Nine18

My wife and I were extremely happy with the wonderful meal (s) we had at Nine18 while we were staying at the Villas. The service was outstanding, courteous and knowledgeable. The food was absolutely fantastic — we had some of the best scallops and lamb we have had anywhere and the appetizers were equally good.
The only non positive I could possible give it was the average desert, everything else was truly outstanding. The only advice I would give is to look at expanding the bourbon selection to include some unique and boutique small batch bourbons.

Really something special! Service was attentive without being pushy which is hard to come by in Orlando. Everyone is at their best and very charming. Timing on the dishes is perfect. Food is exceptional and if you go once, I promise you will want to return. Very elegant and intimate atmosphere and just a great place to spend some time with someone special. Wine list is amazing and extensive and they will make drinks to order. The crab cake with smoked carrot reduction is to die for! Every upscale place I have been since then, I compare to this experience and they all come up lacking. Excellent scallops, steaks, and so much more. Give it a try, you will be so pleased you did. Onion soup is very good.

Been here a couple more times since my last review, and I’ve bumped it up to the 5 stars it deserves! This place is wonderful! Not only is the food amazing, but the service is so on point. The last few times Rene took care of us, and he is exceptionally good! When my husband and I want a nice, quiet, and perfectly executed dining experience, this is at the top of our list.

Attended with a large group. Food and service were great.

Lovely little restaurant tucked away on the tranquil grounds of the Hyatt Grand Cypress Bungalows golf course. It’s physically right in the heart of the tourist action, but you’ll feel like you’re far removed from the hustle and bustle.
I was pleasantly surprised by the upscale ambiance of Nine18. The table setting, the views of the golf course, the great service. Definitely recommend this place for special occassions.
I tried the crab cake, which was delicious The amazing sauce that accompanied it, though, puts it in the outstanding category. For my entrée, I had the filet, also spot on. Dessert was the molten lava cake. I usually don’t like that deaert, but I finished off this one in record time.

I had an excellent dinner. My friends call me a foodie… I love to try everything. This night I stuck to basics, crab cakes, filet and chocolate desert.
Every item was great, and I shared with friends!
Sampled the mushroom crêpe also.
The service was impeccable. …so impeccable that I doubled the usual gratuity, something I rarely do!
I also enjoyed that the bar was outfitted with bar chairs and standard chairs. Another bonus is parking us convenient even without using valet.
The view was magnificent and comfortable at the same time.

We stopped in on our first night which was a Thursday. It was really slow, however it soon became apparent that probably everyone stopped in on their first day and then made other reservations as it really wasn’t anything special.
Despite being slow we were seated next to the kitchen. Nothing we like better than being seated in traffic. Cool if the restaurant is busy, not cool if slow.
Our waiter was very nice. He wasn’t pushy and trying to «turn the table» and kept a watchful eye.
For an appetizer we shared the rabbit. I hate to admit is but I love rabbit. You can’t find it everywhere so when we do it’s special. We both had the grouper as a main entrée. Bland, bland, bland. From the reviews we expected our taste-​buds to rejoice. Not so. We were super disappointed. Yes the presentation was nice, but without flavor… what is the point? Don’t be scared of spices!

There’s the old saying with resort restaurants, «been to one been to them all.» This is the exception. Was recently here on a golf trip and went here for dinner a hand full of times, and had a spectacular meal every time. The food was great, but the real stars of this place was the staff. Chris, the sommelier, took real pride in his restaurant and his wine program. He went above and beyond, even running us through a wine pairing menu. He made it educational and fun; I generally shy away from these sort of things, but in all honestly his service made the trip for us. I will be returning for both the golf and this restaurant.

We arrived at our reservation time and the small, intimate restaurant was only a quarter full. The host said he would see if our table was ready and then disappeared for a few minutes, which I thought kind of odd, but he did return and led us to a table next to a window wall, but it was too dark outside to enjoy a view. The restaurant itself was nice, relaxed, and quiet.
Once we were seated, a basket of various fresh breads (sourdough, sourdough with fennel, and french) were brought to the table with butter and hummus (not quite sure what kind of hummus it was but tasted like roasted red pepper). Although I went with a soda, they did have an extensive wine list, but I didn’t see any cocktails; I suppose I should have asked for a cocktail menu. Their dinner menu is on the smaller side of options but everything sounded so good, we had a hard time deciding. As a table we shared many items; the fried green tomato salad was good and lite, although the fried tomatoes were a bit bland, and the sugar maple poulet rouge was good and had a nice smoky flavor. The petit filet mignon with bacon whipped potatoes was my favorite as the steak was tender and the whipped potatoes were smooth and delicious. For dessert we had the summer berry fruit crisp and the chocolate lava cake. They were good but I wasn’t a fan of either. The crisp was too sweet with the overload of crisp, and the chocolate cake just wasn’t appealing to me, I think it was the texture.
We had several servers overseeing our table so drinks never went empty and they made sure we always had anything we needed. One told us they are rolling out a new menu in the coming weeks and urged us to return to try… which I just may do.

Don’t come here unless you are driving a rolls Royce and have the $$$ accordingly — the staff will talk down to you and insult you accordingly if you don’t …

Went here for our 2^nd anniversary and my sister-in-law’s 5^th. Wait staff was extremely kind and attentive. The fried green tomatoes salad was delicious, the pork belly was on point, and the grouper was slightly overcooked, but very well seasoned. For dessert our amazing and delightfully sinful chocolate dessert was accompanied with some yummy embellishment and chocolate scripting for our respective anniversaries. The digestif selection was amazing. My husband was happy with his port, I had a wonderfully sweet single malt scotch, and our waiter offered a delightful dessert wine to finish the meal. The food was local and delicious. They are doing everything right here. I’m suprised they are not busier as they excellent views of the golf course and the great food and excellent service make this one of the best restaurants in the area.

