11/9-11/16: What I thought of restaurants- Part III (Long)

[Synonymous]

Okay, that brings us to Day 6-

Breakfast- Finally, FINALLY, I got to the Main Street Bakery for a cinnamon roll. Huge. Dripping in cinnamon sauce and frosting. Warm, cinnamon-y goodness. Was it a little dry this time, though? Ah, heck, I'll let it slide. Have to keep an eye on it, though.

Grade- A-

Lunch- El Pirata y El Perico- This is a really nice setting for lunch, right across from Pirates of the Caribbean. My wife and I both had the empanada with black beans and rice. I thought the empanada was very tasty- it's like a taco, but with softer dough, sealed in a pocket and fried. I've had them before; this was as good as any. The rice had large chuncks of sausage in it. I enjoyed it. Truth in advertising- DW thought it was awful. DD liked her taco. She's 5, so take that for what it's worth.

Grade- B-

Dinner- ESPN Club. Since this was our last full day, we were rushing to get several things accomplished. Grandma and Grandpa headed off to Epcot and Downtown Disney while we had some family-time alone. We had to catch up to them at MGM for Fantasmic, though, so we couldn't spend time on anything fancy. We got back to the hotel, changed and walked around the lake to the ESPN Club. No major sports going on, so it was quiet and we were seated right away. They were showing figure skating on the big screen, so DW was happy. Although I'm from Buffalo and consider myself an expert on chicken wings, I always enjoy the wings here. They aren't like a typical Buffalo-style wing, but more like a light barbecue sauce, in my opinion. That being said, it would be interesting to get the ACTUAL barbecue wings here sometime. Anyway, these are good. They don't split the "wing" and "drumstick" parts of the wing, so you have to break them up. Nice and meaty. The "hot" wings were not hot at all, though. Medium, at best, by my scale. This was a good place for a quick, satisfying meal, without high expectations.

Grade- B

Dessert- We finally managed to squeeze into Beaches & Cream for ice cream. Well, not exactly. We all stopped here after Fantasmic and, of course, there wasa 25-minute wait for seats. Even the 5-yr old didn't want ice cream that bad. We couldn't find a seat outside that would accomodate all of us for the takeout window, so we went back to the room. DD and DW got ready for bed, and I went back down with my parents. We waited in line a long time for the takeout window and finally got our ice cream, then squeezed into a tiny table outside. Yeah, the ice cream was good. Hardly worth the effort, however. We should have walked around the lake to Seashore Sweets. At least they don't tease you with the idea that you might be able to sit down inside.

Grade- C-

At last, we come to:

Day 7- (No, not yet! Please!)

Breakfast- Goofy's Beach Party, Cape May Cafe- With our limo getting us at 9:00 for our trip to the airport, we didn't have alot of options. I was VERY glad I had made this PS, because DD was in tears at the thought of leaving WDW. This breakfast cheered her up amazingly. As soon as we sat down, Goofy came over, and she completely forgot about leaving. Chip and Dale were also great (DD had about a 3 minute long "conversation" with Dale, holding her nose up to his. I have no idea what she was talking about and she won't say.) Minnie shows up for 1/2 hour every so often and you have to go up front to see her.

Unlike the Princess Breakfast, the food here was great. Start with the Krispy Kreme dounts. Mmmm. Sausage and biscuits, pancakes, Mickey waffles, cheese blintzes. I normally don't like buffets, but this was very nice.

Grade- A


Well, that's it. I hope somebody besides me made it all the way to the end of these reviews.

Happy to answer questions.

 

[Credit Man]

Great reports! Thanks for posting.

 

[Krissalee]

What a great breakfast to end your trip! Thanks so much for all of your reviews - I enjoyed reading them all.

 

[Misti]

I really enjoyed your reviews. Thanks for sharing them with us!

 

[erikthewise]

I made it! And an enjoyable read it was!

 

[travelitis]

Now I know where to catch b-fast on the 23rd! I'm going to get one of those Main St. Bakery cinnamon rolls! I'll help you keep an eye on that quality! hehe. This was a fantastic set of reviews. Thanks for taking the time to post them.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Great set of reviews! You ate at several of my favorite spots. Especially liked Bistro review--we'll be eating there again (after a few years hiatus) in May.
Agree about beaches and Cream--way too small and that may have something to do with the service. It's no excuse, certainly, but were I a server, I think I'd go nuts after the first day on the job. I heard awhile back that some thought was being given to moving B&C into where Ariel's used to be. But that obviously didn't happen---

 

[Synonymous]

I agree, Uncle- I could tell the servers there were under very high stress. In addition to being too small, it appeared to be understaffed for the level of crowd in the place.

I also noted about Beaches & Cream that, of the 10 total possible tables there (there may be some pushed together, reducing the number further), at least half are tiny round tops clearly designed to hold no more than an ice cream dish for each patron. We tried to eat lunch at one of these, with plates, glasses, condiments, etc., all on the table at once, and I found myself having to hold plates in my hands so that there was room for everything. The waitress just kept plopping things down, without any consideration for the problem we were having.

Oh well, live and learn. If they expand the place, I'll try it again. The ice cream was good.

 

[Wildcard]

I also agree with the your B&C sentiments. This used to be my favorite quick bite years ago. As it has become more and more popular, we have hesitantly avoided this restaurant. It has very good burgers and ice cream for a fast meal. Since it now takes about a half hour or more to get a table, there are better options nearby. Perhaps those Connections vouchers are having some affect on B&C's popularity these past few years?