Reviews w/lots of pics. Jan 27-Feb 4. UPDATED DAY 5 BLUEZOO

[swankybeth]

Unfortunately we got back from WDW a few days ago.
Fortunately for you all that means reviews and pictures to go along with them! :thumbsup2
The cast is DH, 30 years old and me, 27 years old. We love food and consider ourselves pretty adventurous. There isn't much we won't try.
We weren't on the dining plan. We tried it last year and thought it was too much food. And with the changes for this year, it's not a good value for us. We did have the Disney Dining Experience card and that worked out better for us.
We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge for the whole trip and loved it.
That's pretty much all of the background info.
I will be reviewing:
-Boma (dinner)
-Roaring Forks (breakfast)
-Sunshine Seasons (breakfast and lunch)
-Tangierine Cafe (lunch)
-Le Cellier (dinner)
-Kringla Bakeri og Cafe (snack)
-Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
-Captain Cooks (breakfast)
-Flatbread Grill (lunch)
-Min and Bill's Dockside Diner (snack)
-Ice cream cart (snack)
-Victoria and Albert's (dinner)
-Restaurantosaurus (lunch)
-Bluezoo (dinner)
-Cosmic Rays (snack)
-Pinocchio's Village Haus (lunch)
-Lunching Pad (lunch)
-Aloha Isle (snack)
-Garden View Lounge (tea)
-Lotus Blossom Cafe (snack)
-Chefs de France (dinner)
-Goofy's Candy Co (snack)
-Electric Umbrella (lunch)
-Yorkshire County Fish Shop (lunch)
-Crepes de Chefs de France (snack)
-Drink stand in France
-Sommerfest (lunch)
-Joy of Tea (drink)
-Jiko (dinner)
-Rose and Crown (lunch)
-Popcorn stand (snack)

As you can see, it's quite a list so I'd better get started! As always, any questions or comments, please feel free to post. :)

[stagemomx3]

Looking forward to it, especially Boma, & Pinnochio's since we plan to eat at both those places.

[oybolshoi]

Excellent - SwankyBeth is back with more reviews!

Looking forward to reading and drooling! :thumbsup2

[swankybeth]

Day 1

Dinner was at Boma. We had a 5 pm ADR and got there around our ADR time. We were handed a pager and waited just a few minutes until it went out and we were shown to our table. We ordered our drinks (root beer for me and iced tea for DH) and then hit up the buffet. We like to start with soup and salads then work our way up to the heavier items like the meats and fish. The first picture is of my plate, starting from the top left there is pasta salad, a carrot, raisin, coconut salad, corn and plantain salad, and lentil salad with hearts of palm. I enjoyed all of the salads. The pasta salad had a strong cumin flavor which I thought was different and definitely tasty. The carrot salad was sweet and the flavors went really well together. The corn salad was good but I only took it because I wanted those yummy sweet fried plantains. They did not disappoint! I also enjoyed the lentil salad. Next is DH's plate which, starting from the top is watermelon rind salad, chicken salad and kool slaai. He enjoyed his choices. The watermelon rind salad is slightly spicy as there is ginger in it. The kool slaai is just a cole slaw. He enjoyed the chicken salad but I wouldn't touch it because I hate cilantro. Next we moved on to the soups. We got a bowl of each to share. Top left is lentil and sausage soup, top right is mushroom soup, bottom left is palaver and the bottom right is chicken corn porridge. The lentil soup was my favorite, it was really hearty and tasty. The mushroom soup was also good but DH didn't really care for it. He hates really "earthy" tasting things like truffles and he thought it was too "earthy". The palaver had shrimp, chicken and sausage in it. I didn't really like it but DH did. The chicken corn porridge was my least favorite. It was a really sweet taste which I don't enjoy. DH liked it and finished off the bowl. Next we tasted the hummus. We couldn't find it at first because for some reason they put it between the fruits and desserts. They had all of the usual flavors-white bean, black olive and sun dried tomato. What you see stuck on top of each is a piece of flatbread, perfect for dipping. They were all tasty and very robust in flavor. My favorite was the sun dried tomato. Next DH had a bowl of the curried coconut seafood stew. I have tried this and I don't really care for it. It is slightly sweet and chock full of mussels, shrimp and scallops. On the side and on top are pieces of flatbread for DH to dip in the soup. Next we got a big plate of meat and fish to share. Starting from the left on top of the rice is prime rib, the rice has raisins in it and cinnamon, to the right of the prime rib is a piece of roasted chicken, on top of the chicken is bobotie, to the right of the bobotie is roasted pork, on the bottom is salmon with Boma mustard sauce. The prime rib was just okay to us, we don't really like it in general, so don't necessarily go by our opinion. The rice was excellent, the spices and raisins really add to the flavor. I didn't eat the chicken, but DH enjoyed it. The roasted pork was delicious. The bobotie was delicious as always. It's like a quiche made with ground lamb. It's very heavy and comforting. The salmon was okay, the mustard sauce is a little spicy but otherwise the salmon was plain and a bit on the dry side. Next was a plate only DH ate. On the bottom is the roasted pork, top left is black eyed peas with ginger broth and top right is potatoes with Afritude. The black eyed peas are good but I find that the ginger broth doesn't add much flavor to them and they end up tasting like plain peas. The potatoes are okay, they are pretty much just roasted potatoes. Next plate we shared and it had fufu and falafels with tahini. The fufu was delicious, it is a mixture of white and sweet potatoes with lots of butter, cinnamon, and honey. The falafel was tasty, it was well done so it was very crunchy. Their version was also a little spicier than usual which was nice. Finally we were ready for dessert. I think that DH put it best when he compared Boma's desserts to desserts at a wedding. There are a lot and they look nice, but none of them are really that good. The first plate was mine and has lemon cookies, fried plantains with nuts, and banana bread pudding with caramel and vanilla sauces. The cookies were okay, the nice thing about them was the chewy texture. The plantains were good, how could they mess that one up? The bread pudding was okay, it was a little dry. The next plate was DH's. Starting on the left there is a coconut flan, cassava cake, pineapple upside down cheesecake, strawberry fruit tart, zebra dome and the plantains. He took bites of everything but wasn't really impressed with anything in particular. Overall it was a good dinner and a nice way to start our trip.

