Table for 2 - A couple of big kids explore Disney (W/ pics) COMPLETED 9/18!

[burberryplaid]

Thanks again for the feedback..I'm glad you all are enjoying the reviews and pics. I hope you all will find it helpful for your future trips..

Part 6 - Sunshine Seasons and Rose and Crown

We are creatures of habit, so Day 6 was very much like day 4. We hit up Soarin', Test Track and Mission: Space, with a side visit to the Imagination pavillion so I could see who this Figment creature is. After that, we decided to get a fast pass for Soarin' and have lunch at Sunshine Seasons yet again. Again, we both got the turkey and muenster on foccacia. DH got the Peanut Butter cake again, but I switched it up and got the key lime cheesecake

I really liked the key lime cheesecake. It was the perfect blend of tartness and sweetness. The graham cracker crust was buttery and light. I really like that Sunshine Seasons has a bakery counter, as well as pre-packaged desserts. The choices are endless...

We went back to our room for a nap, got ready and made it to Epcot a little after 6, just in time to walk over to the UK Pavillion for our 6:30 ADR at Rose and Crown. We checked in about 6:20 and were seated about 6:35

We were seated at a small table with a nice view of the lake

Our waitress Tanya, was very friendly ant attentive. She brought our drinks and took our order for appetizers and entrees

I had the stewed mushrooms cooked in garlic, shallots, and cream with a small piece of puffed pastry on the side

DH had the cheese platter with Irish Cheddar, mushroom brie, and Stilton puffed pastry accompanied with candied almonds, grapes, apple slices, and an onion "jelly"

The picture abover with the mushrooms shows just how huge the portion was. I had already doled out a good size serving to DH before I took the picture. These were excellent. The mushrooms were cooked thoroughly so they were soft, and the cream sauce was rich and tasty. I was surprised at how much I liked this.

The cheese platter was quite good, although neither of us cared for the Stilton pastry too much. It is very strong, and we aren't big bleu cheese fans. The Irish cheddar had a nice sharpness to it. The brie was fine, although maybe a bit bland and I couldn't taste any mushrooms in it. The other accompaniments were fine, especially the candied almonds. The onion jelly was interesting...I only had a taste of it. I'm not sure how you would use this in relation to the cheese...

The kitchen seemed to be running a bit slow as it took about 15 minutes for us to get our entrees after Tanya had removed our appetizer plates. We didn't mind too much as we were enjoying the scenerey and we don't like to be rushed between courses anyhow.

DH had the fish and chips

I had the Bangers and Mash

The fish was good. As you can see you get a substantial serving. DH thought it was good, and fish was definitely fresh.

I thought the bangers and mash were also good. I wasn't crazy about the gravy or the potatoes, but the sausages were good.

Next came dessert. DH had the sticky toffee pudding

I had the Guinness Chocolate Torte

DH ordered the pudding because nothing else really appealed to him. He thought it was ok. The cake part was very sweet. He said he may not order it again though because it really wasn't his thing.

As for the chocolate torte, I loved it! It was similar to a brownie, but with a richness to it, probably from the Guinness. It wasn't overly chocolatey, but still very delicious.

Overall, everything was quite good and we were happy with our meal. We would come back here, but this isn't a must for us to go to on every trip.

Coming up...Day 7 lunch at Roaring Fork and Dinner at Jiko

 

[medicgirl911]

I love that pic of you all and Pluto!
Seriously though, you should put up a warning before you show pics like that of mushrooms ewwwww! HEHEHE ok at least just warn me! For some reason really nothing at Rose and Crown has struck my fancy, but I am glad you enjoyed it! Looking forward to more!!

 

[disnut1149]

Thanks for your reviews. I'm really enjoying reading them and your pictures are awesome!!

 

[JamesLynn]

Yay for coming home from a long day at work and getting to read about yummy food!
Oh and my DH loves the Full Montagu at Earl's too!

 

[burberryplaid]

Thanks again for the feedback and my apologies to medicgirl911 I will put a warning on all future mushroom related pictures! This is going to conclude my report..I'll start with the reviews, and then if you have questions about anything..please feel free to ask and I will be happy to answer you.

So here we go..on to day 7. This was the sad day...our last real day here. We decided to spend our park time at Animal Kingdom, which we loved. We saw everything we wanted to see by about 12 so we went back to WL and had lunch at Roaring Fork. This time, I got the cheese flat bread pizza and a cupcake for dessert:

DH got a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie.

Both meals were quite good. The pizza was nice and crispy (but not overdone) and it was made to order just for me. The portion qas quite large as well. DH and I both liked this. My cupcake was yummy (I have an affinity for cupcakes as you may have noticed). It was a yellow cake cupcake..very tasty.

DH LOVED the burger. Again, this was made to order for him. The fries were very good as well. His cookie was good..although I wouldn't say it was as good as homemade.

After lunch, we did the usual..back to to the room for a nap, then off to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our 6:30 ADR at Jiko.

We arrived at about 6:20 and were seated within 5 minutes. One of the African students on the exchange program seated us near the back and brought us warm towels to freshen up.

