I am a Realtor and think its helpful if customers and clients know what restaurants are in the area and what the experiences are like at each one we go to.
(picture by Open Table)
Restaurant of the month : ILLUME
( I forgot to take a lot of pictures so some of these are from Open Table and the other is mine)
Last Wednesday my fiancée and I went out to ILLUME – Contemporary Asian, tapas style, restaurant out at Bonnet Creek which is on Disney property. We had a great experience there, and my fiancée Pam ended up picking a great time for our reservation which was at 8pm. The restaurant is on the 9th floor of the JW Marriott Bonnet Creek Hotel. We requested outside…which is a rooftop spot and it had an awesome view of the Disney area where you can see the Contemporary Hotel and the Epcot Ball as the major sites, and many other hotels and things as well. We timed it perfect and as we were being seated, it was becoming sunset and the sun looked beautiful in the blue, orange and purple sky. (Open Table Pic not mine)
The seating outside is very relaxed, there are couches and low chairs around knee high tables. There is an elegant yet relaxed feel to the ambiance. Our waiter Brad was very friendly and knowledgeable. He made you want to eat everything on the menu, with his very descriptive and passionate account of each menu item.
We decided we wanted some drinks, and because of our health issues we cannot drink alcohol, so we had a couple of mocktails. Brad was very helpful in explaining the selections they could make, and we got a few of them and all of his recommendations were great. I can’t remember their names but the one I do remember had a Hibiscus and lemonade concoction and it was awesome and very refreshing.
We started off the courses with the Watermelon and Crab selection… which was a compressed square of watermelon with a skewer in it made to look like it was a square lollipop with crab, grapefruit, and a drizzle of Honey-Lime Vinaigrette. It was refreshing and delicious. Then after a bit of a wait… ( they ended up giving us a free entrée for the wait between courses) We had a crispy vegetable roll which was tasty ( I cant remember the name of it) it had mushrooms, rice and other vegetables wrapped and lightly fried. The next 2 selections came out after that and they were Sakana Fritters (which were fried fish balls of breaded steamed fish, capers, red pepper, in a bed of mango slaw, and lemon aioli) and the sushi selection of which we ordered the Oki Nigiri which had Snow crab, avocado, cucumber, tuna, spicy mayo, fried shallots and extra salmon and tuna slices on top. It was melt in your mouth good, fresh sushi. (this is an Open Table pic not mine)
The Sakana fritters tasted great and very fresh served in that bed of slaw which was a great touch and very complimentary to the flavors of the fish. That’s all we ordered, but like I mentioned we got a free entrée because of the longer than usual wait between courses. I am used to a wait for tapas style food because each dish is prepared to order but these took a little too long. We didn’t even say anything because we were having a good time, but they noticed and gave us the Ebi Fry entrée for our troubles. It was fried and breaded Black Tiger shrimp, Sunomono cabbage slaw, and some Tonkatsu sauce. It also was very good and seasoned just right.
(finally one of my pictures)
During our dinner we saw 2 sets of fireworks going off in the distance. Disney does a great job with their fireworks every night. They were a beautiful site and only added to the great night we were having together.
At the end decided to have desert and ordered the Ginger Chocolate cake. It was very moist and rich chocolate cake with frosting on the top and in the middle. As you eat it you get the slightest hint of ginger on the back end of your pallet, and the more you ate of it the more you tasted the ginger it was very different and very good.
(Open Table Pic)
All in all we had a great experience at ILLUME …even with the wait between courses. We definitely will be going back there soon. If you would like to go to Illume and or check out the other restaurants and things to do at the JW Marriott in Bonnet Creek click here for their website and info.
Orlando Homes For Sale– Todd Mowry Realtor. Specializing in Real Estate in Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Waterford Lakes and surrounding
communities. I have over nine years of experience in advising buyers and sellers on how to make the most well informed decisions for themselves. Call or text me at 407-435-5220 even if you just need to ask a question from an experienced and dependable Realtor.