17 nights of nom nom noms - April 2013 Hannikins eats Orlando

[mom2my3kids]

I have to say this....you look like Bella from Twilight...

 

[mickeymotto]

Thanks for sharing the Bubba Gump potos and review. We are planning to go there next month for the first time!

 

[Hannikins]

Love bubba gumps...

yum!

I'm all caught up! Thanks for plugging along with your report, I'm still enjoying it

I love Bubba Gump too! I always thought of it as a tourist trap until I went in one with visiting family back in CA. I've been to several now and every meal has been great.

I really like the hip bag you're carrying in some of the photos. I usually carry a cross body bag but then the strap is cutting me in half in every photo and I'm kind of sick of seeing that, lol.

I have to say this....you look like Bella from Twilight...

i think any chain can be considered a tourist trap but darn it's a good one!

It's actually a shoulder bag, I just made the strap really small and hung it on my hips, I KNEW they were good for something!

And THANK YOU, your bella comment made my day... I'm taking it as a compliment obviously

Thanks for sharing the Bubba Gump potos and review. We are planning to go there next month for the first time!

no problem! BiCE coming up next!

 

[Hannikins]

Butterbeer @ Islands of Adventure
One of the things I'd been dying to try since we booked was butterbeer. I love the little carts they have!

I suggested we shared one in case we didn’t like it but with Adam wanting a plain and me wanting a frozen one that wasn’t really an option!

I’m glad we got one of each, considering it’s the same thing they tasted different! It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting, not for me anyway! It was like liquid frozen butterscotch with a hint of ‘something else’, which Adam thought was Liquorice?

See, he’s the Oz Clarke of the wizarding world my husband!

Anyway we both finished them off so they weren’t wasted!

 

[Hannikins]

Mel's Diner @ Universal Studios
I had heard mel’s diner was decent so we chose it as our universal CS stop

We ordered a burger and a milkshake each

Well all I can say is HURRAH! My faith in non Disney food is restored, both the burger and shake were epic!

The burgers were obviously not gourmet but they were meaty and the salad was very fresh. You can usually tell a good burger by the state of the sun, no nasty disney burger buns here! These were the old fashioned kind that told together well and are VERY yummy!

The milkshakes were miles better than I was expecting, thick and creamy with a fine flavour.

Overall we thought this was a great value Counter Service location!

 

[Hannikins]

BiCE - Portofino Bay Hotel


Tonight we walked to the Portofino Bay hotel and after much decision making ended up with a late night reservation at BiCE.

We had a bit of a wait before our reservation so we grabbed some beers from the bar downstairs.

We both order peronis (on draft!), which came with more bar snacks, a god send as we were both peckish!

Not long after sitting down a band set up and starting playing. Looking back it was a highlight of the holiday for me, so relaxing. You get a great view of the 'vista' from the bar so it's certainly worth doing in the evening. The beers weren't that expensive either!

Anyway onto the food!

I didnt get chance to take a photoof the interior but here it is.

we were seated in the middle of the dining room and our server arrived with a florish as if from nowhere. His name was Robert and he was like the don draper of the serving world, seriously this guy was smoooooth! Ive tried finding a photo but despite getting lots of mentions on trip advisor I can find nothing! Robert had a sales pitch so perfect it was a pleasure to listen to even though it was a little cringy!

Robert took our drinks order before heading off to bring us the bread service.

The bread was warm, fragrant and very fresh, we didn't manage much though, we were concious of leaving room for some tasty food!

We had a good idea of what we wanted but as we were a little unsure our server suggested half portions of the two we couldn't decide on. We both went with this suggestion and so ended up with FOUR bowls of pasta!

When the dishes arrived I was gobsmack, HALF portions, I dread to think what a FULL portion looked like, they were huge!

Here's what we had:

Linguine with Clams, flavored with Parsley and fresh Tomato Concasse

A nice light dish with plenty of seafood, overall this was Adam's favourite

Potato Gnocchi with a Fresh Diced Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese and Basil Leaves

A very fresh dish with lovely creamy Gnocchi. The sauce was not as light but still very refreshing.

Little Purses stuffed with Pear and Gorgonzola in four Cheese fondue with Sundried Tomatoes

I had had my eye on this one since I saw the menu and I was very disappointed. I had expected it to be like a similar dish I had experienced in Vegas but I found the pear very artificial and the cheese very over powering. Despite my best efforts I only managed a few mouthfuls

Spinach and Ricotta Filled pasta served in a Butter and Sage Sauce with Parmesan Cheese Shavings

LOVED this dish, it sounded so simple that I had almost disregarded it but it was AMAZING. I could had eaten a whole bowl of those glorious little fresh pasta mouthfuls!

Although we were stuffed our server suggested we should try some dessert, we thought it would be rude not to since we didnt have apps, and we always have room for dessert! Thinking it might be smaller and manageable than some of the options we went for the Sicilian style Cannoli with Sweet Ricotta and Chocolate Chips served with Pistacchio Ice Cream.

How wrong we were! You got FOUR Cannoli!

We managed one each, rubbish as we are. They weren't the best we ever had, in fact I much preferred the ice cream! still a lovely end to a fantastic meal!

SCORING
Atmosphere - 7/10 - There wasn't one :/ I don't think it helped that we were a late sitting, everything was a little bit quiet, it made you want to whisper towards the end (not that we would after several peronis... quite the opposite!)

Quality - 10/10 - Great quality, ok $20+ is a lot to pay for a bowl of pasta but I thought each and every dish was worth it in terms of quality

Presentation - 8/10 - Everything looked great but I think the portions are just SILLY!

Service - 8=10/10 - Our server Robert was the Don Draper of the serving world, utterly fantastic and as smooth as SILK!

Overall Experience 10/10 - FANTASTIC! BiCE doesn't seem to get much of a mention on here but I would recommend it to anyone, it was one of the best meals we had!

BEST DISH
Spinach and Ricotta Filled pasta served in a Butter and Sage Sauce with Parmesan Cheese Shavings of course!

COST
I lost the receipt! But the food came to $65 before drinks, tax and tip