999 Meals, But There's Room for 1,000 - An April 2016 Dining Report - Complete/New DR Link - 10/16

[disneypaws]

Love your report! We have taken our now 8 year old son to Shula's five or 6 times, the first being when he was just turned 4 - the atmosphere is much more hush hush but in no way did we feel our kid was out of place. There were several other families whenever we've been and in fact the most off putting other guests have been loud (drunken) convention groups! The steak is immense and I would rate it better than the yachtsman (but on our upcoming trip we are going to Yachtsman this time only, but will maybe sneak a Shula's in!)

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I love Shula's but we have one in Naples so the one in WDW is off our go to list. The steak is better though but I don't have complaints at Yachtsman as you know!

 

[suse66]

Mmmmmm, that garlic and those onion rolls! I could just have those with a glass of red wine and be totally happy! The picture of Casey and Chewbacca is the best ever.....her dress is great too. Did you have it made or luck in to finding it somewhere?

 

[momtoprincesses]

I read your entire report last night and LOVED IT! Thank you for sharing!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Hoping the Star Wars fireworks will continue for our upcoming trip! Those corn fritters sound amazing! I wonder if they're gluten free. Prob not. Looking forward to your tipsy tales!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I always love reading your reports. Great food and fun times!

I wish I could drink wine but I have a sulfa allergy and red wine makes me violently ill, to the point that I'm afraid to drink white wine also. It's a tragedy really.

 

[Leshaface]

sticky bun (which is described as a skillet sized cinnamon bun with warm vanilla icing) but sadly I was disappointed.

Aw that's so disappointing!

potato barrels

Haha I've never heard them called this before! Was this the name on the menu or is this what you call them??

rotating over The Land the whole time

Okay, I knew it rotated, but I don't think I knew it was over The Land! Very, very cool!

Overall, Garden Grill was fine but really not for us.

Poop. I really do want to try it one day so maybe we'll do lunch or dinner there. It will be hard considering there are some great eats in Epcot! Decisions, decisions...

Excellent photo op!

Aw you look so nice!

Jason decided to start dinner with a classy Jai Alai IPA in a can.

I'm surprised they didn't offer him a glass!

Note my tipsiness, thanks to some wine (a yummy Stags Leap cab) on top of the gin, was in full force now so I neglected to take pics of our entrees

You tipsy? Shocking.

Unfortunately there weren't charred like i like and were more reminiscent of the overcooked brussels sprouts we all loved to hate as kids.

I should be grateful that my mom never served us brussel sprouts, i'm not sure I would have liked them as much as I love them now, cause they are seriously, one of my favorite veggies (as long as they have that char, caramelization that you like as well )

That's a soup? Very chunky and looks good!

I guess technically they are green and come from fields, but I'm much more of a spring mix kinda girl which is what field greens usually means.

Same. I do like romaine though.

Oh my.

The porterhouse is bone in, but offers both a filet and ribeye. T

I think we'll be ordering this next time. He usually gets the filet and i'm a ribeye girl all the way!

The star of this trio was their creamed spinach, which was well creamy and spinachy and once a dose of salt was added delicious.

Yes, yes AND YES! So delicious and cheesy.

But my absolute favorite, were their beef fat potatoes.

Beef. Fat. Potatoes?!?!

Why didn't I know about this when we went in January?!?

This picture made my mouth water

I’ve read Shula’s is actually the superior steak experience at Disney (find that hard to believe though)

Really? Very interesting. Perhaps we'll give it a go if we ever get another date night at the World. As of now that probably won't happen DM is having a rough time watching the little one since he's a total b**by baby and hates the bottle! Oops, sorry mom, my bad!

 

[kastoney]

Gorgeous looking porterhouse! Your pics really make it pop. Wish it could "pop" right into my mouth now but I'll have to settle for the low-fat, no calorie version of this feast. You really should have an adult rating on these meat shots. My oh my.

I've heard a similar concern about it being pre-sliced. But still . . . it looks incredible.

