The Epic 16 day Feast...Oh, and we got married too! Update 11/17 Jiko

[daisygirl902]

We love eating at Narcoossee's, the salmon looks really good.

That salmon looks delish! We can't wait to try Narcossee's next year!

That salmon LOOKS DELISH! And we're planning CRT for Breakfast in a few weeks, so thanks for those pictures! My husband is VERY excited about all the meat! hahaha. My daughter will eat all the fruit!

HEY - what's with all of you loving the salmon??? What about my amazingly beautiful Tuna dish?

I love reading your reviews. We love the view from Narcoossees, too, and love to eat there during Wishes and the electrical water parade. Also, the food and service are usually quite good.

Thanks - I wish we had been able to catch either of those shows - it would have been the perfect view!!

We are only a couple of weeks away from ADR day and Narcoosees is on the list

Your food looks delicious

Good luck on your trip - I wish I could come with you, although traveling with strangers could be awkward...but really, I'm VERY normal! If you need company I may be available...

mmm yum! when we went there last year i had the fillet and i was disappointed. it came out wrong twice but they took care of it perfectly, the chef even came out and they gave me an extra drink of my choice. awesome service

The service was great for us too...efficient but not overbearing, which I like!

Yet again, I read your reviews and need to go off in search of a candy bar!

This is really not good for my diet! LOL.

In all seriousness - great reviews!

HAHA - thanks a lot. Every time I log through my food pics I get hungry, even if I just finished eating...it's terrible.

 

[daisygirl902]

We started off bright and early at Boma - I didn't take pictures as I'm not a fan of buffet breakfast pics...but it was a really great spread! They start you off with a fantastic juice, I think it's passion fruit/guava/mango or something - it's wonderful although very sweet...I have a sweet tooth that can't be beat though, so it was a good one for me!

I tackle breakfast buffets in a very similar manner every time we go to one...a plate of savory dishes, then a plate of sweets...yum. At Boma I cheated and tried a couple of sweets on my first round, some banana bread and a chocolate danish...I also had standard breakfast fare of bacon, eggs (great scrambled eggs!! goat cheese/chives...mmmmm), some roasted ham, and some kind of african potato hash dish...I wasn't a huge fan of the flavors of this - it was a bit off to me, and I'm not usually picky.

Then I went back for french toast, a couple of pancakes, and another chocolate danish (they were amazing...filled with chocolate with a crust of sugar on top...YUM!

Although I really liked this breakfast, I don't think it's really that much better than any of the others...Chef Mickeys, Crystal Palace...they all have some real treats, and some regular breakfasty stuff - I found Boma very much the same...

Then we were off to DHS to ride Tower of Terror a couple of times (great on a full tummy) and wander around a bit...every time I'm at Disney I want to try a funnel cake, but we're never around them when I'm actualyl hungry...so they have become this elusive mystery, which I always leave Florida kicking myself for missing. NOT THIS TIME! We stopped for a snack, Adrian got an ice cream and I ordered a Funnel Cake with powdered sugar. They handed them to us and said "This is on Mickey, congrats on your wedding" (we were wearing our Just Married pins). So we wandered off to find some shade so I could enjoy this awesome (and now free) treat...WOW this was worth the wait...holy, I would have never though deep fried batter could be this good...it was perfectly crispy and hotter than heck (I have almost no "burn sensors" in my mouth, I can eat bacon right out of the pan...but this was HOT)...the powdered sugar reminded me of the Beignets they serve at Ralph Brennans at DTD Disneyland...what a great combo...hot greasy deep fried dough and sugar...yum. So needless to say I really enjoyed this treat!

That evening we went over to California Grill for dinner...this place wins for best atmosphere and best view...anywhere. You could literalyl see all 4 parks, plus DTD right from our table! It was crazy.

For appetizers, I got Sushi - the Tempura Bonsai Roll to be exact - Tuna, Avocado, Chive, Jícama, Sweet Onion Sauce, and Wasabi Cream...this was some of the best sushi I have ever had...I like myu sushi raw normally, and this was flash fried in tempura so I was a bit worried, but the server highly reccomended it so I went for it - totally worth it...the flavors and textures were absolutely amazing! And it was also beautifully presented. Our server told us they have one of the only female sushi masters in the US working there! Very cool...

Adrian got the BBQ Chicken Flatbread - with Triple Cheese, Corn and Red Bell Pepper Marmalade, and Fingerling Potato "Chips"...it was amazing...very great textures - the potato chips are right on top of the flatbread so it has some added crunch.

We both got the Filet for dinner - it just seemed like the right thng to do... And it was - wow the filet was perfectly cooked, tender, flavorful, you could really taste the "oak fired" part...it was kind of smoky, and absolutely delicious! It came with loaded mashed potatoes and broccolini - it was a fantastic dish...

