Lights! Camera! Appetite! 7 Days, Starring A Reviewer & A Vegetarian!

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Quiet on set!
We're rolling!

Hello, fellow Dissers, and welcome to my dining reviews from my most recent encounter at the World. We only arrived back home 3 days ago and already I want to go back! But that happens every time, doesn't it? Anyway, in order to hold on to some of that Disney magic, I will be writing these dining reviews and a trip report. Hope I'll have a lot of subscribers on board!

First I suppose you need to meet the cast in this culinary adventure.

Well that's me (Katy) and my boyfriend Matt. This was Matt's first time to Disney World, though he'd been to Disneyland in California several times as a kid. He mostly remembered standing in lines for three hours for a three minute ride. This was my fourth trip, but my first without a parental-like figure, so that was exciting! We were celebrating our one year anniversary on this trip, as well as the fact that we survived another year of college.

I'm adventurous when it comes to food. I love seafood, especially shrimp, and usually don't eat too much red meat. I have a huge sweet tooth and love fruit. Also, carbs are my weakness. Bread is love in my book, and cookies are the best dessert. I can not stand ground meat, I don't eat hotdogs, and corn is my least favourite vegetable.

Matt, on the other hand, is even more adventurous than I am! He does have a few more restrictions, however, because he's a vegetarian. At first he cut all meat except seafood, and now he's cut that out completely too. He's dabbling in veganism, but didn't try to eat vegan this trip. It is vacation, after all. He isn't too big on mushrooms or raw onion.

In my next post I'll make a list of all the places we went so I can link to the posts I make. I hope you'll all joins us after this brief intermission!

Video: Let's All Go To The Lobby

 

[ibcindyb]

Great, I'm in!

 

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The Food

Pop Century Food Court (2x)
Sunshine Seasons
Le Cellier
Wolfgang Puck Express
Jiko
Kona Cafe
Columbia Harbour House
Akershus
Mainstreet Bakery (3x)
Aloha Isle
Crystal Palace
Starring Rolls Cafe
Studio Catering Company
Mama Melrose​

 

[Linda67]

Really looking forward to your review

 

[somethingblue]

We arrived in Orlando around 8:30 PM and were pretty hungry! We dropped off our stuff and then headed to the Pop Century Food Court to look around and find something to eat. Matt was immediately impressed with the wide variety of vegetarian options available. That night they offered vegetarian lo mein, a veggie burger, and vegetarian lasagna. We made our choices and dove into our first meal in Disney World!

Everything Pop Food Court

Matt chose the vegetarian lasagna. This was served with a side salad and a breadstick. The slab of lasagna they gave him was HUGE, even for Disney portions. We were thinking maybe this is because the vegetarian lasagna isn't a big seller. Whatever the reason, though, it was plenty of food. The lasagna itself has an array of vegetables as well as ground tofu between the pasta layers and was topped with marinara. The salad appeared to be dry but was in fact coated with a vinaigrette. Matt's only real complaint was that the lasagna had a very smooth consistency, perhaps because the vegetables had been sitting around under a heat lamp losing firmness. Still, it was flavourful, and it was certainly filling.

For my dinner I chose the Parmesan crusted chicken served with Alfredo pasta and a bread stick. I requested the Alfredo sauce on the side because I'm very picky about things covered in sauce. This was also a generous portion, though the thickness of the chicken made it rather difficult to cut with the little plastic knife. While a few of the noodles were a little cold, the dish was generally warm and certainly didn't leave me hungry. I particularly enjoyed the bread stick provided, as it was soft and had a great flavour.

Now, for the desserts!

Matt chose the flagship dessert of Pop Century, the tie-dye cheesecake. This is a very sweet, food colouring filled dessert with a redvelvet cake "crust". It was a creative but generic sweet.

Since I knew I'd probably be eating a lot of unhealthy food this trip, I decided to keep it light with a fruit cup. It was a fresh mix of fruit, though nothing stood out as incredibly flavourful. Still, a light way to end a meal.

Well, there you have it, the first scene, complete! Hope you'll stick around for the next review, and please, leave me some comments.

 

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Hello everyone! Sorry for the very belated second installment of my Disney Dining Review...I just moved in to a new apartment! But now I'm back and ready to finish what I started. Hopefully I'll even get a few subscribers...

Anyway, on to the food! Our first park day was spent at Epcot; we got there for EMH in the morning and got a LOT done! We started our day off with a light snack credit breakfast.