This review is long overdue, but I wanted to recommend this restaurant for people on vacation who want an upscale dinner in a relaxed, classic atmosphere. My boyfriend and i ended up here for Valentines day, mostly because we didn’t know anything about the area and this was one of the few places that still had valentines day dinner reservations open. That made me a little nervous, but it turned out to be a great experience. Our waiter was an older man that seemed a little confused at the beginning, but pulled it together and was kind and efficient. The food was all very flavorful and fresh and very well presented. The chef walked through a couple times just to make sure everyone was happy, which I appreciated. One of the main things I really liked about this place was that, unlike may other nicer restaurants, it wasnt super loud and didnt have loud music blaring. I could actually hear my dinner date and we were able to have a nice conversation and we werent seated in very close quarters to someone else. So if you are in Orlando and looking for a fancy but relaxed meal, visit Nine18, you wont be disappointed.

I had a great dinner here last week. I was a guest at the Villas of Grand Cypress, and this is their main restaurant. We had a large party, over 20, and the food and service was top notch. The bread before the meal was particularly tasty. Fresh, warm, and served with a spicy pâté. We had a prix set menu, and my meal opened with shrimp and grits. Outstanding. Can only get real grits down south. Salad was standard, but fresh. Had a few choices for my main dish, and I went with the lamb chops. They were actually double lamb chops and they were cooked to perfection, medium rare. The desert was a moulton chocolate cake, which looked good, but I was too full to eat it. Next year I will save space!
The wine was fantastic as well. House standard red and white, but very good.
The only reason I’m not giving five stars was that my main dish, and others, were a little on the cold side.
If you have the opportunity to stay at the Villas, or are in Orlando and want a peaceful meal looking out to a world class golf course, with no pesty Disney kids running around, check out Nine 18.

Surprisingly, really delicious. Attended an event here and they managed to serve a catered evening dinner in the restaurant for a large number of people and the food was delicious. The salad was fantastic and the Filet Mignon was superb– tender and cooked to perfection. The wine selection is excellent.

Came here with a party of 14 for thanksgiving dinner and left with full bellies and a smile. The food was great. It was a prix fixe menu that included all of the thanksgiving staples. Food prep and execution was flawless. Service was top notch too. The ambiance is intimate and nice. Definitely a nice spot for group dinners. Highly recommend and would definitely come back. Great team they have there (front and back of house).

This place is a hidden gem! Be ready for a quiet night out and you wont be disappointed. I ate here several times on my recent work trip to Orlando. Everything I tried was amazing. If I lived in Orlando this would be a great place to take someone special for a quiet dinner for two. No loud kids or cranky tourists here, just relaxing serenity. Chances are you will have the place to yourselves.

Highly recommended, but bring a big group if during off-​season. You might fall asleep at the table given how quiet and empty the place can get.
DECOR:
Dead restaurant that had two tables the entire time we were there.
FOOD:
Portobello entrée rocks. All of the food was good though I’m not sure if all of the other REALLY CRAPPY restaurants in Orlando had lowered my expectations by the time I dined.
SERVICE:
Server Georgh was fantastic, attentive, and prompt.

As described previously, the restaurant lay on the grounds of the Villas of Grand Cypress’ golf club house. It is unassuming, quaint, yet delightfully sophisticated. The bar, which is separated by a wall as large as Hadrian’s wall from the restaurant, smelled a bit of stale beer but I suspect that’s from the golfers’ overconsumption (at times…)
The restaurant itself has a stunning view of the golf course and a well attentioned and trained staff. Both the service staff and the manager were trained in giving a table of seven just the correct amount of attention.
The before appetizer plate is olive bread, cheese bread, and sourdough bread served alongside a nicely done homemade hummus, a made in-​house butter, and a selective serving of salsa (that was more resemblent of pico than salsa). I tried the hummus on the sourdough and the cheese bread. It was pretty good on both. I also tried the homemade butter only to give it a whirl. Tasted like butter, which is a good thing I suppose. I did not try the «salsa». In fact, our party mostly avoided it.
We loaded the table with appetizers before ordering our main course. We tried a seared tuna with watercress, a portabello mushroom app of some type, and a beef carpaccio. (Technically, we ordered two of each.) I found all of the appetizers to be very good. As a main course, I had the salmon which was in a thai demi glaze and a side of potatoes. It was also very good. For dessert, I had the trio of crème brulees (a vanilla bean, a pistachio, and a berry)… all tasty.
It’s a short 3.3 mile trip from the Marriott World Center to this restaurant, but I recommend having directions ready for your cab driver (if you have one) because both our cab driver on the way there and on the way back got lost.

This unassuming restaurant sits in the back of the golf clubhouse. The generic décor gives the impression that it has nothing special to offer… but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This was hands down the best meal I’ve had in Orlando in at least two years (and we eat out a lot — mostly at the parks). Started with the onion soup, served in an actual onion. Then I got the caprese salad. And I finished with the lamb. Each round was incredible. My dinner companions’ food was just as delicious! If you are staying at the Villas of Grand Cypress or nearby, do yourself a favor and eat dinner here. The prices are up there, but completely worth it. So, so good.

This is the place that replaced the Black Swan for Fine Dining at Grand Cypress’s Galf Club. There was no one at this pretty restaurant when we arrived later NYE eve. We were sat at the best table overlooking the golf course and were promptly bought a great selection of breads, along with a hummus/​butter/​salsa platter. It was a little more appetizing then the way I described it.
The service was great throughout the meal (The food was well timed and were were not at all pushed) and I believe we all had appetizers which were good. The tuna was excellent as was the Caprese style salad (decently fresh mozzerella). The wine by the glass selection was poor, which really is what kept this from getting four stars.