The Many years disney review-a-thon - Update 8/26 Kona Cafe [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

jezebella

05-25-2006, 03:20 PM

After long discussions this weekend about how entirely too much we eat out and go to Disney, DF and I have come up with a plan.....a plan which may take us a couple years! I, being the self taught chef, and DF being the Foodie he is, have decided that it is our duty to try every restaurant in Disney with no repeats until we have finished. :banana: :cool1: We are hoping to complete 2 TS and 2 CS minimum per month and keep the reviews, with pictures, all on one VERY long thread.

The restaurant list is below. Those highlighted in red are restaurants we've eaten and reviewed within the last month and won't be repeating until the end. I will post dates and times in which we have ADR's for each restaurant as they come up. Of course, if anyone has a pending vacation and wants a review within a week, we will do our best to accomadate, just let us know! Let the glutton feast begin!

P.S. We will also be having our Wedding reception at Cafe D'Antonio's in Celebration on August 2nd and will include that. We'll try for any off site requests as well!

NOTE: I am changing this format and going to add the restaurants to the list as I go...this place needs a little "cleaning up".

Counter Service

Artist's PalattePage 10 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=10)
Tangerine Cafe Page 4 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=4)
Columbia Harbor House Page 6 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=6)
Beaches & Cream Page 7 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=7)
Pinocchio Village HousePage 12 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26450129#post26450129)
Studio Catering CompanyPage 13 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26533573#post26533573)
Cosmic Ray'sPage 15 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=15)

Table Service

Rose and Crown Page 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585)
San Angel Inn Page 4 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=4)
Liberty Tree TavernPage 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=2)
Plaza Restaurant Page 9 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=7)
Artist Point Page 10 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=10)
Fulton’s Crab House Page 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=2)
Crystal Palace Page 12 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=12)
Sci-Fi Dine In Page 12 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26403600#post26403600)
Tony's Town SquarePage 13 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26737486#post26737486)
JikoPage 14 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=26762003#post26762003)
Le CellierPage 14 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27068849#post27068849)
Kona CafePage 15 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=27168177#post27168177)

Other Stuff:

Celebration Cafe D'Antonio's Wedding Reception Page 12 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=12)

Disney Wonder Food Porn Page 11 (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1121585&page=11)

kyirish25

05-25-2006, 04:58 PM

How exciting! Can't wait for all the reviews to start rolling in. :thumbsup2

honeybee213

05-25-2006, 07:42 PM

This is a really good idea. Will you take lots of pictures too? Please :love:

swankybeth

05-25-2006, 07:43 PM

Looking forward to this! :thumbsup2

ufgator

05-25-2006, 09:59 PM

Looking forward to this!

rkandmjsmommy

05-25-2006, 10:46 PM

Awesome idea, do you take requests??? :rotfl2:

Simba's Mom

05-25-2006, 11:01 PM

I think that's a great plan! I can see it now-"But dear, we HAVE to go to WDW next month in order to keep on our resturaunt review schedule." Works for me! The only potential problem I see is what if you find someplace you really enjoy ( I'm sure there'll be a few of those)? You have so many more resturaunts left to try, have you allowed time to return to "old favorites" or have you resigned yourselves to eating at each resturaunt just once, even if you really like it?

jezebella

05-26-2006, 09:45 AM

First of all..yes, we take requests! Let us know if you want something soon and we'll do it.

As for the amount of restaurants---to be honest, between the two of us we've eaten at almost all of them over the years. This is just starting from scratch and actually doing proper reviews with pictures, etc. Sad thing is, our favorite was Portobello, which was horrid last time, so we're actually in search of a new "favorite"...I figure this will assist us!

We're at Disney waaaay too much for our own good. DF took DD5 yesterday during the day, then dropped her off at Grammy's house and DF and I went when I got off work until 11 last night...we're sad, sad people. :rotfl2: :lmao: No dining last night though..just munched on a turkey leg (I know I know, I've said blech before, but I tried it again) and a dole float---I told you all in the dole whip thread, I've made a monster :stitch: out of DF.

Stay tuned for LTT this weekend and a host of undecided CS -- requests anyone???

Tarheel Girl

05-26-2006, 09:53 AM

Can't wait to follow this thread through the coming months.

Did you post a review of your recent Rose & Crown meal somewhere on the board? I've made reservations there for us with the plan of our seeing the fireworks from there. My DH is excited about the Harp on draft, but I'm actually interested in the food. ;)

Tumbleweed

05-26-2006, 09:57 AM

Count me in as part of an eager audience!

:cheer2: http://www.disboards.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=12821804#
http://www.disboards.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=12821804#

disneyfav4ever

05-26-2006, 10:18 AM

What a great idea. Looking foward to all of the reviews.

TruBlu

05-26-2006, 10:28 AM

WOW! I am jealous. I can't wait to read more.

jezebella

05-26-2006, 11:30 AM

Ok, as for the Rose & Crown, this is actually when we decided to do this dining adventure last Sunday. I wasn't prepared with my digital camera, so I took some pics with my phone. I apologize in advance for the graininess (is that a word??), but the future photos will be high quality.

After years of coming to Disney, my DF and I had never been to R&C. Me, mostly because I wasn't exactly eager to eat up English food, and him, well...he's English and why would he want to eat that while on vacation? After a bout with the DD people, we ended up here because our only other choice was China. :confused3

Keep in mind, we are not on the DDP---the only time we will be is for our honeymoon in August.

DD5-- from now on, we're just going to call her Belle started off with the kids appetizer of fruit, carrots, cheese, and crackers.

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/th_app4.jpg

As Belle loves grapes, she gobbled this up and I helped her out with the cheese!

DF -- from now on we lovingly call him Mr. Brit had the leek and potato soup, which I didn't get a pic of because he gobbled it up so quickly I couldn't snap one in time. Side note---early that day he had been whining about how his favorite soup was potato and leek and that he really wanted some then after we made the R&C ADR and saw it on the menu, I thought he was going to do backflips in the house! :Pinkbounc

As for me, I started with the prawn cocktail.

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/th_app5.jpg
Prawn Cocktail - Petite bay shrimp tossed in a traditional cocktail sauce

Sorry..but this is about the moment when we decided to start doing pics... :thumbsup2 Let me describe:

A round cut out of brown bread, topped with cucumber shredded length wise and had been marinated in some sort of vinegar, then topped with petite shrimp. The shrimp were tossed in a "cocktail" sauce, which is not what us colonists think of as your typical ketchup and horseradish cocktail, but more of a mayo based cocktail, with what I would assume is ketchup and a few spices. It wasn't spicy, as in heat wise, at all...but very light and refreshing. I had to swordfight DF to keep him away from it!

Next up, Princess had the mac&cheese ---over the next year or so, you will see this trend. She's not too adventurous, although her favorite meat is corned beef??? princess: :confused3

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/th_appy.jpg
Standard mac and cheese--she liked it, so I didn't care..and more grapes!

Mr. Brit went for the Bangers and Mash.

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/th_app6.jpg

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/th_app2.jpg

Bangers and Mash - traditional English sausages, with cabbage and onions, mashed potatoes and gravy

All I can say about this is YUM-O! The sausages were kind of like a cross between a bratwurst and a mettwurst. It has the spicyness of a bratt, with the smokey flavor of a mett. The potatoes were perfect and the gravy was delicious. I'm not that huge of a sausage fan, but I would certainly get this again, or, er, make Mr. Brit get it again and then steal half of it. :cool1:

Against Mr. Brit's wishes, I went with the Chicken Pasty. I thought it sounded like a yummy little pot pie, but he told me beforehand that he didn't like them and didn't think I would. Ok...FINE....YOU'RE RIGHT!

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/th_app3.jpg
chicken and fresh vegetable wrapped with pastry, topped with cream sauce and served with mashed potatotes and green beans

It looked absolutely lovely, but when I cut into it, I noticed that it seemed to be filled totally with carrots, onions, and red peppers. The red pepper overpowered every flavor in the pasty and that was all I could taste. To be honest, I think I've found more chicken in a Swanson's $0.99 pot pie! Where was the chicken?? The sauce on top of the pasty, however, was smooth, rich, and creamy and would have lent itself very well to a host of other dishes. The mash was just as good as Mr. Brit's and the green beans were blanched and still crunchy, but really need a good dose of salt & pepper. Good thing Mr. Brit had all those sausages for me to eat!

Overall---R&C was good. I'd give it a 7 out of 10--just avoid the pasty unless you really like all your food to taste like red peppers. Our server, Andrea was excellent!!! This is a big thing for me being a prior server/bartender all the way through college. I'm fierce on service, but she was a doll!

Once again, sorry for the pic quality, and we'll have much better food porn for you coming soon!

Uncleromulus

05-26-2006, 12:48 PM

Great start!! Keep them coming!!
OH--to live closer than 1,000 mile to WDW!!
Just a Q-anyway to enlarge those pics a bit????

wilma-bride

05-26-2006, 01:11 PM

Really looking forward to this. We have an ADR for the R&C for October (even though we're Brits, DH and I met in a pub called the R&C here in the UK so thought it apt). I suspect DH will opt for the bangers and mash :)

Which Rainforest Cafe are you going to try? We are thinking about RFC for our October trip, probably the AK one so would love a review of that if you make it there before then :)

jezebella

05-26-2006, 01:23 PM

No worries about future pics...they will be taken with the digital camera instead of this stinking cam phone that only saves things at itty bitty sizes and when you blow it up it looks horrid! Grrrr!

Re: RFC---we will do the one at AK because I've eaten at the one in DTD too many times to count and need something new! :stir:

jezebella

05-31-2006, 12:19 AM

Next up on the list---Liberty Tree Tavern! :banana: Oh...and there shouldn't be anymore complaining about small pics. :rotfl2: :rotfl:

First of all, let me start by saying that I haven't eaten here since I was a wee little girl -- way before this family style thing. We started out the day the same as every Saturday lately---look at more houses, headed with my DM to Cast Connection to check for Disney reject bargains and then off to MGM. My father was in town last weekend and picked up a shift which translates to me = fastpass for the coaster. :cool1:

Mr. Brit and I made these ADR's for the two of us and Princess, of course, princess: a week ago after Mr. Brit saw the all you can eat carved beef and about lost it right then and there. DM and DD decided at the last minute to join us at the last minute. We love DM and DD...and we love the cast member discount too! ;)

We had a table for 3 at 8:30 and I called 2 days ahead to see if we could bump it up to 5....ummm..NO! GASP! They're CM's and they must call the special CM line to make an ADR. Luckily, they had a spot open for two and just told us to ask to be seated together when we got there.

Fast forward...we arrived at LTT at 8:00, hungry and tired--especially DD after managing a coaster all day, so we decided to try to sneak in early. No problem and they can put us all at one table. :cheer2:

Our server was Sammy---and just a little warning...if you get Sammy...beware! He took our drink order and said he'd be right back with the salad. Now, this guy --I'm not sure if he was new, or scared or what but every time he sat a dish, glass or anything on the table he literally threw it at us :confused3 . By the time he brought around the actual meal it had become comical as we all kind of leaned back and waited for the plates to fall, smack something and then watch him mumble 'ooops, sorry". So..to start off:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/1.jpg

Salad with Strawberry Vinagrette.

I know there have been great reviews of this..but it must have been a serious off night with this salad. Nearly every piece of lettuce looked about 4 days old, wilted, brown, with a pink tinge around the edges. Ok, well, we didn't come here for salad, bring on the food.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/2.jpg
Mac& Cheese

Standard Stouffers---but hey, I love stouffers...so fine with me!!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/3.jpg
Gravy Boat--yes...I took a picture of gravy!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/4.jpg
Carved Turkey, Ham, Roast Beef over Cornbread Dressing

Turkey was moist and well, turkey. Ham was, well, ham....but the Roast Beef was excellent. Juicy, tender, and seasoned very well. As for the cornbread stuffing...Being from Nashville, I was very skeptical of Disney cornbread stuffing, but this stuff would make even Paula Dean proud! Yum-O!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/5.jpg
Mashed Potatoes

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/6.jpg
My plate---but the purpose here is of the green beans, which I didn't get a good pic of. I ate so many green beans I was worried I would turn into one. They are slightly blanched and served with julienne carrots and garlic. I'm working on the copy recipe this weekend and I could probably live off of the beef and beans. One of the best side dishes I've had in quite a long time.

The cobbler with ice cream was excellent as well--however, my family chowed it down so quick I couldn't even pause for a pic.

The characters were amazing. We saw Minnie, Chip, Dale, Goofy, and Pluto at least 3 times each--and I've got mega pics to prove it. Despite the Memorial Day weekend and LTT being so booked, it was virtually empty in the area we sat in. I'm hypothisizing it's that double booking you DDP'ers are doing...shame shame! Good for me though! :cool1:

I would say that this is a perfect time to go as well because as soon as we walked out it was only 5 minutes until the parade and had a fab view from the steps of LTT. Overall---I would do this again. Character Interaction 10/ Food 7.5/10 Service---well..I'm not commenting on Sammy and his plate tossing abilites any more! If you've got kids--do it! I was pleasently surprised!

Next up...Fultons Crab House for Lunch as the Princess does the Bibbity Bobbity Botique Party!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/7.jpg

magicmouse2

05-31-2006, 03:40 AM

Great thread :thumbsup2 :cool1:

Minniespal

05-31-2006, 06:34 AM

Looking forward to the reviews.

jezebella

05-31-2006, 09:53 AM

ARgh---double posting on me. Re: Pic size...apparently 50% isn't small enough from Photobucket, so now I'll go with 25%! Thanks for the tips guys!

LiteBrite

05-31-2006, 10:07 AM

What a great thread! I'm really enjoying your reviews, and I'm so looking forward to many more of them to come.

Just a couple of suggestions - your LTT photos are beautiful, but so large that I have to scroll left and right to take them all in (as well as the text, which goes as wide as the photos on my screen). Just a little smaller would make them easier to see, and the text easier to read.

And when you put up a new review, could you mention the page and post number in the updated title? That way, when the thread gets big, it will be easy for us to find the new review.

Thanks again for doing this!

jezebella

05-31-2006, 10:13 AM

:drinking1 Ok...so...here we go with Fultons!

Sunday, May 28th. Princess princess: had a birthday party scheduled for a classmate at 11:00 at the Bibbity Bobbity Botique in DTD, so we thought we'd knock out 2 birds with one stone and grab something to eat while she was getting dolled up! :wizard:

We dropped her off (along with the 9 other squealing 5 year olds and left my cell with the girl's mom and got their plan). Side note: ARE YOU MAD WOMAN? 10 - 5 YEAR OLDS AT THE BBB? AT $50 A HEAD??? THEN PROFESSIONAL PICTURES AND LUNCH AT PYC???

Ok...sorry...had to get that out. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my daughter dearly. So much that I took 6 of her squealing friends to CRT for lunch on her b-day, but it sure was WAY under $1000.00! Can you imagine what it's like to live here? Birthday parties are more than just keeping up with the Jones'---it's keeping up with the Mouse! ::MickeyMo So far we've been to BBB, CRT, and the Neverland Club---and it's not stopping..they just keep getting bigger and BIGger and BIGGER!

Anyways, back to the story--we roamed around the shops for a bit and then headed back over to BBB to check out the girls progress. Amazingly by noon, all 10 of them were finished.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Bug.jpg

:goodvibes So cute I can't even describe! They headed off for photos and we headed off to Fultons, because there was NO WAY I was eating at PYC again. :eek:

We were sat in the bar area right next to the window, which was fab because then we could see herd...er...I mean parade of princesses walk into PYC and know when to pick her up.

First off, I decided it was 5:00 somewhere and went for a spiked Lemonade. I'm not sure what all was in it, but I know there was some Bacardi Razz, Cointreneau, and something else. Let's just say it was seriously spiked..especially after 2! :drinking1 Mr. Brit decided on just sticking to one! Weakling! ;)

Mr. Brit insisted on Calamari--as he stated "What have you done to me woman?". You see, I love Calamari and now I've made him crave it just as much as I do.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/FCHCalamari.jpg
Fried Calamari - cut strips with tomato basil sauce

This is not your typical Calamari. Usually the squid is cut across and into rings. They had cut the Squit length wise and into small strips of meat. First thing I did was check to see if there was a pool of grease like PYC---and no!! We were good to go. It was tender and perfectly crispy on the outside. The tomato basil was decent, not nearly as good as I've had before. I tend to like mine with a little kick. But, it was smooth and flavorful and did the job.