And the carrot cake cookie is a wonderful way to top off the evening. Good for you!

Oh an adult rating on food porn! I love it. This one would definitely be XXX. It was incredible, but think I'll stick to cutting my own meat next time.

Oh, those onion rolls. I was so giddy last time the server laughed at me (in a nice way, of course). And the steaks aren't bad either. I hear the same about Shula's but also have not yet tried it. Capa at the Four Seasons also makes a good steak if you're looking to branch out. But like you, I'm a big fan of Yachtsman. Your meal looks scrumptious!!!

I'm sure the server did look at your a bit funny. I remember one time a server put my first disney alcoholic drink in front of us and I clapped. I think he was seriously considering not serving me after that.

I'll have to look at the Capa menu. I honestly don't know anything about it, but at the 4 seasons I'm sure its good.

I love a good Porthouse but I have to agree that having a steak pre-sliced is just wrong. I am a stickler for letting the steak before slicing and I wouldn't have liked that at all. I noticed that the steak disappeared.

I've heard that Shula's is very good but it doesn't take TiW which is a definite disadvantage. Plus, it is a chain restaurant. We have them in our area.

I just loved the music from the Star Wars fireworks. I liked the fireworks, too.

Yeah even with the pre cutting the steak managed to disappeared. I presumed they had let it rest in the back, but maybe that was the real issue that they cut it too early and all the juices left. Will stick to good ole regular filet next time.

Oh, I had no idea Shula's didn't take TiW. They are definitely out then. I knew they were a chain, but somehow Don Shula hasn't made it to DC yet

Now I need to go back to Yachtsman not only for the garlic, rolls and meat, but to see this George McFly twin
Seriously though Yachtsman was the first signature we ever went to and had us asking WHY we hadn't gone to one before. Love it.
I haven't heard Shula's isn't kid friendly. Makes me want to bring my kids there now lol!

You and the hubby should definitely do it on your trip if there is a last minute ressie open. Since they don't have mussels on the menu I'm presuming only one of your boys would eat there

Yeah I'm with ya on the no kids thing. Though I don't think they disallow them, just not standard practice. I'd love to bring Casey and show them that just because she is under 10 that does not mean that she doesn't behave better than most adults (myself included)

Oh my God look at that steak!!!! I'll be all alone in October- who will I split it with???

Just split it you, yourself, and I!!!

Oh wow your meal looked and sounded amazing, we're going there too so I can't wait, our plan is the Star Wars fireworks afterwards too

Sounds like a great plan to me!!!!!!

YUM! looks good....But i would be way annoyed that it was pre cut too, I feel like it can dry it out real quick...

15 days! Totally jel!

Just two weeks now. My work is insane right now so vacay will be desperately needed.

I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your dining report! I've enjoyed it so much and have subsequently gone back and read all of your previous reports, hah! Needless to say, I am now starving. Your family is the absolute cutest. I'm looking forward to more!

Wow, I am so honored. Thank you. Glad to hear your enjoyed them. I most definitely enjoyed eating them all.

YM looks amazing as always! The porterhouse is a great value and your right feeds 2-3 easily. I can't wait to see the SW fireworks, we didn't see them in May as I thought they may scare Alexander, but next month are going to give it a try with him.

I love you saying its $119 and its a good value in the same sentence, but of course that was my thinking too. Especially with all the sides it was a "deal for the 3 of us.

Are you going to DL or WDW next month?

Loving this report so far...I just had to say that I don't think Shula's is worth it at all. It was good but, this may sound so ridiculous, the steak I had at BOG the next night far surpassed the one I had at Shula's. Crazy, right? I am going to have to try Yachtsman for sure though- those potatoes WOW that sounds delicious! and every time I read a new installment I want all the alcohol! haha

Thanks. I'm glad to hear you are enjoying it.

Wow, BoG topping the Shula's steak????? That certainly is saying something and may be just slightly crazy. Between that and me now knowing they don't take TiW its definitely off the list.

