kungaloosh
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2004
- Messages
- 184
10/14-10/19 How to gain 6 lbs in 6 days! Reviews of CA Grille, GF Tea, V&A, Prime Time, Tonys, and F&W
Cast me 44 and my best friend Karen 40 who was attending a conference at the Contemporary and asked me if I wanted to tag along. No brainer!!!! This was trip 19 for me. I have an AP and a TIW card.
10/14 We had a 9:55 ADR for the California Grille on 10/14 but due to the Magical Express waiting to fill the bus and the Contemporary being the last stop of 4 we didnt arrive until 10:20 PM. We rushed upstairs hoping we could order in the lounge and not pay the cancellation fee. They were so wonderful and laughed when I told them we had been held hostage by Disneys Magical Express and told us no problem and seated us at a table. We decided it was kind of late to eat a big meal so we decided to do appetizers. Karen had a spinach salad and Sushi. I apologize that I dont remember which one because Im not a Sushi fan and I was tired. She absolutely loved it though. I had the field greens and apple salad and the Lobster Risotto. Both were fantastic. I really wanted to order dessert but I was actually too full and couldnt do it. It was a wonderful relaxing meal to start our trip.
10/15 I did not make any ADRs because the plan was to eat our way around the F&W festival and thats exactly what we did. I had printed the list of all the kiosk offerings and we highlighted it on the plane with the things we really wanted to try. First up was the Ireland booth which was our favorite overall of all the booths. We shared all three offerings and loved all 3. I ended up visiting them twice more during the weekend. We stopped for a Leblon Frozen Caipirinha at Rio and it packed quite a punch. We had 2 demos scheduled for early afternoon. Chef Kevin Dundon from Raglan Road was great. He was funny and personable and he fed the crowd a full bowl of his Its Not Bleeding Chowder and a full size trifle that was too die for. I almost cried from joy when we were seated and I saw what recipe he was making as this is my favorite dish at Raglan Road. This was our first demo so we didnt realize at first that most of the demos are just a bite or two of one selection. Our next demo was Ted Siegel who made a sushi dish that was good but the demo overall didnt compare to the first one. Now it was time to walk World Showcase and try the things we had highlighted. Everything was wonderful. My favorites after Ireland were the Praline Bread pudding in New Orleans, Chicken Coconut soup in Thailand, and the Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler in China. Karen liked the Beef Tenderloin in South Africa and the Frozen Grand Marnier parfait from the Champagne booth the best.
Friday 10/16 I was up early so I took the monorail to the Polynesian and had the world famous Tonga Toast for breakfast at Capt Cooks. Ive been wanting to try this for years. I did like it very much but it was so rich I ended up throwing at least half of it away. Its definitely best if youve got someone with you to share it. I spent the AM walking around HS and then walked to Epcot instead of taking the boat so that I could rationalize stopping to get another warm lava cake from Ireland. I met Karen after she got out of her conference and we took the monorail to the GF for tea at the Garden View Café. Since we were making this our lunch we decided to go for it and had the full Grand Tea. I chose the Gardenview blend tea and Karen chose the Russian Earl Grey. They were both good but we both liked the Earl Grey the best. I had 4 cups and there was still tea left in the pot but I was too full to ask for a to go cup. Our favorite of the sandwiches was the grilled pear. I had read here that the pastries looked better then they tasted so I had the trifle for my final course and Karen had strawberries and whipped cream. Everything was delicious. Later that evening we were in the AK and got the BBQ Chicken Salad at Flametree for dinner. Neither of us cared for it. The lettuce had a preservative taste. When we got back to the Contemporary we decided we were still hungry and we stopped in at the Contempo Café and shared a Marinated Beef Flatbread that was so good we were talking about it for the rest of the week. We just never had a chance to go back and have another one.
Saturday 10/17 I did my HS and walk to Epcot again to burn some extra calories. When WS opened I headed right to the New Orleans kiosk to have the Praline Bread pudding again. Then I stopped at Germany for the spaetzle (just ok) and to have a glass of gluewhein from the wine cellar. Gluewhein (I know Im probably spelling this incorrectly) is a seasonal mulled wine that is served warm and I love it. They usually serve it in the wine cellar from the fall through Christmas until their stock runs out. I met up with Karen and we headed to MK for the rest of the day. We stopped at the bakery and she had a cinnamon roll for lunch. The line was not that long but it took a long time to get through. We saw a lot of people buying several items and having them packaged to go. Probably using up snack credits before they left. Dinner this day was at Tonys Town Square. I had the Chicken Parmesan and Karen had a beef dish that is not listed on the menu online so Im not sure if it was new or a special. She liked it very much. The chicken parm was a little dry. Our server Emmanuel was wonderful and the cheese garlic bread was yummy.
