedish meatballs to make for dinner later that week.



Breakfast at IKEA:
IKEA also offers breakfast in the mornings, starting a half hour before the store opens. I arrived right at 9:30 am, when just the restaurant was open, and found out that IKEA offers free coffee before 10 am everyday.


Breakfast items are limited, there is the regular breakfast for $1.99 which is scrambled eggs, potatoes, two slices of bacon, and three french toast sticks. The small breakfast for 99 cents is the same thing, minus the french toast sticks. This is still cafeteria style so all the food is made in advance -- no special orders that I could tell. Also on the menu is a cinnamon bun for $1 and Swedish Pancakes for $1.99. I also saw bagels but no price by them. I ordered the Swedish pancakes and the small breakfast and picked up a coffee for free (normally 50 cents, still a great bargain). So, all together, my breakfast came to $3.17, including tax. Take that Denny's!


Everything was a large portion and the scrambled eggs were nice and fluffy. My only complaint was the bacon - I prefer extra crispy and this was not. The Swedish pancakes are really three crepes, folded into fourths, and then accompanied by a large scoop of lingonberry sauce. Again, I could tell these were not freshly made to order and had been sitting for awhile. The crepes were a little thicker than I expected and had a slight eggy taste but were pretty good, especially with the lingonberry sauce. All in all, a great value for a good breakfast.

Review - The Dinner A'Fare, 2735 Old Winter Garden Rd, Ocoee, FL

It's been a while since I have reviewed a meal preparation place so I thought I'd review the place I have been going lately - The Dinner A'Fare. There has been an explosion of meal preparation places in the area in the past couple of years - Let's Eat, Magical Mealtimes, Super Suppers, Dream Dinners, etc. I checked out all of the ones near me and have been going to The Dinner A'Fare based on pricing, portion sizes, ease of getting an appointment, ease of making the dishes, and, most important, how well my family likes the food. It's really a personal family decision for all of these aspects so a place that works well for someone else may not work well for you.

For those of you not familiar with the meal preparation process, you are basically going to prepare 6 - 12 meals for your family, freezer ready, so that you just need to thaw and cook the meals when you need them. We prefer to use the meals during the week when things are really hectic with work, school, and after-school activities. Plus, it eliminates the "what are we having for dinner" discussion between Hubby and me. I also like that you can leave out ingredients that your family doesn't like. We are not big onion fans so I don't put those in and I also leave out any ingredients that might be spicy such as chili sauce or red pepper flakes.

Step one for most places is to reserve a date and time slot on the kitchen's website. For The Dinner A'Fare you can click here. I always chose Package #2 which is 12 meals that feed 2-3 people for $150. BB and LB generally split a meal so with a side dish or two, we have enough food to feed everyone. You can also chose a "Stand-in Chef" for an extra fee - that means that they will make everything for you and you just show up and cart away your meals already bagged and ready to go in the freezer. If you are doing the meals yourself, The Dinner A'Fare has some great times for working moms like me - I typically pick one of the 7 pm weekday times or one of the Saturday times. Then, you chose the meals you would like to make. I always make sure to check the cooking times when I am choosing the meals as I don't want to come home on a weekday and then realize it is going to take 60 minutes to make dinner. So, I will generally pick only the meals that take 30 minutes or less to make. But again, that is personal preference. Also, the menus change every month so you always have a bunch of new selections to choose from.

Make sure to bring a laundry basket or cooler to your session so you have a way to transport home all of your meals. I have a rolling cooler that I use that I find very handy. You can also bring one helper with you, although if you want to bring your child, they have to be at least 12 years old for health and safety regulations.

As soon as you enter the store, you will be given an apron and hat to wear, and then will get a demonstration on how to put together the meals. You'll usually get offered a drink of soda, water, or wine, and sometimes they will have samples of some of their side dishes (that you can purchase and take home to go with your meals). The stainless steel stations all around are set up to facilitate 2 -3 different meals with recipes and dry ingredients at the top, cold items in the bins, and then usually the meats in the fridge underneath. You will get a list with the meals you chose so you can check off the meals as you go to each station. Most of the meals are pretty easy, generally you grab a ziploc bag with the meat from the fridge and then add ingredients as indicated on the recipe. Sometimes you'll make a couple of other bags full of ingredients as well. There's usually at least one meal at every session that is the "hard" one to do. For me, last time I went, it was the Italian Style Stuffed Turkey Burgers - I didn't do a very good job keeping the stuffing inside each burger. But, I'm sure it's still going to taste good.

A few tips that I've learned along the way: Make sure to really mix up the contents of the bags while you are making them while everything is still thawed. The instructions will just say add the list of ingredients to the ziploc bag but if you don't mix it up right there and then, you may have clumps of ingredients when you try to make it. This is especially true if you don't allow the meals enough time to defrost the night before (trust me, it happens).

In the end, we end up with meals that last about a month since we trade off Dinner A'Fare meals with pizza, pasta, or just eat out. And the best part is that my kids are trying new foods that are more creative than anything I can come up with, especially after working all day.

