A Salute To All Things Disney, But Mostly Food - A Feb 15 Dining Report - That's a Wrap 7/18

[bbak30]

Your little one is so cute! Loving your report, can't wait to read more

 

[kastoney]

Looks like a great meal....and an even better view!! I guess that's one place you might never get in without an ADR...but well worth a personality change for lol

Definitely worth indulging my ADR making alter ego for the night ; )

I felt the same way about my BLT flatbread on my last visit to California Grill. I enjoyed all the toppings but the flatbread itself was pretty much a soggy mess, especially in the middle. I saw that the pork flatbread that you had is actually still listed on their online menu. I was thinking of trying it if it still was when we visit next month. But after seeing your review, I think I'll pass. Thanks for saving me the $16!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy the flatbreads. They have promise, but the execution just isn't good. I'd definitely skip the pork flatbread, your $16 could be used for far better things.

Ohhhhhh. That all looks amazing. We made a Cali Grill ADR for early September based on a friend's enthusiastic rec and now I am doubly impatient to get there.

I hope you love it as much as we do. It's not always perfect, but its truly an amazing experience and uniquely disney.

 

[kastoney]

So sorry the rillettes didn't win the top spot! It was my all-time Disney favorite. The pate was, of course, delicious but a bit too airy for my liking. Well - I liked it so I suppose I should say a bit too airy for out-loving the rillettes.

We, too, viewed Wishes from the lesser used platform. Enjoying a glass of wine while watching Wishes is one of my most favorite memories of our trip.

Oh oh oh! Waffles for lunch? PLEASE tell me you're eating a Spicy Chicken Waffle!

I definitely liked the rillettes, just lost some of the pork with the spicy mayo. It certainly wouldn't hold me back from scarfing some more down right about now ; )

We were done with our meal already, but now I know to take something to drink to go with me for wishes. Maybe that will help keep me on the balcony for more than 5 seconds.

You may be on to something for lunch....

What an awesome view! Too bad about your fear of heights. I, too, am afraid of heights, and I can manage a lot of high places, but anything that feels too exposed or open bothers me.

We are staying at AKL CL and YC. It will be our first time at YC, but we've stayed at BC lots of times (BC was all booked for the spring discount by the time we decided on the trip). Our trip is only 5 nights, so I know it will go fast with the split stay. It is DP's (er DW's) birthday, so she got to pick the resorts, and since our last stay at AKL was pretty much her favorite trip ever, this was a must-do. For proximity to Flower and Garden, we love to stay at the Boardwalk/BC area.

Where are you all staying for Labor Day?

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip and of course food. You'll see in a few more posts we stayed at AKL for the first time this trip and fell in love too. We'll definitely be back. Hope you all have an amazing trip and happy birthday to DW.

We're staying at Poly for the first time next trip. At AKL we stayed in a regular room and realized sharing a room with Casey wasn't as bad as I'd made it out to be ; ) That and a great deal will be delivering us to the land of tonga toast and now trader sams

Your little one is so cute! Loving your report, can't wait to read more

Ahh, thank you so much. I think she's pretty darn cute myself, but I may be just a little biased. Thanks for following along.

 

[suse66]

Thanks for all the great reviews so far...... I love your approach to dining and even managed to score Kona and O'hana ressies on our trip using your methods. Looking forward to reading more!

 

[bbak30]

I'm so impressed that your DD will eat all of that fancy stuff! I've always considered my girls to be pretty good eaters, but your DD has them beat. Very impressive!
We tried Flying Fish once and weren't impressed. Maybe we should give it another try.....

Can't wait to read more!

 

[vettegirl]

Love the picture of the view and the fireworks, such a priceless view. Onto the food, soggy flat bread doesn't sound appealing to me. I believe my DH had a flatbread at CG before and it was greasy. However the filet was amazing I remember.

 

[Leshaface]

we did find an upside in that as we were walking to the boat launch we were able to see an MK bus was waiting. So for the price of beeps I at least got efficient transportation ; )

That would work for me!

