The not so live version of dining w/ Disers, in Castles & on Safari! The Wrap! 2/26

[RGirl]

Very interesting LC review! I would not have liked the salad either, but that would have been more because I don't care for raw tomatoes.

The place is definitely WAY over-priced now. We did it in August mostly because I needed a 2-credit lunch to use up credits.

The sundae looks pretty good. And the pasta looked good too, but again, so over-priced.

I loved the shot of the empty room. Poor Em!!!!

 

[SilentK]

Loving your report. I went to Let Cellier for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I've been dreaming about that soup!

I think I saw you in Epcot, Friday 6 December. I was resting my feet in the UK.

 

[emmysmommy]

Your story about Em falling out of her chair was very funny.

The kid's sundae looks huge! The prices look awfully high for a lunch menu. Is the menu the same for dinner?

The poor kid.

I do believe they have the same menu now for lunch and dinner which is why I'm not a happy LC fan any longer. I'm still a fan, just not a happy one.

I don't think I ever realized the bacon in the soup was Nueske's! It's become so popular around the US, and it's this somewhat small business based out of a tiny town in Northern Wisconsin, near where I'm originally from. They have a great little shop of different kinds of smoked meats and cheese (obviously, it's Wisconsin! )

I'm amazed at how empty Le Cellier was! When we went in December 2012 it was packed, but what was when lunch was still 1 credit, right before the switch.

Now I'm hungry for the soup and pretzel rolls.....

Hi sunnysideup! That is a very interesting factoid. Thanks for sharing. Wherever that bacon is from it is completely delicious!

Isn't that pretzel bread the best? I'm in the mood for some now as well.... actually when am I not?

Oooh who'd you meet?

I would have been laughing too at my DD falling off the chair, especially when I kind of caused it

I wouldn't have been laughing at those prices though

We used to love Le Cellier but after having a couple of tough steaks there we won't be returning!

Hi Jo! Do you know a Tim? He may be at an executive level and the folks who are working with the mom's panel work under him. I'm not sure but when we met that was one of the things for which he has oversight.

I felt bad but it was too comical with Em toppling over. If anyone saw my reaction they definitely would have been amused.

Oh no! Bad food and high prices are not a good combo.

Oh no! Poor Em! (Funny though - and I would have laughed too!)

We like Le Cellier, but the prices make it a whole lot less appealing these days...

Hi Julie! I hope I had an appropriate pause for concern before I started to laugh.

I agree. I skip over the entrée for the most part now but even then when you think about it, it's still pricy.

Wil loves the soup.... and I love dipping the pretzel bread in the soup... yum

I'm a soup fan and I've dipped in the past. My current indulgence is to butter the pretzel bread and eat is separate. Oh so delicious either way.

LOL. I knew there was something there. J/K
Maybe you can. As of this Saturday I can drink again. WOO-HOO
I love the cheddar cheese soup. I just made it last night for Vinny for his birthday.
LOL she fell out of the chair. Okay sorry not funny but really it is.
Le Cellier is a place we visit every other visit.

Hey, congrats on being able to consume alcohol again! (Odd to say, right?)

Happy belated birthday to Vinny! What a great dish to help celebrate that special occasion.

Loved your reaction to Em falling. funny.. not funny... yes funny!

Le Cellier... Yummmmmmmm!

Our first experience there (6-7 years ago) was on the DDP. We have since gone on almost every trip paying OOP with TiW discount. Last Feb we went for lunch and really felt the prices were just a bit much, because like you... We really didn't want that much more food. I liked the lunch sizes! Oh well.. I understand supply and demand.

That soup though is our family favorite... my DH uses the recipe from the F&W cookbook and it's wonderful!!! And also healthy... At least that's what I tell myself!

I actually was at a holiday covered dish party last night and someone brought cheddar cheese ale soup with pretzel bread. I was so excited for it... But sadly wasn't the same. It's my own fault... Silly me to not remember that everyone doesn't cook with Disney cookbooks!!!

Yeah, I get that LC was ever so popular and they can bump it to a 2 credit meal and still fill the reservation books. (Or maybe not by looking at the empty tables all around.) I'm not sure if the additional 3 oz of steak is worth the additional cost.