Sunshine Seasons

I started the day off with a cinnamon raisin bagel topped off with cream cheese. Sorry I had already taken a bite out of it before I remembered to snack a picture!! This was extremely filling; I only ate half the bagel before I felt full. (But then again, I'm not an early morning eater).

Matt chose the Croissant Bread Pudding for his breakfast. This was an unexpected offering that he really enjoyed. The croissant flavour was prominent in the dish and it was full of berries. Again, this was a pretty large portion for a snack credit.

Le Cellier
We ate light that morning because we knew we had a big lunch coming up at Le Cellier! I didn't quite know what to expect out of this restaurant as it is so often over-hyped here on the Dis. We arrived a little early and were given a buzzer. We went and sat on the bridge for a while until it became far too hot to sit in the sun and instead moved to the shade. It wasn't long before we were called in, though they called me "Kathy" instead of "Katy". I've heard reviewers complain that the restaurant is too dark, but honestly I've been in far darker dining establishments. We were seated a cozy two top in the corner and ordered our drinks.

Matt chose the Red Maple smoothie, which was a tart, refreshing blend of raspberries and Sprite. Something surprising about this drink was that the raspberry seeds weren't noticeable at all! Pretty rare for a raspberry smoothie. This was served with ice water, and I ordered an iced tea. Just a word of warning, Disney no longer carries name-brand sweeteners. I asked for Splenda and it was explained to me that while they had something exactly like Splenda, they didn't have the name brand. So keep that in mind when requesting sweetener.

Quickly after receiving our drinks we got some of the famous Le Cellier bread! Matt was quite partial to the pretzel bread while I preferred the sourdough. There was also a rye breadstick that both of us thought was fine, but nothing special. It was nice to have something to munch on before lunch.

When it came time to decide on entrees I was a little torn. Salmon sounded appealing, but I'd heard so much about the mushroom filet...what did I choose in the end?

That's right, I chose the filet! This was delectable, probably the best piece of meat I had the entire trip. The steak was juicy, the mushrooms were fresh, and the risotto was near perfectly cooked. While it looks a bit small on it's large plate, this was a very filling dish. I cleaned my plate, and that's a rarity for me!

Being a vegetarian, Matt didn't have much of a choice when it came to entrees. Thankfully, the vegetarian option was so tasty this wasn't a problem at all. The Potato Gnocchi was served with pesto, eggplant, and tomatoes. There was an unexpected meaty flavour to this pasta...almost a smokiness. All of the vegetables were fresh, and while the eggplant didn't add much flavour it did contribute a nice texture to the dish. The freshly grated Parmesan cheese was also a nice touch. This portion was HUGE! Matt could only eat about half of it. They certainly make sure no vegetarian goes hungry.

Matt chose the famous Maple Creme Brulee for his dessert. This, not surprisingly, had a very intense maple flavour. The caramelization on top of the dessert was perfect, but Matt wasn't too pleased with it being served room temperature. Cold or hot would have been better than lukewarm.

Since my meal was so filling I knew I wanted something light for dessert. I chose something I'd never seen on any of the online menus I'd looked at; Monte Blanc Semi Freddo served with a chilled fruit soup. This was topped with meringue and was to die for! The alcohol flavour was strong but not overpowering, and the sweetness from the soup really complimented it. This light dessert was a great end to a filling meal!

So would I go back to Le Cellier? In a heart beat. But I probably wouldn't wake up at 4 AM to get dinner reservations. I was very happy with our lunch experience there.

Coming up next time, Wolfgang Puck Express!

 

[gardengirl628]

Count me in!!!!!

 

[Cat0727]

I'm in! Looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews!

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on!

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Great reviews so far...love the look of the semi freddo... though as a canadian I have to say its not overly canadian. Teehee I find it amusing le cellier has ALOT of italian type dishes teehee

Im about to do my first non parental disney trip with my fiance and its his first time but he also has been to Disneyland (He's from Cali) and all he remembers is lines too... did our Disney significant others grow up together just kidding!

 

[Evita_W]

Thanks so far for your reviews!! So very helpful and I cannot wait to hear more! Thanks also for the pics...they are so much fun to drool over!!! I also LOVE hearing about VEGGIE options...

Keep up all the great work! *Waiting paciently for the next review...

 

[Linda67]

Thanks for your reviews and pictures
Love seeing the Veggie options as although I eat fish I don't eat meat
I've been in two minds about Le Cellier but DH would love the steak so I think we will try and get an ADR for our next trip
Looking forward to the next installment

 

[somethingblue]

Count me in!!!!!

