Solo Dining on DxDP - Dec 2009 *Completed
 

So I'm a little late.

For some reason - I just couldn't do it right after I returned. I just couldn't. Maybe it was because of Christmas, maybe because my luggage was delayed a week, maybe it was too much celebrating at New Years, maybe it was that work just sapped every ounce of energy and I would come home tired and depressed - maybe I have just been lazy.

Anyways -

I took a solo trip in December staying at the AKL. I had planned the trip for the 12th to the 18th. The announcement came about Disapolooza and the TSM Party so I signed up for the party on Saturday night.

I don't fly so I took the train. My Dad drove me from Toronto to Buffalo to get the train there (much easier, cheaper and faster).

Below are the pictures of my food from the train trip. I had a roomette from New York to Kissimmee so my meals were included.

Dinner on Friday night was crab cakes with rice and 2 kinds of veggies. Very good and a huge serving. I hadn't been feeling too well since I hadn't gotten any sleep at all the night before so I opted to eat in my roomette instead of the dining car.

The crab cakes were quite good - very little filler and lots of identifable pieces of crab. I don't tend to order crab too much when I take my parents on vacation because my mom is allergic so I avoid it to ensure no cross contamination. Since she wasn't with me - I could order anything.

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For dessert it was oreo cheese cake. Sorry for the picture - I was still getting used to taking food pics again so I was half way through before I remembered. It was very good - rich and creamy.

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Got up the next morning feeling a lot better (slept well) so I went to the dining room for breakfast. If you ever take a train with a dining car, I highly recommend breakfast. On the trip down I got the omelet but on the way home I got the french toast (no pic) which is the best I've ever eaten. The omelet was served with breakfast potatoes and sausage patties (I got turkey sausage patties instead of pork) and a croissant.

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Breakfast is also served with juice and coffee - I had apple juice and you can kind of see a little of it in the pictures.

Before I got off the train, I had a quick lunch - a burger and skipped dessert.

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Next post will include Disney food - I promise.

Room Service AKL
 

One of the reasons I went with the DxDP is because I love room service. I can think of nothing more decadent that sitting in your hotel room and having food brought to you. It just screams "priviledge" to me. :goodvibes

Also, being solo for the first time, I wasn't certain if half way through the trip I'd chicken out of eating at restaurants by myself. I'm not big on counter service (I find the food fine, it's just the lining up, finding a table, ketchup in little paper cups, eating with plastic forks, that bothers me).

Tonight since I was going to the TSM Party at DHS, I decided that instead of going out to dinner, I would order room service so I could eat before the party but also come back to the room and enjoy leftovers (in case I ended up with late night munchies which did NOT happen since they had so much snack food at the party).

For my appetizer, I ordered the cheese plate. I enjoyed this for breakfast on Sunday morning. All 4 cheeses were excellent. The soft one went especially well with the bread and strawberries (like a cheese and berry sandwich). This was very filling for breakfast. The cheddar was also a stand out. Very firm and sharp (not like your mass market stuff). The cheese with the hard rind was good as well though not as remarkable as the others.

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Close up of the cheeses

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The cheese plate also came with a cracker/bread selection. I didn't really eat much of this.

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My entree came with these buns which were super soft and tasty. One of these I saved and had with the cheese and fruit in the morning. They arrived warm (on a warm plate) which caused the butter to be a little melted but at least it was real butter. It was nice that it wasn't white bread. I am a big fan of "different" breads - I love whole grains, rye, pumpernickel, etc.

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I order the Kansas coffee rubbed steak for my entree. I figure, if I couldn't finish it all, steak is the one meat I don't mind cold (chicken is the other but wasn't really in a chicken mood) plus I love rare steak and Disney does them right. I was not however overly impressed with this. The steak was literally coated in coffee grounds. It made it gritty and bitter. I scraped most of it off and ate enough of the steak to be full. The beans were excellent - fresh and crisp. The potatoes were just potatoes - nothing good, nothing bad, just okay. After eating this, I wasn't too impressed with the AKL room service but I figured I just ordered something not to my taste and it didn't stop me from ordering again (especially after I tried dessert!).