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[John's Mom]

Great review and pictures! Thanks for posting.

[poohluvrs]

Wow those are the 1st pics Ive seen of Boma that make me want to go there...looks good & great descriptions! thanks!

[kimisabella]

Great review, looking forward to the rest

[TigerKat]

Oh my, your list of places to be reviewed looks amazing. Enjoying so far, can't wait for more!!!!:woohoo:

[mom2fivecs]

Wow, that is a long list...can't wait to hear from you about the rest...and hoping to hear that Pinnochio Village Haus still has the figaro fries. :cool1:

[mickeystoontown]

subscribing 'cause I want to read the rest of your review and view the pics too!

[MadiMouse]

Great reviews!! :)

[BabyPiglet]

Great job so far! That is one honkin' list of restaurants.

Can't wait for more!

[Suzibrat]

Subbed and sitting here with my bib on!:lmao:

[poutytink]

Subbing!!!:surfweb:

[creativeamanda]

Subbing and trying to keep myself from licking the computer screen.

[jeminni]

great review

I'm in :goodvibes

[mrsbelle]

Great review! Can't wait for more!

[FormrCastMbr]

Subbing...can't wait for more!

[arieljasmine]

Great first review. I really fancy trying Boma, sounds very nice and something a bit different.

Laur's princess:

[Mickeefan]

I'm subscribing! Can't wait for more.

[Leslieann1024]

Wow, looking forward to reading this dining review - lots of great places ! Thanks for sharing !

[mindyd]

Great review can't wait for more!

[mickeysgirl17]

Waiting for more..........

[Sam'sMom0126]

subbing...can't wait to read the rest!

[Disneyof3]

:goodvibes

We have Boma booked for the first time this March. Did everything have a cumin or ginger taste? I dislike the taste, but if they did I will stick with the desserts and the chicken salad. They looked very good.

[swankybeth]

Thanks everyone for the comments and kind words, it's really encouraging! :)

:goodvibes

We have Boma booked for the first time this March. Did everything have a cumin or ginger taste? I dislike the taste, but if they did I will stick with the desserts and the chicken salad. They looked very good.

I wouldn't say everything has a cumin or ginger taste. There are definitely a few cumin spiced dishes and a couple of ginger ones. I would ask the chefs what dishes to avoid when you go, they are very friendly and knowledgable.