First order of business....COFFEE

Always first order of business in my book.

nd a visit to the playboy mansion grotto - I mean Ariel's grotto...

I'd ordered our meals ahead of time and was able to make a morning adjustment to get Casey her own lunch since I hadn't eaten anything that morning. I think I expected to pay when we walked in and go straight to our seats, but didn't know we still had to wait in line with everyone else. Not sure what the point of preordering was, especially because when we got up there they had no record of our food. Great system ; )

What the heck? That kind of defeats the purpose of pre-ordering.

Speaking of which I used my "salad" lunch as an excuse to have a date with this little magic bar while Casey was napping. This was just the carbs I needed.

We both think alike for sure!

This was cute that she could mix it to her liking. She opted to eat the cheese straight from the ramekin and make her macaroni more like spaghetti. Very french indeed ; ) I tried a bite and it tasted like tomato sauce straight from the can, but she seemed to enjoy.

Love how they serve this to get this kids involved!

(I'm so over frozen for the record)

I enjoyed myself a beer poolside while she played (no pic, but believe it was a Coors Light).

Normally at Flying Fish we always order the calamari and rock shrimp appetizer and had plans to do so again, but Casey spotted some slushi - aka what she calls sushi - at a nearby table and requested we get that. Not one to disappoint my birthday girl, we ordered the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare and Crispy Tempura Tuna-Vegetable Sushi Roll with Sweet-and-Spicy Umami Sauce.

The plating on this was odd as I wasn't expecting the tartare to actually be on top of the sushi roll and in case it wasn't evident it was quite the task to try and figure out how to eat it. Eventually figuring out that taking a big, honking bite all at once seem to be the expectation from the sheer size we dove right in. The tempura sushi roll was quite good and the umami sauce it was paired with was excellent and added that sweet and salty flavor that only umami can deliver. The tuna tartare on top though unfortunately was a little bland and could have done with a bit of acid. I didn't write down any details on the seaweed accompaniment, but as I recall the green was the fresher tasting and better of the two. Overall this was ok, but made us long for the calamari.

The picture looks delicious but sorry it didn't turn out as good as you'd hope.

At least Casey is enjoying it with her one chopstick!

With our apps and entrees we'd ordered the same bottle of wine we'd had last time, a 2012 Laurenz V. Gruener Veltliner. For those who may be unfamiliar, Gruner Veltliner is an Austrian wine that is crisp and acidic and delicious. If you ever come across one I highly recommend trying it. I'm not usually a white wine fan, but I've never met a Gruner I didn't like.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not a white wine girl much (usually when it starts to get warmer out will I partake in a nice chilled Sauv Blanc or buttery Chard) but definitely love my deep reds.

For the entree's, Casey and I split the seasonal fish special - Tilefish - which was served with Epcot Greens, Cipollini Onions, Tiny Brussels Sprouts, Exotic Mushrooms, and a Lobster Butter Emulsion (note I'd ordered mine with no mushrooms as I loathe those little buggers)

This is exactly what I ordered the last time I visited FF. The tilefish was very good!

In typical flying fish form, this was great. The fish was tender and meaty and somehow tasted like it was battered, though it was not. The sauce was rich and buttery, but still stood up well against the meaty fish. In lieu of the mushrooms they seemed to have loaded us girls up on the roasted brussels sprouts and cipollini's which was fine by me. They were both perfectly charred and roasted and paired well with the fish. There was an odd black veggie in there I had to ask what it was (fearing of course it was the dreaded mushroom) but was told it was a black brussel sprout. Purple carrots last night, black brussels sprouts, what's next - chartreuse spinach?

Uh, hello beautiful writing!!