Sunday 10/18 I was going to hang out at the hotel and wait for Karen but then I decided why sit around when I could walk to the MK for breakfast? I went to the bakery and the line was a lot longer than the day before at lunch time but it went much faster. I wanted to get a Banana bread pudding that I had seen the day before but that turned out to be an afternoon item so I went with the cinnamon roll instead and sat outside and people watched. Karen and I headed to HS after she was done with work and around 12:45 PM we were heading to the Backlot Express to grab some lunch when I noticed that there didnt seem to be the usual crowds in front of Prime Time Café. I dont care for the CS choices at HS so I decided to go for it and stepped into the lobby and wow no one was there! I asked if there was any chance the two of us could have lunch and they said sure come on in. What a great surprise. We had Mom (Sue) as our server and she was the best Ive ever had there and this was at least my 7th visit. She gave us homework and force fed me peas and took away my cell phone when she found out we cheated on our homework. Karen had the fish sandwich and I had the pot pie. Both were great comfort food lunches but the portions here are so big Im not able to finish unless my DH is with me to clean up. We took the boat to Epcot and spent 2 hours at a table in front of the Off Kilter stage watching them perform while we nibbled on the cheese plate from the Ireland booth and sipped wine that we had gotten in France.
Tonight was our big night out at Victoria and Alberts. This was my treat as Karens B-day was coming up. I have to say that without a doubt it was worth every penny. We were going to share the wine pairings but once we realized we were choosing differently for 5 out of the 6 courses we decided to go for it and each do the pairings. Every plate was a work of art and every bite was delicious. There have been many elaborate reviews with pictures of V&A on this board so Im not even going to attempt to say more. I have never had a dining experience like that before and I probably wont get to again as my DH is a steak and potato kind of guy. BriarRosie was there the same night as us and I know she will post a full review with pictures that I recommend everyone check out if you are interested. She does such a great job on the reviews.
Monday 10/19 we were leaving at 11:00 but decided theres nothing like breakfast from the Main St. Bakery so we ran over and got chocolate croissants and walked the paths around the castle while we ate them.
I managed to gain 6 lbs in 6 days and Im okay with that because every bite and sip was worth it. Ive got 35 days before I go back for a 10 day trip so Ill be working hard on my diet to get the lbs back off. Hopefully this time Ill be able to lose a couple extra before I go. Hey I can dream right?
Cathy
Cast me 44 and my best friend Karen 40 who was attending a conference at the Contemporary and asked me if I wanted to tag along. No brainer!!!! This was trip 19 for me. I have an AP and a TIW card.
10/14 We had a 9:55 ADR for the California Grille on 10/14 but due to the Magical Express waiting to fill the bus and the Contemporary being the last stop of 4 we didnt arrive until 10:20 PM. We rushed upstairs hoping we could order in the lounge and not pay the cancellation fee. They were so wonderful and laughed when I told them we had been held hostage by Disneys Magical Express and told us no problem and seated us at a table. We decided it was kind of late to eat a big meal so we decided to do appetizers. Karen had a spinach salad and Sushi. I apologize that I dont remember which one because Im not a Sushi fan and I was tired. She absolutely loved it though. I had the field greens and apple salad and the Lobster Risotto. Both were fantastic. I really wanted to order dessert but I was actually too full and couldnt do it. It was a wonderful relaxing meal to start our trip.
10/15 I did not make any ADRs because the plan was to eat our way around the F&W festival and thats exactly what we did. I had printed the list of all the kiosk offerings and we highlighted it on the plane with the things we really wanted to try. First up was the Ireland booth which was our favorite overall of all the booths. We shared all three offerings and loved all 3. I ended up visiting them twice more during the weekend. We stopped for a Leblon Frozen Caipirinha at Rio and it packed quite a punch. We had 2 demos scheduled for early afternoon. Chef Kevin Dundon from Raglan Road was great. He was funny and personable and he fed the crowd a full bowl of his Its Not Bleeding Chowder and a full size trifle that was too die for. I almost cried from joy when we were seated and I saw what recipe he was making as this is my favorite dish at Raglan Road. This was our first demo so we didnt realize at first that most of the demos are just a bite or two of one selection. Our next demo was Ted Siegel who made a sushi dish that was good but the demo overall didnt compare to the first one. Now it was time to walk World Showcase and try the things we had highlighted. Everything was wonderful. My favorites after Ireland were the Praline Bread pudding in New Orleans, Chicken Coconut soup in Thailand, and the Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler in China. Karen liked the Beef Tenderloin in South Africa and the Frozen Grand Marnier parfait from the Champagne booth the best.
