Disney4me Posted yesterday at 04:24 PM Report Share Posted yesterday at 04:24 PM Universal Helios Grand Hotel has officially opened! Look at that VIEW! This brand-new resort is the third resort that was built specifically for the Epic Universe expansion. Both Universal Stella Nova and Terra Luna Resort opened a bit earlier. There are plenty of places to grab a bite to eat at Helios Grand Hotel, and we are taking you along for a meal at Lotus Lagoon! Atmosphere Universal Helios Grand Hotel is “Mediterranean-inspired” and offers stunning views of Universal’s new park, Epic Universe. If you are hanging out near the hotel’s pool, you can grab a drink and a bite to eat at Lotus Lagoon. Lotus Lagoon bar This pool bar serves frozen cocktails, cold beer, and fountain drinks. The menu also includes snacks and appetizers that you can eat either at the open-air restaurant or right from your pool chair! Menu As we mentioned, Lotus Lagoon isn’t just a pool bar — you can order from quite a large dining menu here too. There are appetizers, salads, handhelds, and specialty entrees… Lotus Lagoon menu …in addition to a fun lineup of signature cocktails and mocktails… Plenty of cocktails …plus seltzers, wine, and beer. Beer and wine Now that we know what’s on the menu, let’s see what we’re noshing on today. Eats First up, we ordered the Chips and Dip for $19. This comes with smashed avocado, Aleppo pepper, sunflower seeds, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, served with pita chips. This is a vegan item on the menu and was recommended by our server. It’s essentially kind of a guacamole, but a Mediterranean guacamole, almost. But it is essentially a guacamole dip, and this was very, very good. If we were looking for a light bite, we could just make a meal of this, especially at lunchtime. It came with pita chips that were toasted, so these were not your teeny tiny pita chips. These were triangles that had been cut out of a pita, and they were pretty sizable. They are seasoned, and that is that’s delightful because it adds so much flavor to what you’re eating here. Chips and Dip They are well seasoned with some Mediterranean spices, but there’s nothing spicy about this. There is some Aleppo in the form of dried red pepper flakes on top, but they’re not super hot. The smashed avocado cools that down very well. This was not blended smoothly, and there were chunks of avocado in it. So, if you like a blended dip or you have a textural thing where that’s what you want to eat, you might have a little bit of an issue. A tasty snack For the main event, we picked up The Goddess Burger for $25. This comes with a double black angus beef patty, herb mayo, cheddar cheese, caramelized onion, tomato, bibb lettuce, and bacon. We couldn’t leave Helios Grand without trying a burger here — you know, burgers are our life, and we’ve got to try them everywhere. This was recommended by our server as one of the favorite things on the menu. The Goddess Burger is made with two thin patties, not quite smashed, like where they’re crispy from being smashed on the grill, but pretty thin patties — so a double burger. The Goddess Burger We were wowed by this burger! We found the herb mayo to be pretty garlic-forward, but also pretty fresh and very flavorful, which, along with the caramelized onions and the bacon, contributed most of the flavor here. We probably would have liked a little sharper cheese because these patties are thin, and they are pretty much cooked to well done. We would say ours were more of a medium well. There was a little bit of pink in the middle of the patties, but it’s not a burger cooked to order temperature. Goddess Burger It was a brioche bun, and we always enjoy that on a restaurant burger, since it’s slightly sweet and soft. The burger came with your choice of sweet potato fries or regular fries. We opted for sweet potato because we hadn’t seen those on another menu. They were good. They were standard. We wouldn’t say there was anything special about them, but they were good. We would say this at $25 is decent for what you’re getting. You’re obviously getting quality meat, and that’s no different than you would have at another resort, and we love that it’s a decent-sized burger, which would make it shareable for a light lunch. Sweet potato fries Drinks The Wild Berry Sour cocktail is $19 and comes with Grey Goose Vodka, lemon sour, passion fruit, blackberries, and club soda. This one was recommended by our bartender along with a couple of others, but this one stood out to us as being different than what we’ve tasted here at the hotel so far. It starts with the bartender muddling a couple of fresh blackberries, which added great flavor throughout the cocktail. There is lemon sour, which adds some nice acid along with passion fruit, for some more sweet here and then it’s topped off with some club soda, so there’s a little fizz to go along with it that makes it a nice sip for sitting outside. It was $19, which is probably a little steep for a cocktail, but no different than the prices that you might pay other places, especially because this one was hand-mixed and muddled and all those good things. Wild Berry Sour We also tried the Prosecco Popsicle ($19). This is made with Lunetta Prosecco and a La Palette Gourmet Popsicle with your choice of flavors, including mango, strawberry, pineapple, raspberry basil, wild berry, and more. We got raspberry basil. This was so fun! It’s a glass of prosecco with a popsicle upended in it. You stir it, let the popsicle kind of melt and drip into your prosecco, flavoring the prosecco. It kind of has that mimosa vibe, where you’ve got a fruit juice and the prosecco by the time that you’re done. The popsicles here are a standout — we were told they’re made locally by a small business here in the Orlando area. The drink is served in a white wine glass because you have to have room for the popsicle and you can’t do that with a champagne flute. That can mean that your bubbles might expire a little sooner than they would in a champagne flute, but we didn’t have any qualms about that or problems with that. Prosecco Popsicle So, is Lotus Lagoon worth a stop at the Helios Grand Hotel? Nosh or Not You should stop by Lotus Lagoon if… You’re hanging out at the pool and are looking for some delicious drinks and eats You want to enjoy being outside with nice views while you dine You should skip Lotus Lagoon if… You don’t want to eat outside near the pool You’re looking for a more formal meal Overall This pool bar is nice and shaded, and a pleasant place to be overlooking the pool, but not right in line with the pool. It’s up a little level. There are tables and chairs to sit in, as well as quite a bit of space at the round bar in the center of the structure. It is all under a roof, which is great and makes it nice and shady and cooler. We’re very impressed with the beverage development and cocktails. Even the pool bar has its own cocktail menu, not repeating the cocktail scene at the Flora Taverna Bar or at Bar Helios. There are about 10 handcrafted, hand-mixed cocktails here, and we will definitely be back to try more! Welcome to Helios Grand Hotel We’ll be on the lookout for more updates from Helios Grand Hotel and Epic Universe. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to the Disney Food Blog for the latest theme park news and more! See Which 2 Universal Hotels Beat Out Disney as the Best in Orlando! Read more: DFB's complete guide to Universal’s Epic Universe >> Do you have a trip planned to visit Universal Orlando this year? Let us know in the comments!The post REVIEW: We Tried the NEW Lotus Lagoon Restaurant at Universal's Helios Grand Hotel first appeared on the disney food blog.View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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