This looked absolutely amazing. Again, this looked absolutely amazing. And that unfortunately is where the success of the dish ended. The lobster was way overcooked and the sauce had a very odd bitter taste to it. We thought maybe it was the roe, but whatever it was it made the dish almost inedible. The only good thing on the plate was the crispy prosciutto - which those who have read my dining report before will know I worship at the alter of all things prosciutto. For some reason Jason felt this almost $40 dinner was an opportune time to enlist his "chef code" which means no matter how much he didn't like it, he decided to respect the chef and just eat it. I do not honor this code as if I encounter an inept business person I tell them of their said ineptness and don't just deal with it because I am also a business person. Apparently I just don't understand chef.

That just stinks. Especially since it was a $40 meal. I'm not one to send food back but I just did so not too long ago on Valentines day when I ordered a Medium steak and got a Well Done steak. The waitress said, there's a little pink in there and I was like are we color blind?? (I really didn't say that but I thought it! ) and she came back with the correct steak (I got someone elses steak) and said, you're right there was no pink whatsoever so this should be better. I was proud of myself! I hate being that person to complain but my steak was also 40 and there was no way I was going to pay that AND be unhappy with my food.

Unfortunately our magic band drama continued as we could not gain access to the parks as our tickets clearly marked park hopper were not enabling us to hop. Thankfully there was no line at guest services and instead of just fixing the issue with the bands, we decided to go ahead and upgrade to annual passes then as we'd intended to do so later in the week. It didn't take too long before he said we were all set (though in a bit of foreshadowing we were not) and he even gave us 3 extra fast passes for the night for all our trouble. This would have been a great gesture had it not been 10 minutes before closing ; )

What a nightmare with your MB's! Too bad he couldn't give you FP's that didn't expire.

You gotta be comfortable with your manhood to ride a purple flying carpet with an Elsa doll ; )

Looks like a total bad a**!

I being her oh so empathetic mother had strategically blocked this from my mind and let another ride through a movie that has been stuck in the Disney vault forever ensue. Needless to say, this did not go so well. There were tears, there were screams, there may have been a Dad lecturing the oh so wise mother, but there was most definitely not a train ride through Big Thunder Mountain in our cards for the day.

So so me!

While this now less terrified girl chugged down most of it, I was able to sample a little bit of the oh so buttery and salty goodness. This might have been our first, but would not be our only popcorn of the week.

I too, for the first time in 2013 had my first try of park popcorn and it was sooooo amazing! Wish I would have bought it much sooner!

Adorbs

This was an absolutely perfect reuben. The rye bread was delicious and grilled to perfection. The corned beef had the perfect blend of salt and subtle spices and was tender and moist. The ratio of bread to meat to cheese to sauce to sauerkraut was perfectly balanced, as well. In case you can't tell from my overuse of the word perfect, this was likely the best reuben I've ever had. And our fries, like Jason's, were thick steak cut fries that were nice and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Mmmm, this looks yummy.

I'm happy to report it wasn't that bad and we all survived and in even more of a confession, I have an ADR booked for our September trip already. #WhoAmI?

Which of course promptly ended up here...

So cute!

Going from least to most favorite, we first have the kielbasa. It was kielbasa, it was fine, Casey enjoyed it, and thats all I have to say about that. Next was the ham. Now truth in advertising I'm not a huge ham fan and this did nothing to win me over to the ham fan club. And then we move along to the stars of the plate. Coming in third was the pork rillette. I was expecting a first place finish from this one, but it had a spice to it from the mayo that overpowered the flavor of the pork and duck fat for me. My second favorite was the bison terrine. This had a great beef flavor, but also some sweetness from the fig gelee that was a great combo. And the winner was.....

The duck liver pate. This was creamy and fatty and indulgent and completely perfect. I can almost taste it now as I type.​

Can you believe DH is not a pate fan? It is seriously the most flavorful thing you can have and you don't like it??? He's nuts.

