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Cowfish

OK ill take a stab at it. lol. My partner and I was able to go to Cowfish on Saturday night.

We got there around 7:50 pm and was told there was an hour and a half wait (although i saw plenty of empty tables) but if we were able to get seats at one of the three bars then that was fine. We decideded to put our name on the waiting list and go look for bar seats. I do love the fact that they use the phone text system. they send you a confirmation text along with a link to access the interactive wait site. the site is below:

I thought it was pretty neat. We walked around the restaurant to check out the bars. When you enter the tower, there are three screen where you can again build your own fish.

Sadley the options are quite limited but fun non the less. The elevator wasn't working so we used the stairs which wasn't bad at all. I did enjoy the theme of everything. It was actually quite whimsical in some places.

The outside areas have massive heaters attached to the roof that made it feel like a sauna but it was appreciated since it was slightly chilly. One of the outside areas has a bean bag toss. The inside had a lot of screens around with virtual fish tanks.

We didn't find any seats at the bars so we decided to walk around city walk and take pictures which still tuned out to be fun. After about an hour, we went back and was able to find two seats At the bar on the inside. Our bartender was James and he was AWESOME!! Built into the bar were these large touch screen interactive displays.

you could decide if you wanted the screen to be used by one person or to split it between two people. You had to swipe to unlock and you had three options: Play, eat, and drinks. The eat menu brought up the menu that you and scroll through and expand. The drink menu was the same but of course just displayed the drinks. The play menu brought up options like built your own fish, games, and web. Build your own fish lets you create a fish that, after you finished, would swim around the virtual tanks in the restaurant which I found to be actually quite funny. The games were a bunch of generic atari and video arcade games like pac man, frogger, tic tack toe, connect 4, and other stuff. the web option brought up select websites related to uni and nbc, but they were the full websites, not just app versions. we browsed around the uni website. looking around, i did notice the cool decorations that you all already took pictures of.

they even had a real cowfish in a large fish bowl. I ordered the Texas Longhorn burger with sweet potato fries. Mind you, I can eat. But that was a lot of food. lol. the burger was amazing which i was glad since NASCAR is gone. (BTW: I'll be glad when they put something over there because now its a dark shadow over on that side of the waterway). Next time ill try their sushi but i was looking around and other's plates and saw many things i wanted to try. They also give you a lot of food for what you're paying for. My bf is picky but he gave it a 10 which was surpising to me. I would agree and give it a 10. im not used to writing reviews so if you'd like to know something that I omitted then please let me know. :thumbs:
 
Similar story, we went Saturday hoping to grab it for lunch and were surprised it doesn't open until 4 (CityWalk Rep) or 5 (Cowfish Employee) with no hours posted at the downstairs door. Came back about 7:30ish and were told there was a 60-70 minute wait. Phone was about to die so we went back around the 70 min mark and they told us we were next. We were seated 2nd floor underneath one of the heaters, but we were still pretty cold (true Floridians). All 4 of us got the bento boxes, sliders were excellent. I got the Boss, with seaweed salad and cucumbers. Everything was very good and cucumbers were surprisingly spicy. Others got the Firecracker and California roll, Firecracker was good didn't try California but everyone was very happy. Overall I am very happy with it, food was great, atmosphere was great, and people were great.

Only downsides were the long wait to get in, long wait to get our food (backups in the kitchen), and cold. They did have a mix-up with my food but corrected it almost instantly.
 
I ate there for the first time on Sunday night. It was around 6:30pm and there was a 20 minute wait. They wanted to seat me in the second level outdoor area, but it felt too warm out there so I asked for an indoor table. They took me up to the "Tower" level (3rd level) where there is a bar and 2 rooms of tables. You take a different elevator to get up there. I sat in the round room on that third level, which had a great view looking towards the direction of Hard Rock, and I saw the firework show from the table. Although the view was great, I think the indoor 2nd level room was better decorated. The waitress also said the kitchen is located on the second level, and they have to carry all food up the stairs. The restroom is located on the third floor, and just like the Charlotte location, there is audio playing in the restroom that teaches you how to speak Japanese. But kind of funny, uncommon or inappropriate phrases. Apparently the president of NBC and the president of Coca-Cola were going to be coming to Cowfish in the upcoming week, and they said the 3rd floor tower room has the best view and is more private, so they use it for higher profile guests.

