9 Nts DDxP, All Signatures- Reviews, Opinions, Tips, (but sorry, no pics)

[WeLoveDisney]

We've just rolled our way back from 9 days and nights of delicious Disney dining. I unfortunately don't have any pictures, but will do my best to provide lots of descriptions - as well as my opinion on the restaurants and Disney Deluxe Dining Plan.

Us: A 40-something couple who are real foodies, traveling with our 21 year old son (let's call him DS) and his 22 year old girlfriend (let's call her DGF). DGF has tastes similar to us, but DS is a total meat and potatoes type guy.

Note on me: I had Weight Loss Surgery last year and eat a specific protein rich diet. I had a procedure called Duodenal Switch, which allows me to eat a little more than a gastric bypass or LapBand patient, and I don't have to follow a low fat diet. Why am I telling you this? It was key to me upgrading to the DxDP. Even though I can't eat a large amount (read: finish anything on my plate), it was important to me to have primarily sit down table service meals where I could taste lots of different things and focus on protein.

We've been to WDW at least 15-20 times over the past 10 years, but this was our first time doing a dining plan. Would we do it again? Guess you'll have to read on!

 

[WeLoveDisney]

We stayed at the AKL.
Where we ate:

Day 1
L: Sanaa
D: Jiko

Day 2
L: Kona
D: Citricos

Day 3
L: Yak and Yeti
D: Artist Point

Day 4
L: Tutto Italia
D: Chefs d'France

Day 5
B: Boma
D: 'Ohana

Day 6
L: Tusker House
D: Yachtsman

Day 7
L: Biergarten
D: Flying Fish

Day 8:
L: Sci Fi Dine In
D: California Grill

Day 9:
L: Raglan Road
D: Narcoossee

Day 10:
B: Boma

 

[TxRabbit]

I'm in.

We ate a lot of signatures on our DxDDP trip, but couldn't hit them all. Very interested to read your take on it.

 

[WeLoveDisney]

Hands down Sanaa was my favorite lunch of the trip. Hands down it was my husband's least favorite. (Ah, opposites attract, eh?)

Sanaa is located in the Kidani Village section of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We stayed at the Jambo House section, and reached it easily in about a ten minute walk. There is also a shuttle service provided.

The walk led to our anticipation as we still had our first day, I'm Here at Disney! excitement going on, and we were walking to a place we hadn't yet seen. Kidani Village is like a less elaborate but still nice version of the AKL. It's also much quieter.

We had an ADR for 1:05 and waited about 10 minutes for our table for 2. The restaurant was much more busy than I had expected.

First courses:
I ordered a trio of salads, choosing three different ones from the six or seven selections. I chose: Carrot and Raisin, Roasted Beets, and Watermelon Radish and Lime. They came in good portions served in small white bowls. All were good, but the Watermelon Radish and Lime was my favorite. It was cold, crisp, and perfectly refreshing for a hot day. The radish was very thinly sliced and offered a nice bite contrasting the sweet watermelon.

My DH ordered Lamb Kefta, also available as an entree. He received three ground lamb meatballs in gravy. He liked it, but didn't love it. The portion was really large for an appetizer. He didn't even eat half of it. You'll also notice in the reviews that I try to be really descriptive of what I like and don't like. DH unfortunately just shrugs and gives thumbs up or thumbs down.....Sorry!

Main Courses:
I had the sustainable fish of the day, which was salmon. Yum Yum Yum! The salmon came in a very light curry broth with lightly sauteed veggies underneath. It was cooked a perfect medium, moist and flaky. The skin and gray yucky mush that is usually under salmon was all trimmed. A perfect salmon filet in every way. The curry broth was not very curry-strong, but a lightly flavored very light broth. I loved this dish.

DH - eh...He ordered the selection of two curries, choosing the red chicken curry and the green shrimp curry. He very much liked the red chicken curry (which incidentally was all dark meat - that's good for him since he prefers it, but bad for me since I dont). He didn't like the green shrimp curry at all, the only thing I got from him was "too herby". I tasted it and liked it very much. It wasn't like a coconut Thai green curry, it was very much flavored with ginger, basil, and lime.

Desserts:
OK, I ate one of my most favorite desserts from the trip here - the Chai Cream. Oh, I could go on and on about this. The Chai cream is a Chai tea flavored cream - thick, rich, and cold, with homemade whipped cream on the top. My only problem is that I ordered it as my dessert, and the server convinced me to try the dessert sampler, which included the Chai Cream, a small piece of chocolate cake, and a ice cream scoop with strawberries. The other two desserts were ok but not worth the calories, and I would have liked more Chai Cream.