Mr. Brit then decided on a Chicken Sandwich!????? :confused3 Hello? We're in a seafood place?? He said he just had a craving for it.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/FCHSandwich.jpg
Grilled Chicken Breast - served with Swiss cheese and rosemary potato chips

He said it was very good and even saved me a bite. The rosemary chips were very good, but needed some salt!

After eating all of that massive Calamari--I needed something light and went with a salad.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/FCHSalad.jpg
Shrimp Caesar Salad -- with traditional Caesar dressing, garlic bread sticks, shaved parmesan cheese and blackened shrimp

This was excellent...and HUGE! The shrimp were blackened nicely with a lot of flavor without setting your mouth on fire. I could have used a bit more tang in the casesar, but the coolness of it worked with the shrimp.

All in all--the service here was wonderful, food was good, and it was reasonably priced if you want a nice OOP TS lunch!

BTW---we went to PYC to get the girl and they had to wait an hour for their food (when there were only a handful of tables even in there) and apparently, the parents who ate there said it was horrible. Hey, I tried to warn them...but the bartender sure does make a mean Citron Martini :cool1: Lets just say, Mr. Brit drove home!

Up Next: Well, we don't know--we should be out and about this weekend so, if you have any suggestions or recs, let us know!

LiteBrite

05-31-2006, 10:28 AM

Another great review, Jezebella, and the size was just right! Very easy to read, and great pictures.

Oh, and that birthday party? :scared1: :scared1: :scared1: :scared1: :scared1:

Are those parents insane? Now what are they going to have to do to top it when their little girl turns 6 (not to mention 16)? :rotfl2:

kyirish25

05-31-2006, 10:30 AM

Loving the reviews and pictures :thumbsup2

miller2470

05-31-2006, 10:36 AM

WOW!!! I want to move to Florida!!! I would never leave Disney property!!!
What a great idea for a thread. I am really enjoying your reviews and especially your pictures!!! :thumbsup2

PrincessTigerLily

05-31-2006, 10:46 AM

CAN'T WAIT for the next installment! On a side note, DH and I are seriously considering moving to FL in the next few years. Have you personally found that WDW loses any of its magic by being there so close and going so often? I would find it hard to believe because I am such a DisneyNut!

jezebella

05-31-2006, 11:02 AM

:rotfl2: NOOOOOOO! If anything, it's just adding fuel to the fire! We say everytime we go how lucky we are that we can just pop over to WDW in the evening for a stroll or dinner or just to soak in the magic after a bad day at work! I wouldn't move away from here for anything!

Dreamfinder2

05-31-2006, 12:07 PM

Just wanted to say that YOU are my HERO! What a great project!

We lived in New Smyrna Beach for some years, and would trot over to WDW just about every Saturday. But, with much younger kids, we didn't get to eat such a broad swath through WDW. So excuse me while I vicariously live your life through good eatin'.

suswa

05-31-2006, 12:43 PM

Thanks for the reviews can't wait to see the rest!

jezebella

05-31-2006, 12:56 PM

Good thing about living vicariously = you don't have to worry about the weight I'm going to gain doing this!

I have also advised Mr. Brit that we have to go to Epcot at least once per week so that I can get a good 10 mile hike in to work off my DIS sacrifice for dining reviews! :rotfl2:

disneyfav4ever

05-31-2006, 01:12 PM

I have a question. You said you will never return to PYC, but to do a review of every restaurant at WDW, don't you "have" to eat there again? :rolleyes: Just a technicallity I realized. :goodvibes

jezebella

05-31-2006, 01:51 PM

Yes, technically I must review it again...and I will...I'm just going to give them a little time to get their act together before I try it again. Knowing us and old habits though, we'll break down and soon enough and give it another go. :goodvibes

Minniespal

05-31-2006, 04:13 PM

Thanx for the review of Fultons ~ This is one of our favourite restaurants.

Tarheel Girl

05-31-2006, 04:35 PM

Thanks for the review of the Rose & Crown!! :wizard:

I can't see the photos in your posts. Anyone have any idea what I can do to see the pix? TIA.

jezebella

06-01-2006, 01:49 PM

New ADR -- Sunday we will be at San Angel Inn at 2:00pm!

Also---most likely we will hit up MK on Saturday and/or Sunday night and are taking requests for CS! -- you know we've got to go there, Mr. Brit needs a dole whip!

bookgirl2632

06-01-2006, 02:35 PM

I'd love a review for either Pecos Bill or Cosmic Ray's. I was looking at both of those for our upcoming trip in September.

LISAVWL

06-01-2006, 09:48 PM

thanks for the reviews -- loved reading about Liberty Tree Tavern, we're thinking about trying it out in October.

florida sun

06-02-2006, 05:54 PM

Fantastic thread, keep up the good work :thumbsup2

Snoopygirl

06-02-2006, 06:09 PM

Great Thread!!!! How cool that you get to go to Disney so often! And your daughter looked adorable after her BBB party!

richard_andmel

06-02-2006, 06:28 PM

Really enjoying your reviews. Love the picture of Mr. Brit with Flat Eric. Flat Eric has been itching to find his way into my suitcase for some time to accompany us to WDW. He wants to have his pic taken around the world. :teeth:

BeckWhy

06-02-2006, 06:40 PM

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/7.jpg

Your daughter is absolutely beautiful.

castanea1985

06-02-2006, 06:53 PM

Fabulous thread!! You're so lucky living so near to WDW!!
We'd be in the water parks all the time if we lived there!!

Would it be possible to add some prices to your photos/dishes, to give us 'budget conscious' dissers a guide to the cost??

Look forward to more delicious reviews!!

:dance3: :dance3: :dance3: :dance3:

Nedebpats

06-03-2006, 04:05 PM

Loving this post and all your reviews. I am going in Aug and have ADR for LTT for lunch (because of a dessert picture I saw here on the DIS) hope it is as good for lunch as it sounds like it was for dinner.

Also, if you go to Columbia Harbour House, I would love to hear about that.
Thanks for your reviews.

Debbie

tinasquirrel

06-03-2006, 05:09 PM

What a fun thread! Thanks for sharing your reviews. I'll be keeping an eye on your thread as we think about our September trip! V&A for your honeymoon sounds marvelous (congratulations!). My in-laws did this a few month's ago for their 35th wedding anniversary and had the best time.

BBB birthday party with 10 5-year olds? Yikes, throw me off a bridge! Although hoping to check out the new adventurers section with my boys in September!

TinkGirl

06-03-2006, 05:37 PM

Awesome project! :sunny: I'm jealous. I like San Angel Inn, but nobody else in my family does. I think it's because I always start with a marguarita. :) Hope you have a great meal.

fizz13

06-04-2006, 02:23 PM

what a fantastic idea, so glad Mr. Brit guided me over here, you're living my dream baby, great reviews so far,
Claire xx

Ron from Michigan

06-04-2006, 09:37 PM

Keep the reviews coming. :)

Minniespal

06-05-2006, 04:36 AM

Excellent reviews :thumbsup2

disneyfav4ever

06-05-2006, 08:56 AM

I am going in Aug and have ADR for LTT for lunch (because of a dessert picture I saw here on the DIS) hope it is as good for lunch as it sounds like it was for dinner.

I'll be eating at LTT for lunch as well. I know you said that you would only be going to each restaurant once until you were done, but, any chance you would consider going to LTT for lunch for a review, since the meals are so completely different.

LTT lunch is something I can almost never find reviews, or "gasp" pictures of.

java

06-05-2006, 09:14 AM

OOH this is FUN!! I am loving the reviews and can't wait to see the next one! How about Garden Grill or Concourse Steakhouse for dinner. We arrive in 3 weeks and those are 2 new ones on our list. Wondering about GG since that is the one we are going to July 4th(wondering if it will be worth fighting the crowds for it.. but we have to eat right?) Oh and we have 4 kids so kid friendly is a plus for us.
Adorable daughter and that party is making me happy that we don't live near Disney right now! YIKES!! talk about $$$$.
Oh and if we follow along can we all be invited to the wedding? :bride: :rotfl2:

erikthewise

06-05-2006, 09:34 AM

Wow -- how exciting!!!
Just do them in any order you wish, I'll be reading along!

Definitely waiting for your San Angel review. Just decided to put it on our list, and we're almost at 180 days!

You may be a little disappointed when you get to Hurricane Hanna's, which you list as a TS. It's just a little open-air burger & sandwich stand in the Stormalong Bay pool complex at the Beach Club -- maybe 5 or 6 tables nearby. Definitely a CS! Nearby Beaches & Cream on the other hand is indoors with booths & tables, menus and servers. Kinda small, unpretentious menu, but IMO definitely a TS!

PS Don't you just love the Google ads we get in this thread. :rotfl2:

wils

06-05-2006, 09:43 AM

Great thread!

LiteBrite

06-05-2006, 09:51 AM

Wondering about GG since that is the one we are going to July 4th(wondering if it will be worth fighting the crowds for it.. but we have to eat right?)

I'm not the OP, and I haven't eaten at GG, (at least not since the old menu, 2 changes ago), but I would like to comment about "fighting the crowds" on the 4th of July. We were at Epcot last year on the 4th, and assuming you have an ADR, you should be in much better shape than you would if you were trying to get CS that day - then you'll really find out what "fighting the crowds" means! ADRs on high attendance days will make your life much, much easier.

jezebella

06-05-2006, 10:47 AM

Hi all! Just wanted to give you a quick update! I'm at work again this morning..and after staying at EPCOT yesterday from 10am-9pm there was NO WAY I was uploading pics last night.

We ate at San Angel Inn but never made it over to MK. So, our CS for this weekend was the Tangerine Cafe. There is a story behind this. Yesterdays cast was Mr. Brit, Princess, and our friend Robin--who is from Essex, but lives here now. Now, since I've known Mr. Brit he's been ranting and raving about missing "Kebabs" -- which for the Yanks--I've figured out is somewhat like a Gyro. Well, Robin also shares this affliction and Mr. Brit had to introduce him to the Tangerine Cafe for the closest to home Kebabs they can get.

I'll be doing the reviews this evening -- of course with pics!

And thanks for all the kind comments re: my little one! She's such a little actress. Be sure to look for her in about 10 years in a princess costume signing autographs! :thumbsup2

tinawv

06-05-2006, 01:51 PM

I am anxious to read your review on San Angel Inn. My and sister and I have ADR's there in September, and I have read mixed reviews on this restaurant.

jezebella

06-06-2006, 11:44 AM

First off, let me start this review by apologizing. At the current moment--there are no pics :guilty: I know..I know...but well, lets just say Mr. Brit and I had a little too much fun at the Rovers last night and they didn't get uploaded. But I promise PROMISE that the will be added in the moment I get home! :woohoo: <----just an FYI--that IS Mr. Brit's dancing. :rotfl:

Okie dokie then....Here's San Angel Inn.

We had an ADR for 2:00pm and from not eating any breakie (hehe, new term I learned this weekend from Mr. Brit's friend Robin. He text messaged me at 3 am about going for breakie and I was like..what the h...is breakie???) we were starving! After checking in, we were seated in less than 5 minutes at a lovely table near the water.

Our server quickly came and took our drink orders --- Milk for the Princess and then Dos Equis all around!!! The BIG ones please! :drinking1

Dos Equis Lager Draft Beer - 16 oz - $6.25; 20 oz - $7.00

I mean, come on...who wouldn't go for 4 more ounces for $0.75?? :confused3

She then brought us a big basket of chips and two bowls of salsa. The chips were hot and you could tell they had just been fried up! Crispy and fresh! The salsa I loved, but it was a little too hot for Mr. Brit. Robin didn't seem to mind and helped me out clearing out those bowls.

I then ordered the tortilla soup.

Sopa Azteca - traditional tortilla soup with avocado, cheese and pasilla pepper $4.50
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Soup3.jpg

WOW! Could you just bring me about 3 more bowls of this and I'm good?? It's a tomato based soup with a hint of chicken stock. Very flavorful and mild. There were huge chunks of avocado which lended a smooth, creamy texture. Two pieces of pasilla were also in the bowl, but I'm not a big fan of munching on dried pepper, so I just pushed those to the side, but they lent quite a bit of flavor. It was so cheesy that when you scraped your spoon on the bottom you brought up a long string of cheese all the way from the bowl to the mouth. I suggest scraping the cheese and then wrapping it around one of the many crunchy tortilla strips they toss in last! Needless to say, we passed the bowl around between myself, Mr. Brit, and Robin (hey...we're all friends here) and we all agreed that it was amazing!

Robin ordered Plato Nacional - sope with chicken, tamal, and beef flauta, served with sour cream and Mexican rice $15.99

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/SAIRobin.jpg

He said it was "ok". Then he proceeded to explain to me why he never ate at taco bell before and that this was just subpar especially for the price. I didn't steal his plate, so I can't vouch for his meal, but he didn't seem overly impressed...and when he is impressed you know it.

Mr. Brit ordered Pollo A Las Rajas - grilled chicken breast served over red peppers, onions, chile poblano, chorizo and melted cheese $15.99

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/SAINick.jpg

At first glance it looked like a piece of chicken swimming in some queso..and that's about what it was. Mr. Brit stated that the chicken was very dry. It's a good thing he had a bowl of queso to sop it up with. I tried it, and being the lover of cheese, thought that it was pretty darn good. The sauce really does taste like a mild queso, but very flavorful and rich. Out of all three, this was my favorite.

Princess ordered Chicken Strips - served with refried beans and rice $5.99

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/SAIRheannon.jpg

I don't know who this child is sometimes. If it wasn't for the striking resemblence, bossy nature, and the need and desire to be on stage (seriously folks...the kid has vibrato in her perfectly pitched voice at 5!), I would think she was switched at birth. God forbid that a black bean touched the precious chicken tender! "MOMMYYYYYYYYY...GET IT OFF". :confused3 What am I going to do? She's a picky PICKY eater even though we make her try everything -- it's her way or that's it. So, after picking anything resembling a black bean off of her plate, she ate one chicken strip and about 5 bites of rice, which she wasn't too happy with. But, we're not counting her opinion....she thinks the best culinary cuisine is fettucine alfredo from Olive Garden. Anyways, she's happy to just sit and watch the boats go by.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/SAIRheannonPic.jpg

So, I guess it's down to me.....I ordered Carne Asada Tampiquena - grilled beef tenderloin served with a chicken enchilada topped with ranchera sauce, esquites and black refried beans $18.50

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/SAIMine.jpg

NEVER......AGAIN! Do not order this unless you really enjoy dry, severly overcooked, rubbery steak. Several of the bites I took had huge flakes of carbon! YUCK! The chicken enchilada, however, was very good (although after the steak, I think that an old boot would have tasted good). Just to mask the steak I started plunging it in Mr. Brit's queso soup that was left over. Hey...I was hungry...and drinking! Sue me!

I have eaten here several times before and thought it was pretty good. Apparently I had been drinking waaaaaaaay more those days though. The food was ok---the only reason I would go back would be for a big beer, chips and salsa, and a huge bowl of soup! For the 4 of us our bill with tax came to around $90.00. To be honest, I could have gotten better mexican around the corner from my house for a quarter of the price. But, then again, it's Disney and you're paying for the ambiance, especially at the San Angel Inn. The dining area is gorgeous and you just can't beat it! If you are on the DDP---GO...try it out...the setting is nearly worth it and you're not out any money. I'm not so sure if you're paying OOP. I can think of a lot of better places to blow $100 for GREAT food at Disney.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/SAINickRobin.jpg

Up next: Tangerine Cafe!

erikthewise

06-06-2006, 02:23 PM

icky...
Maybe we'll just try Biergarten this year, and stick with the wonderful new Abuelo's nearby for good Mexican.

