Let's celebrate 15 years together by eating around the World! 05/24 F&W

[nanienamou]

Just stopping in to say that I am still reading along and enjoying your reviews. Thanks so much for sharing !!!

Thank you for reading!

A woman after my own heart!!! A fellow Y&Y fried won ton lover!!

Il Mulino looks lovely. There are not a lot of reviews for them on the dining boards. Glad to see that you liked it.

I really wanted one of those brownie sandwiches when we went to EoS this week but they had sold out. Darn! Seeing the photo of yours is giving me a craving all over again. Yum!

Great updates, please keep sharing.

Ah yes, love the won-ton dessert even though I can only have a piece because it so rich.

I think those brownie sandwiches sell out fast. The vanilla frosting ones were the only kind left, but I'm pretty sure they also have chocolate and peanut butter frosting. Thanks for reading along.

I have never seen frozen jungle juice at AK before! I love the juice, so I'll have to look for it. And the jalapeno cheese pretzel is my all-time favorite snack at WDW.

Have you ever tried the cream cheese pretzel? I didn't care for it, and I was wondering how similar the cream cheese inside the fried wontons at Y&Y would be to the pretzel?

I had read that they sold jungle juice near the safari but I didn't know it was frozen! So good!

We have yet to try the cream cheese sweet pretzel, but it's on our list for our next trip. Thank you for reading!

Wonderful reviews.

Thank you for reading along!

 

[nanienamou]

After our AK day, we had tie to rest before our late reservation at Bluezoo. Now, as I said earlier, the Gartner Symposium was in full swing and the place was packed. When we were seated, we found it to be pretty noisy because again, there were plenty of big parties seated in the restaurant. We were determined to not let this put a damper on our evening, but I must say, it was starting to get old.

Anyway, we had a great server here. He was always around when we needed him, kept our glasses refilled and paced the meal well so we were very happy!

I started with a cocktail, the Orange brûlée, which was Grand Marnier based. It was really strong and had a wedge of orange with burnt sugar on it. I put the wedge in the drink and the sugar melted in the drink. It was beautiful and delicious.

The bread service - sourdough, onion rolls and some kind of crispy flat cracker with cheese - that one was my favorite while DH preferred the onion rolls.

The butter had a really light and whipped consistency but was seasoned with some nice spices and salt. It was delicious.

We shared the shellfish selection platter: 1 maine lobster tail, 6 oysters, 6 clams, 4 jumbo shrimp, a dish of the day's ceviche, a dish of tuna cruda, dipping sauces

If you like seafood, this platter is the da bomb! The oysters were plump, fresh, sweet and salty, the clams were equally good. The lobster tail was perfectly cooked and chilled - it's also split in two. The jumbo shrimp had an awesome texture and again were delicious. The tuna cruda was a bit disappointing: it was actually too cold and because of that, we couldn't taste the seasonings very well. Still it was fresh and high quality. The ceviche seemed to have a light mayo base which at first looked weird, but the acidity was present and the dish was delicious. This was a great treat because it's a little expensive, it's 50 $ but the quality and freshness is there.

Here are the sauces - I didn't use them, because I like my seafood plain, I find that sauces often mask the taste. I still tasted them, though.

From the top, you have a cocktail sauce, whit horseradish that was delish, a wine based-mignonette that wasn't memorable and that I wouldn't put on oysters, personally, then a sweet sauce (I want to say it was berry-based) that I found good but again an odd choice for seafood, and a cream based sauce that I don't remember tasting. However, DH is a sauce-type guy and used some of these and was very pleased, so I guess they paired well.

We also split the dirty South swordfish - it came in two separate dishes, which was nice.

The fish was nicely cooked and had a barbecue rub with a nice bite to it. The risotto had a smoky flavor that was really unique. There were also some little pork bits in it. The clams were a nice touch and the herb oil added some freshness.

During the evening, our server asked us if we were celebrating a special occasion, so we told him about our anniversary. When we ordered our dessert, he brought this out.