I have LC's soup recipe but will likely never make it since I guarantee it would not be the same. At least you gave the soup and bread a try even if it wasn't like LCs.

I am finally caught up over here on this DR! So far behind& Dec has been a BUSY month! All the food looks amazing. You make me want to scrap everything I have done and rebook!

I would like to try Sci-Fi! I think Corey would love it, but I'm worried my girls wouldn't really appreciate the dark and some of the movie clips might upset them.

Dinner at CRT looks amazing. I'd LOVE to watch Wishes from there! Your pictures of the fireworks are amazing.

I always wanted to go to Le Cellier but I don't think we will ever go. Since learning that the Cheddar Soup is made with Bacon (and I can't eat pork without getting REALLY sick) along with the high prices& It's just not winning any points for making my "must-do" list.

Noooo don't ditch your plans. Ha ha! Now that they have the cc guarantee for all TS it makes it more interesting.

Sci Fi does have some freaky movie clips. They also have a few cartoons but it's mostly bizzaro movies.

We were lucky with our table at CRT.

I agree. Its really hard to pay so much for what used to be so much less before they went to a Signature status.

Very interesting LC review! I would not have liked the salad either, but that would have been more because I don't care for raw tomatoes.

The place is definitely WAY over-priced now. We did it in August mostly because I needed a 2-credit lunch to use up credits.

The sundae looks pretty good. And the pasta looked good too, but again, so over-priced.

I loved the shot of the empty room. Poor Em!!!!

Oh my! Then definitely that tomato salad is not for you. I didn't like the gelatinous aspic cubes. Ick!

For what you get the prices are out of line - in my opinion.

Loving your report. I went to Let Cellier for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I've been dreaming about that soup!

I think I saw you in Epcot, Friday 6 December. I was resting my feet in the UK.

Thank you!! I'm a huge fan of the soup.

That's too funny. We were definitely walking through England at Epcot. If it was in the day we were headed to France and if it was the evening... I have no ideas.. we would have been going back to our hotel probably.

Resting feet anywhere in Epcot is priceless. I needed that a few times as well.

 

[emmysmommy]

Day 10: Sunday August 25, 2013 Contempo Café  Bonus snack post​

We stopped by Contempo Café specifically for a little sweet treat. As much as I have drooled over reviews of cupcakes at various WDW bakeries and counter service locations I have not really eaten that many. I wanted to rectify that immediately.
Although this will be a short snack update with one little cupcake as the object of my craving, there are other dessert options that deserve honorable mention. Also, a word of advice&. Go earlier in the day for the best selections. We arrived at about 4pm and the cupboards were almost bare.

Those two cupcakes didnt speak to me:

A lone cinnamon bun... nope, not what I want.

Those cookies were really good, weve had the sugar cookies before:

Aha! Monsters University was an ever present theme and this was the last one. A funfetti cupcake!

This little goodie in all its fluffy frosting goodness:

See the guts?

What did I think? Well&.it was just ok. I didnt particularly like the hydrogenated shortening frosting so that was scraped off the top. The creamy center was very good and the cake itself was a replica of Pillsburys funfetti cake mix.

The cute Mike ring embellishment on top was fun - after you clean off the frosting. It's a mess to wear it fresh off the cupcake. I split this hoping to share with Em but she didnt end up eating the other half so it was tossed at the end of the trip.

My favorite Disney cupcake remains the red velvet cupcake from Starring Rolls. The complimentary celebration cupcake from Whispering Canyon Café takes a close second as it was pretty tasty last trip.

Next Up: Kona Café Dinner

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[emmysmommy]

Day 10: Sunday August 25, 2013 Kona Café Dinner​

I was excited to try our first meal outside of breakfast at Kona Café. Having seen some dining reviews that piqued my interest (Rachel0998?) I was all about having some of that delicious bread and pot stickers.