TruBlu

06-06-2006, 02:52 PM

I am so glad I don't have an ADR here!!!! But, we may have to drop in for a beer and soup lunch!!!

jezebella

06-06-2006, 03:34 PM

Tangerine Cafe

....and the death of the cell phone...and the rain

Upon walking out of San Angel we noticed people walking in in ponchos! OH NO! GASP! I left my cell phone in the Tinkerbell bag in the stroller! :guilty:
Great! It's dead. Mr. Brit takes it apart and tries to dry it out a bit and manages to get it working but the display screen is shot! I'm ranting and raving (at myself of course) and need another beer to deal with this. We go on rides--yada yada...get to the food, I know.

Well, around 7:30 we decide to head over to Tangerine Cafe so that Robin can now experience the "closest to Kebabs from England" he can get---which happens to be in Morocco :confused3

Thunder! Lightening! We start walking a little faster, by the time we made it to TC it was a deluge and apparently half of Epcot decided that TC would be a great place to hide out during the storm. No more than 3 minutes in TC, Princess lets me know she urgently has to go potty! :rolleyes: Great...in the deluge. Fine...we RUN through the rain to the restrooms as the people hiding under there are laughing at us. She does her thing, I check my shallow pockets for my cell and we take off running again back to TC. At this point, I'm pretty wet and Mr. Brit is standing there wiping me down with napkins. All of the sudden I realize---NO PHONE!!!! In a panic, I leave Princess with Mr. Brit and Robin and RUN back to the bathroom. An older lady sitting in a wheelchair said "ohhhhhhhh, so you decided to join us again?". To which I told her as I'm standing there, TOTALLY soaked about the phone. She informed me that nobody had been in there since I had--but still NO PHONE. So, at this point, I really don't care about the rain and just start wandering around thinking it had to have fallen out of my pocket---which, if it had--it would be completely fried by now. I give up, go back in and Mr. Brit decides to call it. It's ringing........so, outside I go again just when a lovely woman in a poncho runs up to me and says "I've got your phone"!! I asked her where it was, but she, apparently not wanting to get wet shuffles me into TC. I thank her profusely--but never find out where the heck it was :confused3 Gosh that was longer than I expected...sorry.

Finally...it stops raining and everyone heads out...I stalk people for a table and get lucky in about 5 minutes while Mr. Brit and Robin go to get the grub. I opt for the lamb wrap.

Mediterranean Wraps - served with Tangierine Couscous salad and lentil salad.
$8.95

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/TCMine.jpg

Yum-O! Basically, it's a gyro. Mr. Brit and Robin argue that it's a Kebab--well whatever you want to call it, I tore that thing up. the Couscous Salad was good as usual, but I didn't really care for the lentil salad. It was alright--a lot of vinegar on it. Not something I would go out of my way to get. That being said, both sides were really unecessary considering the size of the wrap.

Mr. Brit and Robin both opted for the lamb platter

Shawarma Platters - served with hummus, tabbouleh and Tangierine CousCous salad with fresh Moroccan bread.Lamb $11.95

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/TCNick.jpg

Lets just say the licked the platters clean. I stole some of Mr. Brits tabbouleh, which I LOVE and some hummus.

Princess had kids Pizza

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/TCRheannon.jpg

It's served with fries and I was having flashbacks from Elementary school. She seemed to like it, but the cheese was dry, with grease on top and it looked as if it had been sitting under a heat lamp for about 3 days. Gross...I know people complain about Pizza Planet, but PP is the an award winning pie compared to this! YUCK! But hey...I already told you that she has no taste..that is, until it comes to desserts.

We love this place...especially Mr. Brit and Robin. Robin enjoyed it so much he had to call our other friend, Glen (owner of Rovers, also from the UK, rants about missing kebabs, best man to be at the wedding, and the reason I didn't get to the pics last night--jager bombs). Robin went back right before we left and got two of the lamb wraps to go--one for him and one for Glen. He was a very happy man!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0776.jpg
Happy Flower & Garden Festival!!

barbeml

06-06-2006, 04:12 PM

Thanks so much for taking the time and making the effort. As another poster said, you are living my dream!

We had similar experiences with San Angel (never again, unless something changes) and Tangierine (never disappoints). Surprised to see you got fresh fried chips at San Angel...we were there last Halloween and got cold broken Tostitos.

Keep it coming!

jezebella

06-06-2006, 07:43 PM

Ok...now...what next??

swankybeth

06-06-2006, 08:05 PM

:goodvibes Great reviews and pictures so far, I'm loving this! You've convinced us to definitely try Liberty Tree Tavern on our next trip. No small feat considering I've been wanting to try it for years, but DH never wanted to. :woohoo: How about Raglan Road next?

bookgirl2632

06-06-2006, 10:05 PM

Ok...now...what next??

I don't know. You tell us. :sunny:

I'll offer some suggestions though. For TS restaurants, I'd like to hear a little something about Spoodles and Crystal Palace. And for CS, reviews for Cosmic Ray's or Pecos Bill would be much appreciated.

At any rate, I am thoroughly enjoying this thread, however vicariously. :)

Swimnoid

06-06-2006, 11:40 PM

I am LOVING your thread and will keep tuned in for the durations.

I really wanted to try Tangierine Cafe when we were there two weeks ago but nobody would go with me! :sad1:

Ears2You

06-06-2006, 11:52 PM

Thanks so much for your great reviews. This is such a wonderful idea! I would definitely be doing a similiar thing if I lived close to Disney. Keep the reviews coming!

PlainJane

06-07-2006, 01:43 AM

I totally agree with with you about PYC. The first and last time we ate there we had the rudest :snooty: waiter on the planet. He was nice and cheerful until he asked my mom if she would like wine, she said no. His personality completely changed. She said no because she just doesn't like alchohal, not because we're cheap or anything. The food wasn't very good either :sad2: .

Thanks for all your great reviews :goodvibes

disneyfreakjackie

06-07-2006, 01:54 AM

WOW!!! You are living my dream by living SO CLOSE to WDW ... Celebration yet!!! You're a lucky, lucky girl!! I am SO envious!!! I'll get there some day!! LOVE your thread and your adventure!! :banana:

mattnkatsmum

06-07-2006, 02:45 AM

So funny to hear that Mr. Brit is missing kebabs. I didn't realise that they were unheard of in the States. Kebabs are a staple food over here........after 8 pints of lager!! :)

Minniespal

06-07-2006, 03:03 AM

Another excellent review :)

jezebella

06-07-2006, 09:54 AM

So funny to hear that Mr. Brit is missing kebabs. I didn't realise that they were unheard of in the States. Kebabs are a staple food over here........after 8 pints of lager!! :)

:rotfl: He always says that too....it's drunken food! Needless to say, by the time we'd made it through the rain and around epcot we'd had a couple Boddy's at R&C.

jezebella

06-07-2006, 09:55 AM

I am LOVING your thread and will keep tuned in for the durations.

I really wanted to try Tangierine Cafe when we were there two weeks ago but nobody would go with me! :sad1:

Well, next time you're here, just let us know and we'll go with ya. :thumbsup2

java

06-07-2006, 10:08 AM

OK I am adding TC to our list now. That gyro on your plate and hello that is a gyro! lol looks so yummy! MUST DO. But now I have to get my family to go to Epcot 2 times for lunch because we have a bunch of Table service dinners and I need those fish and chips from that little stand outside of R&C. Thank you so much for doing this. LOVE the photos. :banana:

jezebella

06-07-2006, 10:21 AM

samano

06-07-2006, 04:24 PM

What a great thread!!!! Thanks for doing this.....your reviews are hilarious and pictures are great. I can't wait to see where you go next!!

Minnesota!

06-07-2006, 05:34 PM

Mmmm...I CRAVE the Sopa Azteca from San Angel Inn. I have only had 1 bad meal there...and I have eaten there at least 10 times. Anyway, it was the chicken mole'. ICK!!

But, if you ever go back, the Mahi Mahi ala Vercruzana is TO DIE FOR!!!

Love this thread!

agnes!

06-07-2006, 06:22 PM

Well if you want to try something new---I would suggest getting Cooke's fish and chips CS at DTD for lunch. Personally---I think they are a million times better than f&c at R&C--Mr. Brit agrees and told Robin that they are the closest fish and chips to home.

What big DTD store or restaurant(World of Disney, Virgin Records, House of Blues, etc) is Cooke's close to? I like to know where to park, what to aim for when I am walking...

agnes!

tinkerbell888

06-08-2006, 12:29 AM

Hi! Thanks sooooo much for the great reviews! I know it must take up a lot of time. :bitelip: I'm leaving in 5 days and we are having lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. If you have the time (well i guess 5 days is a short notice!), do you think you could give it a try, or if you already have, can you let me know??
Thanks a million :rainbow:

erikthewise

06-08-2006, 08:44 AM

Well if you want to try something new---I would suggest getting Cooke's fish and chips CS at DTD for lunch. Personally---I think they are a million times better than f&c at R&C--Mr. Brit agrees and told Robin that they are the closest fish and chips to home.

So are the chips "authentic" (i.e. thick-cut on the spot from fresh potatoes) instead of just American fries?

latexscooter

06-08-2006, 10:20 AM

Just discovered this thread and had to let you know how great I think it is. It's educational and entertaining at the same time. You also have given me some ideas on how to get the hubby to try some new food and restaurants - cocktails. That'll do.

Keep up the good work. I look forward to hearing your comments on Garden Grill and for CS how about Flame Tree? I haven't been there in a few years (I've been opting for Tusker House) and want to know if it's still as enjoyable as I remember.

janets

06-08-2006, 10:55 AM

Although we don't live anywhere near FL (but dreaming of it some day), we have had the opportunity over the years to try many of the restaurants but there are definitely some that we have missed, or haven't tried in years.

We are going to San Angel in Sept on free dining at DH's insistence. The last time we were there, I thought the food was definitely sub par and I could find better locally for much less money, but he likes it so we're trying it again. Based on your report, I might opt for the sopa as well.

I'm also a big fan of TC. Not dh's cup of tea but certainly mine. I send him to the American pavilion w/ the boys and bring my lunch over to meet them.

We've never eaten at Biergarten or Alfredo's so if you happen to be heading over that way, I'd love to read about your experiences there too.

Thanks for making this enormous sacrifice and doing these reviews all for us. We certainly appreciate it.

And, btw, your daughter is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS.

MamaKate

06-08-2006, 02:47 PM

Thanks for doing this!!

I'd love to see a review of Tempura Kiku. It's a place I've always wanted to try, but we never make it there.

I'm determined to try it in November!!!

ufgator

06-08-2006, 06:57 PM

Just wanted to say I'm enjoying your great reviews so far! :)

jezebella

06-09-2006, 01:27 PM

What big DTD store or restaurant(World of Disney, Virgin Records, House of Blues, etc) is Cooke's close to? I like to know where to park, what to aim for when I am walking...

agnes!

The chips are thick cut and Cooke's is right next to raglan road on the PYC side. Up next is a mini review of Columbia Harbor house as I popped in there last night for a quick bite. We're going to try to head to AK this weekend to bribe Princess to get on EE--so perhaps we can get in Flametree. We have no ADR's this weekend, so it will mostly be counter service! Thanks for reading! :thumbsup2

jenrose66

06-09-2006, 04:01 PM

Thanks for taking the time to post such detailed reviews with pictures. I'm really enjoying them.

jezebella

06-12-2006, 11:26 AM

Coming tonight---CHH and Beaches & Cream....couldn't be bothered with the parks this weekend as it was chucking it down with rain! So, a tale of clam chowder and ice cream....and Mr. Brit making himself VERY sick.

latexscooter

06-12-2006, 01:05 PM

Oh, boy, can't wait to hear what you two have been up to that would make him sick. :drinking1

Intersted to hear your review of CHH. We always love it but lately I've read people talking about it as "that chowder place". We've eaten there many times and I've never once had chowder.

erikthewise

06-12-2006, 01:37 PM

Swimnoid

06-12-2006, 07:48 PM

Cant wait for your next reviews. Keeping it bumped up!

jezebella

06-12-2006, 08:16 PM

On with this....Columbia Harbor House

After a rough day at the office--ok, so I blew off work--we ended up at MK on Thursday night. Around 8pm, I was starving, DF was good, but I needed FOOD. We had just gotten off the Haunted Mansion, so being so very conscious of what I have eaten and haven't, I headed to CHH. DF didn't want anything to eat and Princess was on that low-carb diet:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/CHHRheannon.jpg

So, I'm the only one with real "food".

I had the half sandwich and soup:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/CHHJess.jpg
Half Sandwich and Cup of soup $6.69
Starboard Deck Sandwich - ham with tomatoes, broccoli slaw and cheese with Clam Chowder.

First of all, the half sandwich was HUGE!!!!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/CHHclose.jpg

This was going to show how HUGE it was, but alas, Mr. Brit was taking the picture and I apologize for the chesty background. I think he was focused elsewhere. :rotfl2:

Now, let me just say, I'm a clam chowder-a-holic. Make it all the time, eat it everywhere I can, and my dream is to go to New England for the yearly Clam Chowder festival! I was REALLY surprised at how good it was. Creamy with a few potatoes and A LOT of HUGE pieces of clam. Ok...I must stop, I might short circuit the computer with my drooling.

The ham sandwich was great as well, but way upstaged by the chowder. I was full after the soup and half of the sandwich. I found it to be a lot of food for the money when considering other restaurants....I would just avoid the fried fish and chicken fingers as they looked like the ones I got in elementary school, but cost about 10 times as much! This is a sure rec from me....it's going to be hard not to jump back in there before this is all done for more chowder!

Up next: B&C---a whole lot more pics---and stomach aches to boot! :thumbsup2

2nd childhood

06-12-2006, 09:05 PM

I'm so glad you have posted all these great and detailed reviews. I look forward to the rest.:thumbsup2

BeckWhy

06-12-2006, 10:23 PM

and Princess was on that low-carb diet:

Low-carb diet? And she is HOW OLD? LOL.

jezebella

06-13-2006, 12:16 AM

hehehe......I should call her the ANTI-atkins girl. The carbs she loves, oh I wish I could eat like that! Well, I've got the pics downloaded for B&C, but Mr. Merlot (no, not the new name for Mr. Brit, just my other man, Sterling, he's from Cali..and his vineyard, oh his vineyard) has decided that I can't finish my review tonight and it must be done tomorrow! Cheers all and Hurricane Party! Ice cream and bad dreams in the morning~~Jess

jezebella

06-13-2006, 03:03 PM

BEACHES & CREAM

We decided that Sunday we were going to go to EPCOT...well, lets just say we were lazy and didn't get around to showering until 1pm...by 2pm...it was a downpour. Normally, this wouldn't stop me a bit, but like I said, I was lazy that day. So, to get the Princess out of the house we decided on Beaches & Cream. None of us had ever been there before (or even the Beach Club for that matter) and I can get Mr. Brit to do just about anything if there's mention of ice cream. :goodvibes He also mentioned to me on the way there that after we should stop at Premium Outlets and pick up some fudge. He sure does loves his sweets!

Mr. Brit had the Roast Beef Sandwich - grilled roast beef with au jus and topped with provolone cheese, grilled onions and peppers, served with fries $8.99

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/BCPhilly.jpg

AND A CHOCOLATE MILKSHAKE---pay attention, this part is important later!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/BCMilkshake.jpg

The sandwich was great and Mr. Brit was once again a member of the clean plate club! :cheer2:

I opted for the Chicken Sandwich - grilled chicken breast served on a multi-grain bun $8.99

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/BCChicken.jpg

and an orange soda---I'm a good girl! :thumbsup2 It was your average grilled chicken sandwich. I wouldn't go out of my way for it though.

