Orlando's Venetian Room: Amazing Food in an Upscale Setting

On a recent trip to Orlando I found myself at the magnificent Venetian Room in the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, and I have to say that the experience was thoroughly enjoyable in every possible way. The Caribe Royale itself is quite beautiful, especially to someone from Philadelphia who's not used to seeing palm trees and tropical things in general, and the Venetian Room certainly follows this tradition with a small but classy dining room finished in dark woods and lit by mellow, low-key lighting.

Unlike the rest of the resort, you could just as easily be in Philadelphia or New York as far as the decor is concerned, it's just classy fine-dining all the way, with the five or so booths completely seperated by frosted glass and hardwoood partitions. Our server's name was Christian, and he was knowledgeable, friendly, and funny, providing the perfect amount of service without being too much. I'll put it this way, there was not one time that myself or either of my companions said, "Where's the waiter, I need ---", or that we wished to be left alone for a bit. When something was needed, it was done quickly and efficiently, without our having to ask. I really can't say enough about the caliber of service here, it was just truly excellent in every way, and that goes for all of the servers.

So now to the food. Apparently the Venetian Room is well-known for its lobster bisque, and I'll tell you this- if you go there, get the lobster bisque. If you eat nothing else, get the bisque, it is unbelievable, and I am not usually a big fan of this particular dish. From the chunks of sweet, delicious claw meat resting at the bottom to the perfectly-toasted dome of puff pastry crowning it, it may have been the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life, and I'm from Philadelphia. The problem with lobster bisque, for me anyway, is that it's usually a little too thick or too sweet, or usually both. At the Venetian Room this is not the case, as that usually too-sweet 'lobstery' kind of taste is replaced with a profound richness, letting the claw meat carry much of the lobster flavor, and the puff-pastry gives just a little crunch to break things up a bit. I have never in my life had better soup.

Anyway, we began with an amuse bouche and apertif, then the appetizers- the crab cake, scallops, and the foie gras. The crab cake was great, lots of meat and just enough other stuff to fill out the flavor, with a delicious creamy mustard sauce, resting on a small bed of fresh, crispy slaw. I don't know what else to say, if you like crab cakes then you'll love it. The foie gras was absolutely unbelievable. The perfectly cooked foie gras rests on a square of sweet corn polenta, and is topped with some sort of grilled prosciutto, with grilled mango fans on either side to lighten things up a bit. The taste is rich, complex, and thoroughly enjoyable, particularly in the polenta, which was magnificent. This was almost as good as the lobster bisque, maybe just as good. The Diver Scallops were good, but I think the delicate flavor may have been lost amongst the foie gras and creamy mustard sauce, they were perfectly cooked and looked wonderful, but the other things were so richly flavored that they overpowered the scallops. Just get them by themselves, or before anything else. Next we had the bisque, of which I already spoke.

Our main courses were a rack of lamb accompanied by a sweet corn flan, mashed yutia (some kind of South American root, very similar to a potato), and a tiny piece of fig cake, which proved an excellent complement to the lamb, moreso than mint jelly would have been. I ordered my lamb medium-rare, and it came out a rich, perfect red in the center, perfectly seasoned and juicy. The flan was excellent, a nice light complement to the lamb, flavorful but not too much so. The Yutia was a bit bland, but still very good, and certainly a better complement than a lump of mashed potatoes would have been. I was so full by the time this came out that I only ate about half, and they quite obligingly wrapped up the remainder for me. It seemed like they were quite used to this request, which I can understand, as the portions, while not immense, are certainly generous, providing as much of any one thing as one would want; one could certainly call the entrees downright big. My companions had the Chilean sea bass, which must have been a foot thick, the largest piece of this fish I have ever seen, lightly breaded and grilled to perfection, just an amazing piece of fish. I was so full at this point I could barely speak, but still managed to eat some simply because it was so delicious.

For dessert we had ordered the Grand Mariner souffle, which must be ordered at the beginnning of the meal due to the time it takes to prepare, and as our server poured the thick, hot, milky Grand Mariner sauce into the steamy, perfectly-baked souffle, I exchanged nervous looks with my companions, because we were just absolutely stuffed at this point. But we ate the entire thing, actually I ate most of it, but either way it was gone in five minutes; the light, puffy souffle with the thick, rich sauce is beyond description. We also had the Venetian Room Chocolate Sampler, a large chocolate sculpture adorned with all sorts of chocolates made in-house by their choclatiers, a wonderful, decadent display with opera cake, white truffles, mousse, biscotti, and assorted chocolate pieces, served on a thin chocolate biscuit with something that looked like one of those Stella Dora "S" cookies, but chocolate and far better. After all was said and done, I thought I was going to die, but it was a death I welcomed with open arms, as I would have died after one of the finest meals I have ever experienced. I almost forgot, the selection of five or so different breads, with three different flavored butters, was great as well.

The meal lasted about three hours, perfectly paced by our servers, giving us enough time to enjoy and savor our courses, and just enough time in between to rest a bit. It is on the expensive side, which is to be expected, but is certainly worth the price as both the quality and quantity of of food is top-notch. I think the bisque was $14, and entrees ranged between $34 and $40 (for the lobster), with desserts and apps between $10 and $20, and a substantial and vaired wine list. For what you get, the price is very reasonable. All said, this place was all-around great, from the atmosphere and service to the food itself, it was a wonderful experience, and I know exactly where I'm going every time I'm in Orlando from now on. If you want great food in a classy atmosphere and don't mind spending a little money, go to the Venetian Room and eat like a god. Check out www.thevenetianroom.com for the menu, pics, recipes, and all the info you'll need.