Wingnut and I found ourselves in the vicinity of World Showcase around lunchtime, and pondered where to go. He suggested trying walk-ups at some of the restaurants, and I figured why not?
We started at Le Cellier (which we knew was a total long shot, but worth a visit). The very pleasant hostesses told us there was no availability. We trekked on. We bypassed England, as we already had a meal at Rose & Crown planned.
France. We stood on the lengthy line at the podium in the packed waiting area for about 20 seconds before giving up.
Morocco. A story about Morocco. Wingnut asked to eat at Restaurant Marrakesh about 700 times (Wingnut: "701") while we were planning our trip. I told him no 700..701..times. (I'm mean and repressive, I know.) See, I had seen the plentiful negative reviews on the restaurant, and was apprehensive. Also, with all of my spice allergies, I thought that this would be a bit of a difficult menu to maneuver. But mostly, I'm just mean.
Italy. We asked at Tutto Italia, 1 hour wait. Ugh. (I also wasn't incredibly enthused about Italy, as we have a plethora of amazing Italian food in our area.) Via Napoli, we encountered a large group of groups being turned away. Nope.
Wingnut wanted to press on to Japan, to try our luck at Teppan Edo. I started to dig in my heels. Hunger was outweighing patience. I suggested we turn around and go to Morocco, to Tangierine Cafe. (I had heard significantly better reviews of here, and this was my way of a bit of a peace offering for my 700..and 1..restaurant denials.) Wingnut agreed. (I know, it's very clear he's the much-more-agreeable one in our relationship. But someone's gotta be the one that gets increasingly grumpy without food. Right?
)
We walked into Tangierine Cafe (I'm going to take this moment to apologize for this text-heavy, photo-light post), and consulted with the cashier about my allergies. No vegetable platter, ok. I had the Chicken Wrap. I substituted one of the sides, which were lentils and couscous, and got a water instead of baklava for dessert. Wingnut had the Mediterranean Sliders Combo (lamb, chicken, and falafel). He went to get the food, and I went to stake out a table.
I got the table, and waited for Wingnut. And waited. And there he stood on line. Wingnut's perspective: "I was standing there on line, and it was just complete chaos. No one seemed to be communicating behind the counter, and plates were just moving down the line. We had had substitutions on our order, and nothing was being acknowledged, and there was no way to tell anyone. Nothing was noted on the ticket, I had tried to speak with someone, but they looked at the ticket and just shrugged their shoulders at me. The person in front of me also had special concerns with his order, and the same thing happened to him as well. At this point, I just gave up and took the food, I knew I wasn't going to get anywhere with it."
As he walked to the table, I could see the order was wrong, and Wingnut was annoyed. (He is pretty much the most patient, calm person I have ever met, just as a note.)
Me: "What's going on?"
Wingnut: "They're just back there putting slop on plates. It's absolutely ridiculous."
I didn't take any pictures of this meal, it was just frustrating, cold and windy inside, and unpleasant-looking. I had pretty much no desire to eat anything on my plate. The chicken in my wrap was in gray strips. I ripped off a few pieces of pita, and resolved to snack in the near future.
Wingnut ate a bit more than I did. He says, "it was disappointing, the falafel was incredibly dry. The only highlight was the chicken, it was decent. There was very little meat content inside the pitas. It was all lettuce."
After around maybe two minutes of picking around our plates miserably, we just decided to throw the food away and find food elsewhere. I suggested offering our desserts to someone nearby, but Wingnut wanted to try a bite. "It wasn't bad. A little dry, but tasty." The two pieces, minus about a bite, went into the trash as well.
After this, we needed to be cheered up. And I knew what Epcot food item could do the trick.
We walked one country to the left (or to the right, when looking from the lagoon), into France, past Chefs de France, and into (well onto the line for) Boulangerie Patisserie. I, of course, picked the slower-moving line, but soon enough we had our meals. For me, ham and cheese on a baguette. For Wingnut, a cheese plate. For the sharing, and cheering up, a Napoleon.
Why we didn't go here in the beginning, I don't really know. The ham and cheese was filling, the baguette had a nice crispy exterior and soft inside. Wingnut: "The cheese plate was pretty good. One was a swiss cheese that was really good, two were hard, one was soft, I didn't enjoy the soft cheese as much. The baguette that came with it was very good."
Finally I got my act together and took a picture! The best part of our meal(s). If you've never tried one of these, you absolutely must. Flaky pastry, rich pastry cream, absolutely delicious.
Onward to more food!
) You are a lovely couple! You are so pretty with your hair down~
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, but this is how i'd imagine it.) We arrived about 20 minutes early and waited at some picnic tables outside, eagerly awaiting our buzzer to go off. After about 15 minutes, we got called into the restaurant and were led to a cozy little table near the stage. Cue gratuitous picture of Stringbean:
!!! 
into my post, but this was the only way.
