Brunch in Orlando
Saturday Brunch
Saturday Brunch
Brunches are usually reserved for the Sunday crowd, with their bottomless mimosas, avocado toasts and hangovers from the night before.
Saturday brunches are uncommon.
Thankfully, The Aardvark is uncommonly good.
The Aardvark, the casual, unassuming beverage spot on Ferncreek is also becoming that place you want to spend a lazy Saturday morning with some good friends and great food.
The favorite local bottle shop where you can still recharge CO2 tanks, grab a keg or select one of their hundreds of beer & wine selections now has a menu filled with familiar but adventurous comfort food. Chef Hugh, formerly of Fleming's and The Whiskey, is at the helm.
Hugh and his crew are in charge of bringing SoDo an ever changing "Gulf to table" approach, focused on fresh seasonal items, from seafood to regional dishes.
Now… On to the food!!
I visited on a Saturday. The place had a decent buzz about it, but not too busy. A few tables and few places at the bar were open, with the occasional keg/C02 customer. We were seated quickly, and the waiter came over with a few suggestions as they passed out
the menus before taking out drink orders. The bottomless mimosas ($15) were the choice and both the pineapple & traditional orange were slightly more citrus than bubbly, and not overtly
sweet.
Brunch in Orlando
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Snapper Crudo Flight
We got a little adventurous with our next item, a raw snapper crudo flight ($14).
These paired well with the mimosas, the delicate piles of fresh snapper, presented with 3 different ceviche type accompaniments: blood orange, pineapple salsa and a watermelon radish.
Each presented a different complimentary texture and citric, tart flavor to go with the tender fish.
Definitely recommended as a group dish to share.
Shrimp and Grits
The plate that I truly looked forward to the blue cheese Buffalo shrimp and grits - an adventurous take of two iconic flavor profiles. These hominy grits were presented well, al dente with a creamy texture with an unexpected surprise. Add in some huge, red, Argentinian shrimp that were almost prawn like. These flavorful shrimp were boosted to the next level with the addition of Buffalo sauce. That in itself would be great.
The bonus here was the not-so-subtle addition of blue cheese to the velvety grits. Not an in-your-face flavor, but someone took the time to blend this in well so that blue cheese hits your palate in a complimentary finish to each bite. Ingenious take on a classic.