Not 1, Not 2, But 3 AMAZING!! trips

[Niki Andiokno]

Here is the bread.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

One day we got a late start and decided to hit Artists Palette at the Saratoga Springs Resort. I am not a big fan of the resort, unlike Mike, but we all agree this had some great sandwiches.

I had a special of corn chowder, chips and half a turkey club wrap. This was really good. The cops are house made and very much like kettle chips. The corn chowder was the best. I am not a big creamy soup fan, but this was sweet and creamy and yummy. The wrap was almost salad put into a wrap. Good as well.


Sally also had the special, but she chose an even better sandwich. Smoked turkey and brie. I was leery of the cranberry mayo, but she let me try the sandwich, and the cranberry added to the wonderful flavorful brie. She loved the corn chowder as well.



Mike isn't a soup guy, so he got a whole sandwich and chips. The special sandwich was tuna salad. He loved this. Not on the menu, but if it is a special and you like Tina salad, this will be a good choice.

Overall, this counter service is worth the drive, had plenty of seating and is pretty peaceful for a cs place.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Next morning we played golf, leaving Sally to bask by the pool. Some she isn't a breakfast person, we left her to swim and picked up biegnet at Sassafras Fireworks and Food Factory. This is a must do for us before golf. Get that sugar rush going.



BTW here is Mikes sandwich. My pics have been wonky tonight.

 

[DisneyJo]

Those sandwiches look great

 

[kastoney]

I've never been over to Saratoga Springs, but those sandwiches look like it may be worth a visit ; )

 

[Niki Andiokno]

The Artist Pallette sandwiches are definately worth the visor. I also like their flatbreads. Often there are unusual ingredients and the crust is nice and crunchy.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

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Next up is my favorite both France. WeloveWe loved them. We all loveFrance. With a name like Nicole Andre how could I not? These dishes remind me of my grandfather's cooking. First up Boeuf bourguignon: Braised short ribs in cabernet with mashed potatoes. This is classic comfort food to me.

Then the Croissant aux Escargot. Mike was the only eater here. He liked it but said the individual escargot en croute was a lot better. We tried the Creme Brule. Once again this was a big fail for us. Creme Brule should not be hot and liquid. No amount of chocolate in this could save this soupy mess. I understand how difficult it is to get the consistency correct. It took me years to perfect it. With so many great French desserts why make one for the booth that doesn't hold up well to the Florida heat.

LA Passion martini slush. Need I say more? The beautiful Sally with Sparking Pomegranate Kirk fabulous. We also tried the Chardonnay and Cabernet. We loved them

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Today I give you another Some Wednesday at Jiko. I know, I know, you have already seen one this trip report. But the wines are always different. I will stay with the cheese plate. Information-packed, this doesn't change up much. Still a really good cheese plate


That day the focus was on pinotage, a grape commonly used in South Africa. The first was Fairvalley. This was a pretty mild pinotage that treated spicy and smokey and oaky. I realize that description doesn't sound mild, but it was.


Next was the Wolf Den. This was rich and chocolatey. I liked this best.


Finally we had Primo, from Fairview. This was much richer than the others.Although Pinotage is a medium boycotted woke, this was really full flavored, with a rich red fruit taste and a hint of vanilla. It paired well wroth the blue cheese. I looked Todd up online because this was Mikes favorite. It seems to consistently taste 89 to 91 points, though I can't find the spots for 2011.



After the wine tasting, I merry my buddy Linda for a culinary tour of Animal Kingdom Lodge. This is free, and a hostess have us a great tour of Boma and Jiko. At Boma we were given a small bowl of lentil soup. Sorry for the bad pic, but the wine buzz made me momentarily forgetful of photos.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Here is the soup. Yummy. At Jiko we were given a taste of the bread service. Sorry no picture. It was Naan bread with dips. I recall one was humus and one had green olives. I loved the hummus. Toss was a great free tour. I was a bit rushed from the trading, but it was worth it.

Make sure you try the tour, and book your wine Wednesday early.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

One night we went to Ruths Chris for the Magical Meals. I love Ruths Chris Steakhouse. They put butter on their steaks. BUTTER!!!! For anyone not familiar with this chain, it is high proceed and Ala carte. The steaks are separate from the potato, salad etc. For $33 we got salad with dried cherries and goat cheese, or gumbo like Mike had and loved. Next we got 8oz. Filet minion with a side. Sally got mashed garlic potatoes. Mike got creamed spinach and I upgraded for a couple bucks to au gratin potatoes. We all shared, because the sides are huge. I don't like spinach, but Mike loved it. Salt loved the garlic mash. I love love love the au gratin spuds. This is the only place I will eat this dish outside of my own kitchen. Marvelous. Next, the sizzling buttery steaks, served on plays so hot they will burn your flesh right off. Don't worry, the waiter will warn you. This is my favorite steak at a restaurant. You can cut through the steak like the buyer that tops it. love this. Blows Any Disney steak out of the water IMHO. I don't recall dessert, but we got something chocolate if I remember. We weren't given a choice.

