Bites & Bubbles — Restaurant in Orlando

When the Magical Dining menus came out this past summer, I vetted every single one of them, and Bites & Bubbles easily was in the top six of menus. I had never been before, so I was doubley excited about finally getting to check the place out.

Ambiance was very nice. I strode past the cozy, intimate dining room, and went up the stairs to a snazzy little rooftop dining patio. Tables spaced apart to give you plenty of privacy, a nice view out over the Mills 50 area, and a large covered roof to shield you from sun and rain. I really enjoyed the ambiance.

Service was excellent. Our guy was incredibly attentive, checked in after we had a few bites, kept the drinks coming, just awesome service. No issues there.

Now for the food. The menu looked like a banger, and it Was a banger.

Apps

Fried Goat Cheese (panko and almond crusted goat cheese, roasted tomatoes, fruit salsa, warm bread). Breading around the goat was impeccable with a very satisfying crunch. The roasted tomato goo on top was very acidic to balance out the very tangy goat. Perfectly paired. Very refined app. Big fan.

Escargot (escargot, brandy mustard crème sauce, garlic. escargot… our way). Hands down the most snails I have ever seen in an escargot dish. Very generous! The creme sauce was wonderfully garlicky and was excellent to sop up with the bread on the table. The decorative shells were also a really fun way to eat with your eyes first.

Mains

Seafood Diablo (homemade squid ink pappardelle pasta, shrimp, bay scallops, mussels, spicy tomato garlic sauce, bread). Wow, these were some wide noodles! At least an inch wide. Very fun. Huge shrimp were cooked well, plentiful bay scallops, well cooked mussels, and a bonus clam I wasn't expecting. The sauce was zingy, but not too spicy, just delicious, so don't worry, if you're afraid of spicy.

Duck Confit (confit duck leg & thigh, country stuffing, duck gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry relish). Thanksgiving dinner, but with a major upgrade at the protein position. Fall off the bone duck, chunky, flavorful stuffing, great mash, and a just-sweet-enough relish to really make this plate pure nostalgia.

Desserts

Key Lime Pie (traditional key lime pie, whipped cream). A great KLP. Not too tart, and not too sweet, so I suspect that real Key Limes were used. A nice little crust with some bite. A real winner.

Tiramisu (espresso lady fingers, sweet & creamy mascarpone, cocoa powder). This was mostly good. The lady fingers were soaked to the point where they were just too soft to barely notice. Sweetness and cocoa powered flavors. Good, not excellent, but probably still way better than the generic fudge cake.

Overall, this was my second Magical Dining restaurant of the season, and it is so far winning the competition for best meal. I was really surprised, and I will be coming...

Absolutely a fun and enjoyable Magical Dining experience! The ambiance was amazing on the rooftop lounge, and the food was perfection. We made our reservation for 8:30pm and we were greeted warmly by "Bubbles" when we arrived. Although I had requested patio seating, we asked if we could "take a peek" at the rooftop lounge area. Bubbles led us up to the second level and stated if a table was available, we could choose to sit there instead. Once we saw the beautiful and spacious setting, we knew this was the place we wanted to spend the evening. As luck would have it, a table was available, and we happily took it.

Our server was Jeff, and he made a major contribution to this five-star review (along with the food!) He explained the menu, discussed recommendations, answered our questions and checked on us throughout the evening. He even provided fun banter throughout as we relished our 2-hour plus dining experience.

We both ordered the mussels to start and they were beyond amazing. They were plentiful, too. In fact, this appetizer could easily feed two people. The brandy mustard creme sauce was the pinnacle of flavor that made this dish stand out! So glad this selection came with a nice slice of bread to soak up that sauce. For the main course, my friend ordered the lamb shank (which fell off the bone; the cumin tomato sauce gave it a nice kick) and I ordered the beef bourguignon (which was absolutely delicious). We shared our entrees and exclaimed how perfect both dishes were. Each entree was also accompanied by tasty root vegetables and mashed potatoes.

We were both pretty full before the dessert came out, but we heard so many people compliment the key lime pie, we had to select it. It was one of the best key lime pies we both have tasted, tart and sweet in a perfect combination. The cookie on top was a nice touch, also. Not to be forgotten, we both ordered The Martini Triangle for our drink selection. It consisted of three miniature gin martinis, each with its own distinctive craft style. The trio included a citrus-forward item, a lavender infused selection and salty pickle brine component that to both of our surprise was really quite good as well as interesting.

We left Bites and Bubbles in perfect contentment. Bubbles once again met us at the door, inquired on how the evening went and was the perfect host. We thanked him and Jeff for such an incredible evening and told him we look forward to seeing them again. There are ten more days of Magical Dining to truly experience a magical event, and I highly recommend you make a reservation to acquaint yourself to this dining...

Was really hoping to be able to leave a rave review after all the good things I had heard and read here but unfortunately our experience was a total wash which is a shame because the restaurant itself is beautiful and a really cool dining atmosphere. Usually I love to leave positive things and promote any local business or just not say anything negative, but this experience was the first actually unpleasant dining experience I’ve had in orlando. When we were seated our server let us try three beers which was completely fine and we ended up with a decent beer. We asked if any specials were available since it was our first time here and she noted they don’t have specials. The server later (after we ordered) told us they currently had a three course meal for a set price which she knew about but didn’t think we’d be interested in so didn’t mention. When we asked if we could do that to try more of their menu even though it would end up costing more more than double what we were already spending she said she couldn’t change a placed order. Please note we had just placed our order a few mins before, we weren’t trying to send back anything already made by the kitchen. We tried the elk burger which seemed like something you can’t go wrong with. I’ve had some incredible elk at a few places around orlando that was definitely better quality and at a better value. The elk burger we were served lacked flavor, the lettuce and tomato toppings were far from fresh, and the meat was actually almost slimy (not from fat content or elk being a gamier protein). I actually ended up not eating more than two bites (I’m very far from a picky eater) not because it was too rare, it just didn’t seem right and l was a bit concerned that burger would have made me sick later and didn’t want to chance it. Instead I just had some of the fries that came with it which were alright. The best part of my meal was a side of sauce they use for a duck burger (we were told a bit coldly the only sauces they have are ketchup or mayonnaise but then the server remembered this sauce) which we used for their fries. We were seated upstairs so maybe downstairs or some other menu options are a better dinging experience but I will not be returning. Would rather go back to some other local places where I’ve consistently good food and service.Wish I had better to report, hoping others have better...