Orlando Magical Dining Month: Circa

September is Magical Dining Month in Orlando.

Orlando Magical Dining Month is a yearly event where participating restaurants around the Orlando area feature three-course, prix fixe dinners for $30. The beauty of it is that it makes restaurants I wouldn’t normally dine at more affordable. Three courses for $30? Doesn’t sound bad to me.

Derek and I decided to take advantage of the $30 pre fixe menu by dining at Circa for dinner tonight.

Circa is an upscale restaurant off of Park Ave I’ve been meaning to try. It’s is usually out of my price range, but the Magical Dining Month seemed like the perfect excuse to try it out.

We bother started with a glass of cab that was a little sub-par in my opinion.

Hot bread

with a seasoned olive oil dip

When I first participated in Magical Dining Month two years ago (FLASHBACK) at Emeril’s Tchoup Chop the portions for each of the three courses were smaller than what was typically served on their main menu. I assumed this was how it worked for every magical dining spot, but apparently that is not the case.

You can imagine my surprise when a full serving of the Asian Endive Pear Salad was placed in front of me.

The salad was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the fried pieces of cheese that sort of melted in your mouth on the side.

For the main entree I selected the Roasted Lemon Zest Chicken.

10 points for presentation.

The chicken was moist and well seasoned. I particularly enjoyed the bites with the lemon zest and pico de gallo. I was surprised how chilled the cous cous was, it was an interesting contrast to the hot chicken and asparagus.

Derek had the New York Strip and I stole a bite. It was quite good too.

For dessert Derek ordered the Chocolate Molten Cake (wish I had too)

And I had the Upside Down Pineapple Cake

I was a little disappointed here. The cake had way too much pineapple on top and I ended up scraping most of it off. The over done carmelized pineapple reminded me too much of a holiday honey ham. At least the ice cream was good.

All in all I would say it was a fun experience and the Magical Dining Menu was a great deal. I would love to try and explore some more restaurants while the deal is still happening, maybe I can talk my Dad in to taking a little trip to Orlando for one?