[MinnieMommy]

Yummy!!
Is there a smilie for "drooling"??
popcorn::

[swankybeth]

Day 2

Breakfast was at Roaring Fork. My overall impression of Roaring Fork wasn't that great. Not because the food was bad but because the choices were so limited. We got tired of them pretty quickly. And how can they not have Mickey waffles there? :sad2: We decided to share the adult breakfast platter. It came with scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes and a biscuit. Everything tasted good, the potatoes were shredded which is different than some of the other WDW food courts I've been to. We ate around 7:30 am and there was ample seating.

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Lunch was a two-parter.
Around 11 am we were getting hungry so we went to Sunshine Seasons since we were in the Land pavillion. We decided to split the seared tuna on mixed greens salad. This salad was excellent! A real find for theme park eats. The greens were very lightly dressed with a sesame rice wine dressing. There were 2 pieces of tuna, which was cooked nicely, along with some sliced jicama and a few crunchy noodles on top.

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A couple of hours later we were hungry again so we headed over to Tangierine Cafe. We shared the chicken and lamb shawarma platter. We subsituted flatbread for the Moroccan bread. The sliced chicken and lamb came with sides of hummus, tabbouleh salad and couscous and was served with yogurt sauce. Normally I do not like lamb but I love the lamb they serve here. Both meats were seasoned and cooked perfectly and tasted great dipped in the yogurt sauce. All of the sides were very fresh and were great compliments to the meat. The bread was so delicious, I can't even describe it. It was warm and buttery and perfect. This is definitely my favorite counter service meal in World Showcase.

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Dinner was at Le Cellier. We had a 4 pm ADR and got there a few minutes early. We were seated just after 4. We had already decided that on this trip we would try to share meals whenever possible because we always overeat and I never finish my own meal. Our first experience of sharing meals was here at Le Cellier. We decided to each have our own appetizer and then split an entree. I had a soda to drink and DH had a Moosehead beer. DH enjoyed the beer, which as per his description was "better than the French one". He had the mixed field greens for an appetizer. This was a very good salad. It had a generous serving of blue cheese and pecans on top. The vinaigrette was pecan-shallot and it went nicely with the salad. The orangy-brown topping you see are fried shallots. I went for the old standard, the Canadian cheddar cheese soup. I've had this soup many times and it's always satisfying. It's thick, creamy and a little peppery so it tends to tickle my throat once I've eaten a lot of it. Of course I dipped the pretzel bread into the soup, it would be wrong not to! The other breads, the multi-grain and sourdough were a little stale so we didn't really touch those. Normally I like to also eat the sourdough. For the entree we went with the 14 oz New York Strip. It came with some roasted potatoes and had a veal demi glace. We ordered it medium and it came slightly pink throughout. The meat tasted good and for lack of a better word, it was very "meaty". The demi glace helped bring out the flavor of the meat. There were no spices disguising the flavor of the steak so if you enjoy a hearty steak that tastes like steak (no fancy sauces, etc), this is the way to go. We also ordered a side of the oven roasted wild mushrooms. These were good but they were too heavy handed with the rosemary for my taste and I got tired of the flavor after awhile. Overall a good, not great meal. Last time we came I had the mushroom filet and I enjoyed that one a lot more. The steak we ordered was more of a compromise between what we both would have ordered individually. I guess that's the bad side of sharing meals sometimes. We were full, so we passed on dessert.

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For dessert we decided to go to the bakery in Norway and pick up a couple of items to go. We got a cloudberry horn and a school bread to eat back in our room. They survived the trip back to the room and we eagerly devoured both pastries. Surprisingly, we had never tried either one before. The cloudberry horn was delicious. The filling is a light berry flavored cream and the outside is a light sweet flaky pastry topped with sugar. Neither one of us expected it to be so light, but I guess that's why they have the word cloud in the title. Hmm. :idea: We knew that we just had to try the school bread because it's been much touted here on the boards. It looks like a donut and the filling kind of tastes like donut cream but the pastry part of it has more of a bread like texture. The top has shredded coconut on it. We both loved it and it was devoured in mere seconds. It was actually kind of scary. :scared1:

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[FormrCastMbr]

Wow! Another great addition!

I really have to try Tangierine Cafe...that platter you had looks and sounds amazing! We have dined at Marrakesh...it was OK but I think I would prefer the CS.

