Where to eat at and around Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel

Close by, on foot or by car

• The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant

  2 min walk

  Pan-Asian table service in Celestial Park (Epic Universe admission required) · $$$

  Inside Epic Universe, so it needs Epic Universe admission, and two minutes on foot from the hotel's own gate: a courtyard under lanterns, where neon dragons chase across the walls. The kitchen cooks across Asia: order the tonkotsu ramen with chashu pork, a tare egg and shiitake mushrooms, and the spicy smashed cucumbers to start, with a cocktail from The Tiger Bar. It keeps the park's hours, so check the day's closing time. Reservations need a valid park ticket, and are worth making for dinner.

  Reserve aheadCelestial Park, Universal Epic Universe

• Atlantic

  6 min walk

  Seafood and steaks in Celestial Park (Epic Universe admission required) · $$$

  Inside Epic Universe, so it needs Epic Universe admission: Celestial Park's seafood and steak house, across the Neptune pool, behind glass walls built like an enormous Victorian aquarium. Order the sea bass with sugar snap peas, star fruit and broth, or the roasted romanesco with hazelnut romesco, fregola and wild mushrooms, and a Northern Lights Martini at the Aquaria Bar. It is six minutes on foot from the hotel's own gate. It keeps the park's hours, so check the day's closing time before planning dinner, and reserve.

  Reserve aheadCelestial Park, Universal Epic Universe

• Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ

  8 min by car

  Orlando barbecue counter, since 1986 · $

  An Orlando barbecue name since 1986, whose one remaining restaurant is off Conroy Road, eight minutes north of the hotel by car with the roads clear. The meat is cooked low and slow over a hardwood fire and served in generous helpings: order the pulled pork or the brisket, with mac and cheese, corn nuggets and sweet potato tots on the side. It is open every day from 10am to 9pm, with tables inside; order ahead online for pickup to skip the queue at the counter.

  Walk in5818 Conroy Road, Orlando

• Strong Water Tavern

  10 min by car

  Rum bar with a ceviche counter, at Loews Sapphire Falls · $$

  The bar worth an evening on the Universal side of town: a wall of vintage rums, a rum specialist to steer you and a ceviche bar, with a patio over the lagoon. Order a rum flight, the Caribbean ceviche of grouper, scallops and shrimp in a coconut reduction, and the curry goat or the griot from the Caribbean small plates. Food is served from 4pm to 11pm; the bar stays open to midnight, 1am on Friday and Saturday, with live entertainment on those nights from 8pm. Reservations are recommended. Take the shuttle bus to CityWalk and the water taxi on, or drive: 10 minutes.

  Reserve aheadLoews Sapphire Falls Resort, 6601 Adventure Way, Orlando

• The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen

  12 min by car

  Chocolate emporium and restaurant at CityWalk · $$

  A full-service restaurant, bar and confectionery at CityWalk, in a building themed as a 19th-century chocolate factory. The kitchen does classic dishes, steak and seafood among them, but the reason to go is the end of the meal: the artisanal milkshakes, the sundaes and the house chocolates. From the hotel, take the free shuttle bus to the hub at CityWalk and walk from there; by car it is 12 minutes with the roads clear. Book on (407) 224-3663 or online, particularly for dinner.

  Reserve aheadUniversal CityWalk, 6000 Universal Boulevard, Orlando

• YH Seafood Clubhouse

  12 min by car

  Cantonese seafood and dim sum, in the MICHELIN Guide · $$

  A Cantonese seafood restaurant in a Turkey Lake Road shopping plaza, smarter inside than out, and listed in the MICHELIN Guide. Dim sum is the reason to go, ordered from a menu and brought hot rather than wheeled round on carts, from 11am to 2.30pm every day: siu mai, egg tarts, pineapple buns and the crisp, sticky pork dumplings. In the evening the menu turns to fresh and cured seafood, with set menus for groups; dinner runs from 5pm to 9pm, 9.30pm on Friday and Saturday. Book, come in a group and order widely.

  Reserve ahead8081 Turkey Lake Road, Suite 700, Orlando

• Keke's Breakfast Cafe

  14 min by car

  Breakfast and brunch cafe in Dr. Phillips · $$

  The breakfast to drive out for on a day away from the parks, in a shopping plaza on Dr. Phillips Boulevard, 14 minutes by car. The menu is pancakes, omelettes, waffles and eggs Benedict, with paninis, burgers and salads at lunch; the Florida Waffle is $15.99, against $40 an adult at the hotel's Sunrise Buffet. It is open every day from 7am to 2.30pm, except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Join the waitlist online before you set off, or order ahead for pickup.

  Walk in7512 Dr. Phillips Boulevard, Orlando

• Morimoto Asia

  18 min by car

  Iron Chef Morimoto's pan-Asian restaurant at Disney Springs · $$$

  The famous chef's table within reach: Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto's two-level pan-Asian restaurant at Disney Springs, listed in the MICHELIN Guide, with ducks hanging in the glass-walled kitchen. Order the Morimoto Peking duck for two, carved and served with bao buns, tortillas or lettuce cups, or the orange chicken in a Florida orange sauce, $32. Lunch runs from 11.30am to 3.30pm and dinner from 4.30pm to 10pm, 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday. Reserve. It is 18 minutes by car with the roads clear.

  Reserve aheadDisney Springs, 1600 East Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista

Breakfast