I'm sure no one will be surprised to know that my betrothed and I elected a liquid dessert for ourselves. With a little help from our waiter we were able to surmise the port we'd enjoyed last trip which was a Fonseco 20 year old tawny port

I've only tasted one really good port (and we bought it too!) but I can't drink ports all the time. Way too strong. I'm surprised you weren't feeling it after a bottle of a wine

Gorgeous way to end the night

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for all the great reviews so far...... I love your approach to dining and even managed to score Kona and O'hana ressies on our trip using your methods. Looking forward to reading more!

I'm so glad last minute ressie's worked out for you. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you are flexible clearly doable. I think a lot of the 180 day crew would be shocked how much is out there at the last minute.

I'm so impressed that your DD will eat all of that fancy stuff! I've always considered my girls to be pretty good eaters, but your DD has them beat. Very impressive!
We tried Flying Fish once and weren't impressed. Maybe we should give it another try.....

Can't wait to read more!

She is definitely quite the eater and for that I know we are very lucky. Kid devoured a whole artichoke at dinner tonight. I'd love to take credit, but I think she just inherited her Daddy's palette ; )

Definitely give flying fish a try. The misstep form this trip aside, we have always been very impressed.

Love the picture of the view and the fireworks, such a priceless view. Onto the food, soggy flat bread doesn't sound appealing to me. I believe my DH had a flatbread at CG before and it was greasy. However the filet was amazing I remember.

It was definitely priceless. Scary as crap, but priceless.

We'd had a flat bread several years ago (aka when I was pregnant) and I recall it being good. Not sure what has changed, but for that much money it was disappointing.

 

[kastoney]

Woohoo I figured out how to do the fancy multi-quotes ; )

At least Casey is enjoying it with her one chopstick!

That is her patented one stick method. Got her some of the kids training chopsticks in the Japan pavilion, which she is doing a great job with.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not a white wine girl much (usually when it starts to get warmer out will I partake in a nice chilled Sauv Blanc or buttery Chard) but definitely love my deep reds.

I'm not a chardonay fan, but do like Sauvignon Blanc. I tend to like really acidic whites and Gruener's definitely deliver that. It's similar to an Albarino if you've had one of those. But I'm normally a full bodied red girl on most days but white is anise departure.

That just stinks. Especially since it was a $40 meal. I'm not one to send food back but I just did so not too long ago on Valentines day when I ordered a Medium steak and got a Well Done steak. The waitress said, there's a little pink in there and I was like are we color blind?? (I really didn't say that but I thought it! ) and she came back with the correct steak (I got someone elses steak) and said, you're right there was no pink whatsoever so this should be better. I was proud of myself! I hate being that person to complain but my steak was also 40 and there was no way I was going to pay that AND be unhappy with my food.

It definitely stinks, still don't know what that man dealt with it. I had a medium rare steak at California Grill last year and it was decidedly well too. I like you sent it back.

Can you believe DH is not a pate fan? It is seriously the most flavorful thing you can have and you don't like it??? He's nuts.

No, I cannot believe that. Pate = Pure Joy

 

[ursalita]

The Plaza looks wonderful! I tried to book a lunch there this trip but it just didn't work with our plans. Reubens are one of my favorite and to know you enjoyed yours makes me so bummed I'm gonna miss the Plaza this trip. California Grille is that restaurant I've been wanting to go to for years but every time we visit Disney I never manage to make reservations. Clearly I need to rectify that.

 

[kastoney]

The Plaza looks wonderful! I tried to book a lunch there this trip but it just didn't work with our plans. Reubens are one of my favorite and to know you enjoyed yours makes me so bummed I'm gonna miss the Plaza this trip. California Grille is that restaurant I've been wanting to go to for years but every time we visit Disney I never manage to make reservations. Clearly I need to rectify that.

The plaza was definitely a pleasant surprise. Ya gotta get one of those reubens some day.

Definitely try for cali grill sometime. We've enjoyed it every time.

 

[kastoney]

Before I forget, from the last update I'd forgotten to mentioned we'd saved $34.20 on our car insurance, um I mean with our tables in wonderland card.

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming....