Complimentary dessert: sorbet trio, from left to right: cherry, blood orange and blackberry. Cherry was my favorite, blackberry was DH's favorite, but all three were very good, a perfect light ending to the meal.

This was an outstanding meal, well worth it. We absolutely loved our experience! I'm certain we will be back!

 

[nanienamou]

On October 22nd, we headed to MK for rope drop. We swung by Main Street Bakery because my man was feeling hungry and he needed his breakfast.

I'm certain I got a nasty coffee, but since it can't be described as comestible, I didn't take a pic.

DH settled on a ham, cheese and egg croissant.

And a cheese danish.

I had a couple of bites of both. The croissant was fresh, the filling hot and delicious. Very good. The danish was awesome: the crust was flaky and fresh, the filling not too sweet with a nice cream cheese taste. DH was satisfied and happy.

Here he is with his Mickey milk.

Sometime that morning, I stopped at Cheshire Café for a little sugary pick-me up and got one of these.

A frozen raspberry lemonade. So good and refreshing, a little tart and not too sweet.

 

[nanienamou]

At 1:15, we headed to Liberty Tree Tavern for our 1:30 ADR... except that our ADR was actually at 12:30. Oops... my bad. They were nice to seat us even though we were late.

I started with a pomegranate lemonade. Love these!

I ordered a bowl of clam chowder.

I love clam chowder but I don't have it often at home so this was a real treat because it was so good. Nice potato chunks that were not overcooked, big clam pieces in a creamy, not too thick soup. This is really filling and I managed to eat about half the bowl and DH finished it.

DH wanted a burger.

He had bacon and cheese on it. He forgot to ask the server for a medium-cooked patty, but it still came out kinda pinkish so he was happy. Here you can't get a burger that is not well-done, so this is a treat for him. He ate it all but was a little disappointed that there was no house sauce or condiment to put on it. He only had a little cup of regular ketchup. I'm not sure why he didn't ask the server for mayo or mustard. The bun was white bread and fresh. The fries were hot and perfect with a light sprinkling of salt.

And of course, dessert!

This was the main reason for this ADR and it did not disappoint. It was sooo delicious but oh so rich and sweet. A still-hot cookie base with a gooey center, chocolate chips and toffee bits with a huge ice cream scoop. Wonderful. I ate quite a bit, was scared of being sick but in the end, I was ok, yay! I'd return for this any day!

 

[gardengirl628]

Great reviews! Thanks for sharing....and congrats on your anniversary and purchasing at AKL! We bought at AKL in 2010 and have not regretted it for a second!

That drink at bluezoo looks so yummy....really most of the drinks do. Think I will have to try some of them. The cosmo slushie is one of my favs, as well!

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh my! Your shellfish platter at Bluzoo looks stunning! That is certainly a seafood feast of the finest variety! I just ate mussels for the first time not too long ago and I have to say that I liked them! At nearly 50 I'm still trying new foods! That was awesome that they presented you with such a lovely dessert.

I'm so happy to see one of my favorite desserts in all of WDW at LTT - the ooey gooey toffee cake. I would go there just for that dessert. Glad that you liked it!

 

[nanienamou]

Great reviews! Thanks for sharing....and congrats on your anniversary and purchasing at AKL! We bought at AKL in 2010 and have not regretted it for a second!

That drink at bluezoo looks so yummy....really most of the drinks do. Think I will have to try some of them. The cosmo slushie is one of my favs, as well!

Thank you! Yeah, I'm working hard for another trip in October 2013. We would use our points for the first time!

Oh my! Your shellfish platter at Bluzoo looks stunning! That is certainly a seafood feast of the finest variety! I just ate mussels for the first time not too long ago and I have to say that I liked them! At nearly 50 I'm still trying new foods! That was awesome that they presented you with such a lovely dessert.

I'm so happy to see one of my favorite desserts in all of WDW at LTT - the ooey gooey toffee cake. I would go there just for that dessert. Glad that you liked it!