I got a side salad with ginger dressing to start off with, and then Jen's Fresh Find which is one of the large sushi rolls. The roll came with a little sashimi/seaweed salad which was good. For dessert, the lemon poundcake with a berry mixture and vanilla ice cream drizzled on top of it. The dessert was OK, good enough to finish all of it, but I would not get it again. Maybe because the berry syrup was cold, and I would have preferred it warm. The dessert menu there is totally different from the Charlotte location, which is nice so people from Charlotte can try something new.

I'm sure it will be wildly successful, however having the restaurant on 3 levels is kind of annoying, it's a weird layout. I do like the second level back patio area (not balcony, but on the back side) where they have corn hole games set up. That seems like a fun spot to hang out. Also, I ate at Antejito's for the first time and will share my experience in that thread.

The food was great but took a while to arrive.
 
I've been 3 times now and I can say nothing but amazing things! We have had Zeke for two out of three times and he's always been super nice and high energy. Even on our third time, we couldn't get him since his section was full and he still came over and said hello. Definitely recommend him.

Over the three visits, I've tried:
-A house salad with Italian and one with Peanut Ranch Vinaigrette: delicious. They don't use the typical romaine lettuce and that was a refreshing surprise.
-Crab Rangoon Dip: very cheesy and a nice way to cool your mouth down if you have a spicier entree.
-Crinkle Cut Fried Pickles: we got these given to us by accident, so we weren't sure what to expect but they were actually really good. It comes with ranch and a horseradish aioli sauce. The horseradish sauce was really good.
-Dynamic Duo (burger): the garlic was a little strange and it kept falling out but eveyrthing else was amazing and very fufiling. I got mine with a seaweed salad instead of the fries and I enjoyed the salad.
-Dion's OMG! Roll: it tasted just like coconut shrimp with a bit of a kick to it. Definitely recommend if you like coconut shrimp.
-The Taste Explosion Roll: the beef and bacon were amazing together with the jalapenos giving it just a slight kick. I wouldn't say it was too spicy but it still made me want to keep drinking my water. While good, it was probably my least favorite of the rolls.
-"The Prime Time" Filet & Lobster Roll: I believe it's the most expensive roll on the menu...splurged on it twice. The green onions and spicy mayo make it another slightly spicy roll. I am sure everyone else would be fine with it but I just don't do spicy. It was delicious, just wish it was a little less spice.
-The High Class Hillbilly - Southern Style Bar-B-Q-Shi: amazing! The presentation of it made it look so good. Definitely one we will be repeating.
-Gimme More S'more Shake: It's basically vanilla with chocolate, some graham cracker around the rim and some marshmellows on top. I still found it a perfect chocolate fix. My boyfriend said it was a bit rich for his tastes.
-The King Lives: very delicious! You could not taste the rum. It was basically like a banana and peanut butter cup milkshake. Definitely want this again!

Since we're nearby pretty often, we will definitely make this a regular spot over the chain places in the area. Definitely recommend it at least once! We have had to wait a bit for food but whenever we went it was usually the typical dinner time/the park had just let out. Just gave us more time to converse with one another.
 
Went to cowfish last night and it was so dang good. There are at least 20 things on the menu I wanted to have so this will be my go to place for food at uni from now on.

First off the atmosphere is great. The art is interesting and while going to the bathroom I was taught how to solve the hypotenuse of a triangle. They seemed to be over staffed and everyone was very friendly. Really good service and the waiter went over the menu with us.

Started off with a dynamite roll that the table shared.
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and it was dynamite!

For my entree I got the cowish has left the building with the sweet and spicy Thai cucumbers on the side. Cucumbers were very good and wow, the burger was so darn good. I can't explain how it tasted. But it was really good.

QINODrk.jpg


Wonderful additon to CityWalk and I can't wait to go back.
 
Had a question and didn't want to start a new thread...

