This might sound a little extreme, but if you think you’ve lived a full life and you’ve never had the Tonkotsu Ramen from Sapporo Ramen, then everything you know is a sham. But seriously though, Orlando has some incredible dishes, here’s 25 that every local should try at least once.

Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Pecan Pie Se7enbites, 207 N. Primrose Drive, 407-203-0727; facebook.com/se7enbites The absurdly decadent sweet filling is balanced flawlessly with a piecrust so savory, so pumped with butter and salt, that it almost tastes like bacon. Pic via Hannah Glogower
Duck Lovers Pizza The Smiling Bison, 745 Bennett Road, 407-898-8580; thesmilingbison.com thesmilingbison.com A garlic puree-dressed crust quacks under the weight of duck confit, duck ham and duck sausage, topped with Monterey Jack, scattered with pea tendrils, drizzled with 10-year balsamic and crowned with a fried duck egg. Pic via Hannah Glogower Credit: photo by Hannah Glogower
Pork Belly Adobo Scratch, 223 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, 407-325-5165; scratchtapas.com scratchtapas.com Small plate, big flavors: lush pork belly cooked sous-vide for 12 hours, then crisped up and plated with micro cilantro, nutty-chewy forbidden rice, a salty shoyu-based sauce and a perfectly acidic zing of calamansi lime juice. Pic via Hannah Glogower
Banh Cuon Vietnam Cuisine, 1224 E. Colonial Drive, 407-228-7053; ttranvista.wix.com/vietnamcuisineorlando Silky-smooth fresh rice crepes (think elastic Vietnamese rice wrapper, not traditional French pancake) enclose a savory mix of crisp-fried ground pork and chewy wood ear mushrooms, scattered with a crunch of fried onion and sided with a nuoc cham dipping sauce. Pic via Yelp
Butter Chicken Tacos Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa, 1326 N. Mills. Ave., 407-203-0866; facebook.com/pigfloyds Juicy chopped chicken and jasmine rice topped with creamy orange tikka masala sauce, pickled jalapeños, roasted pumpkin seeds and cilantro, drizzled with yogurt “crema” and served on a flour tortilla. Pic via Yelp
Roasted Bone Marrow The Pharmacy, 8060 Via Dellagio Way, 407-985-2972; thepharmacyorlando.com An unctuous scoop of “God’s butter” (aka bone marrow) served on crisp 100-year-old-sourdough crostini, embellished with pulled oxtail and sweet-hot ghost chili-and-strawberry preserves. Pic via Yelp
Jamon Iberico de Bellota Capa, Four Seasons Resort Orlando, 10100 Dream Tree Blvd., Lake Buena Vista, 407-313-7777; fourseasons.com/orlando A plate lavishly draped with shavings of sweet, nutty jamón de bellota, a pure Iberico acorn-fed ham, carved from the haunch that perches on the ledge near the kitchen. Pic via Rob Bartlett
Chicken and Dumplings Soco, 629 E. Central Blvd., 407-849-1800; socothorntonpark.com A witty dish that resembles the Southern classic in name only: delicate Asian lobster dumplings paired with shreds of the tenderest chicken breast, dotted with local mushrooms, edamame and a soy-butter emulsion. Pic via Yelp
Foie Gras Nigiri Kabooki Sushi, 3122 E. Colonial Drive, 407-228-3839; kabookisushi.com A tender, umami-rich slab of seared foie gras over sushi rice (tied up with a ribbon of red sorrel) over a generous lake of sweet unagi foam, touched with snappy shallot jam and dusted with black sesame-seed powder. Pic via Yelp
Fu Man Chu Sandwich Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria, 67 N. Bumby Ave., 407-894-0865; pompomsteahouse.com Spicy Asian pulled pork, peppery watercress, tangy goat cheese and sweet red onions spread with ginger-cranberry chutney, slapped between two slices and pressed. Pic via Yelp
Japanese Breakfast Bowl Artisan’s Table, 22 E. Pine St., 407-730-7499; artisanstableorlando.com Two eggs any way (we recommend poached) over Japanese sticky rice studded with bacon lardons and sliced scallion, drizzled with sweet chili sauce and sprinkled with black sesame seeds and spicy togarashi. Pic via Yelp
Chongqing Lazi Chicken Chuan Lu Garden, 1101 E. Colonial Drive, 407-896-8966; chuanluyuan.com Sugar-and-salt-dusted nuggets of super-crunchy chicken nestle in a heap of delicately crisp red tientsin chilies, laced with the intense citrusy blast of Sichuan peppercorns. Pic via Yelp
Butter Masala Dosa Woodlands, 6040 S. Orange Blossom Trail, 407-854-3330; woodlandsusa.com The thinnest, crunchiest rice-flour crepe wraps around a soft, complexly spicy filling of potatoes and onions cooked in butter. Slather liberally with green-chili-hot coconut chutney. Pic via Yelp
