It’s that most wonderful, and agonizing, time of the year: a time for me to reflect on 12 months’ worth of eating, then reduce it to 12 superlative bites. This list is the cumulative result of mind-flavor remembrance and thumb-swiping endurance, but wouldn’t be possible without plenty of cloud storage. And while 2025 may have stood out for its notable closures, this year also firmly ensconced Orlando as a serious food city of the South. So, here they are — 12 of the most memorable bites I’ve enjoyed this past year.
Boujee Pho (Z Asian):
This might very well be the finest bowl of pho being served in Orlando right now. Filet mignon and bone marrow aside, it’s the herbs procured from chef Huong Nguyen’s family in Vietnam (they have a herb farm there) that lend this bowl its unmatched aroma. And the broth? Perfect.
Poulet au Vin Jaune (Camilo Velasco):
Camilo Velasco, executive chef of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, served one of the most stunning plates of food at a special “90/90” dinner for the Jacques Pepin Foundation at Norman’s. While Pepin wasn’t in attendance, he most certainly would’ve approved of Velasco’s poulet au vin jaune, a dish featuring a cut of Pennsylvania Golden chicken conjoined to a layer of black winter truffle and a chicken mousseline scented with more chopped black truffle and crispy skin.
Mushroom Handroll (Mosonori):
One of the newer handrolls offered at Winter Park’s Mosonori is filled with a meatless, umami-rich blend of local mushrooms supplied by Fungi Jon sautéed in garlic butter and soy. It’s a three-bite flavor wallop.
Iraqi Kebab (Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine):
Orlando’s first Iraqi restaurant serves a kebab that takes succulence to a whole new level. The secret to the baharat-spiced ground lamb’s ridiculous luxuriance? Why, its own fat, of course. You’d be hard-pressed to find a juicier kebab in the city than this.
Koshary (The Cairo Express):
Egypt’s national dish features a heap of black lentils mixed with chickpeas, rice, macaroni and spaghetti in a tangy tomato sauce topped with fried onions and a liberal blob of shatta, a hot pepper sauce Gigi Elgharbawy, proprietress of The Cairo Express food truck, fashions from cayenne peppers.
Pizza (Nuri’s Tavern):
The downtown pie house bakes the acme of tavern-style pies, none better than the thin, crackly-crusted “jalapeño and pepperoni” round with a slather of ranch and a sheen of sticky chili crisp. Though, really, you can’t go wrong with any of the pies here.
Cape Canaveral Hoppers (Nikk Burton):
At Seito Sushi’s 25th anniversary dinner, The Monroe’s executive chef, Nikk Burton, plated these sweet, head-on shrimps that were marinated in sofrito, grilled and set in a carrot escabeche. The hoppers were then garnished with a cilantro pistou, lightly pickled carrots, peppers, onions and micro cilantro.
Rocoto Relleno (Lima 1535):
Rocoto relleno is a rare find in any Peruvian restaurant, but we’re lucky enough to have access to it at Lima 1535. The apple-sized, infernal red Andean pepper comes stuffed with bits of filet mignon seasoned with ají panca, ají amarillo and cooked with sultanas, olives, boiled egg and crushed peanuts. Draped over the roasted orb is a sheet of melted queso paria with an egg-milk sauce pooled around its base.
Kanpachi (June):
No surprise that the Top Table of 2025 would have a dish on this list. Of the many contenders at this contemporary Mexican restaurant, I chose the Hawaiian kanpachi (here looking like the lengua of some crispy-tongued beast) set in a pool of blood-red guajillo-tomato butter. Like many of the proteins at June, it’s kissed by the flames of Florida oak.
Mul Naengmyeon (U Chun):
If there’s one dish you get at the H Mart food court, make it U Chun’s mul naengmyeon, a cold, refreshing soup of chewy buckwheat noodles buried beneath an icy slush of vinegary beef broth. Julienned cucumbers, sliced radishes and a sesame-specked soft-boiled egg adds body to every stellar slurp. Get. This. Soup.
Spicy Squid (Surah):
The scratch kitchen by Angie Ahn and Christopher Bae serves classy (and classic) Korean dishes, none prettier than this plate of wok-fried squid with a vibrant mix of crisp cabbage, onions, carrots and scallions. It’s all tossed in a sweet and fiery sauce crafted from house-made gochujang and gochujaru.
Mushroom Pâté (Sparrow):
I haven’t come across anyone who isn’t a fan of the silky, earthy sweetness of executive chef Wendy Lopez’s mushroom pâté. The blend of maitake, shiitake and oyster mushrooms splashed with Madeira is a starter that the fungi-averse have come to love.