Princess had the Kid's Hot Dog $ 5.49

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/BCDog.jpg

..........I had to bribe her to eat the hotdog with a promise of ice cream!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/BCRheannonandDog.jpg

So....she got a scoop of vanilla with sprinkles. She's a purist....she doesn't do chocolate ice cream, syrup, nuts, anything...just vanilla...and sprinkles..LOTS of sprinkles.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/BCVanilla.jpg

Now...at this point I was full, Mr. Brit was REALLY full after eating all of his food. I glared at him and said "you weren't supposed to get a shake...ice cream for dessert!!" He said he was too full and maybe we should split something! DUHHHHHHH! That was the plan to begin with! Oh wait...smack myself. Mr. Brit doesn't sit here all day long and look at food..he has no idea the size of the sundaes! So, I order the

No Way Jose - a peanut butter and hot fudge delight with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate morsels, whipped cream and a cherry $7.99

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/NoWayJose.jpg

I'm not a desert girl. It's odd, I used to be the queen of desserts---thinking that my world had fallen apart if I didn't get to order something decadent when eating out....until I had Rheannon! Then, my taste for sweet things left me...TOTALLY. For the past 3 years, I haven't even eaten any of my own birthday cake.

That being said, when I was growing up I had one favorite dessert and it was at our local Dairy Queen in Murfreesboro, TN....now...you CANNOT get this anywhere else..I've looked. It was called a Peanut Butter Crunch Sundae. Reason being, our local DQ had hand scooped ice cream in addition to the soft serve blizzard junk! 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, peanut butter syrup, whipped cream and a cherry....I've had dreams about this! I have FINALLY found a replacement. Lets just say, never in the past 5 years have I enjoyed a dessert this much! It's amazing...Mr. Brit ate half of it...that's after the huge sandwich, fries, and the ENTIRE chocolate milkshake.

We basically waddled out of there! Oh...and I will be back---but ice cream only! Mr. Brit was miserable...He was so stuffed with ice cream and kept moaning about it as we walked back through past Cape May's. I asked him if he was ready to go get some clams and he about zzub'ed right there...seriously..stopped in his tracks, mouth covered with hand and all I could do was laugh hysterically. On the way home, with him laying down in the passenger seat he sickly muttered "baby, I don't want to go get fudge now"... :rotfl:

java

06-13-2006, 03:14 PM

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:
Oh that sundae! I am a Peanut butter cup girl. When I was pregnant with my third child McD was selling those blizzardy things with peanut butter cups! AH I was in Heaven. But then some peanut allergy kid had to ruin it all. They took it off the menu for fear of peanut allergy. Blast you peanut allergy child.(ok not really but give that kid a shot and let's get on with it!)

LISAVWL

06-13-2006, 03:16 PM

Beaches "N Cream is our favorite burger & ice cream stop at Disney World! We discovered it after staying at the Beach Club Villas 3 years ago, before that we never knew it was there. DS 13 is dying to go back this year and get the kitchen sink -- a reward for great grades this past year, my personal favorite is the No Way Jose too! :thumbsup2
Thanks for the great reviews and photos, keep 'em coming!

Dreamfinder2

06-13-2006, 03:20 PM

I am all about a No Way Jose sundae! Heck, yeah.

And Jezebella, we lived in M'boro from 80 - 84. I'm guessing you were just a wee thing then. But I've had the very sundae you're talking about at the same DQ.

Ah, memories.

erikthewise

06-13-2006, 03:24 PM

BEACHES & CREAM

We basically waddled out of there! Oh...and I will be back---but ice cream only! Mr. Brit was miserable...He was so stuffed with ice cream and kept moaning about it as we walked back through past Cape May's. I asked him if he was ready to go get some clams and he about zzub'ed right there...seriously..stopped in his tracks, mouth covered with hand and all I could do was laugh hysterically. On the way home, with him laying down in the passenger seat he sickly muttered "baby, I don't want to go get fudge now"... :rotfl:

How does he put up with you?! :rotfl2:

Hey, you still haven't tried the burgers. Or the onion rings. You gotta go back! But most importantly, don't you agree it is TS, not CS?

erikthewise

06-13-2006, 03:28 PM

Tumbleweed

06-13-2006, 03:30 PM

erikthewise

06-13-2006, 03:42 PM

Double post!
Stupid Server.... :badpc:

jezebella

06-13-2006, 05:24 PM

How does he put up with you?! :rotfl2:

Hey, you still haven't tried the burgers. Or the onion rings. You gotta go back! But most importantly, don't you agree it is TS, not CS?

I'm not sure...but he kept making this strange noise on the way home that was bothering me and I told him if he didn't stop it, I'd mention the "C" word. :rotfl2: :rotfl2: I'm so bad! I'll send Mr. Brit in for a burger and we did see the onion rings---HUGE! And yes...I would consider it a TS...I need to edit that!

jezebella

06-13-2006, 05:29 PM

Jezebella! Jezebella!

I remember the Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Sundae from Dairy Queen!
I LOVED them! I am also now a total fan of the No Way Jose!

I think you must be a long lost sister! We were separated at birth!

Where have you been all my life??? Boro people and my long lost sister---see, Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Sundae's bring ppl together. I think I'm going to buy a DQ and start making them again! :thumbsup2

Cocomisu

06-13-2006, 05:33 PM

Mmmm I can't believe I've still never managed to order the No Way Jose. It sounds sooo tasty and looks well...... it looks BIG!!!!

I've been really enjoying your reviews jezabella :thumbsup2

LOL about your mate Mr Merlot :rotfl:

Mr Brit

06-13-2006, 06:01 PM

Hi everyone, well im Jezzabelle's beloved and i feel i need to make a few comments to try to redeem myself for anything she may have said about me in her past reviews or in Particular Beaches & Cream.

Well i would like to STRESS i am not a greedy gluton....lol. My feeling of terriable stomach pains and a distinct fear projectile vohmiting everything that have been consumed in the previous 1 hr was purely from a stomach bug i had contracted(Perhaps if i sound sincere people will believe me) and not from the copious amount of milkshake, ice-cream and beef sub i had consumed. Everyone knows that ice-cream is like pennicilin or Ibuprufen, its good for you.

Anyway hope you are all enjoying these reviews my beloved is making for you. I think im going to have to start charging people to read these reviews otherwise im going to be banktrupted....lol.

Mr. Brit

LiteBrite

06-13-2006, 06:45 PM

ufgator

06-13-2006, 10:05 PM

Thanks for the great reviews so far. I agree with your "Princess" about being a purist when it comes to ice cream - I like rainbow sprinkles on vanilla (although rarely I'll put chocolate chips on it). :)

That's really interesting that you liked sweets before having your daughter and now you don't. I don't have kids yet, but I wonder if that happens a lot or is rare. :confused3

LUVMICKEY

06-13-2006, 10:16 PM

Beaches and Cream is our first stop this coming Tuesday. First thing has to be a Cheeseburger and then that lusious No Way Jose. We can't wait. :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

sunny04

06-14-2006, 02:10 PM

So I just yelled NO WAY at your report. DH and I live in Murfreesboro, TN. :rotfl: How's that for a small world????

catelynsmom

06-14-2006, 11:53 PM

I think what you guys are doing is great! It really lets us know whats going on down there!!! We are going down 8/30-9/5 and are really interested in what you have to say! Everyone is a firsttimer to disney except me.
We would love reviews of the following (as this is where we think we've decided to go):
Chef Mickeys Dinner
Chefs de France Dinner
L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Dinner
Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki Dinner
Princess Storybook at Akershus-Breakfast
of course we are going to 1900 Park Fare to see Cinderella (especially after your great review)
we were thinking about San Angel, but know we will probably rethink it!
And any other cool places to eat Lunch, we will have 4, maybe 5 little ones with us so we will probably just do CS for lunch seeing as how they won't eat much and will be ready for a nap!!
Thanks
Samantha

MissMagnolia

06-15-2006, 02:27 AM

Awesome reviews - We live in WI and if I lived as close to WDW as you I'd be there as much as I could too!!

We are visiting WDW 8/26-9/2 and are planning on dining at the following, so any reviews from these would be great!

Teppanyaki (1st time)
Le Cellier (1st time)
CRT (breakfast/1st time)
Crystal Palace (dinner) - we've done lunch before
Boma (1st time)
Chef Mickey's (dinner/1st time)
Spoodles (1st time)
Cape May Cafe (breakfast/1st time)
50s PTC (dinner) - we've done lunch before

CS Plans:
Tusker House or Flame Tree BBQ
Cosmic Ray's
Sunshine Seasons (breakfast)
Wolfgang Puck Express
Spoodles Pizza Window
Backlot Express
Hurricane Hannah's

Thanks and happy eating!!!! :thumbsup2

jezebella

06-15-2006, 10:10 AM

We will for sure get Le Cellier in as we have it scheduled for our honeymoon the first week of August.

As for a small world, yes it is! I lived in the boro most of my life---went to school there all the way through Oakland HS and got my Bachelors at MTSU. I do miss that place...although, I could never move back!

DaddyBrady

06-19-2006, 08:23 PM

:drinking1First off, I decided it was 5:00 somewhere and went for a spiked Lemonade.

(This is from #22 in the posting.) I got here and I roared! The motto on our family crest is "It's 5 o'clock somewhere in the world," and at any time of day I can probably tell you where that is!

This is going to be fun--better than two-thirds of the shows on TV, at least. Y'all may get a development deal out of this!

jezebella

07-03-2006, 11:31 PM

Just a quickie update...I know we've slacked off recently, but Mr. Brit and I are getting married in less than a month, I've taken over a new title company, and we're getting a new house in Independence...not to worry, just as close as Celebration and we'll still have the house there. We'll be up to speed soon but in the meantime...avoid the Tommorrowland Noodle Station...YUUUUUUUCK...more details to come!

isla bonita

07-04-2006, 12:42 AM

I have enjoyed your reviews so much thank you for the entertainment.

Have a wonderful wedding.

Lizzybee

07-04-2006, 01:37 AM

:magnify: popcorn:: Subscribing to keep watching, this is fun! Great thread.

fizz13

07-04-2006, 06:01 AM

Oooh good luck with the wedding, its amazing you have time to visit us here at all, thankyou :thumbsup2. have duly noted, NO Tommorowland Terrace Noodle Station!
Claire xx

samano

07-04-2006, 10:46 AM

OurDogCisco

07-05-2006, 12:00 AM

Great Reviews.... thanks for sharing... I can't wait to hear the rest of them.

Kaycee

07-05-2006, 09:27 AM

Hi Jezebella! Life can get crazy-hectic sometimes, can't it? Sounds like all your busy-ness is good busy-ness though. :goodvibes

I've never had an interest in trying Tomorrowland Noodle Station, and after reading your brief comment, I'm glad!

Looking forward to reading more of your reviews. In the meantime, I'll just stop by this thread from time to time to drool over that pic of the No Way Jose. :cloud9:

jezebella

07-06-2006, 01:07 PM

kyirish25

07-06-2006, 02:40 PM

So, I know this one isn't on my list...and most vacationers will not go here, but due to my dining review withdraw symptoms, I will be doing a review of the Neverland Club this weekend. Yes...it's the mega birthday party weekend...one on Saturday with the blow up water slide and one on Sunday at the NC. I know it's usually just Disney pizza, but hey...it's my thread and I'm going to review it! LOL.

I would love the review of the birthday party at NC. We are looking at booking this for the 1st of December but haven't had any luck finding reviews other than what the CM's give out over the phone.

Ashley80

07-06-2006, 04:24 PM

Great reviews!! Thanks for taking the time out to do it. I can't wait to read more! :yay:

mjmcca

07-06-2006, 10:20 PM

So, I know this one isn't on my list...and most vacationers will not go here, but due to my dining review withdraw symptoms, I will be doing a review of the Neverland Club this weekend. Yes...it's the mega birthday party weekend...one on Saturday with the blow up water slide and one on Sunday at the NC. I know it's usually just Disney pizza, but hey...it's my thread and I'm going to review it! LOL.
I took the ids to the NC so the Easter Bunny could get their baskets ready for Easter Morning. They loved it and keep asking to go back. I would love to hear about the birthday party.

Tired Mama

07-20-2006, 04:23 PM

Disney owl

07-21-2006, 06:17 AM

Great reviews thanks for sharing

Viki

08-18-2006, 05:31 PM

Great reviews and photos! Where's the next one? :happytv:

latexscooter

11-08-2006, 04:25 PM

Okay, Jezebella, whatever happened to this thread? I feel like I'm reading the latest Harry Potter book and I've been hanging out for months waiting for the next installment. :rolleyes1

Now I know you got married (CONGRATULATIONS) but how about the dining reviews from that or anything else. I find it hard to believe that a Disney die-hard like yourself has abandoned all their dining!

Please come back to us.

sunny04

11-08-2006, 05:20 PM

molly2004

11-09-2006, 09:09 AM

Please come back! :-)

LISAVWL

11-09-2006, 09:26 AM

I enjoyed reading your reviews too! I would love to read more for my Disney fix!

Blaynexox

11-18-2006, 01:13 PM

I love this idea! I love the reviews and the pictures are GREAT! I subscribed and cant wait for your next reveiws. Me and my boyfriend are going to WDW for the first time EVER in february. Ive been studying up and made ADR's at :

Planet Hollywood
Coral Reef
Le Cellier
50's Prime Time
Sci Fi Dine In
Mama Melrose
Les Chefs de France
Boma
Tonys Town Square
O'Hanas

-although after i made the reservations for mama melrose and coral reef ive been hearing that they aren't doing so well. I would love if you could try to review both of those before February! It would be great! :) Your so lucky to live so close!!

jezebella

01-14-2007, 12:11 AM

Have you ever written an entire review only for the computer Gods to delete the entire thing? :confused3 AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....So...we've been MIA and I decided it was time for a resurection! We weren't planning on going to MK until Monday, but Mom the CM was itching to go and dangled a CM 50% off meal pass in front of us and who can really pass that up? As for the crowds... :lmao: :rotfl2: out of control! But, apparently, the Plaza isn't too bad to get into know as it's not quite as pricey as most other TS meals and the DDP'ers want to use their credits elsewhere...good for me! We walked up at noon and made an ADR for 3:30 Dunch (that's Dinner and Lunch)

We were seated within 5 minutes of our ADR and had a great server who explained that he may or may not be with us the entire time as he was waiting for his replacement...He was great...his replacement was semi-scary and didn't read the Disney CM handbook section on "blue eyeshadow and inappropriate sarcasm"...but hey...what can you do? Onto the food:

Mr. Brit went for the burger:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/plazaburger.jpg

Hamburger - served on a flour-dusted kaiser with lettuce, tomato, and onion. Choose from the following toppings: Cheddar, American cheese, Bacon, Grilled Mushrooms and Grilled Onions $10.89

Mr. Brit is a know-it-all of Burgers...he even has a scale:

McDonald Double Cheese - 3.5/10 - although he can consume 4 of them in under 10 minutes and justifies this by their dollar menu status.

Pecos Bill's Burger - 6/10 - he just likes the topping bar

Denny's Burger 10/10 - the burger to which all burgers wish to be. Comes from years of travel to Disney as a child and eating there no less than once a day.

He scores this one a 7.5/10 -- looks good to me, but so does anything with bacon.

DD6 (yes..she's 6 now..yikes) got the chicken

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/plazarheannon.jpg
Grilled Chicken Sticks with rice, apple wedges and BBQ sauce $5.49

Apparently Disney thinks if you put healthy stuff on a fun "stick" then kids will like it...not so for my princess. She ate 2 bites of the chicken, all of the fries, the apples, and most of my food..

I tasted the chicken and it tasted just like that...grilled chicken with NO seasoning at all...if your kids are purists and will just dip it in bbq and be fine, go for it..Rheannon's not a "dipper"..even with ketchup.

My mother and I decided to order a salad and sandwich and split it. I got the Reuben

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/plazaruben.jpg
Grilled Reuben - thinly sliced corned beef on grilled marble rye with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing $10.79

I managed to get one bite of my half a sandwich -- which was really good. It would seem that my taste buds have grown a bit as I refused to eat sauerkraut most of my life....and I like EVERYTHING. I have flashbacks of it stewing on my parents stove served over mashed potatoes and hot dogs and force fed...:crazy2: But I've started eating it in the past couple months...As for the rest of my half sandwich..DD6 ate all the corned beef. She loves the stuff..I mean really...what 6 year old loves corned beef? I have to buy a pound a week at Publix deli for her..she must have been Irish in a past life. Rheannon - burgers=bad corned beef=good. :confused3

CM Mom got the pear salad. I hear you now.."pear salad..she's nuts, one too many vodkas, it's strawberry"..no...apparently at this time of year it's pear. They change it to what's in season so says Mr. Server...Um..who didn't notify the Disney culinary staff that it's Strawberry season now in Florida??