Does anyone know what the Cowfish hours are on Christmas Day...and if they're even open? Thanks
 
Being Christmas is one of the busiest days of the year for all the Orlando theme parks, they should be running the same hours they normally do (if not longer hours).
 
I went twice and tried:

CRINKLE CUT FRIED PICKLES (V) - (no picture) Would definitely eat again. My girlfriend and I don't even really like pickles and loved them.

THE HEAVENLY VEGGIE (V) - It was ok/not bad. I cant quite say what didn't make it great. Nothing stood out. Would eat again though, maybe it needs a second chance.


BACKYARD BREW - Full of flavor. Didn't taste too strong in any sense but did have enough alcohol.


THE TREE HUGGER (V) - Some of the best vegetarian sushi I've had. So much better than the standard avocado, carrot, and cucumber that EVERYWHERE else has.
 
I had a meal here later in the evening back in mid-December, and it was easily the best burger I've ever had. A perfectly cooked medium, great char around the outside and nice and pink inside and clearly not a frozen patty. We were seated on the third floor this time with a great view.
We went again on Saturday just after opening, this time sitting on the second floor. I ordered my burger the same way, medium, and what I received was what I would describe as the generic Universal burger patty - the frozen ones they use at Margaritaville, Hard Rock, Burger Digs, etc...

Does anyone know if they offer different types of food (frozen vs fresh patties) during different times of the day? Or maybe like Antojitos and Emeril's where the food is prepared differently/slightly different menu on each floor?
 
I had..

THE COWFISH BENTO BOX - Yum, though the burger was "meh."

GIMME MORE S'MORE SHAKE - Yum.

HOKKAIDO NIGHT - YUUUUUUM.

MOSCOW MULE - Yuuu... *falls over* ...um.
 
Finally I had the chance to try the much talked about Cowfish. Burgers are high on my favorite list. Teak's grill (also in Orlando) make some amazing Burgers. So the competition was high. First night I had the truffle Parmesan cheese fries. Tasty but the cheese was beyond hot and into the rubber area. Not enough toppings and the fries are shoe string and don't leave much of enjoyment. The Burger I had was the C.B.C.L.T (however you spell it) that's one tasty burger!

Now onto the second night. We had the crab dip. That was delicious. Onto the burger that I had was the Rise and Swine with sweet potato fries. The fries were decent. While this not being my first breakfast burger. I have to say Burger FI had a much better bk burger. Cowfish was overly messy and nothing great. All and all I would come back again. My wait times were 40-70mins.
 
I had dinner here Wednesday night with a 30 minute wait (promised 25-30). While we enjoyed the decor and the overall food quality (I had a quite tasty Texas burger), I was not pleased to discover a please of plastic wrap still attached to the patty. Thankfully, the restaurant handled it perfectly - waitress was immediately super apologetic (far more than she needed to be!), summoned the manager who spoke to us about what happened (has to do with the way the meat is shipped), and then offered us free dessert, a replacement burger, and free drinks, as well as comping the offending burger. Despite the incident, I would go back - I've been to their location in North Carolina and really enjoyed it.
 
Finally tried this last night. Sampled the filet/lobster "sushi," then had the boursin-bacon burger.

Not a big sushi guy, the roll was interesting but not enough to make me change my mind on that. The burger was very good, tho not good enough to be in the conversation for best in Orlando. At least in the discussion with NBA and HRC for best in CityWalk, but even that's not a lock. The fries, tho, were horrible; comparable to Steak & Shake.

The decor and atmosphere, tho, are where CowFish truly falls down. The place feels like a hospital corridor decorated with chairs/dividers/lights the manager picked up on an Ikea run. Murals on the walls in the same style as Antojitos and Vivo (you can tell all three restaurants and Bread Box were designed at once by the same team), only not done as well. The music is piped-in top 40. There was no sense of theme/place-making/style.

I saw a cable show where the original restaurant had a huge aquarium. Only real fish I saw at this one were wrapped in rice. The bar--an area theoretically reserved to guests 21+--is dominated by a "Make your own ca-1998 CGI fish" video game. Again, the focus of the bar is a game on a par with those in the Space Mountain queue. Clearly I was expecting too much, but the HYPE set me up for something more like Shark Grill at Sea World. Not Ikea stools and CGI fish with sunglasses.