And School Bread is my absolute favorite! I compare it to coconut custard pie in a donut...well, sweet bread!

Thanks for a great report!

[Donald is #1]

Great report so far! I can't wait for more. popcorn::

[KristinAnne]

Wow, I can't wait for our first night in Disney when we eat our way through the World Showcase!!! The pics from Morocco and Norway make me even more excited. I don't do coconut, so I won't go for the school bread, but DH definitely will! Thanks for the update!

[TruBlu]

I love rosemary, so I'll have to try the mushrooms at Le Cellier. Were they very salty?

[Shir Kahn]

Subscribing, and buying a new keyboard, as mine has drool all over it now. :love:

[mickeysgirl17]

Great update!

[BabyPiglet]

Great update!

[stellablue]

Day 2

A couple of hours later we were hungry again so we headed over to Tangierine Cafe. We shared the chicken and lamb shawarma platter. We subsituted flatbread for the Moroccan bread.

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What a great idea to substitute the bread! :thumbsup2 I wish I thought of that. I didn't care for the bread that came with the platter at all.:snooty:

[Minniespal]

Excellent:thumbsup2

[arieljasmine]

I have never thought to eat at the CS in Morocco, but the food looks really good so maybe I'll give it a go next time. That schoolbread looks delicious.

Laur's princess:

[DisneyJo]

Great reviews :)

[huggiebear23]

Great report. You are a neighbor of mine. I live in the Island too. Rockville Centre has great restaurants too. :)

[familyS]

Thanks for writing and posting your reviews, looking forward to reading more :goodvibes

[swimgalsmom]

Great reviews! Thanks for sharing!

[50 years Too!]

What a great idea to substitute the bread! :thumbsup2 I wish I thought of that. I didn't care for the bread that came with the platter at all.:snooty:

You've made my day! I didn't realize you could substitute flatbread. Now the platter will be perfect!

thank, Deb

[swankybeth]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far! :)

I love rosemary, so I'll have to try the mushrooms at Le Cellier. Were they very salty?

They were a little salty. There was much more rosemary than salt, though.

Great report. You are a neighbor of mine. I live in the Island too. Rockville Centre has great restaurants too. :)

It's a great place to live, we're within walking distance of so many places. But it's also dangerous to my waistline, especially when Croxley's has 10 cent wing nights! :scared1:

[swankybeth]

Day 3

Breakfast was at Roaring Fork again. DH got just a side of scrambled eggs. They were nothing special but they did the job. I had oatmeal. They did have a lot of toppings available for the oatmeal-granola, fruit, etc but I was boring and just put brown sugar on it. Just a side note for anyone who has dairy allergies, I've asked before and WDW makes their oatmeal with water, not milk.

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Lunch was offsite at Chick-fil-A.

Dinner was at Liberty Tree Tavern. This was the night of the Pirate and Princess Party so we had a 4:00 ADR. We checked in a few minutes early and relaxed while we waited for our table to be called. We were seated in the Betsy Ross room. We had the whole room to ourselves at first and it was really peaceful and quiet. Obviously, that didn't last too long! Unfortunately I don't have our server's name but she was wonderful. She kept making sure we had enough to eat and was always ready with drink refills and to replenish our food. First they brought out salad and rolls. They could have stopped there because this was my favorite part of the meal! The salad had a strawberry viniagrette on it and it was delicious. The rolls were soft and yummy and served with honey butter. I don't even want to know how many rolls with butter I ate. Once we were done with our salad (we skipped a second serving of salad because we knew there was lots more food coming). They brought out our meal. There were mashed potatoes, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, green beans, gravy, turkey, pork and beef. We also had cranberry sauce, which I requested. The potatoes were good, they were nice and creamy. The stuffing was just okay, it's not that it was bad but it was just stuffing. Not much you can say about it. I was really excited for the mac and cheese, growing up I lived on the stuff and I hadn't had it in years. It didn't disappoint! For weeks before the trip I was trying to explain to DH that Stouffers mac n cheese tastes different, it's more sharp and has a more complex flavor than the Kraft stuff. After he tried one bite, he was converted! The green beans were really good, they were not overcooked and they had a slight garlicky taste. We had two servings of the beans. All of the meats were just okay to me. None of them were awful, they were just plain. DH, however, loved the steak and had four servings of it. Once DH's steak binge was finally over they brought out our dessert. Warm apple cobbler with heaps of vanilla ice cream on top. It was delicious! The cobbler was so hot the ice cream was melting. It was a very satisfying dessert and it went well with the other items served. The character interaction was good, we saw all of them at least once. Most came around twice.

