Pre- Valentine’s dinner dates are also special, no need to celebrate it on the same day for it to be a night to remember. That’s exactly what the hubby and I did and it was romantic and filled with delicious food and beautiful moments. We decided to try out a new restaurant located in the Lowes Porto Fino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando. The hotel is supposed to mirror a Northern Italian village called Porto Fino, hence the name. Hopefully one day, we can make a reservation for a night's stay too.
Masks and temperatures were required to enter the lobby to get to the restaurant and to walk around the resort. We arrived earlier to sightsee and there were not so many people around which felt almost like a ghost town but of course, this pandemic is to blame.
As you enter the Lobby and walk past the customer service reservation area, doors await you to a beautiful outside courtyard with a fountain. This was a great place for memorable selfies and pictures.
Masks and temperatures were required to enter the lobby to get to the restaurant and to walk around the resort. We arrived earlier to sightsee and there were not so many people around which felt almost like a ghost town but of course, this pandemic is to blame.
As you enter the Lobby and walk past the customer service reservation area, doors await you to a beautiful outside courtyard with a fountain. This was a great place for memorable selfies and pictures.
After the courtyard, we walked down some steps that led us into a dock where there were many boats on a man-made lake and all the hotel rooms looked like houses in a village and it was surrounded by shops and restaurants.
We sat on some pretty chairs and waited until it was 5pm to go to an exquisite 4-star restaurant we found on opentable.com called Biche. We got the first seating and had the restaurant to ourselves until 5:25 pm which was pretty cool.
I had called Biche a day before to ask about getting something different from the regular menu and it was the Chicken Parmigiana from the kid's menu because they did not have it on the adult menu.
The sweet lady on the phone made a note of it and told me to talk to my waiter as soon as I arrive. I was presently surprised because moments as I sat down our waiter Paul already knew and asked what were my food sensitivities and what else I could eat. I didn’t even have to ask about the Chicken Parm because he had read it on the notes. I was so happy and said yes please with truffled mash potatoes and he said yes it comes with that and I will give you a bigger portion and charge you as if you ordered the Chicken Marsala. Yay Biche! Now that’s attentiveness to your customer’s needs.
We also had other nice servers bring us water, my delicious Arnold Palmer, and warm complimentary bread with olive oils and balsamic vinegar and our main courses.
The sweet lady on the phone made a note of it and told me to talk to my waiter as soon as I arrive. I was presently surprised because moments as I sat down our waiter Paul already knew and asked what were my food sensitivities and what else I could eat. I didn’t even have to ask about the Chicken Parm because he had read it on the notes. I was so happy and said yes please with truffled mash potatoes and he said yes it comes with that and I will give you a bigger portion and charge you as if you ordered the Chicken Marsala. Yay Biche! Now that’s attentiveness to your customer’s needs.
We also had other nice servers bring us water, my delicious Arnold Palmer, and warm complimentary bread with olive oils and balsamic vinegar and our main courses.
My hubby ordered the Antipasto all'Italiana con Salumi, Formaggi Assortiti, Servito con Olive^ translated into a Selection of assorted cured meats and imported cheeses served with olives. I ordered Insalata di Cesare con Cubetti di Pane e Focaccia^ which means a Ceaser salad.
For the main Course, well you know what I ordered. LOL.
The hubby got Tagliata di Manzo alla Rucola, Pomodori Freschi Verdure e Patate al Forno which is the Grilled 12 oz. N.Y. Strip sliced, served with arugula, fresh tomatoes and roasted potatoes which was very tender and yummy by the way because I tasted it. Ha.
It was the Torta al Cioccolato con Gelato alla Vaniglia,
A flourless Chocolate Cake served with Vanilla gelato.
This desert is so yummy and decadent that it’s making me want to attempt it at home. I’ll post if I do.
After dinner, we went back to the lobby and chilled in their beautiful lounge, took some photos then went home before stopping at Wawa for a soda and Publix for some fruit.
This was definitely a wonderful experience and I highly recommend Bice Restaurant if you are ever in the Orlando area.