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I asked if I could have water for my drink (since most of the bottles of water are listed for two) and was told no problem - they sent up a bottle of Dasani though (yech). At the beach club in the summer, they gave me bottles of Evian.

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Dessert was a "Taste of Boma". This was the stand out of the whole meal. Three regular sized desserts on a giant plate.

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First was a fruit tart which was nice - the fruit was fresh and the custard was creamy and smooth.

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Next up was a coconut tart. Oh, it was so, so tasty.

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And last - but certainly not least - a large zebra dome. That's right - not the little mini domes you get a Boma's or Mara - but one the size of a small fist Zebra Dome. I like the little ones (got two packs through the week from Mara) but I LOVED :lovestruc:lovestruc:lovestruc the big one.

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We are staying at AKL in a few weeks. That cheese platter looks wonderful! Might have to order that for a munchy one evening!

It was quite lovely and would go wonderfully with a bottle of wine. If you want to follow up with something sweet the dessert plate is $10 and well worth it as well.

Drink before Dinner
 

Before my first DIS meet (at Boma), I went to Victoria Falls and enjoyed a drink.

My first Pina Colava. I am a big fan of Pina Colada's so I really enjoyed this. The berry flavouring cut the icy sweetness of the coconut perfectly. It was a little expensive but a very nice treat.

The bar itself was empty at 4:30pm in the afternoon. I was the only one there.

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Dinner at Boma
 

We were having so much fun at the DIS meet dinner that I did not pull out my camera to take pictures of my food. I can say that the buffet is delicious and has many, many options. I especially enjoyed the cold salad (not the lettuce stuff but their more unique offerings).

I ordered a cake as a surprise for one of the ladies whose birthday was the day before.

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The cake was okay - a little dry as far as I'm concerned. They also didn't let me order a filling - it was just icing. Still - it was a nice surprise and I'm glad I did it but Boma would not be my first choice to order a cake from again (the CR cake was exceptional on my October trip).

Sci Fi Diner
 

On Monday I went to the DHS. I had lunch at the Sci Fi Diner. I enjoyed this with my friend back in June so I was looking forward to it again. It was another great meal.

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I had a really great server here. His name was Tony and he was a gem. What I found really cute is as he was walking away, he'd say the next line that was about to be said on the screen (even when it was something dumb sounding like "Oh John! That Giant Spider is going to get us. Hold me" or something like that). He really added to the atomsphere of the restuarant in addition to being a great server - on the ball with refills and paced my meal perfectly.

For my starter I had the BLT Soup. It is a rich tomato soup (not canned by the way - Tony told me that it is made from scratch by the chef and based on the taste, I believe it). If not on the DxDP, I'd order this and a milkshake for lunch.

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For my entree, I had a burger with bacon, cheese, mushrooms and onions. It's a real "junk" burger as we used to say as kids. But oh - it is so good. I ate a few of my fries but was getting kind of full.

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For dessert I had the cheesecake. I was kind of full but Tony told me not to rush. If I needed a little time to finish, I could take all the time I needed. It was rich and creamy. I scrapped most of the stuff off of it at first but ended up eating the cheesecake (not the crust) and the caramel corn but not the m&m's.

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Tony was so sweet and brought me (and the couple behind me) free Sci Fi Cups filled with caramel corn as a souvenir of the meal.

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Overall a really great meal. Sometimes the basics can be just as good as the fancier stuff.

Joining in and have enjoyed your past food reviews. LOVED THEM and excited to read this one. I too was disappointed with AKL room service but then after 3x, the food tend to be the same. We did have JIKO as room service one night b/c my son was too tried to have dinner so we asked JIKO with they would do room service and it was amazing. You stayed at BC before and I remember you enjoying the room service. I'm going back and forth if we should stay at BC or YC.

Sci-Fi looks wonderful, especially that burger!

Can't wait for updates

Signing on! Aren't DIS meets the most fun thing in the world? Will you be posting pics of the meet?:goodvibes

I definately enjoyed BC room service more than AKL but that didn't stop me from ordering it two more times (I have to say though - their breakfast was quite good) I also ate at Jiko which I found outstanding (as you'll eventually see. I wish I had ordered from their menu for my 2nd room service.