The LTT cake certainly lived up to the hype. And bluezoo has such a nice vibe to it and the food is delish! I would it recommend it, no doubt.

 

[nanienamou]

That night, we had an ADR for Kona Café, but we slept thru it. We chanced it and luckily, we were seated within 15 minutes. Sadly, our experience at Kona was not the best for a variety of reasons...

First, I started with a Lapu Lapu that absolutely lived to the hype. Tropical juices and plenty of rum, I was in paradise. DH also really liked this.

Then, we were brought the bread and butter.

The bread was soft and sweet and very fresh. The butter was nutty and paired well with the bread. It was beautiful. However, I had a couple of bites more than I should. This kind of soft bread is a nightmare for my stomach, especially if you drink after eating some since it tends to expand and block my stomach. Anyway, I was hoping that I would have time to digest before the main course.

DH had the new tuna dish. Togarashi Spiced Ahi Tuna - served with tempura fried vegetable maki roll and red wine reduction

Sadly, this came out a good 15 minutes before my choice, the Volcano Roll. We are pretty sure that the food runner made a table mistake and that the tuna dish was for another table since my sushi was not ready. The server seemed a little miffed at this.

Anyway, the tuna was perfectly seared with a nice spice crust that was a little hot. But that's about the only good thing in this dish. The red wine reduction tasted like pure beef bouillon concentrate, no wine taste whatsoever, super salty and cold. It was repulsive - and I don't say that lightly. The rice rolls were bland, it was supposed to be fried rice in there, but again, no taste and weird combination with raw carrots and cucumber. The roll was also greasy, as it was tempura-fried and that tempura was kinda soggy, not really good at all. We were disappointed in this entrée. Since it's a new dish, they might want to rethink it to make it more harmonious.

Fifteen minutes later, I received my selection. Volcano Roll - spicy tuna, shrimp salad, tempura crunch

This redeemed the meal. I only had a couple of bites because of the bread issue. I loved the shrimp salad and tempura scattered around the roll but the sauce does not make this a light dish. Still a decent choice. DH was really happy with this as well, and finished it off.

Just before receiving my sushi, I had to visit the restrooms. Kona shares restrooms with Ohana and that night, there was a major plumbing problem and the women's restrooms were covered in about an inch of water. You had to wade through that to get to the stalls. These things happen, no big deal, but the ick factor was pretty strong, since I was in flip flops. At least they put some towels down to absorb the water.

We decided against dessert, paid and took the monorail to the MK that had late hours. Later that night, I know I had a Dole Whip, but I don't have a pic. However, if you've been reading from the beginning, you've seen this snack quite a bit! DH settled for a piece of chocolate fudge at Big Top Souvenirs.

He said it was decent but not mind-blowing. Of course, this is really sweet, but he ate it all in about 2 minutes.

While exiting, we stopped at the Bakery for a midnight snack and had a banana bread pudding.

This was surprisingly good for what it was. The top was crisp, but the inside was still moist and hot with pieces of banana through it. The banana flavour is quite strong and it would have been nice to have some kind of vanilla sauce with it, but it was still very acceptable.

 

[nanienamou]

October 23rd was an Epcot day. I'll lump all the Food and Wine booths that we visited on this day in this post. These were scattered throughout the day.

First, Craft Beers

Not being a beer drinker, I figured the Berry Weiss would be the selection that I would like the most.

And I was right! This was good and refreshing. It tasted really fruity, almost like a sangria without too much sweetness and a mellow beer aftertaste. Very good.

Terra, the vegan booth, did not appeal to us that much - I'm not a fan of processed "fake" meat, but I would have been happy with some other savory choices. Anyway, because we wanted to try something from each booth, we got the chocolate cake with passion fruit sorbet and coconut foam.

The cake part was not really good, too crumbly and dry, but we both agreed that the sorbet was the winner in this dish. Nice passion fruit flavor, great texture. DH did not care for the foam, but he doesn't like coconut. I love coconut, and thought this paired really well with the sorbet and had a nice silky consistency.