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/plazasalad.jpg
Chicken Pear Salad - fresh garden greens, grilled chicken breast, fresh Pear, gorgonzola cheese, tossed in a white zinfandel vinaigrette dressing $10.29

ooooooooooo......not as pretty without the red but, in my preference WAY BETTER! The crunchy texture and sweetness that the pear lends against the pungent gorgonzola is amazing. YUM-O! I think they should leave it this way.

So, overall - great food, good service, and one of the few places that I can always count on!

Tip: If I were on the DDP I would not use it here. Hey, I did the same thing on my wedding...added up how much a meal would cost and went to the most expensive to get bang for my buck...but definelty worth an OOP treat. Cheers everyone! Hope to write more for you soon!

Swimnoid

01-14-2007, 02:23 AM

Glad you are back! Even a friend of mine who is not a DISer asks about this thread every now and then! :lmao:

ferretxxxferret

01-14-2007, 03:21 AM

Great Reviews! Where ya goin next??

latexscooter

01-14-2007, 08:27 AM

I'm so glad your back! Congratulations on the Wedding. Your picture is lovely. You did a Disney Wedding didn't you? I can't remember because you're local. Any details on that? How was your wedding food?

jezebella

01-14-2007, 11:18 AM

Oooooooooo..now that's a thought...We got married in Celebration and the reception was at Cafe D'Antonio's in downtown Celebration. I've got pics...maybe I'll add it just for fun.

I think up next might be 'Ohana's and I'm crossing my fingers for a bonus at the moment to blow at V&A's. My in-laws will be in town from Canterbury on Monday and are going for the 7 day cruise...I Wonder (hehe) if I could get them to take pictures for me. :beach:

sunny04

01-14-2007, 11:29 AM

I'm so glad you're back! I loved getting constant reviews. It's so fun!

LISAVWL

01-14-2007, 06:43 PM

I'm glad you're back -- love the reviews! :thumbsup2 Congratulations on your wedding!

kyirish25

01-16-2007, 09:11 AM

So glad to have you back! Love your reviews and pictures!

Congrats on the wedding :bride:

larklynn

01-16-2007, 02:03 PM

enjoying

Worfiedoodles

01-16-2007, 04:22 PM

Sign me up for this awesome thread!

TruBlu

01-16-2007, 04:28 PM

I was wondering what happened to your guys! Glad you are back!!!

jezebella

02-01-2007, 12:36 PM

Coming up this weekend - my bar menu review of Ragland Road.

wahoostampingirl

02-01-2007, 05:18 PM

We ate at the Plaza last Friday before the P&P party. I knew nothing about it, but was pleasantly surprised(made our ADRs that morning). The kids loved the Mickeylodeon sundaes. I got the Reuban and wasn't thrilled with it, but it was definitely edible. I also had the brownie sundae. Yum! My dh loved his steak sandwich. Overall, we gave it a thumbs up.

I'm loving your reviews. Keep 'em coming!

Carol

glass- slippers

02-01-2007, 06:59 PM

i just discovered this thread. Congrats to you both on your wedding, and thanks for writing all these great reviews! If you have time, would you mind reviewing where you ate for your wedding? Thanks. Can't wait to read more!:)

frannn

02-01-2007, 08:42 PM

Also experiencing a bit of jealousy right now...I'd LOVE to live next door to the Mouse!

ARS123

02-02-2007, 03:16 AM

I'm loving the thread and am looking forward to more. Keep 'em coming!

Oh, I've been to that Dairy Queen any number of times in the 'boro. It's like a 20 or so minute drive from my house.

----

jezebella

02-06-2007, 12:03 PM

See now...you TN peeps have to keep throwing that DQ in my face....but...you can bet I'll be visiting it in October when I return to the 'boro for my brother's wedding.

jezebella

02-06-2007, 01:06 PM

I know I promised the Raglan Road bar menu --- and I do have pics (drunken as they may be) from last week…but first I feel compelled to review the restaurants from our wedding. I’ve been sitting on all the notes and comtemplating what to do with them since I didn’t take any pictures except for the wedding reception food at Cafe D’Antonio’s in Celebration. I’m figuring though, you can find many of these pics on this board already so here’s the reviews:

Artist Point

I love love love this restaurant. We met up here the first night of our honeymoon with my parents, my brother, his fiancé and her parents (whom, by the way, were Waylon Jennings band..not to mention the future sis in law is signed with Toby Keith…cool). This is my 4th time in AP because our family is friends with the former head chef, Lenny DeGeorge, who now is in charge of all the resort restaurants at Disney. I make the Portobello mushroom soup at home…and it’s to die for!!! Here’s what we had:

Chefs Northwest Selection
Fixed Price Dinner
$46 per person
(Gratuity not included)
Great Beginnings Choice of:

Smoky Portobello Soup with roasted Shiitakes and Chive Oil
OR
Fresh Field Greens, Roasted Beets, Hazelnut Gremolata, Crater Lake Blue Cheese, and Blackberry Vinaigrette

Entree Choice of:

Cedar Plank Roasted King Salmon with Asparagus, Haricot Vert, Mizuma, Herb Dumplings and Sage Brown Butter Vinaigrette
OR
Grilled Beef Tenderloin with with purple potatoes, wild mushrooms, broccolini, and port wine reduction
OR
Grilled Buffalo Sirloin Steak with sweet potato-hazelnut gratin and sweet onion jam

Dessert Choice of:
Artist Point Berry Cobbler
OR
Coffee Two Ways: Mochaccino Bread Pudding and Vanilla Latte Creme Brulee
________________________________________

Mr. Brit had the Soup, Buffalo, and Coffee Two ways. It was all perfect!

I had the soup. I can’t help it…I love it.. It has a smoky creaminess to it that is to die for. For a long time I thought it had bacon as the back flavor, but come to find out that it’s the combo of smoked mushrooms and white wine that give it that taste. The bowl is not that big---but it’s so rich that you can barely finish what they give you.

Next up, I tried the Salmon. I’ve had the Buffalo several times and was feeling adventurous. I love fish and seafood, but Salmon is my least favorite and I hardly EVER eat it. My decision was based solely on reviews of this and it being declared the best salmon on property. I was not disappointed. It was delicious! Light, flaky, seasoned perfectly with the cedar underones! Yum-O!

Finally I had the Cobbler. Don’t tell Lenny, but they’ve sweetened it up a bit since he has left, which I prefer. It’s tart and sweet and a perfect finish for a big meal! Once again, AP never lets me down and remains on of my all time favorites.

jezebella

02-06-2007, 05:14 PM

While staying at Saratoga Springs, we used a lot of our CS credits at Artist’s Palatte. We were never to early to rise (hello…it was our honeymoon) and only ever made it for lunch. They have quite a selection of items you can just pick up (think Old Key West General store but more open with less stuff) and food you can order. You go up and order what you want (the flatbreads change daily) and then they give you a beeper. Browse around, pick up more junk that you don’t really need but want, pay and wait for the buzz. I love how it was decorated in bold colors and modern motif. It reminded me of walking onto the Disney Cruise! Anyways – here’s what we had:

Turkey and Brie Sandwich $7.29

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my………..one of the best sandwiches I’ve had at Disney. A whole load of turkey on multigrain bread, thick slice of brie and spicy arugala. I loved this so much, I went back the next day and got another one.

Roast Beef and Bleu Sandwich $7.29

Eh, typical…not much to write home about. Who hasn’t had a roast beef and blue cheese sandwich? Edible, decent, but not memorable.

Steak, Provolone, Portobello, and Spinach Flatbread $7.99

I love how they do the flatbreads here – the minute you order them it goes into the oven and is crispy and delicious! This was a special of the day. We also had a plain pepperoni one another day that was good. To me, the crust makes the flatbread…and they’ve got it down!

In addition to these, we also sampled some deserts. The key lime pie was great and I kept a spare on in my mini-fridge for late night snacks. Mr. Brit had some sort of chocolate bow tie cake that he still drools about every time I mention it. We will most likely go out of our way to Artist’s Palatte for lunch sometime soon….I need turkey and brie and key limes…oh my!

sunny04

02-06-2007, 06:27 PM

I'm loving the thread and am looking forward to more. Keep 'em coming!

Oh, I've been to that Dairy Queen any number of times in the 'boro. It's like a 20 or so minute drive from my house.

----

I can't believe that many of us live that close to each other! I'm in the 'boro too!

celerystalker

02-07-2007, 08:31 PM

I'm in Franklin and they closed our DQ.
So I can be envious of all of you guys! No WDW, no DQ.

latexscooter

02-07-2007, 08:39 PM

While staying at Saratoga Springs, we used a lot of our CS credits at Artist’s Palatte.

Would you recommend staying at Saratoga Springs? Last trip I did a drive-by and was pleased with the surroundings but parts of it seem so remote. I was thinking, what if I wanted a sammy at 11 pm, could I get one? The proximity to DTD is nice but I like to have food available late in the evening.

jezebella

02-07-2007, 10:31 PM

To be perfectly honest, besides our excellent counter service we were not that impressed. Let me give you a little background though. Mr. Brit and I are the same age and our parents joined the DVC the year it opened. We have both grown up not living in Orlando (me in Nashville and him in well...England of course) but visiting multiple times a year since we were 13. The last time I stayed at a DVC resort was 3 years ago at Hilton Head and before then it was OKW 3 times a year. Our room was a disaster compared to typical DVC standards. The dresser was missing a pull, the remote was broken, the wallpaper in the bathroom was torn, there were burn marks on the tile and some sort of candy stuck to the carpet. Not exaclty what I remember of the standard DVC quality. The view was gorgeous and we could always pop over to PI to get a bite late in the night though. If you're paying with money and not points though, I would consider it a miss and hit up their CS on a day off from the parks.

kyirish25

02-08-2007, 09:49 AM

I had your exact menu at Artist Point when I ate there. That mushroom soup is definately to die for!!

Can't wait for the "druken" pictures of Raglan Road.

shovan

02-09-2007, 07:11 PM

I just read all 11 pages! This is so cool! Congratulations on your wedding!
But you have to get back to Artist Point sometime with a camera! Thanks for all of this work, we appreciate the effort!:cool1: :thumbsup2

Mbruce

02-10-2007, 12:35 PM

Congratulations on your recent marriage. I, too, have been following your reviews. Thanks. At Artist, on the DDP, are you required to get the fixed price meal or was that just your choice? Thanks. Marlyne

jezebella

07-16-2008, 03:58 PM

So...I've abandoned this thread and I'm considering reviving it. I have pics and reviews from the past two weeks of Crystal Palace and Sci Fi. DH is now working a couple days a week at Disney, so I am loving the CM discount. I'm also planning on hitting up the Studio Catering Company this weekend with DD. DH and I have an ADR beginning of August for Jiko and the next weekend for Le Cellier.

My new plan of attack is this: DH typically works weekends, so DD and I can just start knocking out the CS restaurants and DH and I are doing the sit downs during the week. We'll see how it goes...if anything you'll slowly get more food porn. Cheers!

TigerKat

07-16-2008, 05:50 PM

I'm ready to revive this thread!!:goodvibes

LISAVWL

07-17-2008, 08:41 AM

I'm so glad you're back! I'm looking forward to your reviews popcorn::

jezebella

07-17-2008, 03:49 PM

For entertainment purposes while I write up Crystal Palace and Sci-Fi, here is some food porn from our last Disney Cruise!

This is from Tritons!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1295.jpg
[Ihttp://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1293.jpgMG]http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1294.jpg[/IMG]
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1292.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1291.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1290.jpg

quixoticvalue

07-17-2008, 03:51 PM

Yummm...

jezebella

07-17-2008, 03:52 PM

Palo Brunch

Cauliflower Soup

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1273.jpg

Prime Rib

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1274.jpg

Eggs Benedict -- YUMMMMM

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1275.jpg

Mini Desserts

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1276.jpg
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1277.jpg

jezebella

07-17-2008, 03:54 PM

Martini Tasting---Slightly drunk

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1231.jpg

jezebella

07-17-2008, 03:57 PM

Pirate Night at Parrot Cay

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1265.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1263.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1261.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1260-1.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1259.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_1249.jpg

jezebella

07-17-2008, 04:00 PM

And very overdue---food pics from our wedding reception at Cafe D'Antonio's in Celebration!

HOld please...resizing pics.
Wedding Cake: Courtesy of Publix. It was the best cake! Chocolate and white cake with German Chocolate filling! My brother and his DF liked it so much, they are havig the same cake!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0864.jpg

Shameless promotion, here is DB, Adam, and his DF, Emily, of Carter's Chord -- GO BUY THEIR ALBUM ON ITUNES!!!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0849-1.jpg

Chicken

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0857-1.jpg

I think this is the pork

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0860-1.jpg

Appetizer Boats -- there were about 5 of these on the tables...I could have just eaten these:

Calamari, Brushetta, and Tomato with Mozzerela and Basil

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0852-1.jpg

This was my favorite! The very unethical Veal Marsala---it was crazy good!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/IMG_0859-1.jpg

danalee

07-17-2008, 04:31 PM

nice pics, thanks for the updates! :goodvibes

TigerKat

07-17-2008, 05:39 PM

Oh how I LOVE Veal Marsala and that looked great!:thumbsup2

jezebella

07-18-2008, 01:18 PM

Crystal Palace – July 6, 2008

We weren’t expecting to eat here today. DH was working at MK from 9-4 and DD and I were going to go visit him for a minute and then head on in and hit up some rides. We got to the park around 11, found DH, chatted for a minute, and then headed over to Cosmic Ray’s to grab some lunch.

**Side note: I’m going to review Cosmic Ray’s again at some point because I didn’t take any pictures. FTR, DD had the chicken nuggets with chips and grapes. I had the turkey bacon wrap with chips. This is our normal spot for lunch in the MK, however, I had never had the wrap before. It was huge and had a ton of turkey and so much bacon it was falling out the end of the wrap. It also has lettuce and chopped tomato. The chips were fresh, but needed a little more salt. Obviously I would go here again, considering we hit it up at least once a month. I think next time I’m going to go with the ribs or the chicken. If anyone has a preference, let me know! Being a libra, I can never make up my mind. LOL!

Right as we were finishing lunch, DH called to tell us that he had the option to cut out early. He ran home, changed, and joined us in the park for the rest of the day. While we were waiting for him, next to the CP, I wondered if they might have any ADR’s left for the day. I called and we had the option of 4:55 or 9:05. I grabbed the 4:55, DH showed up and we were off to hit up some more rides.

We arrived at the CP at 4:40 and put our name in. The porch had people sitting and waiting, but they were moving in and calling names quickly. Our pager went off right at 4:55 and we got sat by the window on the opposite side of the buffet. Our server came and took our drink order right away and we were off to get the grub!

First off--- DD preparing to eat!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Crystal%20Palace/Rheannon.jpg

I got salad stuff first!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Crystal%20Palace/SaladPic1.jpg

Starting off on the bottom right, Peel & Eat Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, Edamame Salad, Mediterranean Pasta Salad, Romaine and Bleu Cheese Salad, Tomato and Mozz salad, and in the middle is a Southwestern Salad.

The Peel & Eat shrimp were good, but very small. They were a lot of work, for not so much shrimp. But, I like to play with my food, so it’s no biggie to me. The Edamame Salad was very good with nice textures between the bok choy, carrots, and firm edamame. It was dressed in a light soy, which I could have had a little more of. The Medi pasta salad was very good. It had olives and feta cheese mixed in with it. Anything with Feta is good to me! The Bleu cheese salad and tomato and mozz salad are just what they say….but both were very fresh and just what I wanted on a hot day! Finally, the Southwest Salad was a mix of black beans, corn, cilantro, and I could also taste cumin. I could have thrown some chunked chicken in that salad and just eaten it. Overall, the salads were awesome. I could have just kept eating that bar and forgotten the hot stuff. Here is DH’s salad plate:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Crystal%20Palace/SaladPic2.jpg

Basically the same stuff, except he went for the Tropical Slaw. DH is a connoisseur of all things slaw. He really is obsessed with the stuff. I was surprised, actually, when he shoved a bite in my mouth and said “Do you taste pineapple?” I wasn’t aware the slaw was “tropical”, but it surprisingly went together very well and DH was happy!

