chef john's place

good choice. my friend and i were looking for something with seafood that wasn't a chain. using urbanspoon for recommendations, this place looked like it had lots to recommend, and i'm glad we went. it was 18 miles away from our hotel, a bit more of a drive than i was expecting, and finding it at the end of a strip center, we didn't know what to expect.

we walked in, there were a few people in there. we finally chose a seat to watch the buckeyes play basketball, and ordered some beer. we ordered fried clam strips as an appetizer, which were nice, hot and juicy, with three different sauces, tartar, cocktail and horseradish. i didn't realize that it was horseradish until halfway through, but it was excellent, and that's all i had with my clams after that. i didn't try the tartar sauce.

my friend ordered the blackenedgrouperover linguine. i had the seafood crepes.

my dish had nice pieces of scallop and shrimp, in a nice sauce with mushrooms. i certainly would order it again.

my friend said that his dish was great.

we enjoyed the food, the buckeyes won, and it was a great evening.

wonderful. i can't say enough stupendous remarks to describe how wonder chef john's is. if i ever owned a restaurant i would run it the way chef john does. although the restaurant is in a chain mini-mall, you would never know once you step inside. you can be as casual as flip flops or wear a suit and feel just as comfortable inside.

i ordered the blackenedgrouperlinguini and my boyfriend had the beef brisket and pulled pork served with collard greens and mashed potatoes.

this was one of the best meals i've ever had and you can't beat the prices. you could tell the fish was fresh; it didn't have that watery after taste of frozen fish. it was cooked perfectly and the sauce was light and flavorful. i found it interesting that green beans were used in the pasta. this was a great addition to your usual pasta vegetables that i never thought about using, and paired well with the fish.

my boyfriend's pulled pork was amazing. there is no bbq sauce because it is slow cooked in its own essence and didn't need any additions. the beef brisket was also good but it didn't compare to the pulled pork.

we ordered the key lime pie for dessert. it was different from any key lime pie i have ever had. it had a gelatinous texture and was sweet but not too sweet. the whipped topping also tasted homemade.

service was excellent. the servers were quick, but not so quick that you feel they are rushing you. when i go out to eat, i want things to be relaxing, and that is the atmosphere you will find here. chef john also came out to greet the customers and ask how our meals were. this was a nice touch, especially considering that it appears to be either just him or mainly him cooking all of the excellent meals. you can tell he takes pride in his work, and you can taste the love in his cooking.

i think i talked about this place to my friends more than anything else on our vacation.

great neighborhood place. came here based upon urbanspoon recommendations march 2013. excellentgrouper- both blackened and parmesan crusted between swmbo and myself. good waitstaff. highly recommended.

awesome food, great atmosphere. chef john's dockside inn should be requirement for any visitor to kissimmee or anybody who lives in the city. we went for valentine's day and there was great, relaxing jazz music playing and fresh flowers on each table. my boyfriend had thegrouperlinguine, while hadgrouperwith pasta salad and steak fries. we also had salads with out entrees.

first, the salads were excellent...yes a salad. the caesar salad was topped with a strawberry and the house salad has fresh veggies with homemade ranch dressing.

the blackenedgrouperlinguine had the perfect amount of seasonings and spices. the right balance of herbs just bursting with flavor. the fish was fresh omg. the standout to me was the pasta salad.....i wanted to hug the chef is was sooooooooo amazing. it consisted of orzo pasta, tomatoes, cucumbers and this amazing sauce.

for dessert we had quite possible the greatest carrot cake ever!!!! the icing was not to sweet...it was perfect, smooth, creamy and divine. the cake had a nice hint of cinnamon and the carrot bits provided an excellent balance.

i can't say how much i enjoyed my experience at the dockside inn.it was quite possibly one of the best times i have ever had. the wait-staff were perfect and attentive. the chef and his wife seem like good people. we will definitely be back.

now to whoever is reading this....get there asap!!! you won't regret it!

kissimmee downtown revitalized. very small overall but chef john turns out plenty of great dishes. try the gumbo and fried olives (yes, fried olives!). we had the crabcakes (fantastic), gumbo, bean soup and the fish fry,grouperand shrimp (not memorable but very good). gotta have the cole slaw!

we went on friday night, dakin closed to traffic, live band in the street & rather crowded but great to see some action in downtown kissimmee!

will go back soon & bring friends so we can sample more of the menu.