Last year we tried Garden Grill and we compared the two, item for item since they are so similar. Here's what we thought:
Bread & salad: better at Liberty Tree Tavern
Sides: better at Liberty Tree Tavern
Meats: better at Garden Grill
Dessert: tie
Characters: tie
Atmosphere: better at Garden Grill, can't beat a rotating restaurant!

If I had to pick out of the two, the slight edge would be to Garden Grill mainly due to the meats being better. The steak and catfish at Garden Grill were really good!


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[Disneyof3]

Thanks everyone for the comments and kind words, it's really encouraging! :)



I wouldn't say everything has a cumin or ginger taste. There are definitely a few cumin spiced dishes and a couple of ginger ones. I would ask the chefs what dishes to avoid when you go, they are very friendly and knowledgable.


Thanks alot. I will definitely ask the chef. the Morrocco food looks amazing. We are definitely going to try it in March for lunch.. Thanks again

[BabyPiglet]

Yummmm. I'm definitely hungry now!

Great reviews. :)

[phabric]

Enjoyed reading your reviews.

[momofdbsdc]

Awesome reviews! I am looking forward to the rest!

[TigerKat]

That salad with strawberry viniagrette sounds sooooooooo good to me!:goodvibes

[mickeystoontown]

That salad with strawberry viniagrette sounds sooooooooo good to me!:goodvibes

It is VERY good!

[MissMagnolia]

Excellent reviews - you're making me excited for our next trip!

[swankybeth]

Day 4

Since we were out late at the Pirate & Princess Party the night before, we decided to sleep in a little. We didn't feel like eating at Roaring Fork so we decided to drive over to the Polynesian before hitting the parks. We ate at Captain Cook's with one thing in mind-Tonga Toast! We split an order of Tonga Toast and a side of scrambled eggs. The Tonga Toast is just as good at Captain Cook's and it's a fraction of the cost and time spent eating at Kona Cafe. For those who aren't familiar with this wonderful breakfast item, Tonga Toast is sourdough bread stuffed with bananas, then deep fried and coated in cinnamon sugar. Yummy! The eggs were good too, just not as exciting as the Tonga Toast.

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For lunch we decided to stop over at Flatbread Grill and grab a bite to eat before Lights! Motors! Action! started. We decided to share the Greek salad. It was a really nice salad with an olive and feta vinaigrette. There was a nice balance of the lettuce and the other items such as tomatoes, peppers, feta, onions and olives. The dressing was evenly coated all over the salad but wasn't too heavy.

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After the show we were still hungry so we decided to go to Min and Bill's Dockside Diner for a pretzel. We were torn between the apple cinnamon and the spicy cheese flavors. We went for the spicy cheese. It was a really good pretzel! It was served warm and the filling wasn't too spicy although there were tiny jalapeno bits in it.

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On the way out of the park we wanted another little something so we decided to share a Minnie strawberry bar. Just your basic frozen strawberry bar but it definitely hit the spot on a warm afternoon.