I didn’t get a pic of DD’s food during all this, because she’s well, boring! She attacked the kids bar for nuggets and mac and cheese, then went back for pizza. Sigh…how I wish I could get her to try different things. I did, however get her to eat a slice of the carved turkey. She’s good with meats—as long as their plain. She still hasn’t learned to like any kind of sauce except for alfredo!

Onto the mains…I only got a pic of my food (this was before I decided to start reviewing again….so, I’ll work on more in the future). My plate:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Crystal%20Palace/EntreePicJess.jpg

Garlic mashed potatoes with au jus – OMGosh these were good! They were very heavy on the garlic, but that’s how I like it. I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel though for the au jus. When I went up the second time, they were still out of au jus on both sides and it didn’t look like they were in any hurry to replace it, which sucks because it is really good!

Broccoli tossed with puri puri and topped with key lime ponzu – to be honest, I didn’t taste puri puri or key lime….all I tasted was steamed broccoli, which is fine with me. Don’t expect any bold flavors with this dish.

Slow roasted adobo pork – Now I must say that I am a crazy person when it comes to pernil. My co-workers make it all the time and bring it in. I was surprised how good it was. Very moist and tender and the hint of adobo flavor.

Thai Curry mussels – this was the only thing I was slightly disappointed in. The curry was very mild (I’m used to British curries that have massive flavor and can knock your socks off ) and sweet and the mussels were rather small. I would go ahead and try them though, but here’s a hint—put them on a separate dish from the rest of your food or the curry sauce will attack everything else on your plate. I ended up eating yellow tinged potatoes!

Fire roasted prime rib – What can you say about prime rib? It was cooked perfectly Medium, was tender and very moist. If I had an expandable stomach I would have gone back and loaded up on a big plate of prime rib and more mashed taters covered in au jus…but no more au jus, so I settled and had a bite of DD’s ice cream and called it a done deal. I was totally stuffed.

FTR, buffet’s aren’t my thing. DH, DD, and myself really cannot eat enough to “get our money’s worth”, but I would go back to CP just because the food was really good and the character interaction was entertaining.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Crystal%20Palace/RheannonandPiglet.jpg

jezebella

07-18-2008, 02:13 PM

nice pics, thanks for the updates! :goodvibes

Thanks for reading!!! Can you believe that my new pics are being done by my palm centro! It takes better pics than my $200.00 digital!

Oh how I LOVE Veal Marsala and that looked great!:thumbsup2

It was great. Unfortunetly, last year for our 1 year anniversary (holy cow, it will be 2 years August 2nd) we went back to Antonio's and we got the marsala again and it was horrible! Honestly, it tasted exactly like the lean cuisine chicken marsala and even had the same accompanying veg. It was sad, really. So, this year, we're going to Jiko!!

TigerKat

07-18-2008, 05:17 PM

So, this year, we're going to Jiko!!

AAAhhhhhhh, one of my most favorite places!!!!!:thumbsup2

jezebella

07-18-2008, 05:41 PM

AAAhhhhhhh, one of my most favorite places!!!!!:thumbsup2

I've never been there before...Any suggestions??

TigerKat

07-18-2008, 05:49 PM

I've never been there before...Any suggestions??

Oh yes.....It's not on the menu but they have a "Sampler Appetizer Platter" that is AMAZING, I've got pics in my review. I'll post a link for ya. I ordered something I'd normally never order, at the suggestion of our server, the Short Rib....FANTASTIC....DS is still talking about the Filet with Mac & Cheese...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1661247

Brena

07-18-2008, 08:34 PM

Thank you so much for the Cafe D'Antonio review! We're thinking of having our rehearsal dinner at Antonio's in Maitland and everything you showed looked and sounded delicious!

jezebella

07-19-2008, 05:14 PM

Thank you so much for the Cafe D'Antonio review! We're thinking of having our rehearsal dinner at Antonio's in Maitland and everything you showed looked and sounded delicious!

I love the Antonio's in Maitland. The ambiance there is great with the downstairs eating in the grocery area and the upstairs fine dining. I would even go so far as to say that the food in the Maitland restaurant is even better than the one in Celebration! Congratulations and you'll have to give us a review!

jezebella

07-21-2008, 10:53 AM

Coming up, a quick sci fi review, pinnochio village haus, and studio catering company!

jezebella

07-22-2008, 02:02 PM

Sci-Fi Dine In – July 12th

We had some extended family in town for a week. DM asked me to call Friday night and see if there were any ADR’s available ( I don’t know how I got this job, but I make the ADR’s for everyone in my family and their friends, even if I’m not going) for Sci-Fi on Saturday for lunch. We scored again and got ADR’s for 1:50. We showed up at 1:15 because it was pouring and there was nothing that we could hop onto in that amount of time. I went to check in and the hostess told me (very snarky) that I couldn’t check in for another 20 minutes and then glared at me when we sat down in the lobby to wait 20 minutes to tell her we were still there. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t asking for us to get in earlier than our scheduled time, I just found it ridiculous for me to have to sit there and then get up and say “we’re here” when they’ve known that all along. I don’t think it would have bothered me as much, except she was a real bi*&# about it.

Anyway, we were called at 1:49 and seated in two cars. I’m only going to review in detail what I had to eat, as the others didn’t really have much imput other than “good, mmhmmm, nosh nosh nosh”. DM and I each ordered a chocolate shake, coffee, black, and water. OT-- after I realized I ordered the exact same thing as her, I had a moment freak out of OMG, I’m turning into my mother.

It took about 10 minutes for us to get out shakes and drinks. The shake was ok. I’ve had better here before but it seemed like they had been sitting around a while and the had melted some. It wasn’t nearly as thick as it should have been. On a side note, DD got a vanilla shake (which she promptly spilled about 10 minutes into lunch) and it was perfect. It had the right consistency in which you could sip through a straw and pull up ice cream on the straw to lick off. I’m wondering if b/c more ppl order the chocolate than the vanilla if hers was made to order??

DM and I decided to split an order of onion rings and also to split the Smoked Turkey Sandwich. From allears:

Smoked Turkey Sandwich - Smoked turkey, swiss cheese, arugula, plum tomatoes with mustard-mayonnaise on multigrain bread, served with cucumber melon salad.

Now, if you are on a budget and not on the DDP, I would seriously consider splitting this sandwich….unless you are cool with eating over a pound of meat in one sitting! This thing is huge! Since we told them we were splitting, they brought out two plates, each with one half of the sandwich and each plate had it’s own bowl of cucumber melon salad.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Photo_071208_003.jpg

Sorry that the pic is so dark, but the cell phone doesn’t have a flash! The sandwich was amazing. The onion rings were perfectly fried and just needed a dash of salt. Between the two of us, there is no way we could have ever eaten one of these by ourselves. The cucumber melon salad consisted of finely diced cucumbers, cantaloupe, and red onion, tossed with a light vinaigrette and black pepper. It sounds really strange and upon first bite, it tasted very strange, but it has that appeal that keeps making you taste it again and I eventually ate the whole side. I think I’m going to make it at home for a summer salad side. I really ended up liking the mixture of sweet melon, tart vinaigrette, and spicy onion.

Overall, I really like Sci-Fi, granted, I’ve never tried one of their main entrees. I typically stick to burgers and sandwiches there, which is why I’ve probably never been disappointed. I’m sure I will return as DD begs to go every time we are in DHS!

Up next, Village Haus and a very disappointing Studio Catering Co.

jezebella

07-24-2008, 11:03 AM

Pinocchio Village Haus

July 19, 2008

DD and I finished up our chores on Saturday morning and planned on going to the MK around 4:00 when DH started work. Too bad for us, mother nature had another idea in mind. It started pouring about 3:30 and didn’t let up until around 6:30. But, at 6:00, DD and I braved the weather and headed out. We had already decided we wanted to eat dinner as soon as we got there and DD picked Pinocchio Village Haus.

Typically, when we got to CHH, DD and I split the chicken fingers basket, as they don’t have them on the Kids menu, and I can’t finish the whole thing myself. We had not tried the splitting of fried chicken goodness since they stopped using the strips and switched to nuggets. DD and I decided to split the 8 nugget meal with fries.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/NuggetsandFries.jpg

Can’t see the nuggets, can you?? They’re hidden under the fries. Here’s a closer shot of 2 of the nuggets.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/Nugget.jpg

Little greasy?? First of all, let me say that they do taste exactly the same as the strips. The only problem is, when you line up the nuggets, I would say it only would equal about 2 of the strips (when I believe you used to get 3 or 4 strips) and it’s a lot less chicken and a lot more breading. DD and I had no problem finishing this off, when usually with the strips we would have been stuffed. I think Disney really is trying hard to keep their food prices the same, but you are getting less for your money.

What I have yet to figure out, is why do they serve nuggets in 2 of the CS restaurants in the MK (CHH and PVH), but yet don’t offer them as a kids meal?? Since the disgusting change of the macaroni and cheese, DD’s offerings have pretty much been whittled down to PB&J or nuggets, which, with the exception of Cosmic Rays, you can only order as an adult’s meal.

Overall, the food was fine…However, I think I’ll still stick with Cosmic Ray’s. I can confirm the Panini is gone. However, if you’re missing those Figaro fries, you can, at least put ranch on them and then all you’re missing is the lettuce and tomato. They have barrels of ranch dressing sitting around. Or better yet, you order the fries and get a friend to order the salad and steal some of the romaine…then you’re only out the tomatoes. I noticed a lot of people eating the pizza, which looked burned to me and not very appetizing at all. I’m just not having much luck lately. I’ve really got my fingers crossed for Jiko next week. I need a good review!

ibela

07-24-2008, 01:38 PM

Hi! I'm new to this thread and glad you decided to revive it. I'm looking forward to your Jiko review (and hope you have a great time and meal!). The one restaurant I'm really looking forward to trying on our next visit (um, not yet sure when that'll be but I'm a total dork I guess because I already started a list) is Narcoossee's. Look forward to your review of that one, when you decide to go that is!

Thanks for the great job with these reviews!

embgrl

07-24-2008, 09:20 PM

I missed the first round, so I'm so glad I've gotten caught up and am waiting for all the fabulous reviews. I'm so jealous that ya'll get to be @ WDW all the time!!

SmallWorld71

07-25-2008, 01:36 AM

I'm glad you've revived the thread. It was one of the ones that got my hooked on the DIS.;)

backinoz

07-27-2008, 04:55 AM

I think I've found a resident DIS food critic with similar tastes at last!! Thanks for the reviews to date & can't wait for the Jiko one. I have an ADR for there on our Jan09 trip - the flavours on the menu just drew me & my DDs in (DH is happy to go along with whatever we decide) - lots of meal sharing that night I think!

Keep it up (Love the pics BTW).

jezebella

07-28-2008, 12:13 AM

Oh yes.....It's not on the menu but they have a "Sampler Appetizer Platter" that is AMAZING, I've got pics in my review. I'll post a link for ya. I ordered something I'd normally never order, at the suggestion of our server, the Short Rib....FANTASTIC....DS is still talking about the Filet with Mac & Cheese...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1661247

I've seen this appetizer platter.....mmmmmmmmm....the only thing that I'm concerned about is the sweet potato thing...how was that? I'm sure DH will go for the Filet, I'm looking at the short ribs!!

Hi! I'm new to this thread and glad you decided to revive it. I'm looking forward to your Jiko review (and hope you have a great time and meal!). The one restaurant I'm really looking forward to trying on our next visit (um, not yet sure when that'll be but I'm a total dork I guess because I already started a list) is Narcoossee's. Look forward to your review of that one, when you decide to go that is!

Thanks for the great job with these reviews!

We actually did Narcoossee's right after we got married...and we were not so impressed. My lobster was bland and rubbery and the service was not so hot. However, my DM has different views from another time, so I think we'll have to have a re-do again soon!

I missed the first round, so I'm so glad I've gotten caught up and am waiting for all the fabulous reviews. I'm so jealous that ya'll get to be @ WDW all the time!!

Thanks for reading! We are in WDW way too much...especially since DH is working there now and we live so close...although, it's hotter than Hades lately!

I'm glad you've revived the thread. It was one of the ones that got my hooked on the DIS.;)

WOW!!! Thank you so much for that! I'm happy to get someone hooked on the DIS...it's an amazing wealth of information, even for those of us "in the know"

I think I've found a resident DIS food critic with similar tastes at last!! Thanks for the reviews to date & can't wait for the Jiko one. I have an ADR for there on our Jan09 trip - the flavours on the menu just drew me & my DDs in (DH is happy to go along with whatever we decide) - lots of meal sharing that night I think!

Keep it up (Love the pics BTW).

Yay!!!:cool1: It's hard to find people that have the similar tastes..We are pretty open to most foods. We figure we can span a vast amount of tastes in that we won't snub a McDonald's double cheese, but we can also hang with the likes of Victoria and Albert's. Sometimes, you need grease, sometimes you need sophistication! Plus it doesn't hurt that I live for cooking...tonight, I made a braised boneless leg of lamb that would knock your socks off! :thumbsup2

jezebella

07-28-2008, 11:20 AM

July 20, 2008 – Studio Catering Company

DD and I decided that we were going to get up really early to make it over to DHS and get on the new Toy Story ride. We managed to get in the park by 9:30 and got a FP for TSM with a return time of 11:30 (;lasdkfjl;sdjl; holy cow! Get there early!), then we stood in line to try it out. Long story short—great ride, except it confirmed my suspicion that I really need to work out more as my arm was tired from pulling the little string after riding it twice. However, I don’t feel too bad as DD and several others said the same thing. By the time we got off the 11:30 ride from our FP, the return time was up to 7pm…like I said GET THERE EARLY! We also managed to hit up RNRC and Star Tours. Before we headed home (it was soooooooo hot), we stopped in at the Studio Catering Company for a quick lunch.

I had read several reviews of the chicken with rice and beans and it sounded promising. I got a glimpse of the BBQ Pulled Pork Sub and immediately ruled that one out. It looked like the BBQ sandwich they used to serve me in elementary school with a light reddish ketchup sauce, even put onto the bread with an ice cream scoop. BLECH! No southerner in their right mind would call that BBQ!

DD went for the standby of Mac ‘n Cheese. I tried to talk her into the PB&J, but she was not yet convinced that they had changed the Mac recipe everywhere in Disney.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/MacandCheese.jpg

Lets just say that she is convinced now and told me to remind her to never get the Mac ‘n Cheese at Disney again. This low fat version has the nastiest artificial flavor to it that makes the stuff in the blue box taste homemade. She at the grapes and applesauce and I made her a PB&J when we got home.

I got the Grilled chicken with rice and black beans.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/ChickenwithRiceandBeans.jpg

Sigh….what is the matter with Disney and their food lately?? First off, I noticed that the chicken looked a little, shall we say, anemic. It was pasty and the skin was still all rubbery and slimy. Deciding to not even attempt the skin, I pulled it back to have a go at the meat. Underneath the anemic skin was a layer of gray gunk…I tried to get a pic of it.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/Closeupchicken.jpg

You know when you boil a chicken and all of that gray foam comes to the top of the pot???---well, there was a layer of that under the chicken! SICK! I don’t know how they can possibly call this chicken grilled! It seems to me, they par boiled the chicken and then toss it on the grill for a few seconds to get the marks and voila! Grilled chicken! The meat had zero flavor and was tough and not to mention the gag factor at having to scrape off that foam.

The rice was undercooked and still crunchy in the middle and in contrast to that the black beans were overcooked. Typically, black beans (or at least those I’ve eaten) still have the form of a black bean, but these were more the consistency of refried beans. However, they were the only really edible thing on the plate.