I consider it the best "disney" burger (I don't include the chains like PH or T-Rex or Rainforest Cafe). It is juicy and salty and the toppings really make the burger something special.

Coming up shortly. Thanks for reading.

DIS Meets are the best. I got tickets to DAP for someone else on the boards from Scotland since they were coming early and the tickets probably would not have arrived on time. She and her mom were super nice and meeting them made for an awesome start to my trip. The DIS Boma Meet was a lot of fun. It was nice to put names to faces and have some company for dinner.

Flying Fish
 

I enjoyed the Spectacle of Lights at DHS in the evening of this day. After I had my fill of visual treats, I went to get my fill of edible treats. I had an ADR for Flying Fish over at the Boardwalk. It was easy to get to as I just took the boat over. I was at the boat dock just as Fantasmic was getting out so I was ahead of the crowd.

I did have a little bit of a wait so I sat inside (was a little chilly outside) and waited by myself (there were large groups of business men who all wanted to be seat together and they were all congregating outside of the restaurant).

Here's some pictures of the front of the restaurant:

The ceiling -
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The floor -
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The check in Podium -

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In the restaurant -
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So I was led to a table for two over by a servers station but up against a window (it was dark outside mostly but fairly well lit). Not the best table, but since I was by myself I didn't really care.

For starters, they brought bread. I enjoyed just a nibble. I learned last time on the DXDP that bread can be the enemy. Must save tummy room for the *really* good stuff. Which is a problem when even the bread is good. And it's served with real butter - a nice large pat of it. And you haven't eaten in 8 hours (lunch was at 11:30 to 12:30 and it was now almost 9).

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I order the Pumpkin Martini to start with. I had read great things about this on the boards - and it's only available during the fall so I decided to order it. It was good but I didn't find it outstanding. I think it just wasn't what I was in the mood for. I was thirsty and should have ordered a soda to go with dinner but decided with the alcohol to just stick with water and get coffee with dessert.

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For my appetizer I ordered a special of the day Herb and Fennel Pollen-roasted Maine Lobster Salad - Shaved fennel, cucumber, frisee, tatsoi, Yuzu essence with fennel and dill emulsion . The lobster was very tender and chilled. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture but it was 2 large pieces of claw. The salad underneath was pleasant but relatively unremarkable. It did go well with the lobster and didn't over power the mild tasting lobster though it did have a slightly strong fennel taste.

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For my entree I ordered the Maine Diver Scallops with pumpkin, sage, mascarpone and pecorino-laced risotto. This was outstanding. The scallops were perfectly seared and cooked to well done (my request - I'm not a fan of lightly cooked scallops - I prefer mine well cooked to firm). I am also a big fan of a well done risotto and this was perfect. I was unable to finish it (anticipating dessert) so I had them pack up 1/2 the risotto and 2 scallops which I enjoyed the next day (if you've never tried it - rice and/or pasta can be heated up with a hairdryer - just takes a little patience ;)). I highly recommend this dish.

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Before my entree arrived I also ordered another drink - one of my all time favourites - a Magical Star Cocktail. Mmmmm, now that's what I was in the mood for. Citrus-sy, smooth and tart.

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For dessert I got the study in chocolate - caramel and chocolate delice; Rich chocolate and raspberry torta; petite white chocolate creme brulee

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In order of my favourites:

Least favourite was the chocolate and raspberry torta: It was too dense and the raspberry was overwhelming. I didn't even finish this one.

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Runner up was the chocolate and caramel thing. It was mousse like - very light and tasty. It was a nice chocolate dessert. Creamy and sweet.

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My favourite was the creme brulee. It was exceptional and I wished after tasting this that I had just ordered a full sized serving of this. Perfectly done and wonderful tasting.

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Overall the meal was just wonderful. After dinner I went to the entrance of the Boardwalk Inn and had them hail me a cab. It was only $11 back to the AKL. I was in such a good mood that I gave the guy a $20 and told him to have a fabulous night!

Your meal at Flying Fish looks wonderful! :goodvibes

Great update. I'm like you with Scallops...I liked it cooked firm too.
I'm deciding to go for YC now instead of BC.