After a short monorail ride from CR/BLT we were checked in and given a pager to wait for our table… and wait… and wait… and wait some more. (There’s no seating for the wait at Kona unless you go down a ways to ‘Ohana.) We took about 20 photos of the lobby, the fountain, and the sushi counter so after the 21st photo we had to look for something else to do to keep us occupied. We decided to call out Aloha to anyone who walked by and see if they responded in kind. For the record, only 4 of 6 people responded and of those 4 only 2 said Aloha. So now we were completely bored and our pager still hadn’t gone off. Seriously, we should have asked for the kids menu with crayons, it would have been more entertaining. We almost decided to ditch the reservation and just go check out Captain Cook’s when it finally emitted that glorious buzzing sound!

Keeping ourselves occupied and hey, that’s us!

We were seated in Alfredo’s section and presented with menus:

Menu photos:

Although our ADR was at 8:20pm, it was now about 8:45pm and I still wasn’t that hungry. (I don’t think that ½ cupcake really did it but who can know.)
Since we had cancelled our ‘Ohana dinner for our last night at WDW I thought it would be fitting to order the pot stickers to share since we wouldn’t be eating them this trip otherwise. However, Em wanted to share the teriyaki steak after seeing two or three other tables order this entrée. I knew that it would be too much food if we ordered both so I passed on an appetizer. (Those pot stickers are still on my list to try.)

Em asked for lemon for her water and our server delivered a small dish with artfully arranged lemon slices.

We were started with the bread and honey macadamia nut butter.

This is no ordinary bread folks. It is sweet and soft and very much like a big round of King’s Hawaiian bread. The macadamia nut butter put it over the top! After the first bite I realized that I could be completely happy just eating a loaf of bread with butter. However, I stopped myself after eating 1/2 of the loaf!! So much for self-control.

Teriyaki Style New York Strip: Sirloin strip served with pineapple teriyaki glaze served with sticky rice and stir fried broccolini ($28)​

The steak is served atop a mound of sticky rice with some broccolini. The server provided an extra plate for us to do the honor of splitting this up ourselves. Maybe he saw the way that I tore into the bread and was worried I’d not be happy with half?? We split up the steak and sides and within minutes I went from this:

To this (my apologies for presenting a photo of a nasty messy plate but you get the point! I hope!)

Oh soooooo good people! I was very skeptical of ordering a steak from Kona Café. It is not a steak house and I’m sure they are known more for their pan Asian dishes but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was definitely interested in dessert but when I asked our server Alfredo what he thought of the pineapple upside down cake he replied that is was only meh and rather dry. Well…. Being that I followed all the suggestions and recommendations of the servers this trip (remember La Hacienda?) I decided to just skip dessert. I believe I saw a recent review of the pineapple upside down cake from Kona recently that confirmed that Alfredo may have been correct.

Dessert menu:

Using our TiW we saved $6.99.

We were impressed enough with this meal to return a couple weeks ago for dinner. It was just as fabulous!

Next up: Kona Café Breakfast

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[wmoon]

I really enjoyed our meal in Kona this year, I had the steak as well and it was fab!!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

We have been fans of Kona for years. We eat breakfast and dinner on most trips. I love walking around the Poly resort. Since there building a DVC there will be looking forward to staying there in a few years. Thanks for another great review.

 

[fabulousfive]

Love reading about Kona! We were just talking a few minutes ago that our breakfast there this past trip was a highlight! Although yes, it was the only ADR where we had to wait. Well worth it though!!!

 

[RGirl]

What the cupcake lacked in flavor, it made up in cute!

The Kona bread and butter look soooo good. So does the steak - and clearly, it was!

Kona has just never really been on my radar. Your experiences suggest that I should start considering it!

 

[klacey1]

Love your Le Cellier review; even though it stinks that its two credits now, some of the steaks sound delish!

 

[KatMark]

Great reviews (now that I'm caught up). I don't think we'll be back to LeCellier since finding Yachtsman, but I would SO go for that soup alone.

I'm glad to read your good review of Kona. A friend of ours got back just before us and they ate dinner there and they did not like it at all. He said his steak was as touch as shoe leather; I'm guessing he had an off night.

To you, Michael, Em and the rest of your family, a very




Looking forward (fingers crossed) to seeing you in 2014.

 

[francis6306]

That cupcake looks adorable. Did you and Emily fight over who got to keep the ring?

People go to Kona for dinner?