[The one exception is the bathroom, which has it's own soundtrack--it's a one-note joke, but a funny one-note joke. The rest of the atmosphere lacks that sense of irreverence to match the menu.]

Service was fine. Friendly, perfect speed, couple managers even came over to chat. Did get an AP discount

Maybe I'm spoiled living in Orlando for 15 years. Other than maybe 4 sushi items, nothing on the menu was particularly original to me--it felt like a Jungle Jim's rip-off to be honest, I'd swear they did an Elvis burger. And while the food was good, the atmosphere is just lacking, especially compared to the local competition, like it was thrown together quickly. I do think the Universal HYPE machine has taken over on this one--if this opened at Downtown Disney, it would be ridiculed.
 
Finally tried this last night. Sampled the filet/lobster "sushi," then had the boursin-bacon burger.

Not a big sushi guy, the roll was interesting but not enough to make me change my mind on that. The burger was very good, tho not good enough to be in the conversation for best in Orlando. At least in the discussion with NBA and HRC for best in CityWalk, but even that's not a lock. The fries, tho, were horrible; comparable to Steak & Shake.

The decor and atmosphere, tho, are where CowFish truly falls down. The place feels like a hospital corridor decorated with chairs/dividers/lights the manager picked up on an Ikea run. Murals on the walls in the same style as Antojitos and Vivo (you can tell all three restaurants and Bread Box were designed at once by the same team), only not done as well. The music is piped-in top 40. There was no sense of theme/place-making/style.

I saw a cable show where the original restaurant had a huge aquarium. Only real fish I saw at this one were wrapped in rice. The bar--an area theoretically reserved to guests 21+--is dominated by a "Make your own ca-1998 CGI fish" video game. Again, the focus of the bar is a game on a par with those in the Space Mountain queue. Clearly I was expecting too much, but the HYPE set me up for something more like Shark Grill at Sea World. Not Ikea stools and CGI fish with sunglasses.

[The one exception is the bathroom, which has it's own soundtrack--it's a one-note joke, but a funny one-note joke. The rest of the atmosphere lacks that sense of irreverence to match the menu.]

Service was fine. Friendly, perfect speed, couple managers even came over to chat. Did get an AP discount

Maybe I'm spoiled living in Orlando for 15 years. Other than maybe 4 sushi items, nothing on the menu was particularly original to me--it felt like a Jungle Jim's rip-off to be honest, I'd swear they did an Elvis burger. And while the food was good, the atmosphere is just lacking, especially compared to the local competition, like it was thrown together quickly. I do think the Universal HYPE machine has taken over on this one--if this opened at Downtown Disney, it would be ridiculed.

We were seated on the outdoor balcony (even with the protective temperature sheets and heat bars, still a little too cold in there) and have to agree on the furniture and soundtrack. We kept commenting how it sounded like a middle schooler's discarded iPod and how the seats felt very out of place. Having visited their North Carolina location I have to say I prefer their aesthetic better - it's a clean, more industrial look with parody art posters (with the "cowfish" infused) decorating the space. This felt a little cluttered.
 
I too was seated outside. What's funny I never notice the music. Now that I think about it. Couldn't agree more about the fries. Time will tell if this place gets better or worse.

Not sure why Cowfish is the only restaurant I've come across that adds gratuity. When using a TM discount. Kind of makes me think why am I even using the discount.
 
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I too was seated outside. What's funny I never notice the music. Now that I think about it. Couldn't agree more about the fries. Time will tell if this place gets better or worse.

Not sure why Cowfish is the only restaurant I've come across that adds gratuity. When using a TM discount. Kind of makes me think why am I even using the discount.

All the sitdown restaurants do that, Chris. Especially when we use the holiday discount.

On contrary, my friend and I ate at Cowfish the other night when it was kind of cold out. We were seated outside and I actually found myself a little too warm with the heaters. We both had boursin bacon burgers. I think the cheese just makes it too slippery and it just didn't work too well.
 
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