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2024 Thanksgiving Menu and Meal Prep Timeline

* image These past few months have been busy for our family, especially since our oldest joined a local swim team. Between juggling our work schedules and balancing school with practices... we're all pretty wiped out. Although it's a lot of work, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. Preparing the holiday meal for our family fills my heart with joy, and I can't wait to get started. To make things easier for me, I don't deviate much from  our first Thanksgiving  as a family. The dishes I make are familiar ones, and the recipes for them live at my fingertips. Keeping the same menu year after year means I don't have to spend time researching recipes or planning a new one. Here are my tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes, as well as my prep timeline for the big day!

Amura - Orlando, FL

Cover of Amura Menu at Amura - Dr. Phillips in Orlando, FL (Photo by Michelle Judd of Taste As You Go)
Menu Cover at Amura in Orlando, FL

There's something about business travel that brings out this need to have sushi for dinner. Maybe it's the long days spent trapped in a convention center, breathing stale convention center air, and eating relatively uninspired convention center food. Or maybe it's the need to treat myself to something nice after enduring the aforementioned conditions. Whatever it is... it's powerful. And you can bet that I'll have sushi at least once while on the road.



Seaweed Salad at Amura - Dr. Phillips in Orlando, FL (Photo by Michelle Judd of Taste As You Go)
Seaweed Salad at Amura in Orlando, FL

Upon recommendation, we made a reservation at the Dr. Phillips location of Amura. Although the restaurant was relatively empty upon our arrival, it started filling up with other diners within minutes. By the time we were seated, there was a sizable crowd of people waiting for tables at the front of the restaurant. We took this as a positive sign, as an indication that all of their awards were given with good reason.

To start, I ordered the Seaweed Salad ($5) and was pleased with how crisp and fresh the seaweed was. And the use of sesame seeds wasn't overwhelming, which was nice. However, what you see in the photo above is what you get. A slightly larger portion would have been better, as I was left wanting more by the time I cleaned my plate.

Shrimp Tempura Roll at Amura - Dr. Phillips in Orlando, FL (Photo by Michelle Judd of Taste As You Go)
Shrimp Tempura Roll at Amura in Orlando, FL

While it would have been very easy (and tempting) to order strictly from the appetizer section of the dinner menu, I ordered the rest of my meal from the sushi menu. Sushi was, after all, the reason why we were there.

Despite the wide range of choices, I ordered two rolls that were extremely similar to one another, with exception to one ingredient. I ordered the Shrimp Tempura Roll ($7.99) and the Mexican Roll ($8.99), which consisted of tempura shrimp, avocado, and jalapeno peppers.

Mexican Roll at Amura - Dr. Phillips in Orlando, FL (Photo by Michelle Judd of Taste As You Go)
Mexican Roll at Amura in Orlando, FL

I want to say that I loved the sushi. I want to say that I agree with those who dined before me at Amura. But after eating half of each roll, I started to wonder what the big deal was about.

Were the rolls rolled tightly to ensure the ingredients on the inside didn't escape? Yes.

Were the ingredients fresh? As far as I could tell.

Did the rest of the people in my dinner party enjoy their food? For the most part.

When I take our entire dining experience into consideration, I have to admit that Amura didn't wow me. Our server was non-attentive and practically forgot that our table existed. Obtaining our check and paying the bill were both exasperating endeavors. Now, I take full responsibility for my order... It's quite possible that I just wasn't adventurous enough when I chose what I wanted to eat. My potential missteps could have contributed directly to my lackluster meal.

We must have missed something... right?

Amura
7786 West Sand Lake Road
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 370-0007 | Online Reservations | Map

Amura on Urbanspoon

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