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Dinner was at Victoria and Albert's. A lot of the pictures are really dark because we didn't want to disturb anyone with the flash, so I apologize for the quality. We chose the earlier seating and had a 6:15 reservation. We were seated under the dome and could definitely hear other people's conversations because of it, but it didn't bother us. This was our third visit to Victoria and Albert's. The last time we went, DH proposed, and the first time he gave me diamond earrings after dinner while we walked on the beach back to the Polynesian, so I kept teasing him about getting me another surprise during or after dinner (for the record, there was no surprise, lol). The first picture is really dark, but it's the wonderful bread that they bring you. It's warm, light and slightly chewy. It goes well with the delicious butter they put out for you. The amuse bouche from left to right, is a scallop in a buttery sauce, seafood and lobster sausage and lobster bisque. There was no spoon for the soup, you had to drink it like an espresso. I felt a little silly doing it, but apparently that's what you were supposed to do. The next plate is DH's cold appetizer. It was smoked Alaskan sablefish with blood orange and hearts of palm salad with aged balsamic. He really enjoyed this dish. My cold appetizer was duck with pickled and roasted beet salad with beet "air". The duck was served two ways and with a couple of different kinds of beets. The "air" was a beet foam. This was a nice dish, not my favorite of the evening, but definitely tasty. Next is DH's hot appetizer. He had the Minnesota elk tenderloin with braised red cabbage and mustard spaetzle. The meat was served rare. DH loved this dish. For my hot appetizer I splurged and got the pan roasted foie gras with fuji apple bread pudding. This was definitely the best thing I had all night. I don't even know how to describe how delicious this was. The apple flavor went so well with the foie gras and the foie gras was cooked perfectly. If I could have licked my plate, I definitely would have. For DH's fish course he chose the sumac crusted Apalachicola shrimp with bok choy and coconut emulsion. He liked this, didn't love it. I chose the ivory king salmon with petite French lentils, winter corn and saffron foam. This was a really nice dish, very light and all of the flavors were perfect together. At this point I was getting full, so I didn't finish this course. For his meat, DH chose the Colorado lamb en croute with rainbow swiss chard, salsify and tomato-lamb jus. He was in meat heaven! He loved it. I chose the Kurobata pork tenderloin and belly with banana squash ragout. I also had the wine paired to this course, a Carol Shelton Rocky Reserve Zinfandel. This was a great dish, the pork was cooked very nicely and I liked the accompaniments. The belly was the best part because it tasted like bacon. The wine was a red wine which had a smooth taste. After our plates were cleared, they started brewing our coffee. DH was fascinated by the coffee maker and asked a lot of questions about how it worked, which our server graciously answered. For the next course DH chose the cheeses. There was a Colston Bassit Stilton, Constant Bliss and Fourme D'Ambert Fondue. He enjoyed the Stilton and the Bliss but the real standout was the fondue. It was served on an endive leaf and had a very intense flavor. It was definitely not your typical cheese plate offering. I opted for the white chocolate gelato with red currants and tableside shavings. Normally I don't care for white chocolate, I'm a dark chocolate kinda gal. The darker, the better! For some reason the gelato sounded really appealing. I'm glad I ordered it because it was delicious. The white chocolate flavor was very delicate. The tableside shavings turned out to be white chocolate curls. Next our server poured our cups of coffee. I had joked with DH earlier that this would be our only good cup of coffee on the whole vacation. The coffee was rich and delicious and they served it with warm cream so it doesn't curdle. For dessert DH chose the Tanzanian chocolate pyramid, Hawaiian Kona chocolate souffle and Peruvian chocolate ice cream with puff pastry. This was a great trio of chocolate desserts. The ice cream was the most decadent, delicious I've ever tasted. It was bittersweet and just transcended all other chocolate ice creams. The souffle was cooked perfectly and the pyramid was almost like a chocolate mousse formed into a pyramid and dusted with cocoa powder. I went for the Hawaiian Kona chocolate souffle. It was just a larger version than DH's. It was another amazing meal at Victoria and Albert's. I want to try the Chef's table next time but DH isn't too thrilled with the idea. He loves the atmosphere in the regular dining room. Anyway, if we eat at Victoria and Albert's again, I won't be complaining too loudly if it's in the regular dining room vs the Chef's table. ;)

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[sandym718]

Sounds wonderful, you two look beautiful!!

[Mrs.Reese]

Wonderful reviews :)

[TigerKat]

WOW - A truly amazing meal !!!:love: Lucky girl....;)

[eventamy]

Wow! Very nice!

[Alice28]

Wow Swanky Beth! I think I remember your reviews from a previous trip- you do a phenomenal job- thank you! I can't wait to read/see more! Yummy!

[SmallWorld71]

Just discovered your reviews - they are great! Looking forward to more.:)

[honeybee30]

V&A's sounds amazing. I can't wait to try it. Next trip, maybe.

[jeminni]

everything looks yummy :)

[Sandy321]

How much is a dinner at Victoria and Alberts? Thank you for your reviews - I love living vicarously thru others grand experiences!!

Thank you also for posting the pictures, dh was just talking about a coffee set up which sounds like the one you posted - the dis search was down, so I couldnt show him pictures!!

[arieljasmine]

Wow, V & A's sounds very special. Some very decadent looking desserts there!