Nashville Hot Chicken Cask & Larder, 565 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, 321-280-4200; caskandlarder.com The Southern-fried chicken with a fiery bite and a telltale red hue pops up at C&L’s dinner sided with cornbread and mac & cheese and at brunch perched atop a waffle. Pic via Yelp
Pulpo de Gallego Txokos Basque Kitchen, 3201 Corrine Drive, 321-972-8852; txokoskitchen.com Bar snack deluxe: A chewy squiggle of lightly charred, ocean-sweet octopus tentacle balances on a solid slab of grilled potato, adorned with slippery golden caramelized onions and kissed with sharply sour-sweet salsa vizcaina. Pic via Yelp
Bavarian Soft Pretzel with Pilsner Fondue Schumann’s Jäger Haus, 25 W. Church St., 407-985-1950; schumannsjagerhaus.com Schumann’s hand-twisted pretzel is big (but not comedically so) and poofy, strewn with salt crystals and served with a generous portion of beer-infused cheese sauce dabbed with whole-grain mustard. Pic via Yelp
Squid-Ink Pappardelle with Mushroom Cream Sauce Trevi Pasta, 2120 Edgewater Drive, 407-985-2577; facebook.com/trevipastallc This soft, toothsome fresh-rolled black pasta (choose your cut; we like wide ribbons of pappardelle), with its faint briny aroma, is best topped with Trevi’s funghi bianca: a light, wholesome cream sauce seasoned with white wine and lightly studded with chopped portobellos and porcini. Photo via Yelp
Southern Poutine The Coop, 610 W. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, 407-843-2667; asouthernaffair.com It’s not a traditional poutine, nor a traditional breakfast, but it’s a humdinger of a plate: seasoned crinkle-cut fries smothered with sausage gravy and spicy cheese sauce, then topped with a fried egg and a delicate sprinkle of parsley. (Don’t spare the hot sauce.) Pic via Facebook
Tonkotsu Ramen Sapporo Ramen, 5080 W. Colonial Drive, 407-203-6777; facebook.com/Sapporo-Ramen Rich, pork-bone-based broth swimming with thin slices of cha-siu pork, mushrooms, ginger, sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, green onions and fishcake; add corn and a soft-boiled egg for the full experience. Pic via Yelp
Fried rainbow smelt The Boheme, 325 S Orange Ave, 407-581-4700, grandbohemianhotel.com “If the fried rainbow smelt ($12) had been the only thing we ordered, we’d leave utterly gratified. The wee battered wonders were crisp and lemony, and a dip in Moroccan-spiced aioli made them all the more stellar.” (from our April 2015 review) Photo via Rob Bartlett
Olive oil–poached red snapper and caramelized cauliflower Hamilton’s Kitchen, 300 E New England Ave, Winter Park, 407-998-8089, thealfondinn.com Nutty caramelized cauliflower and flavorful, moist red snapper, with crispy shaved fennel on top. After the 12-ounce ribeye, it’s the most expensive dish on the menu and, no surprise, the restaurant’s top seller. Pic via Facebook
Omakase at Kappo Kappo, 3201 Corrine Dr, kappoeastend.com Just seven diners get the fresh, seasonal, multicourse meal served at Kappo each night. It’s chef’s choice so there’s no set menu, but here’s what our restaurant reviewer experienced when he visited. Kappo is also reformatting soon, so get it while you can. Pic via Rob Bartlett
Shoyu ramen Seito Baldwin Park, 4898 New Broad St, 407-898-8801, seitosushi.com A soothing broth fashioned from roast chicken and soy is liquid gold, with house-made noodles, cuts of grilled chicken thigh, slow-cooked egg, corn and carrots the proverbial nuggets (from our October 2015 review). Pic via Yelp
Mushroom toast (brunch menu) Slate Orlando, 8323 W Sand Lake Rd, 407-500-7528, slateorlando.com Grilled potato-onion bread, wild mushrooms, soft scrambled eggs and herb ricotta. Photo via Jessica Bryce Young
Hamachi crudo Todd English’s Bluezoo, 1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd, 407-934-1111, swandolphinrestaurants.com/bluezoo We’ll let chef Jimmy Reyes describe the dish: “My hamachi crudo is marinated overnight in fresh ginger and white soy. Marcona almonds are roasted and placed in a spice grinder to balance the acid in the dish. Meyer lemon is charred to bring out its natural sugar, then liquefied and blended with agar-agar into a fluid gel texture. I then finish the dish with a cream reduction which is infused with Key lime juice, then carbonated to be made into a foam.” Photo by Rob Bartlett