For dessert I had the Valrhona Chocolate Cake - Warm chocolate cake w/molten center, cappuccino caramel crunch ice cream, sweet marshmallow cream...YUM! The balance of flavors was perfect,and the cake itself was rich and delicious...

Adrian had the Bananas and Caramel - Crispy baked phyllo squares layered w/banana, caramel, mascarpone mousse, and caramelized banana...it was delicious tasting, but had a lot of very crunchy/sticky caremelization, and both of us have sensitive teeth so it was a bit hard to eat...very good flavors though...all in all it was a fantastic end to a wonderful meal!

Up next - our last day of the DxDP - lunch at San Angel Inn and Dinner at Jiko!

 

[hill6]

Glad you enjoyed your first funnel cake. Growing up in Jersey I have had a lot in my lifetime and I still love eating them. Best part is licking all the sugar off your fingers.

 

[Linda67]

We also loved the sushi at CG

I would love to go back and try one of the flatbreads

 

[lindsayp]

we're going to cali grill next time and we werent 100% sure about it. But it looks delicious! can't wait to try it!!

 

[gardengirl628]

Cali Grill is a must do for us. So glad you enjoyed it!

 

[dawnmichele]

Thanks so much for the review of Tuto Itallia! I'm eating there in a few weeks and am now ever more excited, it looks so yum!

 

[daisygirl902]

Glad you enjoyed your first funnel cake. Growing up in Jersey I have had a lot in my lifetime and I still love eating them. Best part is licking all the sugar off your fingers.

Oh I agree...worst part is taking a bite then breathing in a lungful of powdered sugar!!

We also loved the sushi at CG

I would love to go back and try one of the flatbreads

The sushi was so good - but I was a bit jealous of his flatbread...I have issues with food jealousy.

we're going to cali grill next time and we werent 100% sure about it. But it looks delicious! can't wait to try it!!

Do it - at least once...maybe twice - lol

Cali Grill is a must do for us. So glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks - it was great...it made it onto next year's Dining Plans too...

Thanks so much for the review of Tuto Itallia! I'm eating there in a few weeks and am now ever more excited, it looks so yum!

It was a surprising hit for us, I expected to be underwhelmed - everyone enjoyed their meals!

 

[daisygirl902]

Since all of you foodies have been following along on this adventure, I thought you'd like a taste of our upcoming trip for August 2011 (YES we plan this far ahead - but some of this will likely change).

We're doing a split stay - 6 night at BWV on the regular Dining Plan, and 5 nights at BLT on the Deluxe Dining Plan. We started out planning to just do regular dining - but it was just so awesome to finish off with Deluxe last time we thought we'd do it again!

Aug 19 - Ohana
Aug 20 - Via Napoli
Aug 21 - Chef Mickey's breakfast/Biergarten Dinner
Aug 22 - The Wave
Aug 23 - 50s Prime Time
Aug 24 - no ADR, considering OOP at House of Blues
Aug 25 - Kouzzina Breakfast/California Grill Dinner
Aug 26 - 1900 Park Fare Breakfast/Brown Derby Dinner
Aug 27 - Kona Breakfast/Citricos Dinner
Aug 28 - Grand Floridian Cafe Lunch/Artist Point dinner
Aug 29 - Akershus Breakfast/Yachtsman Dinner

I'm drooling on my keyboard just looking at that plan!

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

i'm ready for your san angel review....

we just switched one of our adrs to that and i'm anxious to see

 

[daisygirl902]

i'm ready for your san angel review....

we just switched one of our adrs to that and i'm anxious to see

Uh oh....you might not like my review...it's was a very underwhelming experience for us...I'll try to post it soon though!

 

[lindsayp]

aw! we love san angel inn everytime we go. we always get lucky and get next to the water

 

[daisygirl902]

We had originally booked lunch at The Wave, and I kind of wish we'd kept it....as San Angel Inn wasn't exactly stellar...it was OK, but not great.

Our server Francesco was an older gentleman, with very little sense of humor, and not great interpersonal skills...he was OK, I'm certainly not saying our meal was horribly, but we do like to interact a bit with our servers....he was more of a "here's your food" person...

They start off the table with tortilla chips and salsa which was a great start, as I was pretty hungry for some reason...probably because my stomach is now stretched to the size of a watermelon, and is used to being at least moderately stufffed by 10 AM...

I had Tostados de Tinga - Fried corn tortillas topped with black beans, lettuce, onions, avocado, tomato marinated chicken, sour cream, and fresh cheese...it was a pretty good start, good flavors although very messy...lol Not great first date food, but we're married so it doesn't really matter...

I can't remember what Adrian had but it wasn't great...pretty bland for what it looks like....