Friday 10/16 I was up early so I took the monorail to the Polynesian and had the world famous Tonga Toast for breakfast at Capt Cooks. Ive been wanting to try this for years. I did like it very much but it was so rich I ended up throwing at least half of it away. Its definitely best if youve got someone with you to share it. I spent the AM walking around HS and then walked to Epcot instead of taking the boat so that I could rationalize stopping to get another warm lava cake from Ireland. I met Karen after she got out of her conference and we took the monorail to the GF for tea at the Garden View Café. Since we were making this our lunch we decided to go for it and had the full Grand Tea. I chose the Gardenview blend tea and Karen chose the Russian Earl Grey. They were both good but we both liked the Earl Grey the best. I had 4 cups and there was still tea left in the pot but I was too full to ask for a to go cup. Our favorite of the sandwiches was the grilled pear. I had read here that the pastries looked better then they tasted so I had the trifle for my final course and Karen had strawberries and whipped cream. Everything was delicious. Later that evening we were in the AK and got the BBQ Chicken Salad at Flametree for dinner. Neither of us cared for it. The lettuce had a preservative taste. When we got back to the Contemporary we decided we were still hungry and we stopped in at the Contempo Café and shared a Marinated Beef Flatbread that was so good we were talking about it for the rest of the week. We just never had a chance to go back and have another one.
Saturday 10/17 I did my HS and walk to Epcot again to burn some extra calories. When WS opened I headed right to the New Orleans kiosk to have the Praline Bread pudding again. Then I stopped at Germany for the spaetzle (just ok) and to have a glass of gluewhein from the wine cellar. Gluewhein (I know Im probably spelling this incorrectly) is a seasonal mulled wine that is served warm and I love it. They usually serve it in the wine cellar from the fall through Christmas until their stock runs out. I met up with Karen and we headed to MK for the rest of the day. We stopped at the bakery and she had a cinnamon roll for lunch. The line was not that long but it took a long time to get through. We saw a lot of people buying several items and having them packaged to go. Probably using up snack credits before they left. Dinner this day was at Tonys Town Square. I had the Chicken Parmesan and Karen had a beef dish that is not listed on the menu online so Im not sure if it was new or a special. She liked it very much. The chicken parm was a little dry. Our server Emmanuel was wonderful and the cheese garlic bread was yummy.
Sunday 10/18 I was going to hang out at the hotel and wait for Karen but then I decided why sit around when I could walk to the MK for breakfast? I went to the bakery and the line was a lot longer than the day before at lunch time but it went much faster. I wanted to get a Banana bread pudding that I had seen the day before but that turned out to be an afternoon item so I went with the cinnamon roll instead and sat outside and people watched. Karen and I headed to HS after she was done with work and around 12:45 PM we were heading to the Backlot Express to grab some lunch when I noticed that there didnt seem to be the usual crowds in front of Prime Time Café. I dont care for the CS choices at HS so I decided to go for it and stepped into the lobby and wow no one was there! I asked if there was any chance the two of us could have lunch and they said sure come on in. What a great surprise. We had Mom (Sue) as our server and she was the best Ive ever had there and this was at least my 7th visit. She gave us homework and force fed me peas and took away my cell phone when she found out we cheated on our homework. Karen had the fish sandwich and I had the pot pie. Both were great comfort food lunches but the portions here are so big Im not able to finish unless my DH is with me to clean up. We took the boat to Epcot and spent 2 hours at a table in front of the Off Kilter stage watching them perform while we nibbled on the cheese plate from the Ireland booth and sipped wine that we had gotten in France.
Tonight was our big night out at Victoria and Alberts. This was my treat as Karens B-day was coming up. I have to say that without a doubt it was worth every penny. We were going to share the wine pairings but once we realized we were choosing differently for 5 out of the 6 courses we decided to go for it and each do the pairings. Every plate was a work of art and every bite was delicious. There have been many elaborate reviews with pictures of V&A on this board so Im not even going to attempt to say more. I have never had a dining experience like that before and I probably wont get to again as my DH is a steak and potato kind of guy. BriarRosie was there the same night as us and I know she will post a full review with pictures that I recommend everyone check out if you are interested. She does such a great job on the reviews.
Monday 10/19 we were leaving at 11:00 but decided theres nothing like breakfast from the Main St. Bakery so we ran over and got chocolate croissants and walked the paths around the castle while we ate them.
I managed to gain 6 lbs in 6 days and Im okay with that because every bite and sip was worth it. Ive got 35 days before I go back for a 10 day trip so Ill be working hard on my diet to get the lbs back off. Hopefully this time Ill be able to lose a couple extra before I go. Hey I can dream right?
Cathy