So, DD and I went home not quite filled up and made our own lunches and just wrote off the entire experience. Now I know why, after an insane amount of visits to DHS, I have never eaten at this CS, and I won’t be returning anytime soon. Stick to the Backlot Express!!

backinoz

07-28-2008, 07:48 PM

Thanx - will make sure we avoid SCC when we're there. It's not on our plans, but if we're hungry and happen to be out front, I'll make sure we keep walking!

SmallWorld71

07-28-2008, 10:56 PM

Eww! I've never eaten at SCC and never seen a review that made me want to. We'll stick with Pizza Planet. Not a thrilling menu that's for sure, but edible.:)

jezebella

08-02-2008, 05:46 PM

Omygosh! Jiko was amazing. I'm going to try and get the pics uploaded tonight and get the review out soon!

Just an FYI though---there is no longer the appetizer for two and they have removed the tamales and the lentil pastilla's from the menu!

TigerKat

08-02-2008, 06:15 PM

disneyfav4ever

08-02-2008, 06:27 PM

That's such a bummer about the tamales, they were my favorite thing at Jiko. I guess that means you got the cheese plate. ;)

jezebella

08-05-2008, 10:26 PM

Can't wait!!! No more platter or tamales or pastillas????????:scared1:

I know! I even took a pic of the menu ===but it didn't come out too well.

That's such a bummer about the tamales, they were my favorite thing at Jiko. I guess that means you got the cheese plate. ;)

You guessed it! I'm excited to review it as I've never found one of the Jiko cheese plate.

I just got all my pics uploaded tonight, so the review will be out tomorrow. I had a lot to weed through as I had an unexpected dinner at Tony's Town Square on Sunday night. I'm hoping to get that up tomorrow as well. Cheers!!

sandybobandy

08-05-2008, 10:40 PM

OMG- HOW ON EARTH did I miss this thread for so long?!?

So glad I found it. Yay! Looking forward to more! :)

jezebella

08-06-2008, 11:35 AM

Tony’s Town Square
August 3, 2008

I know I’m going out of order here, and you expect this to be Jiko. I don’t have the Jiko dinner menu and cheese menu in front of me, so I don’t want to write it until I have all of my notes together. It will have to wait until tonight. So, for the time being, I’m going to check off Tony’s.

DM, DD7, and me decided to go to the MK on Sunday evening to stroll around and catch a couple rides. When we got in, DM asked where I wanted to eat and I said “Cosmic Ray’s is fine…I’m easy”. Little did I know that DM has, on many occasions, tried to get into Tony’s, and has never succeeded. The board outside of the package pick up stated that there were no ADR’s left for the day. So, I called the dining reservation just to make sure that nobody had cancelled. No such luck. But, DM, who is apparently very determined, decided to check and see if they were taking walk ups. Mind you, this was 6pm on a Sunday night (and Sunday nights are very busy). Amazingly, they were taking walk ups and said they could get us in around 6:15!!!! I was shocked! Here’s the pick I took while waiting to be seated.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysEntrance.jpg

Notice how there is nobody there?? Well that changed in less than 10 minutes and the entire lobby was full! There was a line about 15 deep to check in! Yikes! They called our name at exactly 6:15 and took us out to sit on the porch.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/Tonysview.jpg

Let me tell you…it was HOT that day, but it was actually not too bad sitting on the porch. Plus, there was a lot of people watching to be had. The first thing I did notice, though, was that they seriously need to replace their tablecloths. They have balls of fabric all over them and either need to be shaved or tossed. Ick.

Our server greeted us quickly and took our drink order. She then came back and gave us some bread to munch on.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysBread.jpg

The bread was good. DD is crazy about bread and ate several pieces. The oil looked like it really wanted to be infused with some kind of flavor, but it didn’t have much at all. DM and I added S&P to the oil to at least give it some kind of kick. We like our flavors bold!

Here is a menu shot, as I don’t notice the antipasta for 2 on the allears menu.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysMenu2.jpg

DD ordered the kids spaghetti, with alfredo instead of red sauce. Shocking, I know! We picked her kids appy of salad, as she’s not into either offering of salad or carrot sticks. It also came with a kids sundae.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysRheannon.jpg
“Where’s the white sauce?” asks DD.

DM and I ordered the Antipasta for 2 and the calamari to split as our meal. About 10 minutes after we ordered, our food arrived. I was surprised at how quickly it all came out.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysRheannonFood.jpg

Kids pasta. DM and I ate the meatball (could she be any more picky??) and it was very good. DD loved the pasta, but I tasted the alfredo and it really had no taste. But hey…that’s why DD likes it. As long as she’s happy, I’m good to go!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysCalamari.jpg
Calamari - tossed with olive relish and drizzled with caper aioli

The calamari was really good. I tend to like calamari batter to be very light, almost tempura style and this was perfect. It also wasn’t bogged down in grease. The olive relish was almost more of a tapenade, but it cut what grease there was from the calamari with its tartness.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/TonysAntipasta.jpg
Flavors of Italy- Antipasta – A selection of Italian favorites featuring olives, sliced deli meats, roasted garlic, and artichokes.

Ok, we’re going to start with the cheese to the right. Standard bleu. It had a nice flavor, but was not very overpowering. I would attribute that to the fact that it was served straight out of the refrigerator cold, instead of room temperature. I let it sit for a while to warm up and then it’s flavor got stronger, which I love. Did I mention I love cheese??

Going clockwise, next is green and black olives. You know what they taste like…Next was Prosciutto drizzled with olive oil and Capicola drizzled with olive oil. Both were very good, salty and earthy. I love taking some of the spreadable bleu cheese and slathering it on a slice of the bread topped with the meats! MMMMMM! Following that is picked artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes. Good acid to contrast the heavy cheese and meats. There were also two small sticks of bread, which I believe were sundried tomato. They were very good with the cup of sundried tomato dip that is sitting next to them. The roasted garlic bulb is really the only thing that wasn’t very good. As you probably know, I’m psycho crazy about garlic, but this bulb had obviously been sitting in the oven since before the lunch shift and had cooked to the point of where it was no longer spreadable, but carmelized hard---and not in a good way. Finally, there is a cup of pesto spread which seemed to have more parsley in it than basil, so it was a very mild grassy flavor. Not my favorite, but not horrible.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/Tonysaftermath.jpg

The aftermath---we were stuffed and I thought we’d be ready to get on our way, but no! DM wants cheesecake. If you’ve read this thread for 5 minutes, you would know I don’t do desserts, so when DM is around, this is when you will get them. DD got the kids sundae which came with her meal.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/Tonyskidssundae.jpg
Typical—ice cream, sprinkles…she likes it. Boring!

DM gets the amaretto cheesecake

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Tonys%20town%20square/Tonyscheesecake.jpg

What the heck is up with the dome o’ cheesecake?? It had a chocolate cookie crust, a very thin layer of standard cheesecake, and then topped with the amaretto. This is not your standard NY cheesecake. It’s more like a whipped cheescakey mousse of some sort. DM was not impressed, and there are not many desserts she’s met that she did not like. I didn’t think it was too bad and actually ate more than her (which means it’s probably not good at all). Plus for $5.49 I was expecting a little bit more. Stick to Mickey’s premium bars!

Overall, for apps, atmosphere, and service, I was impressed with Tony’s. The food was ok, not something really to jump up and down about (that would be Jiko). For the first time EVER in the history of me dining at Disney, I found a place where the service was actually exceedingly better than the food. I mean, wow! The servers were fabulous. I noticed another table got the chicken parm and holy bejebus---make sure you share that one with your sig other because there is no way I could, or DH could choke down that whole meal. DM and I were also noting that if you were doing a full meal here, you could drop some serious cash! Those entrees are not cheap. Bottom line, if you’re paying OOP, go for apps and desserts or split an entrée. If you’re on the DDP –go for it! But, be prepared to waddle out.

buckeyebill1995

08-06-2008, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the review! We have been wanting to try Tony's but keep putting it off based on bad reviews. I think we will have to try it next time after all!

SmallWorld71

08-06-2008, 07:40 PM

Seems like the reviews of Tony's I've been reading lately have been getting better.:thumbsup2 We never seem to get there because the kids love the character dining in MK and the MK resorts but it seems like a good alternative to character dining.:goodvibes

donaldtutter

08-06-2008, 08:03 PM

Just start reading your thread. Totally awesome!!

jezebella

08-07-2008, 12:51 PM

Jiko August 1, 2008

Finally!!! Our 2nd Anniversary dining at Jiko. I called and made us an ADR for 7:30 about a month before. I was really glad I did because when we got there, Jiko and Boma were BUSY! I had never been to AKL before and was surprised at how much is looks like Ft. Wilderness Lodge. We were, however, really impressed with the bar that overlooks Boma and we will be visiting there again! I was starving and the smells of Boma had me salivating. We checked in at 7:25 and were seated within 5 minutes. I asked if we could be at the cooking place and they said “no problem”. Here was our view from where we sat.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Jiko/JikoView.jpg

The manager (!!) brought us orange blossom infused warm towels to wipe our hands off with.

Now, as you probably know, I am a lover of all things wine as well. This is where I let myself down. I ordered a fabulous cabernet and didn’t get the name of it. But, I’m going to blame any bad pictures on the wine! Hehehe! After we got our drinks, our server brought us the bread basket.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Jiko/JikoBread.jpg

The bread was soft and warm and cinnamon scented. The dip had a very mild curry flavor, which DH wished was stronger. Of course, being British, he always wishes any curry he gets is stronger, being used to the burn your mouth of British curries. I tried not to eat too much of it, as I know that my stomach holds a little, at best.

I had been mulling over whether to order the appetizer for two or the cheese plate for my appetizer. When I scanned over the menu, I noticed that there were no tamales or pastilles listed. Our server explained that they are no longer on the menu and that they do not server the appy for 2 anymore!!! Well….I guess that made my mind up pretty quickly and we ordered the Artisan Cheese Selection with spiced fruit jam and crostini.

I was a little reserved in ordering the cheese because I have never had Sheep’s milk cheese before. My theory was, I’ve had goat cheese several times and if it’s pretty pungent at TGI McFunster’s , then really good goat cheese should be very pungent---right? WRONG!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Jiko/JikoCheesePlate1.jpg

I will agree with Mr. Disney in that Jiko is the only restaurant in Disney where they have served the cheese properly at room temperature. This was a pleasant surprise. Starting with the cheese to the right.

1. Bellwether Farm sheep cheese is made in the style of a Tuscan pecorino. It’s smooth, creamy, mild with a sour finish.

**This was smooth to start with a slightly pungent, sour finish that went really well on the Crostini. It was smooth and could be spread.

2. Brebicent, France, Ewee’s milk smooth and creamy cheese. Combines strength and mildness in a supple paste that melts in your mouth.

**This was DH’s favorite cheese on the plate. It was not really spreadable, but was very mild and had a great texture. It could have been paired with the jam, but I think the jam would have over powered it’s flavor.

3. Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese. Soft, surface ripened goat cheese, with a creamy texture and a subtle tangy flavor. Handcrafted and features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash along it’s center.

**This was my favorite cheese. It was very much like a blue cheese and paired very well with the spiced jam as it’s bold flavor could stand up to it. I could have eaten an entire plate of this!

4. Corsu Vecchiu. Made from raw sheep’s milk. Semi firm in texture with a tangy flavor that is sweet, nutty, and somewhat salty.

**This was DH’s 2nd choice. It was almost like a spiked up brie. It had the same texture as a melty gooey brie and definitely had a salty finish. Very approachable.

5. Monte Enebro. Goat cheese made from pasteurized milk, it is then inoculated on the exterior with the same mold made to use Roquefort, giving it a “blue” flavor.

**This was my 2nd favorite cheese. It had the texture of a Parm-Reggiano and even at room temperature, chunked off. It was a little stronger than a parm, but I didn’t think it was nearly as full flavored as a bleu.

I would give you the aftermath picture of this, but DH and I demolished the plate. I’m wondering if I can just order this at the bar in AKL and chill out with some wine? I am so glad that they didn’t have the appy for 2, because this cheese plate is not to be missed.

jezebella

08-07-2008, 01:08 PM

Moving onto the entrée. I had assumed that DH would go for the filet, but he lamb won!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Jiko/JikoLamb.jpg

Wood-fired Lamb Loin with Berbere spiced lentils, baby carrots, and lemon infused demi glace.

The lamb came out more medium rare than medium, which he ordered. But once he took a bite, there were no complaints. I’ve never had loin of lamb, but I will be searching for it again. It was not nearly as “gamey” as leg of lamb and melted in your mouth. The richness of the lamb was complimented very well by the lemon demi glace and provided some much needed acid to the dish. Lets just say---DH didn’t leave a bite on his plate!

I already knew what I was going to get---the Short Ribs!!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Jiko/JikoShortRib.jpg
Kenyan Coffee Barbecue Short Ribs with Crushed potatoes and onion-garlic sauce.

OMG I’VE HIT THE LOTTERY! I love short ribs, and have been known on several occasions to braise some of my own, but mine have never been anywhere near this good. The meat was falling off the bone and had been braised long enough that you could easily separate what little fat there was from the rib. I don’t think I’ve ever found short ribs with as much meat on them as this one had. The glaze was sweet and at the same time savory. I was a little worried about the sweet factor, but it was not overpowering, even for me!

The potatoes were a mix of white and sweet and were soaking up the excess juice from the ribs along with the very mild onion-garlic sauce. I tried as hard as I could and could only make it through about half of the dish. I sat there and kept picking at it, even though I thought I might explode, because it tasted so good! Finally, I had to make the server just take it away.

This is my new favorite restaurant! Before we walked out, DH was telling me to call my parents and make them make an ADR for DM’s bday this weekend and cancel Le Cellier! LOL! I can’t say enough about the food at Jiko, only that they will be seeing a lot of us in the future and it’s going to be hard to go back to Narcoosee’s and Artist Point and not be disappointed.

Up next---Le Cellier for DM’s birthday on Saturday!

backinoz

08-07-2008, 11:12 PM

Mmmmmm Mmmmmm. So glad you loved Jiko, it's probably the restaurant I'm most looking forward to on our trip, especially as far as the food goes. Good to know the ribs are a decent portion too (my DD10 & DD11 have already decided they want to share that, and have a dessert each). I've been eyeing off the lamb, so good to know that's good, and as for that YUMMY cheese platter :love: - do you think they'd be OK with DH ordering it after the Entree for his 'dessert'? (He's not a real sweet tooth). Makes me think we really should get the DDE card ;cause I know I'm gonna want some nice South African Wine with our meal there!

Thanks heaps for your review(s) - they are so helpful for those of us in the planning stages.

Looking forward to the next one - will be interested to see how Le Cellier rates after your Jiko Experience.

jezebella

08-08-2008, 10:49 AM

OMG- HOW ON EARTH did I miss this thread for so long?!?

So glad I found it. Yay! Looking forward to more! :)

I don't know!!! But I'm glad you're here now! :thumbsup2

Thanks for the review! We have been wanting to try Tony's but keep putting it off based on bad reviews. I think we will have to try it next time after all!

I really was expecting it to be bad as well. I wouldn't go shouting off a mountain about how good it was, but to be honest---it was better than my last time at Narcoosee's. What each person percieves as good is so vastly different that I think people should try things if it sounds like what they might like no matter what anyone else says.....with the exception of the chicken at the catering company. :scared:

Seems like the reviews of Tony's I've been reading lately have been getting better.:thumbsup2 We never seem to get there because the kids love the character dining in MK and the MK resorts but it seems like a good alternative to character dining.:goodvibes

I think I want to try it again sometime and get an entree as well...but they are huge! DD had a good time there, even with the absence of characters.

Just start reading your thread. Totally awesome!!

Thank you!!!! Glad you found it!

Mmmmmm Mmmmmm. So glad you loved Jiko, it's probably the restaurant I'm most looking forward to on our trip, especially as far as the food goes. Good to know the ribs are a decent portion too (my DD10 & DD11 have already decided they want to share that, and have a dessert each). I've been eyeing off the lamb, so good to know that's good, and as for that YUMMY cheese platter :love: - do you think they'd be OK with DH ordering it after the Entree for his 'dessert'? (He's not a real sweet tooth). Makes me think we really should get the DDE card ;cause I know I'm gonna want some nice South African Wine with our meal there!