I'm glad that you enjoyed your meal- that steak does look rather tasty! And your description of the bread alone makes me want to go right now! You are right though… now that I have to book everything with a CC, it makes it a little tougher to move things around…

Merry Christmas!! Hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

 

[Roma]

We had to wait an eternity for our Kona breakfast last year and almost missed AK rope drop as a result. If the food wasn't so good I would be more annoyed ;-)

 

[emmysmommy]

Merry Christmas to all!!

I will be back later to comment and update but I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!

 

[vettegirl]

All caught up on your reviews and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas We have not been back to LC since they switched the dining credits and upped the price. I loooove that soup and pretzel bread though and wish they would sell it outside at a little kiosk, which they do at food and wine, however it's a sample size Onto to Kona I have had that steak twice and loved it both times, there is just something special about dining in the lobby of the Poly that I just love! It looks like my next Disney trip won't be until December 2014 as our baby will be 5 months then and we have chosen our beloved DL over WDW as it will be easier and I love the holiday overlays at DL, plus a stay at the CL GC is calling my name.

 

[nfggirl5454]

Oh my you were in town when we were there! So did you order the French toast and if so did you like it? We made it there yet again and indeed I stayed true to my French toast order.

It was just a weekend trip to see Christmas stuff. I kinda kept an eye out for you, but alas, I didn't spot you or Em. I did order the french toast, and it was delicious! I really liked the sausage too.

I enjoyed your Kona dinner review. I went there last July for dinner, and I shared the steak with my sister along with the potstickers, and I thought it was a delicious dinner. Their bread and macadamia nut butter is SO good, it makes me want to eat there again just for that.

Hope you had a merry Christmas!

 

[scottny]

Oh that bread and butter. It is the best.
I have had the cheesecake there and it was good. The Kona Cone was not.

 

[emmysmommy]

I really enjoyed our meal in Kona this year, I had the steak as well and it was fab!!

That steak appears to be very popular! We went back a couple weeks ago and had the same thing and I have to say it wasn't just a one hit wonder. It was fabulous again.

We have been fans of Kona for years. We eat breakfast and dinner on most trips. I love walking around the Poly resort. Since there building a DVC there will be looking forward to staying there in a few years. Thanks for another great review.

Isn't the Poly so beautiful - especially outside on the beach? We have something in common since Kona is definitely a favorite of ours for breakfast and dinner as well. Stay tuned for my next update... another Kona review.

Love reading about Kona! We were just talking a few minutes ago that our breakfast there this past trip was a highlight! Although yes, it was the only ADR where we had to wait. Well worth it though!!!

Thanks! Breakfast is still my favorite meal at Kona Café. I'm glad that this restaurant hasn't become hugely popular like 'Ohana so it stays easy to make reservations at the last minute. I don't mind a wait as long as I get a table.

What the cupcake lacked in flavor, it made up in cute!

The Kona bread and butter look soooo good. So does the steak - and clearly, it was!

Kona has just never really been on my radar. Your experiences suggest that I should start considering it!

And cute it was. I think I only picked it because of the cartoony charm.

That Kona bread is he best... it's off limits for you? Yes, that steak is so good. Surprisingly!

I hope you and Willow enjoyed your Christmas!

Love your Le Cellier review; even though it stinks that its two credits now, some of the steaks sound delish!

Hi Kylie! Thanks and I agree, it's not really worth the price/credits they charge but hey I do love their soup and pretzel bread.

Great reviews (now that I'm caught up). I don't think we'll be back to LeCellier since finding Yachtsman, but I would SO go for that soup alone.

I'm glad to read your good review of Kona. A friend of ours got back just before us and they ate dinner there and they did not like it at all. He said his steak was as touch as shoe leather; I'm guessing he had an off night.

To you, Michael, Em and the rest of your family, a very



Looking forward (fingers crossed) to seeing you in 2014.

Thank you so much for the Christmas greeting. Michael says go Pack! (He's trouble of course!)

I've read some not so great reviews for Kona too so I'm waiting for our luck to be reversed. I don't think we'll fit it in next time.

