cookies and code

This morning after church, my wife and myself found ourselves looking for a place to have breakfast. I’ve reviewed a few places around the area, but I figured I’d list most of the places we thought of as a good option for breakfast:

• Blue Lemon Cafe – 1301 South Patrick Drive, Satellite Beach, FL
• Blueberry Muffin – 1130 N Highway A1A, Indialantic, FL 32903
• Breakfast at Lilly’s – 240 Highway A1a, Satellite Beach, FL
• Corey’s Bagels on the Beach – 692 E Eau Gallie Blvd, Indian Harbour Bch, FL
• Eddie’s Sunrise Diner – 55 E Nasa Blvd, Melbourne, FL
• Memaw’s Bar-B-Q – 600 E Eau Gallie Blvd, Indian Harbour Bch, FL
• Niki’s Rainbow Cafe – 570 Highway A1A, Satellite Beach, FL
• Simply Delicious – 125 N Orlando Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL
• Suntree Cafe – 718 S Patrick Drive, Satellite Beach, FL

I know these aren’t all the options by far, but these are the ones we’ve been to and always had good service and food. For anyone who lives in the area, what places would you recommend for breakfast?

A friend of mine has been mentioning Niki’s Rainbow Restaurant to me for some time now. I always pass by it when I’m beachside and, no matter what time of day I go by, the parking lot is always full. Make no confusion however, even though they share the shopping plaza with a few other places, Niki’s is the reason that lot is full.

So that same friend, another friend, and I all met up for lunch today at Niki’s eagerly anticipating our pending meal. The menu is a simple three page menu chocked full of choices, even for those who aren’t partial to Greek options, but my eyes shot right to the “Rainbow’s Grecian Special” section. All of the expected favorites are present, so I was worried that my choice would be really tough and I’d end up ordering more food than I probably should. That is, until I spotted the Combo Platter (~$11). The Combo Platter comes with a portion of gyro, spinach pie, 2 grape leaves, pita bread, and your choice of soup or a Greek salad; I went with the soup of the day (New England Clam Chowder). The soup came out first with a basket of yeast rolls and crackers. The rolls were nice and light and the soup was thick and hardy with big chunks of clam. Before I could even finish my soup, the meals were on the table. The gyro was topped with a generous dolip of tzatziki and was homemade. Usually tzatziki is a little too creamy for me, but the way it was made was the perfect balance of yogurt to cucumber/garlic/lemon/oil/etc. The gyro was sliced straight off of the rotisserie spit and, not surprisingly, tasted great; not too salty or seasoned and also, homemade. The spinach pie was layered, flaky pastry crust with spinach and feta and for a change actually had more spinach than cheese which I enjoyed (and also homemade). The grape leaves were different from what I expected in that they were stuffed with ground beef and rice rather than just rice, but were delicious. If you’ve read my previous reviews, I’m not a fan of grape leaves that haven’t been slow cooked or that are tough. Niki’s grape leaves were so tender, that I was able to cut them with a fork; just awesome quality (did I mention homemade?). Even the pita was out of control good, not dry and more like a flat bread, it’s the only thing that Niki’s brings in. According to our waitress, it can’t even be bought anywhere but Niki’s which has an exclusive deal with the distributor. At ~$2 for a side of the pita bread, you may find yourself with an order to take home.

Also at the table we had a gyro sandwich (~$7) with fries (~$2) and a falafel platter (~$10) which came with fries and a greek salad. The gryo sandwich was made with that great pita bread, tomato, onion, and tzatziki. The falafel was put together simliarly and the chick peas were fried locking in the moisture which was nice to see since usually falafels tend to be dry. And if all of that food wasn’t enough to get your appetite going, we also stayed to try the baklava (~$3).

Now Cedar’s makes a killer baklava and I have to say I preferred it over Niki’s. That being said it’s a different style of baklava and good in its own right. Niki’s baklava seems to be made in the traditional sense but is more doughy than flaky. It comes topped with a sweet sauce which tasted like a mixture of honey and citrus and is super tasty. I’m not saying I wouldn’t order it again, it’s just not my favorite.

