Turfs Up: Too Much Food for Happy Feet - Sept DxDP Lots of Pics *Update: Post 129*

[Golf4food]

I meant to praise your pictures as well last time, but i was too hungry ..they are beautiful..what kind of camera do you use?

Thanks.

The camera is a Pentax ist*DL - which is old by today's DSLR standards. (Circa 2004/2005 lol)

Lens was a Pentax 35mm f/2.8 smcP-DA Macro Limited Black that I rented from www.cameralensrentals.com (shamelss plug) and I loved it. Great lens for food work and all around shots as well. Might have to buy one someday.

 

[Golf4food]

So after our early breakfast at Kona Cafe and before our relatively late lunch ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe at 1:45 p.m. we needed something to tide us over. After an always enjoyable trip through the Jungle Cruise what better way to fill up and cool off than Aloha Isles:

Well A-loooooooooooo-ha:

Whilst there you can purchase these:

After reading the glories of the Dole Whip float on the DIS for months, I couldn't resist trying one (pineapple soft serve with pineapple juice):

Sorry that I happen to be in this picture along with the glorious Dole Whip float. But, this happens to be the only picture we have of it. Why, you ask? Well, for the answer, let us turn to my journal entry written mere moments after this picture was taken:

"Yummy! Really good on a warm day. However, it seems I have a drinking problem that I was not aware of, as I ended up dumping precious Dole Whip float on myself while posing for that picture." (K, if you can read it in the picture, it doesn't say exactly that, but the gist is the same)

Yep, that's right. A waste of perfectly delicious pineapple juice. Please join me in a moment of silence...



What's our lesson for the day, kids? Dole Whip floats are awesome. Just the right amount of tart balanced nicely by the soft serve. And you shouldn't mug for the camera until AFTER you drink enough of the juice that you won't dump it everywhere like a total klutz. If you fail to heed this warning, there will be dire consequences. And everything will smell faintly of pineapple for the rest of the day...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Meanwhile I opted for a Citrus Swirl:

A tower of vanilla and orange soft serve that is similar to a dreamcicle but more "natural" tasting - less fake sugar involved. Nice and refreshing.

Also, I did not spill mine.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Ratings:

Dole Whip Float:

3.5 Penguins: Three for the Dole Whip Float and half for the fashion accessory!


Citrus Swirl:

3.5 Penguins: Three for the Citrus Swirl and half because I haven't used the egg yet!

Cost: $7.98? (2 snack credits)

 

[Shenanigoat]

I've taken a Dolpewhip Float shower before

 

[jasminewannabe]

And so in honor of our flightless, hydrophylic friends from the great white south, our rating system shall be Mickey-Hat-Wearing Penguins and Penguin-Colored Eggs instead of stars and half stars:

One "star" =

Half "star" =

(because a penguin egg is half a penguin? It was the closest we could get - half of a penguin would be horrifying!)

I havent read any of the review yet but I just had to say that I almost peed my pants laughing when I read that "half of a penguin would be horrifying." I dont know what it is but that statment is just hilarious.

 

[jasminewannabe]

love these reviews! they are so informative yet funny! i enjoy reading your writing style. cant wait to see what topped tuttos!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great reviews! I was very impressed about your skills in German, but then I saw the reference to Google translate in the Kona Cafe review...

 

[Golf4food]

Great reviews! I was very impressed about your skills in German, but then I saw the reference to Google translate in the Kona Cafe review...

Ich verstehe nur ein bisschen Deutsch.

It is one of my goals to learn to speak German. My ancestors (most of them on one side of my family anyway) came from Germany originally and I would love to visit Germany someday, so I'm going to learn to speak the language at some point so that when I do visit I'm not the typical American tourist who can only ask "Where is the bathroom" and "I would like to eat a ham sandwich."

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

yum!!

 

[CupidsKiss]

Thank you for the wonderfully detailed reviews. you have already hit on Biergarten & Tutto's which are choices of our next week.
Waiting patiently for more!

 

[Golf4food]

So after bathing ourselves in fun and sun (and Dole Whip Floats) in the MK all morning we hopped the boat - all to ourselves like a private yacht - to the Grand Floridian for our 1:45 p.m. ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe.

Entrance sign:

An interior view, or - thar she blows! (Do they get a lot of strong winds that require weather vanes inside this restaurant? There are like five of them! I know it is hurricane season and all, but...)

View of the GF courtyard from our window-side table:

We have read many good reviews of the GFC (Grand Floridian Cafe for those less hip to the lingo) and couldn't decide which meal we wanted to eat there, so we sent the kicker back to the bench and went for two: lunch today and breakfast on Sunday - but that's for a later post. Verdict of the conversion attempt? It's good!


We both started off with the onion soup. I had thought about a shrimp appetizer dish that is new to the menu but our server, Rob, told me that he would honestly avoid it, that they have tried four or five different shrimp appetizers and none of them had been very good and this new one was no exception (three pan seared shrimp and a few corn cakes, which Rob said were more to take up space on the plate because the three small shrimp just looked ridiculous on a large plate all by themselves!) So I decided to err on the side of caution and stuck to the safe pick.

