Four Flamingos, A Richard Blais Florida Kitchen — Restaurant in Dr. Phillips

Sincerely underwhelming -- the meal started off nicely, but my family left feeling perplexed and slightly regretful of the amount we spent on a lackluster dinner.

The restaurant is a self-proclaimed "Florida kitchen" with a menu influenced by various regional cuisines, e.g. Caribbean, Latin American, American Southern, and Southeast Asian. The issue is not with the restaurant's concept, nor is it with the proposed dishes; rather, it is the poor execution of fusion cuisine that made for a disappointing dining experience.

The meal began with a coconut-scented brioche based on Cuban medianoche bread, which was served with whipped and salted butter. It was fine. We then ordered the Smorgasbord Platter ($138) to share. The seafood portion was delicious, but standard. We were served some pretty sandy oysters, shrimp cocktail, stone crab claws, scallop ceviche, and tuna tartare served over a tostada. The dishes are served with a regional twist, e.g. guava in the cocktail sauce and papaya in the scallop ceviche, but these flavors aren't very apparent.

The snacks portion of the Smorgasbord was disappointing. The coconut shrimp toast was a dense, greasy, oily sponge. You honestly could squeegee out the oil. Please just go to your local Chinese restaurant and get some light and crispy shrimp toast. The ham and cheese croquetas were alright, but you could literally go to any Latin American bakery in Central Florida and find the same.

The golden tilefish beurre blanc ($42) was too salty and served with tough grilled collard greens. The greens weren't particularly young, so I don't understand why they were grilled instead of stewed/braised. Allegedly there's lime leaf in this dish, but I could not taste it. Afterwards, I learned that golden tilefish has one of the high mercury concentrations in fish :-)

By far the most puzzling and awkward dish was the crispy whole fish for two (MP). The crispy fried snapper and its components take inspiration from Vietnamese cuisine. The turmeric-rubbed fish seemed to be a nod to the Hanoi dish chả cá Lã Vọng. The snapper was fresh and delicious, but once again, I couldn't really taste the spices. The fish was served with a fish-sauced green papaya salad, a "Cha Ca Chimi"??? which was a salsa of sorts, and coconut and purple rice "grits" served in a banana leaf packet. The grits were sweet and rather chewy, not creamy. They did not pair well with the strong flavors of the papaya salad, nor with the delicate flavors of the fish. It really felt like the chef made an appetizer (papaya salad), a main (fried fish), and a dessert (sweet coconut grits) and served them all at once. As a Vietnamese person who's used to all these flavors, I felt the combination was perplexing and thoughtlessly executed. The purple grits can be purchased from Congaree and Penn, if anyone is interested in making a better recipe.

The key lime blossom ($12) was visually striking, but it was mainly comprised of the vanilla whipped cream with a tiny core of key lime filling. It was served on a graham-flavored sable cookie that was harder than an actual graham cracker. I would imagine that with all the deconstructed and modernist elements on the menu, the chef would think to make a graham cracker crumb or meringue or something remotely easier to eat than a piece of tile. It's kinda embarrassing that the chef put in thrice the effort to reinvent the no-bake key lime pie, only for it to be far less delicious.

The coconut cake with yuzu creme-anglaise ($12) was dry and made me sad. How nice would it have been as a coconut tres leche cake? We will never know.

Overall, Four Flamingoes maybe achieves half of what it aims to do. Ingredients seem to be used more so for novelty and flair, and less so for flavor. I think if you are staying on the grounds, it is a perfectly acceptable, albeit expensive, hotel restaurant. If you are willing to drive, you could find every source dish on this menu done better, although not at the...

To preface, we had the pleasure of dining at Four Flamingo’s several years ago and had a fantastic experience that made us excited to return.

Unfortunately, our Mother’s Day Brunch experience today completely changed my perspective due to the poor food quality and absurd $120 per person price tag for the bleak offerings.

For a $120 per person brunch, you’d expect this to be the best brunch you’ve ever had. This landed in our bottom 5.

THE OFFERINGS: The brunch consisted of a raw bar of shrimp, ceviche, and oysters. There was a “prime rib” station (it was a rib roast) with a side of potatoes, and a triple tail station with a side of asparagus. There was a hefty meat and cheese selection with good variety and some small salad cups. There were pancakes, bacon, sausage, and steamed scrambled eggs. The dessert consisted of a couple of varieties of cookies, a cake, and a couple of small tarts.