Our waiter, who I believe was named Jeff, brought over the menus and was happy to make suggestions as to what to eat. He actually seemed pleased to hear we were on the dining plan, because as he said, it afforded us the opportunity to try lots of different things.

We started off with

Kenyan Coffee Barbequed Chicken Flatbread with grilled onions, apple julienne, and four cheeses

and the Taste of Africa: Kalamata olive hummus, Durban Tikka Masala, and Malay spinach-lentil dip, with Lentil papadam, whole wheal lavosh, and Flax seed Naan bread

Both appetizers were excellent. The flatbread had a nice sweetness to it. The chicken was cooked perfectly. The Taste of Africa was also delicious. We especially liked the Durban Tikka Masala. Jeff had said this was spicy, but we found the Malay to be a bit spicer..although that was pretty mild. The hummus was good, although we are used to hummus with a lot of garlic and this seemed a bit blan in comparison to what we normally eat. All of the breads that came with tdip were tasty.

Next came Entrees -

DH had the Maize Crusted and Seared Halibut. (This used to be a maize crusted and seared Sturgeon, but when we were there it had been replaced by halibut. I'm not sure if this was a temporary replacement or if this is part of a newly updated menu.)

This was suggested to us by Jeff and DH enjoyed it immensely. It takes like halibut with a cornbread crust..very tasty.


I had, what was described to me as the house specialty, the Oak Grilled Fillet Mignon with macaroni and cheese in a red wine sauce.

This was THE BEST fillet mignon I've ever had! It was buttery, and it was cooked perfectly. If you enjoy fillet mignon, you know it can be "flavorless" (I usually eat it with steak sauce) but this was not the case here. Not only was steak flavorful, it was cooked to perfection. The fillet I had at Le Cellier was a bit overcooked (I like it medium) but this was a nice, beatiful pink and the outside was not charred in the least.

As for the macaroni and cheese, I loved it. It was creamy, smooth, and cheesey..but not to excess. Needless to say, this was my favorite meal of our trip.


As if the appetizers and entrees weren't enough, we were able to enjoy 2 very sophisticated and delicious desserts.


I had the Year of a Million Dreams dessert which was the white chocolate mousse pyramid with roasted banana and pineapple accompanied with banana-pineapple and tropical fruit salad.

When I saw this, I was confused, because I thought the whole thing would be made of white chocolate, but the white chocolate was inside the dark chocolate pyramid. This was not as chocolatey as you would thing. In fact, it had a nice fruity flavor to it. It was light and refreshing, and not overly sweet at all.

DH had the Jiko Dulce De Leche which was pound cake covered in dulce de leche and fruit

This was also fruity. The Dulce de leche was sweet, but not too sweet and the pound cake was buttery and moist and not heavy at all.

Overall, Jiko was probably our favorite meal of the triip, although Kona was pretty close. The service was excellent. The atmosphere was calm and relaxing. There were kids in the dining room, but most were very well behaved. This was a 2 credit per person meal, but well worth it, and we will definitely be coming back to Jiko in the future.

Our last meal on property was breakfast at Whispering Canyon. We arrived about 10 minutes early for our 8:30 ADR and we were seated immediately. The cafe was not crowded at all and we were seated up near the front. Our waiter (his name escapes me) was very nice and attentive. He didn't do many antics, except for talking with a Southern drawl, telling us to "eat up and not be wasteful" and bringing us crayons and pages to color.

We decided on the skillet which had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, red bliss potatoes, sausage, bacon, and waffles.
Breakfast Skillet

This was delicious! We liked everything, although I will say the gravy wasn't very flavorfull. It wasn't bad though. The bacon was nice and crispy without being overdone..better than the bacon at Crystal Palace. This was our favorite breakfast of the week.

Our overall impression of our dining experience was very positive. All of the wait staff we dealt with were nice and attentive. All of the places we ate were clean and all of our meals were fresh and tasty. We may have just lucked out, but we didn't have a bad meal the entire week.

As for the Dining Plan, we got it for free, but we will be using it again when we go back in April/May of next year. We felt like we got our money's worth and we like not having to worry about paying for food while we are there (although I guess we'll have to worry about tips while we are there) Yes, there is a lot of food, but we never forced ourselves to eat it. If we couldn't clean our plate, we left it. We had trouble using up all our snack credits, so we brought home some treats for the plane (Mickey Rice Krispy Treats and brownies)

Overall, we loved Disney Dining and we can't wait for the next round of tasty travels!

 

[dmja716]

Thank you for all your great reviews!!
We will be at the WL in 12 days, I CANNOT wait.

 

[JamesLynn]

Bravo! Fabulous review!
I really enjoyed reading it!

 

[Mischa]

Thank you for sharing! Great reviews. I'm having a "girls' only trip" in November (only 48 more days - yeah!) and I have made ressies for Crystal Palace and Le Cellier. So I was really interested in those reviews. I think the girls will be pleased!

Thanks again!

 

[burberryplaid]

Thanks everyone who commented and enjoyed the pictures and reviews. I can't wait to do a 2nd one!