Laur's princess:

[Gymbomom]

Loving your reviews!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!

[rookie2]

subbing, looking forward to more.

[mackeyapp]

Enjoying your reviews and waiting to read more. :surfweb:

[Wit]

WONDERFUL reviews!

[Ciciwoowoo]

Everything looks so yummy! :goodvibes

I think next time I go to WDW, I'm going to have to place an ad here in the DIS for a dining companion at V&A! I'd love to go, but there is no one in my family who likes to eat fancy schmancy stuff. LOL

[luvtheBuzz]

Thanks for the reviews! :goodvibes

I keep thinking one day I'll get to V&A with my hubby!! Until then it's great to hear other's experiences!!

[oybolshoi]

Love the review from V&A, Swankybeth!

And Constant Bliss!!!! That's the name of the cheese I was trying to remember last night - thank you so much!!! :goodvibes

[mickeysgirl17]

Awesome updates! I'm all caught up!

[ang38]

Great reviews so far~~
We are going to V & A in May for our 25th. A question about dressing..me not the food..:) can I get away with dressy pants or must I put a dress on this body??

[oybolshoi]

Great reviews so far~~
We are going to V & A in May for our 25th. A question about dressing..me not the food..:) can I get away with dressy pants or must I put a dress on this body??

You can wear a pantsuit or dressy pants - that's what my mom did and she looked fine. :goodvibes

[BriarRosie]

The reviews were fantastic! As for V&A, you can get the Chef's Table menu in the main dining room if you request it when you make the reservation. It might be a good compromise for you next time. I've done the Chef's Table twice but not the main dining room. I actually liked it better because we were able to talk above a whisper. And you can take flash photos. ;)

[ang38]

You can wear a pantsuit or dressy pants - that's what my mom did and she looked fine. :goodvibes
Great to know...thanks:cutie:

[mrsbelle]

Great reviews! Can't wait for more!

[ChristaDeVil]

Great Reviews!

[carri5317]

Great Reviews! Can't wait to hear more!:goodvibes

[swankybeth]

Sorry it's been so long everyone, it's been a little crazy around here lately. DH and I are both sick and we're also attempting to re-do our 1 bathroom in the apartment. :scared1:

Thanks everyone who has posted such nice responses! :)


How much is a dinner at Victoria and Alberts? Thank you for your reviews - I love living vicarously thru others grand experiences!!

Thank you also for posting the pictures, dh was just talking about a coffee set up which sounds like the one you posted - the dis search was down, so I couldnt show him pictures!!

Dinner was $125 per person, the foie gras upgrade was $15 and my glass of wine was around $15 also. We had the 20% DDE discount, so it definitely helped with the cost.

The reviews were fantastic! As for V&A, you can get the Chef's Table menu in the main dining room if you request it when you make the reservation. It might be a good compromise for you next time. I've done the Chef's Table twice but not the main dining room. I actually liked it better because we were able to talk above a whisper. And you can take flash photos. ;)

That is a great idea! I'm still going to work on DH to try to do the Chef's table next time but if it doesn't happen I'll try your suggestion.

[swankybeth]

Day 5

Breakfast was at Roaring Fork. DH just ate some fruit and I had the kid's breakfast platter. It came with scrambled eggs, shredded potatoes, bacon, a biscuit and a juice box. I liked everything except for the biscuit, it was kind of dry.

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We were at Animal Kingdom this day and we could not find any counter service that sounded interesting to us. We wandered around and checked out all of the menus but didn't find anything we really wanted and we weren't interested in doing a sit down lunch. DH just decided to get an orange from the fruit market in Africa and I decided on Restaurantosaurus. I had the 10 piece chicken nugget meal. It comes with fries but not a drink. I would have ordered the kid's meal version of this (4 nuggets) but I misunderstood DH and I thought he was going to share with me. It was your standard McDonald's fare. I felt awful after I ate it and vowed not to eat it again. I wish I would have just settled on something from one of the other places. After we left the park DH went to Chick-fil-A and got a grilled chicken salad for his lunch.