There was NO: fresh fruit (aside from the side of berries with the burnt pancakes) yogurt, oatmeal, or other reasonably healthy breakfast/brunch options one might expect. SALT, on any of the food, at all.

THE QUALITY: the restaurant is known for its seafood, but the ceviche was honestly embarrassing. It had no salt or acid; it was clear that no one tasted it prior to putting it out (or even worse, they did, and put it out anyway). the “prime rib” was overcooked and had no color. The potatoes used to make the mashed potatoes were pre-peeled, not freshly peeled. the fish was overcooked, dry, and had no salt - like everything else. the eggs were cooked in a hotel pan in a steamer and then mashed up. The bread tasted like it was baked fresh, two days ago. the madeleines for dessert just tasted like yellow cake.

Working in the food service industry, we understand that there has been a shortage of kosher salt, but Four Flamingo’s should really look at investing in alternative options instead of opting out of salt altogether.

the cheese selection and the ricotta pancakes (although slightly overcooked) were the best options, but they were definitely not worth $120 per person. The macarons for dessert were also decent (but again, not worth the price tag).

The brunch also came with two small plates per person, we opted for the Oxtail with plantains and the scallops. We were hopeful that the composed dishes would demonstrate the positive experience that we had previously at the restaurant, understanding that the restaurant is not built to produce buffets. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The scallops were rubber and caked with blackening seasoning that crumbled onto the plate when cut. It tasted like blackened rubber. The oxtail was one-note and too sweet across the board.

THE SERVICE: Our server was the bartender and was preparing the drinks while working the patio section, so it wasn’t surprising that he was overwhelmed. He was friendly and personable, but just ultimately not set up for success. He made positive suggestions and offers, but kept forgetting them because he was so busy behind the bar.

Overall, we paid $355 for brunch for two people including three mocktails and two cups of coffee. We don’t mind paying for food - but the quality has to be there. This was the most regrettable money for food we have ever spent. The restaurant went all-out advertising a high quality buffet for a celebratory holiday, and they failed to deliver in so many ways. On the plus side, we’ll always remember the Mother’s Day when we paid $355 for steamed eggs and...

This written review will be scored in 2 parts - food and non-food.

As a party of 2, we went for Christmas dinner. Being local, we had to drive some across Kissimmee, and upon entering the Hyatt property, it was not immediately clear where to go. When signs shows up, parking was "paid" (though validated at the restaurant). From the parking lot, it was a good 200m hike up a gently rising path, not great for bad knees or back. Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were pleasantly and consistently greeted, in pleasant tones and not over done. Seated, we would have had a nice view, but cursed clouds were blocking the sunlight. Our waiter arrived shortly after (though we got there close to opening for Christmas dinner), and was pleasant with a few recommendations, and admitted to not having had a change to sample an item or two on the menu. He was both polite and friendly, and as attentive as was allowed (less so, as expected, as the restaurant became more crowded).

For our order, we had the bread and butter, local burrata salad, swordfish, berry truffle, and baked Florida, all off the main menu, as well as the Sea Bass off the Christmas menu. The bread was soft and fluffy, with only a spot of over crispness. The burrata salad was tasty, though the sauce was mildly too think and bold (definitely flavorful, but a bit distracting). The swordfish was cooked well, not too soft or flakey, and the blackened seasoning was rather tasty. The Sea Bass was in-skin and tender enough to cut with a fork, stuffed with a pleasant relished-stuffing. For the baked Florida (Key Lime pie), the meringue was smoot and flavorful, though I have never been a fan of Key Lime pie, so it was neither impressive nor not. I had the berry truffle, which I enjoyed. We spend $217 plus a Christmas level tip.

Over all, the service was excellent, the attentiveness was at nicely appropriate level, our seating was not compacted nor crowded, and the view would have been excellent for the lack of sun. The only downside was actually get to the restaurant, and one in our party has worsening knees. If not for the trek, it would be perfect score. As is: 4.5.

For the food, it was good and tasty, and visually appealing. We shared, and both plates received a quick thumbs up. But I am a bit of a foodie, and have eaten good food, prepared well, from places as varied as London, Washington, DC, LA, Cancun, Quito, and Santiago, and many in between. The food was very good, but the cost was excessive. And most of our order was off the regular menu. That is the only downgrade from perfect. As is: 4.0.

If you are willing to spend $50/adult plus appetizers or dessert, then I do recommend. If not, then there are plenty of other places in the metro Orlando area which will be equivalent in terms of food, with a lesser price, though not on...