If you noticed a theme, it’s because there is one … homemade food. Everything but the pita bread is made daily from scratch. In addition to all of that homemade food, our waitress was on top of everything; our drinks were always full and our food spent almost no time between the kitchen and our table. Our waitress was even kind enough take time to tell us a little about the food and the restaurant. In summary: excellent service, homemade, hot food, and a must visit. In fact, I’m going to go as far to say that Niki’s Rainbow Restaurant is now my new favorite Greek/Mediterranean restaurant in the Brevard area. Not only is the food amazing, but the work placed into each meal makes it that much better.

Niki’s Rainbow Restaurant is located at 570 Highway A1A, Satellite Beach, FL.

Every now and then, the healthy side of me is placed into submission while the side of me that needs good old greasy, fried food takes over. It’s been a few weeks now and my body is started to revolt, so I figured I’d have one last hurrah before getting back into the swing of cooking at home. Over the last few months, signs for Little Phillies have been popping up on the mainland and beach-side, so I figured cheesesteaks would be a good choice to finish out my feeding frenzy.

Little Phillies’ is located where Kimberly Plaza used to be, from what my wife tells me, hidden in a small plaza North of 7-Eleven and south of the Pineda Causeway on A1A. This new location is quite the step up from the lunch cart that the owner was running prior to opening the restaurant. From what the guy working the counter told us, on busy days, they were selling 200 cheesesteaks road-side and the volume was just too much for the Amaco next to Oasis Shaved Iced, so they opened the new place. Even though I didn’t get a chance to swing by the cart, Little Phillies keeps the back to basics feel and does it well.

The group ended up splitting two of the large Authenticate Cheesesteaks (~$9 each) with an order of fries (~$2) and onion rings (~$3) and a couple of sodas (~$2 each). Each cheesesteak comes stocked with chopped ribeye and the option to add grilled onions, bell pepper (~$0.50), or mushroom (~$0.75) as well as your choice of cheese (provolone, american, or cheesewiz). The fries and onion rings were not at all greasy, were served hot, and tasted great. The cheesesteaks were served hot and are definitely big enough to split. If you have a larger appetite, they offer an X-Large size (~$11) as well as a 1 lb. of steak option (~$12). Chicken and buffalo chicken cheesesteak options are also available along with a slew of subs and fried sides. We didn’t try dessert, but Italian ice and cheesecake bites are also available.

The staff is friendly and the joint can definitely make a good cheesesteak. If you’re looking to try out a recent addition to the Brevard casual dining scene, look no further than Little Phillies. Sometimes restaurants can get complicated with all they try to do to attract customers when all they really need to do is focus on the food. +1 for Little Phillies for getting it right.

Little Phillies is located at 190 Highway A1A, Satellite Beach, FL.

My wife and I stopped by Oasis Shaved Ice this evening and the owners told us that they are going to be extending their hours until 9:00 PM daily with the exception of 10:00 PM on Fridays. For anyone who has driven by after 8:30 PM on a weekday looking for a snack, this is great news! If you haven’t had an opportunity to swing by and give them a try then take the time support a great local business.

Recently some friends of ours have been raving about this place beach side that has amazing shaved ice. My first reaction was, “Um, it’s ice that has been shaved into small pieces with juice … wow, sounds great.” Let me tell you, I am idiot for ever doubting them. The place they spoke of is Oasis Shaved Ice. Oasis opened up around last October and slowly has been gaining popularity with the locals. Oasis has a menu of over 20 flavors of shaved ice, each of which can be topped with condense milk (a snow-cap), topped with melted marshmallows (frost it) or have a scoop of ice cream thrown in before hand (stuff it). Flavors range from tropical fruits to sweet extracts to cake-based (that’s right) and can be served in 4 possible sizes, ranging from kids to large. Oasis also offers a variety of coffees and sodas for those, who for some reason, came to a shaved ice stand for something other than shaved ice.

My wife and I drove out on a Sunday afternoon and found cars in the drive-thru as well as one free space in the, all be it small, parking lot. Oasis instantly gave us that great beach side vibe that we’ve come to expect from the area. After about 10 minutes pouring over the choices, we went with a medium, half and half, blue raspberry and pina colada, and a medium Mardi Gras King Cake ($2.50 each). We had heard the cake flavors really tasted like cake but how would it taste in shaved ice? We weren’t disappointed. The pina colada tasted like fresh coconut and the blue raspberry didn’t taste like candy but raspberries. The Mardi Gras flavor was just like biting into a king cake; so much so, that it even came with a little plastic baby at the bottom.