I've got a spring and fall trip booked for 2014 but I need to either change some dates or add another trip since they don't align with your dates - yet. I'm trying to take advantage of the bounce back offers which have black out dates.

Take care and I hope you had a great Christmas with the kids.

That cupcake looks adorable. Did you and Emily fight over who got to keep the ring?

People go to Kona for dinner?

I'm glad that you enjoyed your meal- that steak does look rather tasty! And your description of the bread alone makes me want to go right now! You are right though… now that I have to book everything with a CC, it makes it a little tougher to move things around…

Merry Christmas!! Hope you have a WONDERFUL day!

Ha ha I think that ring went in the trash since it was with the half that didn't get eaten. Now if I'd had 2 kids... it would be a bloody battle!

Well....now we are dinner and breakfast fans of Kona. Breakfast still trumps dinner.

The butter with the bread is what makes it amazing. I hate to admit that I'd rather have the bread than the steak although the steak was tasty.

Yeah...when I booked an ADR at the last minute last month I thought there was some type of error with the dining reservations since it asked for a cc for San Angel Inn. I'd missed the memo about the new policy. We do tend to change things around so I have to pay attention as well going forward.

We had to wait an eternity for our Kona breakfast last year and almost missed AK rope drop as a result. If the food wasn't so good I would be more annoyed ;-)

Hi there Mrs. Roma! I remember that in your review. That was a nail biter. Sneak peak... this last trip there was a bit of a disappointment with breakfast. Not enough to shake my confidence in coming back though...

All caught up on your reviews and hope you all had a wonderful Christmas We have not been back to LC since they switched the dining credits and upped the price. I loooove that soup and pretzel bread though and wish they would sell it outside at a little kiosk, which they do at food and wine, however it's a sample size Onto to Kona I have had that steak twice and loved it both times, there is just something special about dining in the lobby of the Poly that I just love! It looks like my next Disney trip won't be until December 2014 as our baby will be 5 months then and we have chosen our beloved DL over WDW as it will be easier and I love the holiday overlays at DL, plus a stay at the CL GC is calling my name.

Hi Lori! Thank you so much. I hope you were able to enjoy Christmas with your hubby!

I don't think I'd be happy with sample size servings of the soup and pretzel bread. I want massive portions!

I'm thinking that the meals at Poly are some of my favorites because I love the resort so much. It may just have an influence over my rating of the food because of the awesome atmosphere. Put that steak at Turf Club and I'd probably snub my nose up at it.

I love your DL resort pick! I've not stayed at the villas but the resort is so convenient. Makes for a day with baby easy to get back and forth from the resort/room and the parks. Christmas at DL is just as beautifully decorated as WDW as well. Just no Christmas parties.

Take care Lori!

It was just a weekend trip to see Christmas stuff. I kinda kept an eye out for you, but alas, I didn't spot you or Em. I did order the french toast, and it was delicious! I really liked the sausage too.

I enjoyed your Kona dinner review. I went there last July for dinner, and I shared the steak with my sister along with the potstickers, and I thought it was a delicious dinner. Their bread and macadamia nut butter is SO good, it makes me want to eat there again just for that.

Hope you had a merry Christmas!

Aha! Awww man! I would have loved it if we ran into each other. You must live only a few hours from WDW. (My grasp of geography is bad but I'm thinking you are not too far.)

I finally ordered the pot stickers this last time and they were very different from the 'Ohana version. Not bad just different but I do prefer the Yak & Yeti ones. And I completely agree, that bread is SO wonderful! Worthy of a return trip alone.

Thank you and I hope you had a great Christmas as well!

Oh that bread and butter. It is the best.
I have had the cheesecake there and it was good. The Kona Cone was not.

Ohhhhh yes, that bread is so good. See you know what I'm talking about!

I'm scared of cheesecake at WDW now after having a couple not so good ones. I don't see myself ordering the Kona Cone so I think I will avoid that.

 

[emmysmommy]

Day 11: Monday August 26, 2013 – Kona Café Breakfast​

Finally, we were having breakfast at my all-time, hands-down, no-contest favorite! And no, we hadn’t camped out in the lobby since we were here for dinner last night.