It did not disappoint. This onion soup is probably better than Chefs de France and maybe the best onion soup either of us had ever tasted. Even on a hot day when both of us just wanted to get inside and get a cool drink this soup was well worth it. We both kept our cups and worked on them even after our entrees had arrived.

Says Tazicket, "So good! Great rich onion flavor. Fried leeks on top were a nice touch. Really, really great. Favorite onion soup. Ever."

I agree - and not just because I would starve to death if she stopped cooking.

So far everything in our meal was coming up roses:

Awwwwwww...

 

[jeminni]

Please tell me you ordered the grand floridian burger... I so want to order that when I go in October.

 

[Golf4food]

Carrying on...

The nice food runner gentleman next brought out our sandwiches.

I had The Grand Sandwich - Open-faced hot Turkey, Ham, Bacon and Tomato, with a rich Boursin Cheese Sauce and Fried Onion Straws

What a giant honkin sandwich! Nice Focaccia type bread, yummy tomato, ham, turkey, and bacon, all smothered in the boursin cheese. (Homer Simpson: mmmmm... and open face club sand-wich...) There was a little bit too much boursin for my taste (can be a little overpowering) but after scraping a little of the cheese off it was great. The meats were all very good. Onion straws were nice and tasty and added a nice little crunch on the side to the soft, yummy goodness of the sandwich. I would get it again even if I were to try some other entrees first. Would certainly make the rotation.

Roast Beef Sandwich - Balsamic Onions, Pesto Mayonnaise, Arugula Salad, and Tomatoes served on Focaccia with Marinated Cucumber Salad

Yummy. Nice bread. Some kind of vinagrette over the greens that was nice and tangy. Good and light - perfect on a hot day. The cucumber salad has great flavor. Totally loved them! Want to make them at home. Nice and tangy and lighty oniony.

For dessert I opted for the lemon cheesecake:

I didn't want anything heavy, am not a huge fan of tiramisu, don't touch hazelnuts, and don't like my key lime pie contaminated by chocolate, so this was about my only option besides a few scoops of ice cream. No fear, though, as it was fantastic. It was wonderfully light and creamy with just enough lemon flavor without being tart. The raspberry sauce is a bit strong, but I'm not a big fan anyway so I just avoided it and ate the cheesecake by itself. Would love to have another one. Perfect size after a big lunch, too - no pain or regrets from eating the whole thing.

Tiramisu

Light and airy and creamy. Wonderful flavor (coffee not too strong). Perfect size. Nice and cool. Love, love, love, love.

----------------------------------------------------​

Rob, our server, was great. Very friendly and honest with help selecting menu items. Sweet guy.

Ratings:

Both of us give the Grand Floridian Cafe lunch a solid four penguins:

We will most definitely return. In fact, if you've been paying attention at all you'll know we'll be returning in two days! Ha!

Cost: $54.45 (2 DxDP credits)
Tip: $11.00

Next time our intrepid gastronomic adventurers brave the Beach Club to see if they can get into the fabled Beaches and Cream. Will they succeed? No Way Jose? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[Golf4food]

Please tell me you ordered the grand floridian burger... I so want to order that when I go in October.

Alas, no. We were planning to try to get into Beaches & Cream for dinner (burgers) and were having Sci-Fi Dine-In the next day for lunch (burgers) and didn't want to do three burger meals in a row. Two was enough.

 

[LLLBelle]

Joining in. Love your reviews so far. I think we are definitely going to add Tutto to our list for January.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I had thought about a shrimp appetizer dish that is new to the menu but our server, Rob, told me that he would honestly avoid it, that they have tried four or five different shrimp appetizers and none of them had been very good and this new one was no exception (three pan seared shrimp and a few corn cakes, which Rob said were more to take up space on the plate because the three small shrimp just looked ridiculous on a large plate all by themselves!) So I decided to err on the side of caution and stuck to the safe pick.

I think the shrimp appetizer I had there last fall was really great. It was shrimp in a champagne scampi sauce over lobster bread pudding. So good. It was part of a trio though, and the other two were very lackluster. I wish they had the scampi one just by itself though, so yummy!

 

[Shenanigoat]

Wow, the GFC (I am hip with the lingo) looks really pretty. I love that your sandwich pictures take up my whole screen, almost life sized. That little Tiramisu looks super tasty too. I hope I can fit this in someday.

 

[Flossbolna]

Ich verstehe nur ein bisschen Deutsch.

It is one of my goals to learn to speak German. My ancestors (most of them on one side of my family anyway) came from Germany originally and I would love to visit Germany someday, so I'm going to learn to speak the language at some point so that when I do visit I'm not the typical American tourist who can only ask "Where is the bathroom" and "I would like to eat a ham sandwich."

That's very admirable, that you are planning on learning the language before you travel to Germany! I think being able to understand at least some of the language makes travelling so much easier! And I can assure you that even being able to ask for the bathroom in German will put you far ahead of many foreign tourists (whether American or other). I guess the challenge is however to understand the answer in German!

I liked the GF Cafe review, I am not a fan of the GF, but the food looks really good!

 

[milmore104]

Oh my this looks so good. I love me a good bowl of French onion soup. I would kill for a nice warm bowl NOW! As it's a whopping 34 degrees out this morning...

 

[dsnymomx2]

loving your reviews so far!

 

[Lexxiefern]

Great reviews!!