You and me both want all the alcohol (says the woman enjoying a nice glass of red wine as she types this)

 

[kastoney]

Love your report! We have taken our now 8 year old son to Shula's five or 6 times, the first being when he was just turned 4 - the atmosphere is much more hush hush but in no way did we feel our kid was out of place. There were several other families whenever we've been and in fact the most off putting other guests have been loud (drunken) convention groups! The steak is immense and I would rate it better than the yachtsman (but on our upcoming trip we are going to Yachtsman this time only, but will maybe sneak a Shula's in!)

Thanks! Good to know on Shula's. Though now the rebel in me likes the idea of taking my taboo child with us ; ) Between her and my drunken escapades maybe we would fit in quite well

I love Shula's but we have one in Naples so the one in WDW is off our go to list. The steak is better though but I don't have complaints at Yachtsman as you know!

Yeah, we've seen Shula's in other parts of FL but we don't have them in DC. Though we do have several really good steakhouses, but none are close to our home.

Mmmmmm, that garlic and those onion rolls! I could just have those with a glass of red wine and be totally happy! The picture of Casey and Chewbacca is the best ever.....her dress is great too. Did you have it made or luck in to finding it somewhere?

MMMM, just seeing your say MMMM makes me want to eat them all over again! Especially since I have the red wine part going down already.

Yeah, we loved all the Star Wars photos of Casey. I found her dress on Etsy when I was looking for something for her to wear in the race. It even glows in the dark

I read your entire report last night and LOVED IT! Thank you for sharing!

Wow, thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Hoping the Star Wars fireworks will continue for our upcoming trip! Those corn fritters sound amazing! I wonder if they're gluten free. Prob not. Looking forward to your tipsy tales!

Are they taking about stopping the fireworks???? I hand't heard that.

My guess is the fritter aren't gluten free. I'm presuming there is some flour in the batter they had fried them in.

I always love reading your reports. Great food and fun times!

I wish I could drink wine but I have a sulfa allergy and red wine makes me violently ill, to the point that I'm afraid to drink white wine also. It's a tragedy really.

Thanks. We certainly love eating and drinking everything. I'm just thrilled to get to relive it all.

Yikes sorry you can't drink wine. I actually have a minor sulfa allergy too. Not enough to make me miserable but just enough to turn me 10 shades of red when I drink

Haha I've never heard them called this before! Was this the name on the menu or is this what you call them??

That's the menu name. You know disney why call it a tater tot that everyone in history can relate to, when you can call it a potato barrel instead.

Poop. I really do want to try it one day so maybe we'll do lunch or dinner there. It will be hard considering there are some great eats in Epcot! Decisions, decisions...

Poop! Poop! Pool! Just wanted to say that

Aw you look so nice!

Yep we clean up nice when we want to. And shout out to April for laying off the humidity and being so kind to my hair

You tipsy? Shocking.

Really??? You find that shocking? I have no idea why

I should be grateful that my mom never served us brussel sprouts, i'm not sure I would have liked them as much as I love them now, cause they are seriously, one of my favorite veggies (as long as they have that char, caramelization that you like as well )

Not my mama. Overcooked brussel sprints and just about every other sort of vegetable for everyone!

Beef. Fat. Potatoes?!?!

Why didn't I know about this when we went in January?!?

Forget you. How did I not know about these on our last trip?????? At least now we are both well informed.

Really? Very interesting. Perhaps we'll give it a go if we ever get another date night at the World. As of now that probably won't happen DM is having a rough time watching the little one since he's a total b**by baby and hates the bottle! Oops, sorry mom, my bad!

We had the same trouble with Casey. By the time I went back to work she was having no part in a bottle. My poor mother went through pure hell with her for about 2 weeks. We tried every bottle out there and Mom would perform what I would call Chinese bottle torture I felt horrible but there was nothing I could do. We end up finding these crazy baby bottles that did the trick.
https://www.amazon.com/Adiri-Natural-Nurser-Ultimate-Bottle/dp/B0018BY2FY

 

[ArielSRL]

Loved the meal...most specially those potatoes and the bread and garlic! Yum!

