Pollos a la Brasa Mario

I was in Orlando over the weekend and my family and I thought we'd go out for some 'spanish food'. My mother looked online for a few good restaurants and she found one called Arroz Con Pollo. It was kind of far away from the house, about 20 minutes, but it took us 40 minutes to find the place. When we finally do get there and the sign on the window says "Closed All Day Sunday." Apparently my mother didn't look up the times when she went online, or it wasn't there. She then suggests another Spanish restaurant she had gone to in the past, and I ask her if was any good. She says she doesn't know, she only went in, got the menu, and left. ...

So here we are, my mother and I with my two little sisters in the back, who at this point, were starving and begging for some double cheeseburgers. However, I was determined to get my cultural cuisine for the night!

We pulled up to the restaurant, Pollos a la Brasa Mario, at around 8:00pm. The waitress greeted my sisters and I in Spanish until my mother came in, and then she started speaking English (my mother being blonde and green eyed, and my sisters and I being brown hair/brown eyed).  We sat down right away and were given the menu that was both in Spanish and English. The restaurant also had a bar, and instead of Sunday Night Football on the big screen, it was REAL Sunday Night Futball. I didn't notice many people at the bar however, mostly large families sitting down and eating dinner. I asked the waitress if I could take some picture, she said no, only outside as I might disturb other guests.

I did manage to sneak a few pictures of the food though. My family ordered two orders of arroz con pollo con ensalda y maduro (chicken and rice with sweet plantains), an extra order of maduros, and some deditos de pollo con papas fritas (chicken fingers and fries) for the kids. I ordered flan for desert, but when I came back from the bathroom my family had ate it all. The bill came to about $30, which wasn't bad for 4 hungry people. My favorite food had to be the maduros and whatever little piece I did have of the flan.

There weren't any male waiters, they were all bus boys or chefs. Also, I saw a man with a Nike gator shirt, and when I passed by and said, "hey I like your shirt, go gators," he seemed to not have a clue what I was saying.  It appears in Hispanic cultures everything is more family oriented as opposed to the individual. For example, there weren't many single people at the bar, but certainly a lot of families eating dinner together, larger families. If one were to go to TGIFridays or Chili's you'd see a lot more single individuals rather than groups of families like at Pollos a la Brasa Marios.

Overall, I had a great time, even with all the detours. The food was delicious, not too spicey and more on the sweet side, and I had a wonderful time with my mother and sisters. Here's a little taste of their menu as well as their phone number in case anyone is ever in Orlando and wants some great maduros and flan.  

Warning: Learn from my mother, call ahead to ask for restaurant hours!

Fast-a-thon for Ramadan

On Wednesday September 16, 2009 my roommate and I headed to the O'Connell Center on campus to break fast, and enjoy a special tradition in the Muslim religion.

Fast-a-thon was an event put on by the Islam on Campus club to celebrate fasting and awareness of hunger throughout the world during the holy month of Ramadan. They asked students and staff to pledge to fast from sunset to sundown and aim to raise money for the St. Francis House.
The evening started off with introductions from the President followed by a reciting from the Qu'ran, the holy book of Islam. There were two guest speakers. They didn't preach for their religion, or were in any way imposing. Imam Malik touched on progress and stability on this world. Of the need to succeed and be successful, but not to cloud that goal with money and power.
I myself did not fast, however when my friend and I got to the event there was already humus, dates, water, and pita bread spread out amongst the crowd of about 600 people. My friend almost went in to eat! I had to tell her it wasn't quite sunset; that only ater the Maghrib Prayer (Sunset Prayer) at 7:40pm had taken place was everyone allowed to eat.

I noticed after the speeches had been conducted, the attendees that were Muslim went over a few feet away from the dinner tables and conducted their sun prayer. The 20 woman that prayed stood behind and separate from the 80 or so men that were also engaged in the ritual. All the ladies were either already wearing head scarfs, or put one on just for the prayer. The boldness of the prayer front and center in the middle of the O'Connell Center came as a bit of a shock to me. I have never seen such a Christian demonstration.