I'm in! Looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews!

Signing on!

Thanks guys!! It's so encouraging to know someone's actually reading this stuff.

Great reviews so far...love the look of the semi freddo... though as a canadian I have to say its not overly canadian. Teehee I find it amusing le cellier has ALOT of italian type dishes teehee

Im about to do my first non parental disney trip with my fiance and its his first time but he also has been to Disneyland (He's from Cali) and all he remembers is lines too... did our Disney significant others grow up together just kidding!

Yeah, semi freddo is more Italian than anything else...but it was delicious so who am I to complain? Haha. That's so funny about your fiance!! Seems like all anyone remembers about going to Disneyland as a kid is the lines. I'm sure he'll have a blast!! I'm going to (eventually) write a trip report, hope you guys check it out. =]

Thanks so far for your reviews!! So very helpful and I cannot wait to hear more! Thanks also for the pics...they are so much fun to drool over!!! I also LOVE hearing about VEGGIE options...

Keep up all the great work! *Waiting paciently for the next review...

Thank you! I'm glad that I can give you guys a diverse review; I think it gets kind of boring seeing meat and potatoes over and over again. And of course, what's a review without food porn?

Thanks for your reviews and pictures
Love seeing the Veggie options as although I eat fish I don't eat meat
I've been in two minds about Le Cellier but DH would love the steak so I think we will try and get an ADR for our next trip
Looking forward to the next installment

You should totally try Le Cellier; I would highly recommend trying for lunch. We ate around 2:30 and the place wasn't too crowded or noisy. Thanks for reading!

Alright guys, sit tight because I have another review coming up!

 

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Wolfgang Puck Express

One of my favourite places to grab counter service in Disney World is Wolfgang Puck Express. I was a little nervous upon learning that the menu had changed since my last visit, but when I looked at the board I saw a lot of old favourites. Being a pizza lover, I got what I always get, the Four Cheese Pesto Pizza.

Let me say, the pizzas at WPE have gotten bigger. Like, a lot bigger. The box they used to give you to accommodate an entire pizza will now hardly hold three slices. We easily could have split this as one meal credit but we weren't aware that we were getting such huge pizzas! This was delicious, but I wasn't a fan of the sundried tomatoes. I was, however, impressed with the golden crust and the freshness of the ingredients.

Matt is a fellow pizza fiend and chose the Margherita Pizza. This was significantly saucier than most pizzas of this type we've experienced. Never the less, it was a tasty pizza with very fresh tomatoes and a delightful crust. Matt totally loved this. Both of brought home a couple of slices in a pizza box and munched on them later as a midnight snack.

For dessert we both chose a standard sugar cookie with sprinkles. I mean really, who can resist sprinkles? These were nothing special, but we enjoyed them all the same.

Thanks again for reading. Next up is...

Jiko!!

 

[mamaboogie]

I'm really enjoying your reviews!

Can't wait to hear about Jiko as we are dining there in August!

 

[Evita_W]

And of course, what's a review without food porn?

AMEN! Bring on the FOOD PORN!!!

Thanks for your wonderful reviews!! Excited to hear about JIKO...it was one of my FAVORITE places last time..

 

[Linda67]

Ooh you have just bought back memories of WPE Pizza
I loved the four cheese and pesto
Can you use the Dining Plan in here?

 

[Cat0727]

Ooh you have just bought back memories of WPE Pizza
I loved the four cheese and pesto
Can you use the Dining Plan in here?

Linda- not only can you use the Dining Plan but it counts as one counter service credit! How cool is that?

 

[onelilspark]

Joining in!

 

[somethingblue]

Joining in!

Awesome!

Linda- not only can you use the Dining Plan but it counts as one counter service credit! How cool is that?

Ooh you have just bought back memories of WPE Pizza
I loved the four cheese and pesto
Can you use the Dining Plan in here?

Yup, and believe me, it's a ton of food for a counter service credit. Matt and I should have split one pizza! They also have non pizza options but...heh...I'ven ever tried them.

AMEN! Bring on the FOOD PORN!!!

Thanks for your wonderful reviews!! Excited to hear about JIKO...it was one of my FAVORITE places last time..

Thank you!! Jiko was awesome...as you're about to find out!

I'm really enjoying your reviews!

Can't wait to hear about Jiko as we are dining there in August!

Get ready girl, because the review is on it's way! Thanks so much to all the readers, and to all my friends who are clicking over from Facebook. =] Jiko is around the corner.