At Hops and Barley, we tried the Chocolate Bock.

This was maybe a little too much for us. I was thinking that maybe the chocolate notes would overpower the bitterness, but found it was not the case. Sadly, this was discarded after exactly two sips. I still have a long way to go to appreciate bitter beers.

Finally, Poland for the Belvedere Frozen Apple Lemonade Apple Tea.

This washed down the chocolate bock aftertaste! It was good, not too strong and not too sweet. A nice cocktail!

 

[nanienamou]

Since we had arrived a little late to Epcot that morning, we missed breakfast at the Land. We got a cupcake to split a couple of hours before our San Angel Inn ADR.

I'm not sure if this is a mocha or a cappuccino cupcake from Sunshine Seasons. The frosting had a nice coffee taste and was relatively light in texture. The chocolate sponge cake was moist and filled with a chocolate fudge and a white cream (the cashier actually told us that she absolutely loved this cupcake and that it tasted like a Ding Dong, but I can't comment, since I don't even know what a Ding Dong is... lol! ). The filling was on the sweet side, and overall, it was a rich cupcake, so sharing was the way to go. But it was delicious.

 

[nanienamou]

We had a late lunch ADR at San Angel Inn that day. We were really looking forward to eating there, since we had had a great meal at La Hacienda in 2011. However, this year, our meal at San Angel Inn was a bit underwhelming.

After a short wait, we were seated near the water. The dining room is a little cramped, but since it's really dark, it's not too noticeable. Also, we found that it was on the quiet side when we were there, so that was a plus.

The server promptly came to our table bringing the chips. I then ordered a jalapeño margarita.

Five minutes later, the server came back to take our orders. No margarita in sight.

About two minutes later, a food runner arrived at our table with our food. Seriously? I asked the runner for the margarita and she went to talk to our server to sort things out.

DH had Pollo a las Rajas - grilled chicken breast served over red peppers, onion strips, cream sauce, and fresh cheese

Evidently, this had been pre-plated and was waiting under heat lamps even though the restaurant was not that busy. The chicken was sadly very dry and the whole dish was lukewarm. DH said that had this dish been serve fresh and hot, it would have been a hit.

I had the Tlacoyos de chilorio - corn cakes topped with black refried beans, pork chilorio, queso fresco, sour cream and green tomatillo sauce

Again, this was pre-plated and dried out from the heat lamps. At this point, I was not too happy and I really don't recall a lot about this dish. I thought the pork was quite dry and flavorless, but I liked the green sauce and queso.

At this point, the server dropped the margarita at our table - however, it was not the jalapeño marg that I had ordered, but the San Angel marg. I didn't even have the time to say it to the server, he disappeared and we didn't see him until he brought the check. He didn't even ask if we wanted dessert or coffee.

The drink was served in a cute little shaker and was quite good, but I was disappointed since I really wanted the jalapeño margarita. Anyway, I did not waste it.

In hindsight, we should have complained about the service and the food, but at the time, we just wanted to get out of there and back to the hotel, so we just paid and left. I think we'll go back to La Hacienda before San Angel Inn, sadly.

 

[jasperess]

DH had the new tuna dish. Togarashi Spiced Ahi Tuna - served with tempura fried vegetable maki roll and red wine reduction

Sadly, this came out a good 15 minutes before my choice, the Volcano Roll. We are pretty sure that the food runner made a table mistake and that the tuna dish was for another table since my sushi was not ready. The server seemed a little miffed at this.

Anyway, the tuna was perfectly seared with a nice spice crust that was a little hot. But that's about the only good thing in this dish. The red wine reduction tasted like pure beef bouillon concentrate, no wine taste whatsoever, super salty and cold. It was repulsive - and I don't say that lightly. The rice rolls were bland, it was supposed to be fried rice in there, but again, no taste and weird combination with raw carrots and cucumber. The roll was also greasy, as it was tempura-fried and that tempura was kinda soggy, not really good at all. We were disappointed in this entrée. Since it's a new dish, they might want to rethink it to make it more harmonious.