When fast was broken and everyone started to eat the hummus and pita on the table, the main course was finally served, spicy chicken, rice, and salad. In the background played soft classical Arabic music. The crowd that had gathered was very diverse consisting of Hispanics, whites, blacks, and Asians. I also saw a few Muslim families there with their children. As I got to talk to some people I found out, while many were Muslim, just as many were not, but had come out to support the cause to raise money for the St. Francis House. Some people (of course) had just come out for the free food.

In the United States society has deemed most of the Islamic followers radical and extremists, though from the demonstration I witnessed it was more of a devout and enthusiastic atmosphere. As compared to many Christian followers I believe Muslims practice their religion throughout their every day lives, while some Christians tend to practice only while at church. To touch upon our discussion in class with regards to the change in the family unit, the Muslim family has changed considerably less as compared to Christians. In fact, as many Christian families begin to have fewer and fewer children, many Muslim families are still having children at a steady or increasing rate. Coming from both a Catholic and Muslim background I understand and respect the views and incites of both religions. In one article I found a woman is practicing both faiths. Check out the article here. I am thankful to be surrounded by a family where what religion one is isn't an issue. In the coming years, where religion begins to become a bigger issue, I hope it is dealt with open minds and open hearts.


For more information on the Islam on Campus organization visit their website at IslamOnCampus.com.

Middle Eastern and Greek Food

On Friday night my roommate Katy and I decided we’d go out to eat, I figured we’d try Falafel King. In the past I have had falafels from there, but this time I was going to be a bit more adventurous. I wanted to try something I don’t often eat, instead of going for the safe falafel.

Katy tried the chicken platter and I ordered the Kafta Kabob with some mango juice. The food was absolutely amazing. The kafta was made up of ground beef, parsley, and onions served over basmati rice with hummus, pita bread, and taboleh on the side. The portions were large compared to the American restaurants I usually eat at, and Katy and I both had to save half of ours for today’s lunch. The mango juice was great but so concentrated I had to dilute it with an extra cup of water. The restaurant also had a small store in the back, full of all types of Middle Eastern and Greek food. They sold hookah, called shisha with all different types of flavors. I decided to buy fillo dough and attempt to make baklava.

When we ordered our food I only noticed one other couple in the entire restaurant – the sun was still up, but by the time Katy and I were well on our way stuffing our faces the restaurant had filled and the sun had set. A pair of couples walked in, one woman was pregnant and wearing a veil and long draped clothes, the other pants and a t-shirt. They talked to the owner in Arabic for a little while and then ordered their food and left. In the Islamic religion Ramadan, a full month of fasting from sun up to sun down, is observed this time of year. My father used to participate in this religious observance every year before he passed away. As a practicing family physician it was extremely difficult to go throughout an entire day of work without food or drink, and long naps we’re usually what held him over before dinner in our home.

There were two white males that came into the restaurant and when they ordered their food they never said what they wanted to order, only the order number placed next to it. However, all of the other customers that came into Falafel King, seemed to speak Arabic and actually named what they wanted and not just the order number.

Everyone in the restaurant was very friendly. The owner, who was actually the real owner’s son, Waseem, came and sat next to us, and we talked about Arabic music. I asked him if he could play any, and he took out his iphone, programmed it to the online radio station shoutcast.com, typed in Arabic music, and in an instant Arabic music was coming through all of his restaurant radio speakers. It made the atmosphere very relaxing and brought back great memories with my dad.

Middle Eastern restaurants have always been a fascination of mine, since it’s a part of my culture I don’t often get to experience. Most of my Egyptian family still lives in Egypt and my father has passed, so I mainly experience my mother’s Irish traditions which are great as well. When I lived in Long Island my father used to take me to this restaurant in New York City called Mamoun’s Falafel. I try to go back every summer when visiting family in New Jersey. I noticed that the falafel restaurant in NYC experiences more cultural diversity than the one here in Gainesville, everyone seems to be eating at the CiCi’s Pizza next to it. Everyone should try Middle Eastern and Greek cuisine once in their life, if not for the food but the entire experience.
For information on both restaurants you can visit their websites at FalafelKingSandwiches.com and MamounsFalafel.com.