Happy Anniversary To Me...UPDATED!! JIKO!

[TigerKat]

...and I can't find the cable to connect my camera to my computer! So I won't put up my whole report until that happens because I did take pictures of nearly every meal we ate. But I have LOTS to say...it was an interesting experience, to say th least.

Looking forward to your reviews!

 

[tinacaplan]

So...camera issues have been solved!

However, I did not take pictures of our first meal, which was not part of my original plan. DH was hungry when we got to the resort and our room wasn't ready, so it was off to Pepper market we went.

I'm not sure why Pepper Market gets so much flak, or why people find it confusing. Now, I don't know why you have to pay a gratuity for someone to get you a drink, but what do I know? As far as I could tell, we were on the DxDP and were never charged the 10%.

So, we sat down and order our drinks, which we got in our refillable mugs. I expected these to be a little bigger, especially considering how far you have to walk to fill it! I could easily finish that off on the walk from El Centro to my room!

I got the nachos, which were OK. The portion was huge, though. The chicken on top was pretty bland and dry. The cheese on the nachos was that weird, nacho cheese sauce that I don't really like. I am used to getting real shredded cheese on nachos and it being melted under a broiler.

DH got the chicken quesadilla and that was OK, too.

We ate at Pepper Market three times and it was fine. CM's were fine, if not the friendliest we encountered on our trip overall. One cook did give me a GIANT ceasar salad and free chips, though.

We were never charged that 10% gratuity, even though we were on the DxDP, by the way.

I had churros for dessert and they were good. DH had a brownie sundae.

All in all, as I said, it was average, but portions are huge. We could have easily split a single entree, especially for lunch. This was a recurring theme on the trip.

I'm not sure the DxDP is worth it, as we ended up eating a lot more food than we would have otherwise. Eating one big meal a day is plenty for us; we would have happily shared a snack or counter service for our midday meal. I will discuss this more at the end of the report, though.

 

[tinacaplan]

I wanted to start off our trip with something really fun and Disney, so I made our first night's ADR at Biergarten and it was a great choice. Unfortunately, DH and I were not that hungry as we had a late lunch at Pepper Market back at the resort, but we had a great time anyway.

Let me begin by saying that EPCOT is just as magical and beautiful as I remembered it. It was and still is my favorite park (DH's too) and I would like to build a tiny house and live under one of the monorail lines in Futureworld.

We got to EPCOT around 4:30 and walked over to World Showcase, where I immediately stopped and got a margarita from the outdoor stand in Mexico. It was yummy and cold; which was too bad because it was so chilly out, already. The one time in my life I might ever get to Florida in the winter and it was cold.

We then made our way over to Germany.

I was very surprised at how light the crowds seemed, as it was President's Weekend, but there was a good crowd gathered outside of the restaurant. We checked in and we were seated pretty fast. We met our dinner companions as we were coming in and they were a very nice couple escaping the crowds in their hometown of Daytona. We had a lovely time with them, which was great because the seating is family-style.

DH ordered one of the gigantic beers and I had a glass of Reisling, one of my favorite types of wine.

This is my first plate:

I tried the cold salads first. The beets and the cucumbers were yummy; as was the herring salad. Plenty of creamy, cold, dill deliciousness. The herring was also yummy. Yes, I enjoy pickled herring. There might be something seriously wrong with me.

I also tried the pretzel bread, which was great and different, and the potato soup, which was nice on such a chilly evening.

My second plate:

This time I went in for the heavier items. This was first time ever having real, warm German potato salad and it was great; vinegary with plenty of bacon. The schnitzel was also delicious. The wursts and sausages were also good. The German meatloaf was weird, though. The mustards were great accompaniments.

DH ate very little, as he was busy with his beer. I should mention that neither one of us are big drinkers and he finds beer to be especially filling.

We skipped out on dessert as we were stuffed at this point, but stuck around for the entertainment.

Overall, the meal was very good. We enjoyed our company, as well as the entertainment. This is one of the few places we ate at that I can say we will DEFINITELY come back to on our next trip. I know that DS (aged three) will love it as much as we did. The food tasted freshly prepared, like nothing was sitting around for too long and the variety was good. I think that most people could find something on the buffet that they like.

 

[KatMark]

Great start, Tina. Mark and I LOVE Biergarten and can't wait to go back (we didn't do it on our mini-trip last year). It looks like you and DH are having a great start to the trip.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

joining in. Great start and can't wait for more...

 

[TigerKat]

Great start, we haven't been to Biergarten in over 5 years, need to get back there!

 

[tinacaplan]

Great start, Tina. Mark and I LOVE Biergarten and can't wait to go back (we didn't do it on our mini-trip last year). It looks like you and DH are having a great start to the trip.

joining in. Great start and can't wait for more...

Great start, we haven't been to Biergarten in over 5 years, need to get back there!

Thanks for all the encouragement! And, Kathy, my husband is a Mark, too.