Boo, that's disappointing... We have an ADR for when we go in May for dinner, and now that this is the new tuna dish I really wanted it to be good. From the description it sounds perfect, but in light of your new info, now I'm totally not sure any more!

Thanks for the review! Definitely something to think about

 

[smile4stamps]

We really enjoyed our night at Bluezoo!

San Angel seems to be very hit or miss and for us it was a miss in '09. Sorry it wasn't better for you!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

We have tried SAI twice and had lousy service and mediocre food both times. It has been on our 'never again' list for a while now. Some recent reviews have been better and I was thinking of giving it another try but your review made me remember why we have given up on it. We enjoy Hacienda so we will get our mexican fix there!

 

[nanienamou]

Boo, that's disappointing... We have an ADR for when we go in May for dinner, and now that this is the new tuna dish I really wanted it to be good. From the description it sounds perfect, but in light of your new info, now I'm totally not sure any more!

Thanks for the review! Definitely something to think about

I hope they will have time to work out a better dish by the time you get there. Thanks for reading.

We really enjoyed our night at Bluezoo!

San Angel seems to be very hit or miss and for us it was a miss in '09. Sorry it wasn't better for you!

Yeah, the pre-plated re-heated dry food kinda killed it for us. Big miss.

We have tried SAI twice and had lousy service and mediocre food both times. It has been on our 'never again' list for a while now. Some recent reviews have been better and I was thinking of giving it another try but your review made me remember why we have given up on it. We enjoy Hacienda so we will get our mexican fix there!

Yep, some reviews were good, I'm glad we tried it, but we'll go elsewhere before going back there. La Hacienda was a hit with us, too!

 

[nanienamou]

After a rest, we made our way back to Epcot in the early evening.

First, we stopped in France for a little frozen cocktail...

The lemon Grey Goose slushie that needs no introduction around these boards. Last year, I tried the Grand Marnier one and it woulld be difficult to pick a favorite. The orange one is a little sweeter, the lemon one would be better on a hot day. Both are excellent.

We then headed to Tangierene Café for a little dinner. We shared the lamb and chicken shawarma platter with an extra side of olive salad.

We found the platter was much skimpier than last year and not a very good value for 14.99. There were barely two strips of lamb and two or three strips of chicken in there. Last year, our portion was big enough for two adults to share and it was a little less expensive. This year, not so much. However, everything was fresh and delicious, even the flatbread. The olive side was tasty, but a little salty. We would get this again, to see if they really changed the portion size of if it was a fluke.

In Japan, we got some treats for the kiddos.

The Calpico was strawberry flavoured, non-fizzy soda, very sweet and a little creamy, kids loved it.
The Ramune was orange-flavored. It has a little marble that you have to push to drink it. It was mellow and not to sweet.
The Botan rice candy was interesting, a soft, chewy texture, but a fruit taste. Great value at 1.25$
The strawberry balls on the right were my favorite. They are soft, taste like a strawberry marshmallow and have a jelly center. Very good!
The citrus jellies were are little too weird in texture for me, but I had picked them up for the kids who loved them. Taste was not too strong, and it was not very sweet, but the jelly was kinda hard. It comes in cute little cups.
The last package was several fruit flavors of powder-type candy. My kids really like those kind of candy (think of Rockets) so they were a hit.

The kids were really happy with our selection. We love testing foreign candy.

In Italy, I got a nice glass of Rosa Regale

This is seriously addictive. You could easily drink a whole bottle of this in no time.

DH got a selection of chocolates to enjoy in the next days.

He liked them all, his favorites being those hazelnut-flavored. The orange candy is still in my cupboard, I have yet to taste it.

Since DH had his chocolate, I went into Karamell Kuche for a treat. I got a dark-chocolate salted caramel square.