It’s not hard to guess that we had a good experience, but here’s the kicker. While we eating, the woman working counter (she may have been the owner) drove away, drove back, walked up to us and asked, “I know this was your first time visiting, what did you think?” Wow, talk about the personal touch. This is why I love local businesses and will always patronize them. It looks like they can even take the business on the road with their own refrigerated truck. If you haven’t been by Oasis Shaved Ice, then do yourself a favor and go. Not only are you in for a refreshing treat, but it’s something you don’t get everyday with a great side of service.

Oasis Shaved Ice is located about a quarter-mile south of the Pineda Causeway on A1A in Satellite Beach, FL.

NOTE: Oasis Shaved Ice doesn’t take debit/credit cards, so make sure you bring CASH. Also, since this post was written we’ve tried Strawberry Cheesecake, Mango, and Grape which were equally great.

Last week, my wife and I in our usual willingness to cook, went out for dinner. We ended up, by the suggestion of a colleague, at the Enigma Cafe on A1A in Satellite Beach. Our tipster usually takes his family for nice dinner at what he said are reasonable prices. Since we’re always up for something new, we gave it a shot.

As far as the vibe of the restaurant goes, you notice almost immediately when pulling up to the restaurant that its got a cheesy paint job. It’s painted in sea-foam and pastel colors and has a “by the ocean” vibe (this is probably because it’s across the street from the Atlantic). Despite the paint job, the building looks relatively new and well constructed. From what we could tell, the inside of the restaurant is very clean as well. When we entered, there was a lounge singer performing in the bar, but after 30 minutes or so he was replaced by a jazz band. We were seated almost immediately (it was a Friday night), so that was cool and there seemed to be a healthy mix of people of different ages, which I always find encouraging. During the meal, the server seemed like a nice kid, but the service ending up being average.

We ordered the Shepard’s Pie (~$11) and the Chicken Parmesan (~$12) as well as added the salad bar (~$3 per person) to our meal. The waiter dropped off some really great garlic bread and the salad bar was the cleanest salad bar I’ve ever seen with some amazingly fresh ingredients. I’m usually against salad bars for cleanliness reasons, but I was shocked at how ridiculous they were about wiping everything down and keeping ingredients from being mixed together. I think what was nicest about the salad bar, was that it was just that, a really good, fresh place where you could assemble a salad; I didn’t have to wait behind the hungry guy in front of me grabbing 80 chicken wings to get to the lettuce. Unfortunately, I think the bread and the salad were the best part of the meal. I ordered the Shepard’s Pie, because the majority of other items came over pasta, and I’m not a huge pasta fan (I can boil it at home for less). The mashed potatoes topping the pie were dry and the stuffing was as mixture of beef, carrots, peas, and corn that was definitely over cooked and could have been frozen previously. The meal tasted, and looked, like it had been baked as part of a larger dish and kept under a heat lamp. I didn’t care for the Chicken Parmesan either. The sauce tasted was very thin without a lot of flavor and the cutlet was a cutlet; it kinda felt like a Chef Boyardee style meal. Since I ate literally none of my meal, which is unusual for me, even if I don’t care for it, we ordered dessert. We got the Chocolate Lava Cake (~$5, I think) a cup of coffee (~$2) and a chocolate martini (~$8). The cake was spongy and served with two huge scoops of ice cream and whipped cream. I kinda felt like I was eating a Little Debbie snack cake with hot fudge on it unfortunately.

Overall, I believe Enigma is living up to its name; I’m not sure what to think of it. The portions were large, but the quality wasn’t up to snuff with what I would have preferred, especially for the prices we paid (although I did like the salad and bread). I will admit, it is possible that I’m being unusually harsh. I wasn’t as hungry as I usually am when we went out and my wife, who usually likes similar things, did enjoy her food. That being said, I’m willing to give Enigma Cafe another shot. I am definitely doing so, however, with hesitant taste buds. Here’s to me finding something I like that’s not over pasta.

Enigma Cafe is located at 1024 Highway A1A, Satellite Beach, FL