 

[tinacaplan]

I could never say that we did not eat well on Valentine's Day this year.


We started our day with rope drop at EPCOT. Rope drop was great, with the characters and the excitement. After riding Soarin' and getting fastpasses for Test Track, DH and I made our way back to World Showcase for our lunch at Tutto Italia.

We were among the very first to walk through World Showcase that morning and it was fantastic to see everything without anyone else around. The countries are all so beautiful with so many flowers everywhere. The attention to detail is amazing.

We were greeted warmly upon arrival at Tutto.

The dinining room was pretty empty when we arrived, but it gradually filled up while we ate.

I started lunch off with a Bellini, one of my favorite drinks in the whole world. I love Prosecco all on its own, but throw some peach puree in there, too, and I'm in heaven.

My DH had the fried calamari for his appetizer. It was fine, nothing to get too excited about. The coating was a little thick for me and there were only rings, no tentacles. I'm sure this makes a lot of people very happy, but being Italian and growing up in the Northeast, I have been eating calamari since...well...I could chew, basically and I really like the whole experience. I also like the fried banana peppers you often get in your fried calamari up here. But, again, it was good.

I had a roasted beet and arugula salad with goat cheese and a lemon vinagarette. This was light and delicious. The beets were sweet and a great counterpoint to the spicy arugula. The dressing was tart and bright and very fresh tasting.

Onto our entrees... DH had a grouper fillet on a bed of spinach with a caper lemon butter sauce. This was absolutely heavenly; light, lemon-y, and very well prepared. The fish was perfectly cooked, flaky and fresh. I wondered why I didn't order this...

Oh, yeah...I know why...because I find it nearly impossible to pass up pasta. There were several good options on the menu, but I wanted something lighter and so I went with linguine with clam sauce. The linguine was good, but why I ordered something I can make at home in about twenty minutes, I'll never know. I try to order things when I eat out that I don't make at home! Oh, well...it was still yummy.

The pasta was cooked perfectly and the tomatoes were a nice addition. I just love the balance between the flavors in clam sauce; you have a garlic and then the salti-ness of the sea from the clams.

DH and I were stuffed at this point and didn't order dessert. We were quickly discovering that the DxDP is just too much food. I especially didn't want to ruin our next meal....

Overall, Tutto was one of the better dining experiences we had. The food was delicious, the service was efficient and friendly, and at one TS credit, it is a bargain. It is slightly less of a bargain if you're paying OOP, but not that much more expensive than many restaraunts near my house. We would definetely go back to Tutto, especially if we do the DP on our next trip.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Great update!!!

 

[frannn]

Just a quick question about lunch at Tuttto. Do you recall if there were other seafood choices, like lobster ravioli? Last year we went & I don't recall seeing anything that looked as good as that grouper...

 

[tinacaplan]

Great update!!!

Just a quick question about lunch at Tuttto. Do you recall if there were other seafood choices, like lobster ravioli? Last year we went & I don't recall seeing anything that looked as good as that grouper...

Thanks! And no..I think there might have been another fish dish on the menu, but I don't recall lobster ravioli. Only when I came home and looked around for menus for Tutto did I realize how out of date the one of All Ears is. And truly, that grouper was one of the best things we had a well week. No lie.

 

[dizneeat]

Great photos of Tutto! They do have wonderful food! Note, we have two visits scheduled during our next trip!

I have to comment on the "German meatloaf", as that is NOT meatloaf, LOL, that is what we call "Leberkaese or Fleischkaese" and it has as much to do with meatloaf as Funnel Cake with Wedding Cake!
We love it, but I think you need to grow up with it! Here in Austria this is one of the most sold "fast foods" you can get - a slice of that in a crusty roll is sold here very often.

 

[Linda67]

Wonderful photos
I agree with you on the Belini Kir Royal comes a close second though

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[tinacaplan]

Wonderful photos
I agree with you on the Belini Kir Royal comes a close second though

joining in

Thanks for the support! I will get around to writing another review this weekend. Didn't realize it would so time consuming with all the picture posting and all.

 

[tinacaplan]

Great photos of Tutto! They do have wonderful food! Note, we have two visits scheduled during our next trip!

I have to comment on the "German meatloaf", as that is NOT meatloaf, LOL, that is what we call "Leberkaese or Fleischkaese" and it has as much to do with meatloaf as Funnel Cake with Wedding Cake!
We love it, but I think you need to grow up with it! Here in Austria this is one of the most sold "fast foods" you can get - a slice of that in a crusty roll is sold here very often.

Interesting! Thanks for the picture and the info.

 

[tinacaplan]

To say that I was super excited for this reservation is the understatement of the year. The decade, perhaps. When I first called to make my ADR's, I didn't even realize that I was making an ADR on Valentine's Day, or that I would make the ADR during Wishes. It just happened that this was the night of evening EMHs at the Magic Kingdom, so I figure, ok, we'll have this amazing dinner and then we'll be able to run around the Magic Kingdom 'till three a.m..

