Orlando Michelin Stars: I Ranked Every Michelin Starred Restaurant After Visiting Them All

The only 2 Michelin star restaurant in Orlando and a rating I completely agree with. I have also been to the Joel Robuchon location in Miami which was Florida’s first 2 Michelin star restaurant and do not think that restaurant is on the same tier as Sorekara, so in my opinion Sorekara is the only true 2 star in all of Florida.

People say the gap between 1 star and 2 star is significant, and they’re right. The execution here is no longer just skilled cooking but an art. Sorekara may come across as pretty pretentious: a sitting room, bar room, dining room, dessert room, social media page dripped in mystique with no pictures of their dishes. But I will admit they are my favorite restaurant when I want to celebrate something huge. This is a 4 hour plus long dinner affair that feels truly pampering.

This Disney flagship restaurant is not just an expensive restaurant with the Mickey Mouse name slapped on it. This is a real Michelin star worthy establishment. Every dish is cooked perfectly and consistently despite the volume they serve every night. Even if some dishes weren’t to my taste, I can see the skill and time it takes to make every dish perfect.

Being a Disney establishment with unlimited resources, they can afford a huge team, fancy kitchen gadgets, and extensive R&D. But don’t let that take away from the brigade of chefs working here to make sure every dish is immaculate. Their salmon dish is probably the greatest piece of fish I’ve ever eaten. I did their chef’s table the second time around, but I think sticking to the regular dining room is good enough without the added cost.

If I want really good traditional sushi and an omakase experience, this is my go to spot. The price point is around $195 for their full omakase which is pricey but pretty standard since premium fish has extremely high food costs. But if you book your reservation on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, their nigiri omakase is a little cheaper at $150 per person not including tax or gratuity, which is fair enough.

Some Orlando restaurants feel like the Michelin inspectors just threw them a bone since they felt obligated to give out stars because the tourism board paid them to show up. But not Natsu. You put this restaurant in NYC and I still think it can compete head to head with the one star sushi joints there. Chef Stone is so efficient and calm, from slicing the fish to molding the nigiri, it’s like watching a surgeon. He is running the entire back of house operation almost single-handedly from breaking down the fish to aging to making desserts. The consistency and dedication to do this day in and day out is incredible.

Everything I just said about Natsu, same goes for Kadence. Only reason I rank them lower is because their full omakase price point is a little over $100 more expensive. They have a more extensive omakase experience with more dishes and variety like monkfish liver or more exotic cuts of sashimi. This is the place for a sushi purist that wants the best of Orlando’s sushi scene, but for me the predictable seasonal menu of Natsu is good enough, especially given the price point.

I have yet to try Kadence’s sushi lunch or sushi matinee at $145 per person, so I cannot give my opinion on that, but it sounds like great value. Only drawback for me is that sushi matinee reservations are at 4pm, and I don’t know anyone that eats dinner that early other than on Thanksgiving.

Despite being lower on the list, I actually love this restaurant. Everything from the design of their unique curved chefs counter to the big ass mirror in the bathrooms, it’s a gorgeous restaurant that feels purposefully designed by an interior designer rather than for functionality.

The food here is the most innovative in Orlando. It’s a blend of French and Vietnamese, very different from the rest of the Orlando Michelin scene. I would rank it higher if I didn’t leave hungry every time. I’d swap out one or two dessert courses for an extra savory course to make the meal more filling. Otherwise it’s solid and I knew they would eventually get a star.

The only ala carte restaurant out of all the Michelin starred places in Orlando and probably the only one you can bring your kids to since it’s inside a Four Seasons Disney Resort property. I hear a lot of talk about the best steakhouses in Orlando, but this is the best and also the fanciest. Much better than the Bull and Bear. And if you reserve at the right time, you can catch the nightly Disney fireworks from their balcony.

There’s more creativity to their menu than most high end steakhouses that just serve typical cuts of meat with mashed potatoes and other decadent sides. But at the same time, the creativity doesn’t match the chef’s counter intimate dining experience with the prefix courses served at other Michelin starred establishments. The main entrees are all pretty decent, but I prefer their tapas like the shrimp with egg yolk sauce since I like variety rather than downing a big ribeye and falling into a food coma. Capa is a good spot for celebratory dinners with a small group since their menu can accommodate different food preferences, which makes sense for a hotel property with all ages coming from Disney parks. But it is not as chef driven and exciting as most others on the list.

This is a Michelin starred restaurant in the most cookie cutter sense imaginable, for better or worse. The food here is good and the skill in every course is obvious, but there’s something lacking about its personality and innovation. This restaurant is riding high off the coattails of the two Michelin star flagship restaurant called Jont in DC by Chef restaurateur Ryan Ratino, who’s also the restaurateur behind this Orlando offset, and they’re in your face about it too. From the name of the establishment to the Instagram page that keeps referencing the chef owner. I know it’s for brand recognition but he’s not the one cooking in the kitchen, the spotlight should be on the local team that’s running the day to day operations.

Keeping the standards at Michelin quality across so many establishments is no easy feat, but I think Omo is kind of bland where it doesn’t have anything unique to itself. The menu has all the classic fine dining hits like uni, wagyu, truffles. Of course it’s gonna taste good. It’s a contemporary Japanese inspired menu but quite boring in my opinion.

This was the first fine dining restaurant I ever ate at as a guy who could finally afford to splurge on a meal and one of the most memorable dinners I ever had when they first opened. This is the Michelin starred restaurant I’ve probably been to the most, and it pains me to rank it so low, but it has just gotten worse every time. Maybe my standards have gotten higher, but I honestly think they just aren’t that great anymore.

The portions are smaller, prices got higher, service less personable and intimate but rather transactional and professional. It feels like they’re coasting because Michelin handed them a star and they’re no longer hungry for approval from the locals. In all the other Michelin star restaurants I’ve been to in Orlando, the staff become familiar faces, but at Soseki the past few times I’ve went, the chefs keep changing and that’s a big red flag. Something is going on in the back of house that makes this place a turnover hotspot.

The main chef Mike Collantes was always working the counter the first few times I went, but now with so many of his other projects like Bar Kada, Sushi Saint, Perla’s Pizza and whatever else he’s cooking up, he’s spread thin and forgetting about the fine dining experience at his flagship restaurant. I do not see an appeal in coming here anymore, but I’ll treasure the fond memories of that first meal.

To be brutally honest, this restaurant just is not up to par as a Michelin star restaurant. It may be classified as fine dining with the price point to confirm it, but the food here lacks the refinement and precision that the other starred restaurants in Orlando have.

The portions here are generous, but the course menu doesn’t change much. From the pictures I’ve seen online and other reviews, it seems like they keep serving the same Peruvian classics without major changes, which is fine for Capa since they’re a hotel restaurant serving a larger volume with probably fewer repeat customers. But Papa Llama is a small local establishment. They should have a constantly evolving menu like the other fine dining restaurants to bring customers back wanting to see what the chef has created. It seems to be the same safe dishes with only tiny variations on their staples of shrimp anticuchero, lomo saltado, arroz chaufa, and the donuts.

The plating is also not at the level of a Michelin starred fine dining restaurant. At a price point of $150 per person before tax and tip, the value of creativity and artistry is a major factor since you do eat with your eyes, and their dishes just don’t have that wow factor like the lobster salad from Camille or the dessert from Victoria and Albert’s.

My full review of Papa Llama.