Overall, $33 is a great deal for a great 3 course meal at a top notch steakhouse. If you have a car, it is worth the drive.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Our last night of Magical Meals was at a favorite of mine Emeril ' s Thorp Chop at Universal Royal Pacific Resort. I love this resort. The beautiful lanai in the lobby, complete with a serenity pond, tropical flowers and waterfall, the great theming and pool area, I just love it. This reminds me of the Hawaiian resorts I have stayed at much more than the remodeled Polynesian.

Let's start off with Happy Hour at the bar with half price wine 5 to 7. We got there early, right at the trail end. It was a house blend red, don't recall the name, but very good for a house wine. Linda and another friend of hers joined us. I came here was going fish, figuring everyone would except Sally. To my Sprouse, everyone wanted steak. As Tchoup Chop is a Hawaiian cuisine, I figured steak want their forte. I was right. Everything seemed a bit off.

We got the $33 pre fixe menu. Mike had gumbo, which he said was good and spicy. The rest odd is had lobster souffle. This sounded lovely. I wanted to love it. Unfortunately no one loved it. Sally pawned jets of on Mike, and I didn't finish mine. It tasted fishy, not lobstery. It looked lovely though.




Sorry the pics are so dark. You can see lots of big shrimp in Mike ' s gumbo though. The shrimp were great. I had to try one, for review sake.

Next came the entree. I had a pan fried whole red Andale. I wish the picture were better, because it was a beautiful whole fish wrapped around my grilled veggies. You can at least see the head in the pic. I wish I knew how to brighten it on photobucket. If anyone knows, please tell me how. This was a nice presentation. The fish was very tasty.



I didn't get a copy of the steak. Everyone had a charred black steak, even if served rare, and not charred in a good way. Ruined the whole steak.

Move on to dessert. I got lychee sorbet since I was full of yummy swordfish. This was a huge mistake. I love lychee, but this tasted like vomit. No joke. Shop bad I returned it, saying it treasured spoiled. Here is the yuckyness.



I then posted the banana chocolate lava cake, for an upcharge of course. It was good, but not as good as in the past. Nothing special, and I used to love this particular dessert. Everyone else got the peanut butter and jelly Sunday. It came in a main jar like thing. They said it was good, but no No Way Jose.


overall, I was so disappointed here. Since it opened, this had been one of my favorites. I love Emeril Lagasse. I make his recipes at home all the time, and they taste just like at the restaurants. I read that a few months prior to our visit, a new chef had come on directly from Hawaii, who intended to infuse the menu with more authentic Polynesian food. He even promised to use Spam, which my Asian Pacific husband loves. Nothing on the menu, except for my great fish, seemed inspired. The food was generally not good, and my friends thought I was crazy, as I rave about this place. I won't be coming back Amy time soon, which bums me out. I used to love this place. I hope the new chef finds his inspiration.

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for another review of the JIko wine tasting. Don't think we'll be able to get there this time, but definitely will one of these days.

What is magical meals?

I'm with you on Ruth Chris. I was in St. Louis last week and they have on in the hotel i stay in. They have a great happy hour menu so I was able to enjoy some carpaccio, as well as a filet both for less than $20. And nothing goes better with steak than butter ; )

Sorry Emeri's was a bust. We've eaten at NOLA, one of his New Orleans places, and it was amazing. We thought we'd try one in Vegas too and major disappointment. i think with so many restaurants in his empire now, quality control has gone down

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Thanks for another review of the JIko wine tasting. Don't think we'll be able to get there this time, but definitely will one of these days.

What is magical meals?

I'm with you on Ruth Chris. I was in St. Louis last week and they have on in the hotel i stay in. They have a great happy hour menu so I was able to enjoy some carpaccio, as well as a filet both for less than $20. And nothing goes better with steak than butter ; )

Sorry Emeri's was a bust. We've eaten at NOLA, one of his New Orleans places, and it was amazing. We thought we'd try one in Vegas too and major disappointment. i think with so many restaurants in his empire now, quality control has gone down

Orlando Magical Meals is like Restaurant Week here in Chicago. Several restaurants make a pre fixe menu for $33. Some all you can eat places like Texas de Brazil also participate, which is a great deal. Needless to say, Disney restaurants do not participate. It runs during the entire month of August. As we normally travel in late October, this was a real treat. There were so many places I wanted to try.