Thanks heaps for your review(s) - they are so helpful for those of us in the planning stages.

Looking forward to the next one - will be interested to see how Le Cellier rates after your Jiko Experience.

Thanks so much:goodvibes . I'm sure they can get him the cheese plate as dessert. A while back, I know it was even suggested as a dessert on the menu. The DDE card is really worth the money if you're planning on a few adult beverages...I would highly recommend it! :thumbsup2

TigerKat

08-08-2008, 11:07 AM

WOW - your experience there was almost identical to ours -

LOVED the bar :thumbsup2
The Cooking Place seats :thumbsup2
The OMG to die for Short Rib :thumbsup2

I'm also afraid that JIKO has spoiled me.:goodvibes

DC_Tink

08-08-2008, 11:21 AM

I had never been to AKL before and was surprised at how much is looks like Ft. Wilderness Lodge.

They were both designed by the same architect. Your review of Jiko was great! That lamb looked so good. I am going to have to add Jiko to the list of places to try on our next trip. Can't wait for the next review!! :)

World Bouncer

08-08-2008, 12:37 PM

jezebella

08-08-2008, 12:57 PM

Loved the Jiko review!!!

The Cooking Place seating... is it bar type seating or still table, does it only seat one party or several, and how many can it occupy?

Overall how did you like your experience sitting in that location, would you reccomend this to others?

The cooking place is like sitting at a bar and instead of a bartender behind it, it's the cooks making appetizers, flatbreads, etc. I loved sitting there b/c then I got to see all different presentations of the entrees and appys I didn't order go out. Let me tell you....the Fire-roasted mussels with Lamb Merguez must be the most popular appy.

Even though it's a "bar", it's very deep and you have plenty of room. I believe there are 8 barstools at the cooking place available. Try it for sure!

Minnie Squeaks

08-08-2008, 03:29 PM

Thanks for the reviews!!!
All the food looks delicious:love:
We are going September 16-30th and are doing the Deluxe Dining. I can not wait to eat at some of these places!:yay:
Thanks again!:thumbsup2

DisneyDynamo

08-08-2008, 05:43 PM

Thanks for the Jiko review! I'm going in November and can't decide between the Short Ribs or the Filet....:confused3

TigerKat

08-08-2008, 06:35 PM

Thanks for the Jiko review! I'm going in November and can't decide between the Short Ribs or the Filet....:confused3

While the filet is excellent, the short rib is an experience, unbelievably tender and the potatoes underneath soaking up the juices....YUMMO!:thumbsup2

jezebella

08-12-2008, 12:42 PM

Coming up soon...Le Cellier -- I'm going to get the pics downloaded tonight, so I hope to get the review up tomorrow! :thumbsup2

jezebella

08-21-2008, 04:17 PM

Le Cellier – August 9, 2008

Sorry for the delay --- I’ve been super busy with company in town from England and have been a total slacker! The good news is, that along with Le Cellier, I also have brief reviews of Cosmic Rays, Boulangerie Patisserie, and Kona Café! So, on with Le Cellier!

So, lets get down to it. I’m not going to get into any deep background on Le Cellier considering many of you have probably eaten there and it’s one of the most popular places in the world.

We had an ADR for 1:05pm and arrived early at 12:30 due to a torrential downpour. It was better to just hang out in the lobby than stand in the World Showcase and get soaked. Unlike my nasty hostess at Sci Fi, Le Cellier let us check in early! Everyone is so friendly at Le Cellier---do they give Canadians better drugs?? One host seemed to think it was his duty to ask everyone when they walked back from the dining area if they liked the food. Before we got seated, I headed back to get some paper towels and dry off from the downpour. When I came back to the front to wait, he even asked me “how was it?”, to which I responded “The bathroom? It was fabulous”.

Anyway---got off track---we got seated at around 12:45 and squeezed 4 adults and one kid into a booth. Good thing we had just gotten to epcot and the deodorant was still working! The server, who seemed a little nervous and unsure about himself, brought us some of the pretzel bread.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier.jpg

DM scoffed the pretzel sticks and DD7 was all over the sourdough. I told them to chill out with the bread and at least wait for the soup to dunk it in….but it was very hard for them. So, we ordered more bread!

DD7 and DD started of with the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. Well, actually, my dad started off with the soup, DD7 got it by default because she didn’t like any of the kids appetizers. So, DM and I used her soup as a dipping sauce for out bread! Last time I ate at Le Cellier, I wasn’t too impressed with the cheese soup. This time---WOW! Now I get what you’re all talking about….I must have had it before on a bad day. I think I could just make a meal out of the soup and bread….but you’d probably have to roll me out of Epcot to my car!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier3.jpg

I ordered the Prince Edward Island Mussels. According to Allears here is the description:

Prince Edward Island Mussels - served chowder style with applewood smoked bacon and potatatos

………um……I’ve had this 2 times before and I love love love it as it reminds me a lot of clam chowder. I noticed when I ordered it, it said something about COCONUT MILK! Alert the media---the clams are not the same!!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier2.jpg

I’m not by any means saying they were not good….they just were different. They had a sweeter flavor with the coconut milk. The mussels were also spicy from the addition of a large amount of crushed red pepper. It seems also as if they removed most of the potato from the “chowder”. I really wish I had paid more attention to the description now….I’ll have to head over this weekend and copy it down.

DM and DH got the filet:

Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb butter sauce

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier4.jpg

Excellent as usual. The filet was cooked perfectly and the risotto was creamy and not mushy. The only thing I did notice was an absence of white truffle flavor. Either way, they both enjoyed it and DM commented on how it was the perfect portion size and not too big for lunch.

DD got a sandwich:

Shaved Prime Rib Sandwich - on a toasted ciabatta with Cheddar Cheese and horseradish cream sauce

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier6.jpg

He was very surprised at how tender the meat was and lets just say the plate was licked clean by the time he was done!

DD7 got the hot dog! Shocking! It’s….a hot dog. She’s so adventurous.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier5.jpg

I got a salad:

Grilled Steak Salad - with watercress, onions, fennel, roasted tomatoes and goat cheese with a white balsamic vinaigrette

I expected this to be like a TGIMcFunsters salad in the gigantic bowl of greens with some slabs of meat thrown on top, but amazingly I got this lovely plate:

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/misc/LeCellier7.jpg

The salad was very good! The combination of the goat cheese, onions, and fennel was amazing. I wished though they would have chopped up the watercress a little more though at times I felt like a cow grazing in the pasture trying to get it all in my mouth. My only disappointment was the steak itself. It seems that while they use the best filets for the filet dishes, they use the rejects for the salad. I had a very hard time cutting through my chunk ‘o meat even with those massive, I could be in a slasher film, knives. Forget trying to chew it. It’s too bad really because the rest of the dish was so good.

You know I’ll be coming back to Le Cellier---probably not for a while though as we’ve eaten here about 3-4 times in the past year and I’m up for some new stuff. It is consistently good (with the exception of my chunk ‘o meat) for a steakhouse. I think next time though, I’m just going to gorge myself of appetizers of mussels, duck, and sausage…you can get a steak anywhere……

woodleygrrl

08-21-2008, 04:23 PM

jezebella

08-21-2008, 04:29 PM

it has been a million years since I have been to Disney (at least 12). Quick question: we have an ADR at le cellier for 7pm. How long will it take us from the entrance of the parkto get there? I want to have time to go and freshen up but I was not sure how much time you need to get from point a to b. Dumb question?

Well I guess it all depends on how fast you walk. It usually only takes us about 10 minutes from once we get in, but we're power walking Disney commando people and plus this last time we had the incentive of getting there fast from the rain. :lmao:

TigerKat

08-21-2008, 07:26 PM

I believe the mussels a LeCellier were changed a few months back. I, too, LOVED the bacon & potato chowder ones so much and remember being sad reading the change.:sad2:

HonnyDipp

08-21-2008, 07:35 PM

Your pics looks so good!:worship:

familyS

08-21-2008, 08:47 PM

Thank you so much for making the sacrifice and taking up this community service project :lmao:

I am loving your restaurant reviews :goodvibes

donaldtutter

08-21-2008, 09:52 PM

Great review as always.:)

jezebella

08-22-2008, 12:15 PM

Cosmic Rays – August 14, 2008

DH’s sister DSIL is in town for 10 days from the UK. We decided to head over to the MK after I got off work and hit up a couple rides and grab some dinner. We relied on old faithful, Cosmic Rays.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/LeCellier8.jpg

DH got the bacon double cheeseburger

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/LeCellier9.jpg

He is a lover of all things “burger”. He used to be obsessed with the Pecos Bill’s burgers, but had to give those up due to the changed kids menu. He has since realized that the burgers at Cosmic Rays are exactly the same and he loves the toppings bar. We eat here so much we have the toppings bar down to a science. DD7 runs and grabs napkins, straws, and forks, DH goes for mushrooms and onions in the paper cups, and I get the ketchup and mayo. It’s become such habit that we don’t even discuss these things anymore, just go and do, and meet up at “the table”. Yes…we sit in the same area every time. Pathetic, really.

DSIL and I got the ¼ pound cheeseburger and DD7 got….wait…you guess…..

RIGHT! The chicken nuggets with fries, grapes, and apple juice. I don’t even know why I include her stuff anymore…LOL!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Counter%20Service/LeCellier10.jpg

Needless to say, the burgers and fries were good. This food is good, not great. It’s consistent, like McDonald’s. If DH were writing this he would say great---he thinks the Mcdonald’s double cheeseburger is great and that Five Guys is a work of art. Seriously, the man needs an “eating burgers” blog!

The one thing that bothers me, with Cosmic Rays, are the kid’s chicken nuggets. Since they changed all the strips to nuggets, why the need for two different kinds of nuggets? The kids nuggets are more along the lines of the processed, not all white meat nuggets, and the adults 6 or 8 piece get the all white meat. Are the kids not good enough for all white meat? Are they just using up what is left of the old processed nuggets and then replacing them with the new “adult” nuggets? Anyone else notice this?

jezebella

08-22-2008, 12:24 PM

I believe the mussels a LeCellier were changed a few months back. I, too, LOVED the bacon & potato chowder ones so much and remember being sad reading the change.:sad2:

A few months ago??? How the heck have I not heard about this and where can I get a description of what I ate? It's not updated on allears. I wonder why they changed it? It was good, but not nearly as good as the chowder mussels!

Your pics looks so good!:worship:

Thanks! I wish they were clearer. It seems with the camera phone dark places are blurry. I really *should* take my camera (all 10 megapixels of it), but I'm just too lazy to have to worry about my palm and camera.

Thank you so much for making the sacrifice and taking up this community service project :lmao:

:lmao: :thumbsup2 Not a problem...I'm here to serve. Does this somehow count as a charitable contribution I can write off on my taxes??;)

I am loving your restaurant reviews :goodvibes

Thank you!!!

Great review as always.:)

:thumbsup2 I'm not sure what TS I should do next. We did reserve Le Chefs for the candlelight processional this weekend and I'll be doing the Food and Wine Festival for my bday in October (multiple times). I need something for in between.

TigerKat

08-22-2008, 04:26 PM

A few months ago??? How the heck have I not heard about this and where can I get a description of what I ate? It's not updated on allears. I wonder why they changed it? It was good, but not nearly as good as the chowder mussels!

It looks like they only changed it on the dinner menu????:

http://allears.net/menu/menu_lcd.htm

jezebella

08-22-2008, 05:18 PM

Is it just me or does the new description

Sauteed Prince Edward Island Mussels - with a broth of coconut milk, celery, shallots, ginger, garlic and rice wine $11.99

sound like it belongs on the Yak and Yeti menu....perhaps in Japan even? :confused3

TigerKat

08-22-2008, 05:19 PM

familyS

08-23-2008, 08:03 PM

"Not a problem...I'm here to serve. Does this somehow count as a charitable contribution I can write off on my taxes??"

It sure does, but don't tell the IRS I am the one who told you :lmao:

jezebella

08-26-2008, 03:02 PM

Kona Café – August 15, 2008

We decided that since DSIL was in town, we needed one “adults only” night out. DD stayed with her grammy and DH, DSIL, and myself made an ADR for Kona at 9:05. DH really wanted to get into ‘Ohana, but there were no ADR’s available. We arrived at the Poly at 8pm with the intention of trying to walk up to ‘Ohana and then cancel the Kona ADR. Even though my coworker had done the same thing one week ago, it was a big no go that night!! They said they could maybe squeeze us in at 10!!!! No way Jose….I had some karaoke to sing at the Pub on 27 that night.

**Side note---if you’re in or around Davenport, go to The Pub on 27, near I-4 on Friday and Saturday nights. They have a hypnotist which is hilarious and also DH’s best friend, and fellow Brit, Glen, hosts the karaoke**

Sorry…bloody advertisements in my food review! Anyways, since ‘Ohana was busting at the gills with people, we stuck to the Kona plan. In the meantime, we grabbed some wine and beer and chilled in the lounge and listened to extremely loud music. Our pager went off at exactly 9:05pm!

First we ordered more wine (this is the part where the waitress was really nice) and our server brought out the bread.

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Kona/LeCellier13.jpg

DH had never had Hawaiian bread before and next time, they need to just take it away! Seriously, DSIL and I had maybe one bite of the bread (we were saving ourselves for the real food) and DH sat there and ate THE ENTIRE LOAF!!! He’ll pay for that later.

I really wanted to try the sushi since you can order it for an appetizer, but DH and DSIL had eaten sushi for lunch (WHATT????) and wanted something else! ARRGH! So, we went for the potstickers to share:

Pot Stickers - wok-seared duck dumplings with creamy ginger soy sauce $7.49
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Kona/LeCellier14.jpg
Holy cow these are good! The description doesn’t mention that it comes with a side of seaweed salad. The salad was dressed very well in a light soy and sesame oil and was really cold and crunchy. The pot stickers were crunch on the outside from the wok and the rich duck flavor was cut with the ginger soy sauce. The sauce by itself was amazing. I eventually starting dunking the seaweed salad in the sauce, just so I could finish the sauce. I thing next time I come to Kona, I’m ordering 2 of these appetizers as my meal. They really should make this a meal option! MMMMM…nosh nosh!

I couldn’t decide on what to eat. I asked our server and she said the chicken or the mahi mahi. DH was already getting the famous teriyaki steak and DSIL was going for the chop. I finally decided on the Mahi.
Macadamia Nut and Chive-crusted Mahi-mahi - served with watercress salad with warm shiitake-soy vinaigrette and sticky rice $20.99
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Kona/LeCellier17.jpg
Now, I know a lot of you love this dish but I was VERY unimpressed. You couldn’t taste any nuts or chives in the breading and it had zero flavor. The fish was dry, I think they left off the vinaigrette and sticky rice has no flavor to begin with. This was hands down one of the most bland and boring dishes I’ve ever ordered. I ate a couple bites and just pushed it to the side. The server came by and asked if I liked it and I told her “no”. She proceeded to get all huffy and snappy and picked up the plate and never came back until she basically threw the bill at us.
This would be where it was very good for me that DH decided to make a pig out of himself with the bread. He ordered the steak:
Teriyaki-style New York Strip - sirloin strip grilled with pineapple teriyaki glaze served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and stir-fried broccolini $24.99
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Kona/LeCellier15.jpg
This was very good. Lucky for me, DH could only eat ½ of the steak as the bread had started to expand. I finished off most of his steak. I love the sweet and salty mix of pineapple and teriyaki. It reminds me somewhat of the teriyaki club steak at Logan’s (but double the price).
DSIL had the chop:
Pomegranate Barbecued Pork Chop served on pan-roasted fingerling potatoes and applewood smoked bacon braised Swiss chard $21.99
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h214/jessmtsu/Kona/LeCellier16.jpg
The chop was very good as well. It really retained a smoky flavor, however I didn’t pick up any of the pomegranate taste. DSIL ate most of this (how, I don’t know considering she weights 100lbs soaking wet) and loved it.
With the exception of the fish and the grumpy server, everything at Kona was good. I have already recommended it to several people and will be making another trip soon for those potstickers!