The meet & greets look awesome. We met Kylo but we missed Chewie.

And yes, the old SW fireworks were the best!

 

[kastoney]

Loved the meal...most specially those potatoes and the bread and garlic! Yum!

The meet & greets look awesome. We met Kylo but we missed Chewie.

And yes, the old SW fireworks were the best!

Dumb question, but are the "new" fireworks different? I thought they just added some projections on the great movie ride?

 

[kastoney]

Flowers and Gardens and Beer, Oh My

It was our last full day in Disney and we had just one thing on our minds. FOOD!!!!! One of the things I was most excited for on this trip was being there for Flower and Garden Festival and eating/drinking all the food, um I mean seeing the beautiful topiaries of course.

But first, we'd promised Casey she could meet the Inside Out gang. She was Disgust for Halloween last year and while she was mildly disappointed she wasn't there she was thrilled to meet Joy and Sadness. Her impatient Mama on the other hand was not so thrilled with the 45 minute wait we had to endure.


But ultimately for Casey it was worth it.



Kid stuff finally over (its like she thinks Disney World is for her or something) it was time to get my flower and garden groove on. First stop, urban farm.


Where we of course went with the Urban Mary (it was before noon after all) and the Watermelon Salad.



I'll start with the good, which was the Watermelon Salad that came with of course watermelon, arugula, pickled onions, feta, and a nice balsamic. This sounded odd at first but it was a great flavor combination that all worked well together. We've got a couple of watermelons growing in our garden and I'm totally gonna have my personal chef whip up something similar to this when it is ready. On the bad side, was that sad little bloody mary (little being the operative word). For $9 this was significantly smaller than a typical disney bloody mary and tasted no different than the ones I'd had at Kona, Grand Floridian, Whispering Canyon, Garden Grill (man I better stop before someone thinks I have a problem) The food definitely out shown the drink here.
Food 1 Drinks 0

Up next we made our way to the UK for Cider House.


I was lobbying hard for the biscuit with smoked salmon, but Jason loathes salmon, so we landed on the Pear-Cider Braised Corned Beef and Cabbage and a Snakebite (a lager/black cherry hard cider mix).



Starting with the corned beef per my notes it had a great "corny" flavor but was a pretty paltry portion size. The snakebite was very good and the lager cut through what I would have imagined to be a pretty sweet cider. I'm not typically a fruity beer fan (with the exception of the lovely Schofferhofer) but this was quite delicious. Drink gets the point
Food 1 Drink 1

From the UK we skipped back to present day Florida where we made a pit stop at Florida Fresh.


To eat we went with their larder board, which came with Orlando-made Ricotta Cheese, Cahaba Farms Micro Onions, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic, along with Country Pate and House-made Pickles.

I'm a total sucker for a cheese dish and this one didn't disappoint. The fresh ricotta was perfection, light and creamy and perfectly paired with the balsamic. The pate and pickles were also delicious. My only complaint, there just wasn't enough of it.

We mixed it up slightly on the drinks front with a Watermelon Cucumber Slushy for Casey and a Sea Dog Acai Berry Hefeweizen for the over 21 crowd.



Casey declared her slushy yummy (and at $4.25 I just declared it expensive) and Jason and I enjoyed the Hefeweizen, but it wasn't as good as the snakebite in the UK. Because of that I'm gonna give it to the food this time.
Food 2 Drink 1

Oh and I almost forgot, we spotted this Florida chick right by the booth.


Up next we made it over to the Far East for a trip to Japan and Hanami


For our drinky, drinky I wanted to try the Sake.

Sake is one of those things that I really want to like, but I just can't. This one was better than some others I've had, but it just tastes way to much like rubbing alcohol to me. I'm sure this won't stop me from forgetting that and trying it again sometime in the near future.

On the food front, I was dying to finally try the Frushi (fruit sushi) that I'd read so much about.