Ruths Chris is da bomb. I have been in St. Louis, Houston, Vegas, Chicago, South Barrington and Chicago. It is the most consistent upscale chain I have ever been to.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Here I am, all depressed at Magic Kingdom. Because of my post-concussion syndrome since my July accident, I can't ride any of the good rides. And I am a coaster junkie. I gave Linda all of my FP+, everyone else left me to ride, and I went shopping. At least these sunglasses were pretty cool. But notice, I still couldn't smile.

After getting my cool shades, I decided to try a snack everyone raves about. Disney Popcorn. Now, I come from one of the US popcorn capitals, Chicago. We have Garrett's Chicago Mix (cheese corn and caramel corn mix) and Nuts on Clark (the best butter air popped and caramel with nuts mixes ever), so I can be picky. I don't know whether it was my funk at not riding any rides (even Carousel of Progress was down) or that I am so spoiled here in the Windy City, but I just don't see the draw. Sure, it tasted buttery, but the kernals were small and had a lot of hull. I finished it anyway, with a little help from Sally who eventually felt guilty and came to sit with me until her next fastpass. Here it is.



After awhile in the hot sun, we finally left for our Grand Tea at the Grand Floridian. That will be my next report. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

[pumba]

thanks for the great photos and reviews...and I know what happens when one cant do the big kid rides...I was getting over whip lash and didnt do anything that was mildly related to bump toss or throw me around...thanks again

 

[Niki Andiokno]

I am doing a second report on the afternoon tea at the Grand Florida because it changed this time, again. Instead of the relaxing time, cozyng up to your tea, being close after course brought to you, it is all brought at once.


Basically the food is the same. The finger sandwiches worn wonderful cheese.



Scones wroth clotted cream, lemon curd and jam. My dessert was a banana trifle. Sally had the pastries. Mike had the strawberries and cream.




Everything was still marvelous, but once the food was delivered we didn't see our waitress again until the bill. Everything seemed more rushed. We like the break between cpurses to give us time to relax and sip tea. With everything brought out at once, we didn't take or breaks. I know, it is our own fault. But it is hard to sit there and relax with a strawberry tart and yummy scone sorting in front of me saying"eat me now! "

Still love tea though.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

 

[Niki Andiokno]

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Another beautiful pic of my bestie. Fits right in at the Grand Floridian.

 

[Niki Andiokno]

Next up is one of my favorite experiences at Disney. California Grill is not just a meal to me. It is the best fireworks experience ever! !

We started out with a couple of these babies - Cosmopolitan Martini. This is the best Cosmo I have ever treated. I think the finish off Cointreau instead of Grenadine makes this am excellent drink. Sally and I started with a couple of these, while Mike and Linda had Vino.

Sorry, but my photobucket has blanked out on me.

Just after we got or second drink, and had ordered some appetizers to share, Hallowishes started. We took our drinks to the outdoor balcony and watched the fireworks. This is the best spot because the fireworks are literally right in front of you. This is the perfect height to see them. I loved how extra long the show was, and of course the great music. I loved the pay by the Oogie Boogie Man.

By the time we got back in, my phone had died, so no pictures. We had the Mushroom flatbread, which was phenomenal. We also got the BLT flatbread. It was like a really great bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich fixins on really crispy crust. The sauce was some kind of tangy ranch. This is a flatbread even pizza hater Mike said he would eat again.

Then we had sushi. We had Dragon Roll - and Spicy Kazan Roll. Thisis the best roll type sushi I have ever had. I normally prefer sashimi or regular sushi, but the spicy tuna and sauces on these two rolls are awesome.

By the time we were done, we were the only ones left. Our server Stephanie, who was from Oak Brook, a Chicago suburb, was great. She was very friendly and sweet. She said since it was the end of the night, she said they had some desserts they had to get rid of, so would we help out and get rid of them for her? Why, of course! She brought us out two creme Brule and one Fritters. I was a bit disappointed in the fritters. Good, but not what I expected. The creme Brule was fantastic. This is add good as home made, which is perfect in my book. Of course the desert was free, but we needed another round of wine. The extra wine we purchased far outweighed the cost of the desserts. Not sure if this was just a nice gesture, like when Billy Ray our last server here, have is a free dessert. Our of this is actually a way too get us to spend more liquor money. I think these free desserts added at least 6 more glasses of wine/sherry to our bill.
We drank a lot of wine that night after finishing our martinis. Either way, it was a nice gesture.

We get great food here, even though we haven't ordered an entree in more than a decade. The martinis are the best. The fireworks are the best. The wine list is excellent. This is really an experience, especially for drinkers like we are, more than just going for dinner. Plus we have had the best wait staff ever here. Love this place.