DH had mango rice pudding. Nothing wrong with it, nothing great.

At the end of the meal DH said that he thought he just ordered wrong and was tired from traveling, and that he would like to visit the restaurant again, perhaps for dinner.

 

[DLo]

great start - looking forward to more.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

joining in...

 

[DW2010]

I'm in !

 

[eyor44]

We are doing a couple signatures for the first time this November. Very much looking forward to your reviews.

 

[mstmp]

Joining in
You are going to some of the places I have picked!

 

[butiflfeet]

Sounds like you had a very yummy trip! We've been to about half of the signatures and will get to the rest of them (along with a couple of favorites) on our next trip. Looking forward to more of your reviews

 

[mlg32]

Great reviews so far!!

 

[DiggleBelle]

Great descriptions! Excited to read more!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Count me in too! It looks like all our dinners are going to be signature too so I am in for your reviews!

 

[ChefColette]

Looks like you ate at some great places!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

subscribing too - our first dxdp trip booked for this October and our first trip to AKL ( regular dp only) next October

 

[WeLoveDisney]

Having dinner at Jiko on the first night of our vacation is somewhat of a tradition for us, since we usually stay at AKL. This trip was no exception and Jiko didn't disappoint us.

We had ADR's for 7:35, and waited first about 20 minutes for our table as we watched people come in after us and be seated. I was sure we had been forgotten. I finally went and asked - sure enough, they forgot to buzz us.

An apologetic manager escorted us to a nice table by the back wall that changes color. Since the check-in area shared by Jiko and Boma was a total zoo that night it was nice to have a quiet table far away from it all.

Since we were guests at the lodge, we got an amuse bouche - a small tasting of tomato and cucumber salad in watermelon vinagrette. I think this is also on the menu as a appetizer. Nice, DH who is not a tomato fan because of texture and seeds even liked it as the tomatoes were thinly sliced. I wasn't aware that Disney gave an amuse bouche based on if someone is a guest of that resort, but I noticed others in every other signature restaurant getting them as well.

Meals at Jiko start with a basket of different types of warm bread, and something they call tandoori butter, which is whipped butter with Indian / African spices. I've had it before and enjoy it, but since my surgery I can't waste stomach space on bread so I had to pass.

Appetizers:
I had the cheese plate. Wish I could remember the selections, but there were 5 of them served with assorted nuts, figs, and honey - as well as some thinly sliced toasted bread. I loved how thin the bread was sliced as it wasn't overly filling and let the flavor of the cheese shine through.

DH had a corn and crab chowder. It was presented with the corn and crab in a hot bowl, and the broth was poured tableside from a french press. Nice presentation and DH loved his soup.

Entrees:
On prior visits to Jiko I had the maize crusted monkfish in tomato butter sauce. I liked it so much that I recreated the recipe at home after much trial and error. I'm a big fan of monkfish, which is known as poor man's lobster because of texture and flavor similarities. I noticed the fish on the menu had changed to halibut with the same preparation. The server told me if the menu didn't say halibut that I wouldn't have noticed the difference. I liked the dish, but found it much more dry than I had remembered. I would have liked more sauce, and the fish was a tad overcooked. However, I'm kind of nitpicking because overall it was very good - just not as good as I remembered.

DH has the filet with mac and cheese. Delicious! I had wanted to order that myself but since I don't eat too many carbs I passed. I wish I had gotten it. The filet was cooked a perfect medium as ordered, and the mac and cheese was perfect al dente macaroni with a creamy cheese sauce. This isn't kiddie mac and cheese!

Desserts:
I ordered a cheesecake with lemon curd and fresh blueberries. It was creamy, not grainy (which I don't like), and the blueberries were very fresh. Loved it!

DH ordered a new dessert, which they said was new that week. It was Tanzanian chocolate something or other (sorry), and the server highly recommended it. The plate had two different chocolate creations. The first was like a homemade fudgicle. It was much better than I'm making it sound! Think of a semi-frozen chocolate rectangle block, like a fudgicle - only with high quality great chocolate. The second creation was like a flourless chocolate cake. The plate also had fresh raspberries and homemade whipped cream. We raved about this dessert.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

thanks for the update, my husband and I enjoyed our dinner at Jiko. He wishes we can eat there on our upcoming trip but I wanted to try new signature restaurants.

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

Mmmmm, sounds delicious! We're big Signature fans, so I'm looking forward to reading more!