Emeril's Tchoup Chop

One of our all time favorites, Emeril's Tchoup Chop in Orlando at Universal's Citywalk never dissappoints. This time we had quite an adventure along with our meal.

We rode with a friend from the hotel we were staying at, virtually across the street. She has a Toyota Prius, which holds 3 people much better than my little Miata. We left the car with the valet and went in to sit with drinks until we were shown to our table.The staff at this restaurant are consistantly some of the best we have ever seen. One time we went with a group of 20. We sat at one table and when the wait staff brought our meal, there were 20 of them and they served every meal in unison! This visit was no exception. Garrett, the bar tender was working on 7 orders at one time while he fixed our drinks. He worked fast and efficiently and had all 7 orders done in no time at all. Asia, our server was quite exellent as well. We got seated at our table, met Asia and opened our menu when the valet came in saying he couldn't get the car started. Ruth went out with him and had no more luck than he did. So she called AAA. They warned that they were facing some delays but that they would send out a truck.

In the mean time, we ordered appetizers and dinner. We had the Crispy Chicken Egg Rolls with Orange-Chile Dipping Sauce. There were 4 halfs and they were quite excellent. The sauce was the perfect accompaniement with a bit of a bite to it. For the meal, Ruth ordered the Organic King Salmon Filet with Purple Potato and Sweet Corn Succotash and Yamasa Ginger Butter Sauce. She said it was quite wonderful. I had the Mongolian Barbeque Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Sweet Onion-Orange Confit and Stir Fried Lomein Noodles. It was very good. The the tenderloin had a little less spice than I am used to but it went with the noodles well. Carol ordered the Tender Sake Braised Beef Short Ribs on Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes with Hoisin-Honey Infused Veal Jus. She said it was ok but the Short Ribs were not spiced as well as she would have liked. They needed salt and the whole meal lacked flavor. I must say this is the first time we have ever had a meal at this restaurant that we could not say every dish was absolutely exceptional. The kitchen was backed up a bit and it took a little longer than normal to bring our meal out but we were not going anywhere soon so we hardly noticed that. By the time we finished our meal, we still had not heard from AAA so of course we HAD to order desert! Carol and I ordered cappuccinos and were served espressos. They told us the guy who prepared it for us was new and quickly fixed their mistake. Then we ordered 2 deserts to share among the three of us. We had the Kahlua Chocolate Cake which is Peanut Butter Mousse Filled Chocolate Cake Topped with Bananas Foster Sauce, quite excellent, and Blueberry Bread Pudding Served with White Chocolate Crème Anglaise and Buttermilk Ice Cream also very decadent.

We really enjoyed our meal and the opportunity to take our time and relax while eating it.

We left the restaurant to go outside and wait for the AAA guy to come. He showed up after a 2 hour wait but we did not have to wait outside for long. He was going to jump the car but then discovered that they could not even unlock the car. Thus, a locksmith was called upon, another 30 minute wait. The locksmith arrived and set to work opening the door, then Ruth reached into her purse and discovered a second key. Evidently, the key they were working with belonged to her son's car... The second key was hers and started the car right up! We had quite a good laugh at Ruth's expense and all agreed that it was a wonderful evening in spite of the extra adventure.
http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/7/Emerils-Tchoup-Chop/