Anyone who has followed my past dining reviews knows that I am a HUGE fan of the pancakes with pineapple topping and macadamia nut butter served on the side – not to be confused with the pineapple macadamia nut pancakes. A subtle but important difference.

Restaurant photos:

Menu photos:

Em ordered hot tea for her beverage which resulted in being presented the tea selections from the tea box. For her breakfast order she departed from the usual Tonga toast to try something new - blueberry pancakes with a scrambled egg instead of breakfast meat. I subbed a scrambled egg as well with my pancakes.

Tea pot:

Tea choices:

Em's tea pouring skills displayed here....

Condiments:

Blueberry pancakes ($10.49):

You can’t tell from the photo but there were plenty of blueberries and not that lone spot seen on top. She was happy with this choice. I didn’t get a commitment beyond they were good so no telling if she’ll go back to Tonga Toast next time.

Pancakes with a side of pineapple topping and macadamia nut butter ($10.49):

This was a very Mickey inspired arrangement of the dishes – coincidental but nicely done!

All dressed up version of pancakes:

As much as I’m a fan of these pancakes I have to say that first bite didn’t take my breath away with pleasure. They were rather dry and tasteless. However, in Kona’s defense perhaps I didn’t have enough toppings on them. Once I slathered more butter and saturated them with more syrup and pineapple topping they were back up to my expectations. They must have been just fine since I didn’t have any trouble finishing off 2/3 of the stack.

Using TiW we saved $5.39. Kona Café is still on the must do dining list we will be back in December with our Dis friends.

Next up: Liberty Tree Tavern lunch
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[emmysmommy]

Day 11: Monday August 26, 2013 – Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch
​

We checked in for our LTT lunch and I’ll be darn! They didn’t ask us where we were from so I had no opportunity to create another alias for our little travel party. (In the past I had declared us from Beverly Hills but this time I was looking forward to inserting a little Disney geography for our hometown of Neverland or Andalasia. Maybe next time.)

Fall décor:

Being that I still have not gotten over LTT removing the Tri-Corner sandwich from their lunch menu we decided to go with our new usual of splitting the pot roast. The portion size is more than sufficient to enjoy while still making room for my favorite dessert in MK!

Menu photos:

Restaurant photos:

We learned later in the week some trivia about the uniqueness of the glass for the front windows at LTT but for the life of me I can’t recall what was so special about it. So instead of offering some wonderful trivia I’ll just show a photo.

Love the mugs here... very much a tavern feel:

The pot roast arrived already split in two separate bowls. What I like about this dish is the large pieces of veggies, the tender, perfectly cooked pot roast chunks and the creamy mashed potatoes. What I don’t like about this dish…. Nothing!! It is perfection. Although I still prefer my dad’s pot roast for purely sentimental reasons this version is pretty delish!

New England Pot Roast… Tavern Keepers Favorite: Braised beef in a Cabernet and mushroom sauce served with garden vegetables and mashed potatoes ($18.99)

Turn it around and here's the meat side

As for dessert – yes please! This is truly a redundant dining review because it basically mirrors my last three or four meals at this restaurant. I’m the type that doesn’t like to mess with a good thing so there you have my best excuse.

For me, dessert looks like ooey gooey toffee cake. I’ve learned my lesson about ordering without ice-cream since in the past that meant a nekkid cake but I figured I could order it and roll the ice-cream off to the side and still enjoy the caramel and chocolate drizzle with toffee pieces. I ate as much as I could without making myself ill.

Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake: Vanilla cake with a gooey toffee filling, caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream ($7.49)

Em tried something new and ordered the Johnny Appleseed cake.

Johnny Appleseed’s Cake: Tavern made white cake filled with apples and dried cranberries topped with ice-cream ($7.49)​

Em had me taste the cake that she was enjoying and I loved the spice cakeiness of it. However, it still doesn’t compare to my favorite MK dessert. Too bad Em has not come to her senses and embraced the ooey gooey-ness of this most excellent dessert since it is perfect to split. Until I can talk her into that we’ll just keep ordering separate desserts because I am NOT giving up this amazing dessert.

Using our TiW card we saved $7.99.

Next Up: Be Our Guest dinner
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