We were up and moving early again today and after a quick boat ride across the lake of the bay, we were at MK before 9 again. After a quick spin on the teacups we decided it was time to get Casey over whatever torture Splash Mountain had done two days prior. So off to the Barnstormer (aka Goofy Roller Coaster in our house) it was. And yes i had another one of those owe so proud parenting moments when I forced my crying child onto the ride with me. I knew she loved it, since we'd rode it since she was 2 1/2, just needed that four year old brain to yield to the power of Mommy. She did love it, but that wouldn't be my last coaxing job of the day. #BadMama

Speaking of Bad Mama's, we hadn't eaten breakfast yet this morning - so what better place for a nutritious meal than Big Top Treats. Casey picked out an Olaf cake pop since we figured it was nutritious given his nose was a carrot.

Being a good food reporter, I did the only thing I could and try a bite. It was chocolatey and surprisingly moist and very dense. I'm not a huge fondant fan usually, but it stood up well to the chocolate. Asking my four year old foodie for her opinion, she proclaimed it good. Got a future dis reporter in our future ; )

Jason ordered the Mickey Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treat.

I think he only ordered this so his peanut allergy ridden wife couldn't try a bite. Following in Casey's illustrious description, he also proclaimed it "good" I'm not a big fan of sugary things in the morning, so I passed on a big top treat.

So what else to do in Storybook Circus, then meet a human sized rodent and ride through the sky on a miniature flying elephant.




The ever elusive photo of me.

From there we traveled through the small world of miniature singing children, rode with 999 haunts, met a girl named Cindy and her friend who likes frying pans, before meeting those Norwegian princesses for whom Jason had stalked the disney site for days to get a fast pass for. Sadly he could only get a fast pass for two, so I had to sit this one out. Oh so sad (not). Casey however, still not over the phenomenon that is frozen, enjoyed herself.





We were all getting mighty hungry at this point and decided to hit up our favorite MK counter service, Columbia Harbor House. Unfortunately, the line was going out the door and being a family who does not wait for food we quickly moved over to another favorite....


We'd eaten here once before and tried last trip (but didn't know that sandwich servings apparently end at 5 pm - seems logical to stop serving at the beginning of dinner time right?) - so we were happy oblige our waffle sammie cravings.

First up is the Ham, Prosciutto, and Swiss....

This comes topped with arugula (a perennial favorite of fine), tomatoes, and some sort of mayonnaise. I'm not a huge ham fan - but prosciutto is one of my all time fav foods (makes perfect sense, right?) - so I let Casey eat at the ham from my portion. So that left me with the prosciutto and swiss. While I think the cheese selection is a bit of an odd pairing, the sweet tomato and peppery arugula helped counterbalance the swiss flavor. The waffle was pure perfection and the perfect vessel for just about anything.

And then the piece de resistance - The Sweet and Spicy Chicken Sandwich...

Fried chicken, spicy sauce, waffle, arugula, and some slaw - yes please and thank you. This sandwich is a true disney original and absolutely delicious. It's waffle house meets KFC all in one. Word of caution though, eat it fast. It gets soggy quickly and is best enjoyed fresh from the hollow.

Full from waffles, cheese, and fried goodness we slowly meandered over to frontier land to hop on the train to our finally destination of the day: The Dwarfs Roller Coaster (aka the mine train for those not hip to Casey's lingo). We again encountered much resistance to riding, but after a good old fashioned bribe (don't judge me) of some light up bracelets that evening, she got on and of course loved every minute. #MamaDoesKnowBest

We called it an afternoon at that point and headed back to the lodge. We'd planned on eating somewhere around MK that night and going back to the kingdom, but Jason and I overwhelming agreed that after three straight days we were a little MK'd out (shhh don't tell Mickey). So with our options opened up, we ended up picking dinner based on alcohol instead of food.