For my main meal I had Cochinita Pibil - Slowly cooked pork, marinated with achiote seeds, beer, garlic, red onions, and orange juice. It was basically pulled pork with sauce and some kind of fruit (the big slimy looking theing in the picture)...Francesco said it was a banana...but it had the weirdest texture ever....kind of like pears, kind of like very large berries...it was weird. This was basically served as a huge plate of meat, and 3 small flour tortillas...no other fixins, it was the weirdest dish ever, and I really didn't enjoy it. It was kind of like if they brought you the skillet at WCC and ALL that it came with was a huge amount of pulled pork...it tasted good for a minute, but then I was left thinking "Even I cannot eat a huge plate of meat with nothing else...". Weird.

Adrian had the Enchiladas, which were pretty good, but about what you would get at a Mexican chain food restaurant...a step up from Taco Bell, but a step down from good authentic Mexican food.

The only really redeeming part of this meal was dessert...first of all Adrian cracked me up when he pointed out that every dessert on the menu comes with "Mexican Milk Caramel" - too funny...but also delicious!

I had the Capirotada de Chocolate Blanco - white chocolate golden raisin bread pudding served with Mexican milk caramel...which was amazing...it was a very firm bread pudding with delicious caramel sauce (I wish there had been more sauce)...YUM!

Adrian had the Vanilla Ice Cream with, you guessed it, Mexican Milk Caramel. His was also great.

All in all it wasn't a horrible meal, but we both agreed it was a "we did it once, and there are too many other places that beat it out to do it again" type of place...

Oh by the way, a note on the atmosphere, it's beautiful in there, but awkwardly dark, like you can barely see what you're eating...and very very loud...we could barely hear each other!

 

[lindsayp]

i'm sorry to see that San Angel Inn wasn't that great for you. It's one of my fav lunch places at epcot, we've always had good food and waiters. I personally love that it's dark, like it's night time in mexico. Love the atmosphere. Too bad it wasn't a good time for you

 

[daisygirl902]

i'm sorry to see that San Angel Inn wasn't that great for you. It's one of my fav lunch places at epcot, we've always had good food and waiters. I personally love that it's dark, like it's night time in mexico. Love the atmosphere. Too bad it wasn't a good time for you

Well, like I said it wasn't horrible or anything...just kind of unmemorable (and what I mean is, without reading from the menu on Allears.net I couldn't remember what my appetizer was...and still can't remember Adrian's). There are just so many outstanding restaurants to choose from I don't see us going back to San Angel for a while...

I was jealous of the other tables though, their servers seemed great...Francesco again, wasn't horrible....he was just "blah".

 

[OurDogCisco]

Congrats on your wedding. Everything looks beautiful. I love the Mickey wedding bands.

Your food reviews are amazing as well. I'm bit disappointed that they changed the breakfast platter at CRT. It use to have these amazing potatoes and blintz served with it. I did like the addition of the cream cheese french toast, though.

Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews. I'm totally looking forward to our first dinner at California Grill and I loved your review of it.

 

[TruBlu]

That looks like a plantain on your meat plate. I must agree, that dish looks pretty strange!

 

[Linda67]

Shame your meal wasn't fantastic at San Angel

I guess that the lovely surroundings make up for it though

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

San Angel has never been great for us either ... we have tried both lunch and dinner and will not go back. I am really looking forward to trying La Hacienda next trip.

It's a shame that your last TS meal was so disappointing. Same thing happened to DS and I on our '08 trip (same place as well!)

 

[daisygirl902]

Congrats on your wedding. Everything looks beautiful. I love the Mickey wedding bands.

Your food reviews are amazing as well. I'm bit disappointed that they changed the breakfast platter at CRT. It use to have these amazing potatoes and blintz served with it. I did like the addition of the cream cheese french toast, though.

Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews. I'm totally looking forward to our first dinner at California Grill and I loved your review of it.

Thanks a lot!!

I had never tried the "old breakfast" at CRT so I guess I didn't know what I was missing - I loved the cream cheese french toast though!!

That looks like a plantain on your meat plate. I must agree, that dish looks pretty strange!

I thought it might be plantain too, but the texture was that of a mushy juicy type fruit...blech

Shame your meal wasn't fantastic at San Angel

I guess that the lovely surroundings make up for it though

I let this stuff kind of roll off my back really...it certainly didn't ruin my day or anything!

San Angel has never been great for us either ... we have tried both lunch and dinner and will not go back. I am really looking forward to trying La Hacienda next trip.

It's a shame that your last TS meal was so disappointing. Same thing happened to DS and I on our '08 trip (same place as well!)

Oh this was not our LAST TS meal!! We had Jiko for dinner....and not to ruin the surprise of the next installment but it was my favorite meal of the entire trip - great way to end it all...