Restaurant Update - Dolly's Parton's Dixie Stampede Orlando has closed!

Found out today that Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Orlando location suddenly closed this weekend! And, I had just did a recent (very recent) review of the Christmas show here. So what was the cause of the sudden closure? Was the business doing badly? Was it for health inspection reasons? Nope, it was money. Apparently Dolly and her company were offered a boatload of money for the prime real estate that the Dixie Stampede sits on, with its prominent view of I-4. In fact, the company said they had their best Christmas season yet. Reports say that the Dixie Stampede will return to Orlando, they just have to find a new location. We'll see.

Restaurant Review - Infusion Tea, 1600 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, FL

Located in College Park, south of Princeton Street on Edgewater Drive, is Infusion Tea. Infusion Tea is a modern teahouse as well as an organic/vegetarian cafe. I visited with my boys and one of my girlfriends. Yes, this was another attempt by me to take my kids to tea -- I can't help it that I had boys instead of girls!

Infusion Tea is part retail tea store, with all kinds of tea accouterments such as tea pots, stirrers, infusers, and cups, as well as modern cafe. The chairs and tables are interspersed throughout the room so you can look at the wares as well as wait for your food. There is also a comfy couch area towards the back.

If you love tea, there is a lot to enjoy at Infusion Tea. They have an extensive tea menu including black, oolong, green, white, flavored, herbal, and rooibos (African red bush) teas, most of them organic. All can be ordered in the cafe or can be purchased to be made at home. The cafe menu features soups, tea sandwiches, wraps, appetizers and dips, salads, as well as a kids' menu and seasonal specials. You order your teas and food at the counter and then your meal will be delivered to your table when it is done.

The kids' menu offers three meal items, an apple and cheese quesadilla in a light wheat tortilla ($4), organic fruit and cheese kabobs with yogurt dipping sauce ($3.50), and a half peanut butter and jelly sandwich with veggies chips ($3.50). My younger son asked for the PB&J while my older son ordered the fruit and cheese kabobs. I was stumped for what to get them to drink because my boys don't like hot drinks. My oldest wanted sweet iced tea and the server immediately said she could make that for him with a light green tea, sweetened with simple syrup over ice. She offered apple juice for LB but he decided he just wanted water.

Another mother with her young son walked in at this point and I asked her what her son usually drinks here. She said he likes the Izze brand sparkling juices that Infusion Tea carries (so it is kind of like a fruit soda). She also told me he is a picky eater and his favorite thing on the menu is the veggie burger wrap ($7.50). So that is another option for a child, although kind of pricey unless you know your child will eat the whole thing.

I ordered the lunch combo ($7.50), a choice of a half soup and half sandwich - you can also chose a half salad as well. I chose the gazpacho, a cold tomato-based soup, and the Sundried Special, a sandwich with sundried tomato spread, cream cheese, cucumbers, and organic spinach. My friend ordered the Concorde wrap ($7.50) which consisted of hummus, tabouleh (a parsley-based Middle Eastern salad), and field greens in a wheat wrap and a scone for dessert ($2). We ordered a pot ($6) of the Cape Town Rooibos tea to share.

The drinks came out right away. I was very pleased with the presentation of the tea. It was served in a clear glass pot and two huge glass tea cups. On the side were the sweeteners -- honey, raw sugar cubes, and sugar. After the timer went off, we took out the filter with the tea leaves and put it on the provided plate and then poured the tea. It was a wonderful rusty red color and had a deep, comforting, slightly sweet flavor.

Our food arrived and it all looked very appetizing. The half peanut butter and jelly sandwich was on lightly toasted white bread and came with vegetable chips that looked like real vegetables that had just been sliced, cooked and lightly salted. I was surprised that my four-year-old, who I can never get to eat his veggies, dug right into the chips and finished them all -- all except one green bean that looked a little too much like a green bean to him. The fruit and cheese kabobs were strawberries and red grapes alternated with large squares of cheddar cheese and came with a sweet honey yogurt sauce. My oldest ate all of the fruit, dipping them in the sauce and did a good job with the cheese but said there was just too much cheese to eat.

My gazpacho was unusually prepared. Gazpacho is typically a soup made with tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, and garlic and can be smooth, with the veggies all pureed, or "chunky" with diced vegetables in the soup. Infusion Tea's version is all chunky with no soup, just very finely chopped vegetables spooned into a large cup. It was very fresh and I appreciated the unique presentation. The sandwich was tangy and creamy at the same time and was very filling. My friend's wrap was a wonderful blend of Middle Eastern flavors. The warmed scone was served with strawberry jam and Devon cream and the scone itself was full of pieces of juicy dried fruits. It was so good that I ordered one as well. Wow, it was a very decadent pastry and extremely filling - I was not able to finish it. I will definitely return to Infusion Tea to try some of the other teas and sandwiches... and I'll attempt to save room for another scone.