Up next....A Liquid Dinner in Ep-A-Cot​

 

[KathyM2]

Yum...another day of good food That peanut butter mickey treat looks pretty good to me...but so does everything else! I dunno...I'm not sure how I feel about chicken and waffles...I know it's a "thing" but I've never tried it...maybe... I'm never sure whether or not to force my kids on stuff...you want them to get over the fear and not have it be a lifelong stumbling block...I wish I'd done it more...but now...my kids are 9 and 12 and still won't ride much other than the truly tame stuff...so...you have the right idea I think!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Interesting to see the savory waffle sandwiches! The chicken one looks really good! I think I'll be making a stop for the nutella and fruit one myself when we go

Looks like you got some nice pictures with Anna and Elsa too Awesome!

 

[Vernie822]

I've had my eye on those waffles but I still haven't tried them. I think I need to change that. Prosciutto is my fave but you're right, a little odd that it's paired with Swiss.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

So sad to hear the flatbread at CG wasn't so good, we always have one when we dine there.

I admit to getting breakfast at Big Top Treats too. But I would skip the cinnamon rolls from there in the future since they were kind of stale.

Never tried Sleepy Hollow before but the waffle sandwiches look yummy!

 

[ursalita]

Those waffle sandwiches look awesome. My DS has been eating his PB&J on Eggo waffles lately. Don't judge me.
I don't know if we'll need to find lunch at MK this trip, too bad they don't serve them after 5.

 

[bbak30]

That peanut butter rice krispy treat looks soooo good!

 

[kastoney]

Yum...another day of good food That peanut butter mickey treat looks pretty good to me...but so does everything else! I dunno...I'm not sure how I feel about chicken and waffles...I know it's a "thing" but I've never tried it...maybe... I'm never sure whether or not to force my kids on stuff...you want them to get over the fear and not have it be a lifelong stumbling block...I wish I'd done it more...but now...my kids are 9 and 12 and still won't ride much other than the truly tame stuff...so...you have the right idea I think!

Chicken and waffles definitely sounds like a strange mix, but it oddly works. In this case it is more of a vessel than anything else so its a good gateway to the real thing ; )

There clearly is no right answer to this whole kid thing as I'm figuring out ; ) I only used my powers of mommy persuasion on rides she had ridden before, so I knew she liked them already. Don' think I'd employ the same tactic on say Tower of Terror. Think I'd so some serious damage that way ; )

Interesting to see the savory waffle sandwiches! The chicken one looks really good! I think I'll be making a stop for the nutella and fruit one myself when we go

Looks like you got some nice pictures with Anna and Elsa too Awesome!

Strangely I've never tried the nutella one, though I love all things nutella. Will have to move beyond the savory next try and see what I'm missing.

Thanks on the pictures. Though we've never gotten any really good ones with A&E. Casey is always star struck around them.

I've had my eye on those waffles but I still haven't tried them. I think I need to change that. Prosciutto is my fave but you're right, a little odd that it's paired with Swiss.

Go, run for waffles now!!!!

 

[kastoney]

So sad to hear the flatbread at CG wasn't so good, we always have one when we dine there.

I admit to getting breakfast at Big Top Treats too. But I would skip the cinnamon rolls from there in the future since they were kind of stale.

Never tried Sleepy Hollow before but the waffle sandwiches look yummy!

The flatbread was definitely a disappointment. I'd had one previously in my pre-Casey days (aka the dark ages) and recall it being good. Hopefully just an anomaly that day.

Thanks for the cinnamon roll tip. I didn't even noticed they had one and actually planned on grabbing one from Gaston's that day, but never made it that far.

Those waffle sandwiches look awesome. My DS has been eating his PB&J on Eggo waffles lately. Don't judge me.
I don't know if we'll need to find lunch at MK this trip, too bad they don't serve them after 5.

They are definitely good. And no judgment on the waffle PB&J. My hubby may or may not have done that himself on an occasion or two.

Looks like your trip is starting eminently. Have a great time!!!!

That peanut butter rice krispy treat looks soooo good!

Apparently it was good. Still bitter I didn't get to sample any ; )

Hope you have a great trip! Hope to read all about it soon