My family came in town a few weeks ago and they stayed at Sapphire Falls Resort, a gorgeous hotel at Universal. From the pool, to the service to the food...I've always loved that place.
One night for dinner we were thinking of going to City Walk to eat, but we were worn out from being in the sun all day at the pool. Ultimately, we decided to stay in the hotel and go downstairs to Amatista Cookhouse.
First off, the place is GORGEOUS. It has an amazing view and the kitchen is something that cooks like me DREAM of. It's very open and you can see and smell everything! I secretly wish I had this kitchen in my house. Actually, it's a lot bigger than my house so I'm not sure where it would fit, but still.
Second of all, the dishes ( I actually looked them up on Amazon) are like $100.00+ per dish and they are GORGEOUS. If I was a criminal I'd be stealing a few of those at every visit. Don't worry...I'm not tho.
We ordered drinks ( I ordered Pinot Grigio ) and appetizers.
The wine was amazing and I had crab cakes for an appetizer. I have to say I DO make some of the best crab cakes that I've ever had so I was a little hesitant to order them. They offer Island Crab Cakes with
lump crab, onion, peppers, cilantro-lime aioli that quite honestly I could eat with a spoon.
They were amazing. They were the kind of "good" where I meant to share some with the rest of the table, but I ate them too fast. I DID however control myself long enough to score a picture (below).
My husband got the Island Fish Sandwich (pictured below) with the fresh catch of the day, lettuce, tomato, mango-papaya salsa on coconut-pineapple bread. My husband loved it.
My brother ordered the Mojo Marinated Rotisserie Chicken which is ½ Chicken with garlic and cilantro sauce. I'm not sure what kind of oven they have in that kitchen, but I'm pretty sure it was created just for roasting this one chicken.
My father had the Seafood Paella Authentic Caribbean casserole with chicken, chorizo, calamari, shrimp and mussels. He said it was pretty good, the only thing that was disappointing was the presentation. When I think if Paella, I think of the huge family style skillet that they bring to the table. Instead, they plate it in the kitchen and bring it to the table, which wasn't nearly as exciting.
I thought I was being creative by ordering the Farmer's Market Flat Bread with basil pesto, onions, peppers, artichokes, arugula, parmesan and mozzarella cheese. I love a roasted veggie anything and everything so I thought this was going to be out of this world...and I think it would be if it had less "stuff" on it. It was a little over loaded and oily for my taste, HOWEVER...it was still delicious. I'm not sure I would order it again. Ya know what I WOULD order? Those bomb crab cakes. Again...and again...and again.
If fish isn't your thing, hey have everything from salads, to sandwiches, to flat breads as well. They have a full menu and the kids menu is fantastic too. My child is a very picky eater and he LOVED his dinner.
It's fairly expensive, but man does that view make up for it all. It's worth it if you have friends or family coming in town. I don't know that it's a place I would visit on the regular, but It would make a great date night or anniversary dinner type place. Plus the wine is great. Did I say that already?
My name is Jill...and I love wine.
Overall Rating:
3 out of 5 wine glasses
PRICE RANGE:
$$$
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