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Dinner was at bluezoo. We had a 6 pm reservation and when we got there the restaurant was pretty empty. Around 7 it started filling up. Our first few pictures we were able to use flash but then they seated another couple right next to us and we didn't want to bother them with the flash so the last few pictures may not be as good as the first ones. It was a really pretty restaurant and the service was fabulous. I drank water and DH happily drank a Sierra Nevada. We decided we would share everything to eat. We totally over ordered but we were able to sample a lot of different dishes. The bread basket came out first and it was wonderful. My favorite was the soft focaccia bread. I loved the fennel butter and used way too much of it. Eventually I just had to move the basket out of sight so I wouldn't be tempted. DH had never tried raw clams so he decided to order 4 of them to try. This was the only thing we did not share. He really loved them. I wasn't in the mood try them so I just took his word for it. It came beautifully presented and with a cocktail dipping sauce and a vinegary sauce. He preferred the cocktail sauce over the vinegar. Next we had Olive's classico flatbread. This was my favorite dish of the evening. It looked deceptively simple but the flavors were all perfect. The sauce tasted very fresh and there was a nice olive oil taste as if they spritzed it on top of the flatbread. Next appetizer was the yellowfin tuna tartare with a cucumber salad, crispy rock shrimp, orange glaze and scallion cream. This dish was only okay. I loved the presentation but the flavors were only so-so. The tuna was lovely and very fresh but the flavors of everything together seem to have somehow missed the mark. The final appetizer was the seared sea scallops with braised beef short rib and silky cauliflower puree. The scallops were cooked really well but the short rib was very disappointing. It totally lacked any flavor and didn't add anything to this dish. For an entree we chose the bacon wrapped tuna which came with silky potatoes and garlic spinach. The potatoes were a very creamy puree on the bottom of the plate which was different but tasty. The tuna was pretty disappointing. The whole dish was kind of dry and bland and lacked any bold flavor to it. I think the idea of tuna wrapped in bacon was more appealing than the final product. We ordered two side dishes with our meal, the zaatar spiced carrots and the tempura green beans. The carrots were cooked perfectly, not mushy at all. They were very spicy and just a little sweet. They were too spicy for me so I didn't have much of them. The tempura green beans were awesome. They came with truffle aioli but they were so good on their own that the aioli didn't add anything to them. I happen to love truffles so I enjoyed having the dipping sauce. The star of the whole meal was our dessert, the belle Helene. It was a poached pear on a vanilla supreme with roasted almond ice cream, chocolate sauce and roasted almonds. It was so freakin' good, I don't have the right adjectives to describe it! Overall we had a decent meal but felt some of the dishes were missing a punchiness or the bold flavors that would have sent them over the edge. I'm glad we tried it but probably won't be back again.


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[wildernesslodgelover]

Great thread, I am enjoying the pics and reviews!

BZ was our FAVORITE restaurant for awhile, but last time we went, it wasn't very good. We are planning on giving it another try, because the reviews lately have been so glowing. Sounds like your dinner there was more "eh" than awful, though. Glad to hear it.

Loved the Chef's table review at V&A's! We have only dined in the dining rom...makes me feel a little better that your husband actually prefers the dining room, since I don't know when we'll ever get to the Chef's table.

I agree, Boma ROCKS!

I have not read this entire thread, so maybe this has already been said, but...do you know your hubby looks like Jerry Seinfeld????

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for your review on Bluezoo. It's a bit too fishy for me to ever visit, so it's nice to read a review and find out what it's like.

Laur's princess:

[TigerKat]

We had the best meal of our lives at Blue Zoo, but how did I miss out on those green beans???????:love: That's a good reason to go back!;)

[swankybeth]

Great thread, I am enjoying the pics and reviews!

BZ was our FAVORITE restaurant for awhile, but last time we went, it wasn't very good. We are planning on giving it another try, because the reviews lately have been so glowing. Sounds like your dinner there was more "eh" than awful, though. Glad to hear it.

Loved the Chef's table review at V&A's! We have only dined in the dining rom...makes me feel a little better that your husband actually prefers the dining room, since I don't know when we'll ever get to the Chef's table.

I agree, Boma ROCKS!

I have not read this entire thread, so maybe this has already been said, but...do you know your hubby looks like Jerry Seinfeld????


That's definitely a good way to sum up our bluezoo experience--it was definitely just "eh" on a lot of dishes.

LOL about the Seinfeld comment, no one has said it on this thread but he gets it a lot. :teeth:

[mom2my3kids]

Great Reviews!!!