These need to be enjoyed in little bites, but I was a little disappointed that the only salt in the treat was on top, in the middle. Therefore, when I would get a bit from the edge, there was no salty taste. I would have preferred an even distribution of salt in the caramel. But I would get this again, since it still delicious and lasts so long.

Before heading out, we stopped in France for a little wine.

This was a good dessert wine, but very sweet. You get a 2 once pour and it is quite enough to enjoy.

DH was a little hungry so he got another croissant from the Boulangerie-patisserie.

Always as awesome with some nice ooey gooey melted cheese and nice salty ham.

I got a cheese plate for later in the room and the next day.

These are massive pieces of cheese. The Brie was decent but a little boring, the swiss had a nice bite but the middle cheese was not good. As in, spoiled. It had a bad sour taste so we immediately discarded it. I was happy I was not sick. I would get this again, it's a great value and I'm sure the spoiled cheese was only a bad batch.

 

[nanienamou]

On October 24th, weather was wishy-washy and we were not sure if it was going to rain. It was actually drizzling when we got up, so we were in no hurry to get to Animal Kingdom. We decided to stroll over to Kouzzina to see if we could do a walk-up for breakfast.

It turns out that the place was not too busy and we were seated in 10 minutes. The pics are not good, because our camera was all fogged up from the outside humidity and then the A/C.

First, we got the pressed pot of coffee, which was like juice from the gods comparing to the Nescafe I was drinking in the parks.

DH had the breakfast skillet -served with eggs, Pequillo peppers, Nueske's bacon, onions, and Greek cheese on Sweet potato hash and topped with arugula

This was massive. It could feed easily two adults. DH loved it, but could only manage half. The added peppery freshness of the arugula went very well with the eggs.

I had the house-cured salmon - with capers, pickled sumac onions, feta cream cheese, sliced vine-ripened tomatoes, warm house-made pita bread. The bread was not pictured, but was fresh and soft. DH ate it all.

Ooooh, this was heavenly! If you like savory breakfast, this is the place to go! The salmon was fresh and buttery and so good. Of course, this dish is on the salty side, with capers and feta, so be warned. The feta cream cheese was fluffy and light and I love that the yolk of the egg was still runny. Hands down one of the better breakfasts I've had in a restaurant and DH agreed.

We got boxes for our leftovers and strolled back in direction of the Dolphin, but we made a pit stop at the DVC villa and signed up for the tour the next day. We then were headed to Animal Kingdom as the weather seemed to clear up.

 

[Linda67]

The breakfast at Kouzzina gets lots of great reviews
Your salmon and feta dish sounds delicious

 

[nanienamou]

We spent the day in Animal Kingdom and had a couple of drinks at the Dawa bar and a treat from Kusafiri.

The brownie paw...

Inside...

This puts the cotton-top cupcake to shame! Every brownie/chocolate lover should try this. Be ready to split it, because, as most Disney treats, it is massive, sugary and rich. The moist brownie was layered with a thick chocolate ganache and a good amount of vanilla buttercream that helped cut through the chocolate taste. The paw print is actually made with chocolate pieces. The brownie is chilled because there is no way it could survive in the heat, so you might want to wait a couple of minutes so that it warms up a bit. This did not bother us, but some might prefer it warmer. DH was in chocolate paradise and soon after, in a sugar coma.

Lost on Safari

This was good and DH liked it as well. A nice fruity rum-based cocktail. I'm sure there was a hole in the glass, because it was done too fast!

I also got my favorite - African margarita

This is a perfect marg!

And we returned to our hotel for a rest before heading to Flying Fish that night.

 

[emmysmommy]

I've really enjoyed reading your last few updates. Sorry that SAI was a flop and that the server failed with your cocktail order. I'm a bit scared since I really want to try this place but don't want to get heat lamp dried out food and in-efficient service. Hmmm.... At least the chips and salsa look good.

I had the skillet breakfast at Kouzzina before and it was huge! Like you noted, the arugula was wonderful in this dish.