We had a wonderful couple of days in Mt Dora, Florida. What a wonderful little town, and a short distance getaway from home, about an hour drive from Port Orange.
Our first night we stayed at the Lakeside Inn, Mount Dora. Very charming, historical place, with 3 restaurants, and a beautiful view of the lake. With it being an older hotel, it is very clean, but the decor is in sync with the historical vibe. Great customer service, nice size room and bathroom had tub/shower, large closet, no mini fridge.
So many great boutiques, art galleries and shopping, mostly focusing on local artists. Great shopping for yourself and unique gifts for your special loved ones.
On our first day, We stopped at Shiva Indian Restaurant, Mount Dora for appetizers before dinner. Wow. We didn’t capture one photo, it was that good. We had the vegetarian samosas and fresh peshawari naan bread which is a naan that has raisins, almonds, and cashews🤯 The 3 chutneys were absolutely amazing, there’s a lot to be said about an Indian restaurant by the taste and quality of their chutneys. If you like Indian cuisine, this is a must stop.
We had dinner at Pisces Rising. I recommend making reservations for sure. In cooler temps, highly recommend sitting outside to catch the sunset. Food was fantastic, see captions for details.
We had a night cap at Magical Meat Boutique, most places were closed on Mondays. This is a pub style restaurant, known for their fish and chips and full English breakfast.
The next day, we started with an early lunch at The Frog and Monkey Restaurant & Pub. We shared the bruschetta app and chicken panini sandwich and fries. We also had a cone of onion straws, they were delicious! The burgers that were coming out looked amazing. We were happy with our lunch.
We spent the afternoon walking around getting acquainted with Mt Dora, I’m in love with this town.
We went to W A V E 波 – Asian Bistro & Sushi for dinner and I ordered the Orange chicken bowl. I am really overwhelmed with portion sizes of our restaurants. While I appreciate the value in serving larger portions, so much food seems to get wasted. I have been doing my best to order things I can share, saves money and also helps with the waistline! I look forward to taking my daughter back so we can dive into their sushi offerings. They have some major WOW factor items on their menu- like sushi fries, over the top burgers, unique sushi pizza and sushi tacos!
We had a nightcap at the Handlebar Craft Cocktail lounge. Very hipster, trendy little bar, located on the 2nd floor, wooden steep steps, a very chill, laid back vibe. True mixology moments here.
Our 2nd night, we stayed at the Mt. Dora Historic Inn- this was such a reasonable, cute home, and you get 2 complimentary breakfast vouchers to nearby Cody’s on 4th. The location is superb. Walking distance to everything. Nice sized room and large bathroom. We felt very cozy and welcome.
We spent our last day today visiting a few more shops then had an early lunch at The Goblin Market Mt Dora. This hands down was my favorite restaurant. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We got the last outside seat in the back courtyard and I’m so happy we did. The breeze was absolutely wonderful. I love a great white peach sangria, but it’s always so hard to find a great one, the one served here was delicious! I had the Irish Cheddar burger, immediately cut in 1/2 to control my portions. Burger was delicious! It’s one of their most popular lunch items. Raj ordered the cashew chicken sandwich, another menu favorite. It’s a blend of cashews and panko encrusted chicken, pan seared served with brie mornay, cranberry-apple relish, and a brioche bun 🔥🔥🔥 This was my first visit to the Goblin Market, but certainly not my last. We did peek upstairs to get a look at the bar as we heard so many great things about it. It’s like an old historical room, with old bookshelves filled with books. There are chairs and a couch for lounging, plenty of seating. I truly can’t wait to get back for dinner and cocktails.
This short road trip away from home was a perfect romantic getaway. Charming town and we were blessed with absolutely perfect weather temperatures! I highly recommend a visit to Mt Dora.
*Fun fact, research shows Mt Dora is 184 feet above sea level – an unusual feature in Florida.
#mtdora #thedishwithtrish