Here it is......
......And there it went

This kid was totally not giving it up! She said it wasn't good, it was great and tasted like strawberry, pineapple, and watermelon. Guess I'll have to take her word for it.

Thankfully I had ordered something else so Jason and I could eat. We had the Beef Teriyaki Udon.

Oh my goodness this was so good and was my favorite item of the festival. Now this might have been spurred by my slight level of intoxication at the time and total need for some carbs, regardless it hit the proverbial spot. The beef was tender and flavorful and the noodles thick and totally carbtastic. They also had a slight hint of picked ginger that really went nicely. In fact I'd say they were noodle sucking good.

Food 3 Drink 1

Afterwards we popped into Mitskoshi to find some of Casey's favorite slushi candy (they'd been out earlier in the week) and thankfully found some before letting Casey have some fun in the kidcot station.


Up next, more flower and garden goodness.



​

 

[samsteele]

Here it is......
......And there it went

So sorry about being robbed of the Frushi!

At least someone in the clan got to enjoy

Maybe this means you HAVE to go back to Flower (Food) and Garden next Spring for that mandatory do-over

 

[ArielSRL]

Dumb question, but are the "new" fireworks different? I thought they just added some projections on the great movie ride?

I've heard it's a very different show...more projections, less fireworks. I'm honestly thinking it isn't as good as the previous version...but that doesn't mean it's bad. But bc of the nature of the show, it's hard to see it all except dead on center.

 

[ArielSRL]

I totally need to get back to WDW during a festival. The one time I went during F&W I really didn't know enough about it and we went on a Saturday with incredible lines. Ugh. It's been years. But my bday is Oct 29th, so I definitely want to get back. But now I'm hearing that time of year is so crowded, F&G might be better. Of course, with being a teacher, it's hard to get time off like that so we'll see....

Other than the coconut, the frushi sounds wonderful! Yum!

 

[vettegirl]

Wow lady, you are the queen of the flower festival for sure! Great, entertaining update.

 

[suse66]

Carbtastic might just be my favourite new word.....lol! Great update!

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Getting all caught up. Love this report.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Looks like a fun afternoon at the festival! I really liked the watermelon salad too and, bonus, found a local restaurant that has a salad on the menu with similar flavors. Totally agree with you on sake. Blech!! But, like you, I do occasionally retry it, just in case I've been doing it wrong...

 

[NJlauren]

I'll start with the good, which was the Watermelon Salad that came with of course watermelon, arugula, pickled onions, feta, and a nice balsamic. This sounded odd at first but it was a great flavor combination that all worked well together

This sounds amazing and refreshing!

Starting with the corned beef per my notes it had a great "corny" flavor but was a pretty paltry portion size. The snakebite was very good and the lager cut through what I would have imagined to be a pretty sweet cider. I'm not typically a fruity beer fan (with the exception of the lovely Schofferhofer) but this was quite delicious. Drink gets the point
Food 1 Drink 1

I probably wouldn't have picked this one, i am way picky about corned beef, ever since i tried to make it myself... DISASTER, but the beer sounds yummy

I'm a total sucker for a cheese dish and this one didn't disappoint. The fresh ricotta was perfection, light and creamy and perfectly paired with the balsamic. The pate and pickles were also delicious. My only complaint, there just wasn't enough of it.

LOVE CHEESE anything! ANYTHING, yummmm but it does look a little small

On the food front, I was dying to finally try the Frushi (fruit sushi) that I'd read so much about.

This sounds yummy, but i don't know why it doesn't look as appealing as it sounds, but after the review it got if i ever have a chance i am getting this!

Oh my goodness this was so good and was my favorite item of the festival. Now this might have been spurred by my slight level of intoxication at the time and total need for some carbs, regardless it hit the proverbial spot. The beef was tender and flavorful and the noodles thick and totally carbtastic. They also had a slight hint of picked ginger that really went nicely. In fact I'd say they were noodle sucking good.

YUM!

You always make great food choices, i am just going to make a list of what you eat and follow it next time