The castmember taking my reservations quickly pointed out the obvious, though!

I also have to say I was super excited because it meant we got to look around the Contemporary, where I have wanted to stay since I was a little kid and I first rode the monorail through the hotel. Didn't happen this trip, but someday... And have to admit that the parts of the resort we saw did not dissapoint.

So, we checked in on the second floor and the hostess was ubelievably nice. This night was defintely our first taste of that incredible Disney magic.

She noted our anniversary on the reservation and asked if anyone had given us out pins yet. I said no (which I was dissapointed about) and she gave them to us. The whole rest of the trip we received conratulations from all sorts of people. It was great. I felt like a celebrity!

We had a bit of a wait for our meal, which was fine. We sat down at the bar and had drinks; although I have to admit that I don't remember what I had, although my husband had a vodka tonic.

We didn't finish our drinks before our table was ready...and what a table it was...

Now, I can't believe that I didn't take a picture of it, but it was covered with the Mickey confetti and the location.... well, let's just say I cried and asked the host, "Seriously? This is really our table?"

That was our view. The picture is terrible, really. The blue glow in the middle is the castle. We were seated directly in front of one of the huge, floor to ceiling windows!

Our server was nice and very efficient. At this point, I switched to champagne and we perused our menus.

We ended up ordering a flatbread and some sushi for our first course. It just seemed like the thing to do there.

Sorry there's a square missing already...I wasn't used to taking pictures of my food.

The flatbread (which isn't on the menu posted on AllEars right now) had smoked salmon, capers, creme fraiche, and some lemon on it and it was absolutely one of the most wonderful things I've ever tasted in my life. The flavors were perfectly balanced; smoky from the salmon, sour saltiness from the capers, and the creamy creme fraiche all on that cripsy crust. Delicious and I ate much more of it than I should have.

It also paired well with the sushi we order, believe it or not. We had the Malibu Roll, which was grouper, snapper, cobia, hamachi, tuna tartare, and spicy sesame sauce. And it, too, was delicious.

My husband and I completely finished both appetizers, which meant we were absolutely NOT hungry for our meals...oh well.

Sometime during the first course, Wishes started and it was magical. I cried, listening to the music and watching the fireworks, right there, at our incredible table. Thank you, Disney!

Our server did an excellent job of pacing our meal. We had a long time between our courses, which is what I want when I'm eating food like this in a restaraunt like that. I do not want to feel rushed or to go directly from one thing to the next; I like to stop and savor what I'm eating and give myself at least a little bit of breather!

Unfortunately, because we were so full, I can't say as much about our meals. They were excellent, to be sure, but when you're full... Well, it does diminish the experience. It was beginning to dawn on my husband and I that the DxDDP was just TOO MUCH FOOD. But more on that in a later post...

I had the scallops with a bacon emulsion and squash. It was delicate, the flavors were balanced, and the dish worked well.

My husband had the Oak-fired Fillet Of Beef - with olive oil whipped potatoes, broccolini, and teriyaki barbecue, which he really enjoyed. The meat was tender and cooked perfectly.

We absolutely had no room for dessert...but we crammed it in anyway! This was our first signature of the trip and I was dying to try some of the amazing desserts I had read about on the Dis.

I had the bananas in phyllo:

My husband had the Valrohna chocolate cake with the molten center and the salted caramel ice cream:

They were both exceptional and beautifully presented and unlike anything we'd had before.

The meal was excellent, without question. I have to say that the California Grill is the one restaraunt I'll be running to the next time we come, even with our son, as there were lots of kids around. I did not, however, find the place to be particularly noisy and all of the kids I saw were very well behaved and seemed pretty used to eating out.

I will be glad to come back and not be on the dining plan, though, as we would have been quite happy skipping our main courses. Not that they weren't great, mind you, but our first course just filled up so much!

We left completely satisfied and scurried off into a magical night at MK that lasted until the wee hours... Totally worth it and probably the best Valentine's Day I've ever had!

 

[dizneeat]

Wonderful review!

Tina, I am so happy you enjoyed your meal at the California Grill, even though you had to "force" yourself to eat dessert!
It's a wonderful restaurant and we LOVE it up there too! It has become a habit for us to pay OOP for it and just share an appetizer - otherwise we can't do dessert, either!

 

[jbeaudet721]

Thanks so much for this very interesting entry! Happy anniversary.

 

[tinacaplan]

Wonderful review!

Tina, I am so happy you enjoyed your meal at the California Grill, even though you had to "force" yourself to eat dessert!
It's a wonderful restaurant and we LOVE it up there too! It has become a habit for us to pay OOP for it and just share an appetizer - otherwise we can't do dessert, either!

Thanks so much for this very interesting entry! Happy anniversary.

Thank you! Love the feedback. It was truly a magical night; perhaps the best of the trip.