A Spookalicious October 2012 Dining Review! Update 4/8 Beer and Tangerine Cafe

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Hi friends!

I've been back from WDW for a couple months and am just now getting around to writing my Dining Report. I was in the World October 23rd to 29th and had a marvelous time! I was a live reporter on the fabulous Coming to you LIVE thread and most my pictures will be the same but I plan on going into a lot of detail about the food and more.

I was on the dining plan for this trip (and more on that later, too) and was only on my own for a couple counter service meals. I was able to share some great sit-down experiences with some friends who either live in the Orlando area or were in WDW at the same time. When I have pictures and feedback of their food I'll include them.

So here's me! (I'm on the left)

Here's the rundown of where I ate and when. I'll have links posted to each individual review.

Tuesday October 23
Dinner: Everything POP!

Wednesday October 24
Breakfast/Snack: Sunshine Tree Terrace
Lunch: Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner: Cosmic Ray's
Nightcap: Petals Pool Bar

Thursday October 25
Brunch: Food & Wine Fest Kiosks Part 1 Food & Wine Fest (and a scary story!) Part 2
Treat: Karmel Kuche
Dinner: 'Ohana

Friday October 26
Breakfast: Kona Cafe
Lunch/Snack: Lunching Pad
Dinner: Liberty Tree Tavern
Treat: Plaza Ice Cream Parlor

Saturday October 27
Breakfast: Rose and Crown Pub
Lunch: Les Chefs de France
Drink: Kabuki Cafe
Dinner: Tangerine Cafe


Sunday October 28
Lunch: Toy Story Pizza Planet
Dinner: Raglan Road

Monday October 29
Lunch: Yak and Yeti Counter Service

The standards I use for evaluating dining are very basic: I'm not Lady Mary. I don't live at Downton Abbey. The staff at Disney are not there to wait on my every want and need. That's just not how I roll. So, what may be considered awful service to some could register as it's-not-that-bad to me. I'm certainly going to include the bad along with the good where it is warranted, yet I am happy to say there were very few instances of bad this trip, service and food quality included.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Arrival Day: Tuesday October 23
I landed at MCO around 7:25 and walked up to this deserted Magical Express!

I got on the bus, and arrived at Pop around 8:15. Got checked in, found my room, and then headed to the Everything POP food court. I considered going to Art of Animation to Landscapes of Flavors, but didn't want to walk that far. My room was way on the end of the farthest building in the 50's section. It was a good location, just too far to walk at the end of a long travel day.

Anyway, Everything POP was certainly POPPIN'! I've stayed at Pop Century 6 times (never been anywhere else, really) but hadn't utilized the food court for more than refillable mugs and a snack or two. So this was my first experience with a crowd for the most part. It was about 9 p.m. and I was surprised it was so busy. Knowing the menu choices, I got in the pasta/pizza line, which was long but moved fairly quickly. The biggest challenge to a swift line that I noticed were guests who clearly did not speak English as their first language. The cast members did a really good job communicating as best they could with a family in front of me, and it looked to me like they walked away satisfied with their meals.

Anyhow, I ordered the chicken alfredo dish: breaded chicken breast with rigatoni pasta and alfredo sauce served with a bread stick.

I grabbed my mug, headed to the cooler for the cheesecake, and got in line to "pay." The dining area is my least favorite part of Pop, and I should have eaten outside but didn't want to wrestle with the doors while balancing my food-laden tray so I found a booth in a quieter corner.

The alfredo didn't have much flavor (really lacking in Parmesan cheese) but the chicken was cooked perfectly. The bread stick was soft and garlicky, just the way I like them. The pasta portion was small compared to pictures I've seen online but since my piece of chicken was so big it didn't matter. Had the tye dye cheesecake for dessert. Never had this before and will definitely get it again next trip! I love cake, cheesecake and bright colors so this was the perfect dessert for me. The cake part was a little soggy but other than that I have no complains. I ate about half of this and brought the rest back to my room to be breakfast the next day.

Overall: Everything Pop is a good place to grab a bite if you're not headed to a park. It's large and has a wide variety of choices and unique desserts. Depending on the time of day and season, it can be very crowded, loud, and may take a long time to get your meal. This doesn't necessarily bother me as a single traveler, but I can see where others with families or different preferences would not find it charming.

 

[iloveeeyore]

Great start! I'm looking forward to more!

 

[jesswindsor]

I'm in, ready for more!!

 

[tluvstink]

I'm in

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on!

 

[Leslieann1024]

I'm onboard ! I loooove dining reviews, can't wait to read the rest of yours !

 

[MyKidsMom1820]

we r headed to pop in may! can't wait to hear more of your report. I too am NOT lady Mary....but I do love me some downton abbey! I suppose being a sahm I would be more like the kitchen maid.... but with less appreciation!

 

[partyof2]

Great choice for a first meal!

Being from the UK I find it fascinating that in the US sauce is often served over the pasta rather than mixed in. I think if I ever try Chicken Parm I'll ask for extra sauce. Mmm alfredo.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Great start! I'm looking forward to more!

Welcome! Thanks for reading!

I'm in, ready for more!!

Good, because I have another update coming right up!

I'm in

Fabulous! Thanks for reading!

Signing on!

Welcome aboard!

I'm onboard ! I loooove dining reviews, can't wait to read the rest of yours !

Thanks! I love writing dining reviews just as much as I love reading them!

we r headed to pop in may! can't wait to hear more of your report. I too am NOT lady Mary....but I do love me some downton abbey! I suppose being a sahm I would be more like the kitchen maid.... but with less appreciation!

You're going to enjoy POP! Have you stayed there before? Feel free to ask any questions, I'm a POP enthusiast! I think we should try to be more Crawley than Daisy, but I'm just not that used to fancy things it feels weird to be waited on so much when dining out.

Great choice for a first meal!

Being from the UK I find it fascinating that in the US sauce is often served over the pasta rather than mixed in. I think if I ever try Chicken Parm I'll ask for extra sauce. Mmm alfredo.

Hello from across the Atlantic! Sauce presentation varies widely in the States. Sometimes it's served mixed with the pasta and more over top and sometimes it looks as my picture above. Since they make it right in front of you at POP, you can gage if you'd like more and ask them. I think they would completely oblige.

Another update coming up right after I make my dinner. Which, funnily enough, is pasta with meatballs. I always mix the sauce in with my pasta

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

First Full Day: Wednesday OCtober 24
Breakfast this day was the other half of my cheesecake from dinner! A great way to start the day. It was a Magic Kingdom day and I met my friend, J, at the gates right after opening. I hadn't been to WDW in almost three years and hadn't seen any of the new Fantasyland. Storybook Circus was open so we headed over there and wandered around the big gift shop back there with the great treats counter!

We didn't get anything here, but eventually made our way to Adventureland for the first food purchase of the day: A Citrus Swirl!

This was very light and refreshing on a hot morning. We actually got to Sunshine Tree Terrace early and had to wait because the machines were still warming up. We were officially the first customers of the day. I was expecting more of an orange flavor but it tasted more like grapefruit. Not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. We had a lunch reservation in an hour and this was a nice snack to hold us over until... (continued in next post)

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

First Full Day October 24, Continued

Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern!
I had dinner here once about five years ago and wasn't too impressed, but after reading so many positive reviews I decided to give lunch a try.

We checked in right on time for our ADR. The waiting area wasn't that crowded but we still waited maybe 10 minutes for our table. We were seated at a 2 top in the Martha Washington room. I really liked this location because it's a smaller room to the back of the restaurant and it was quieter.

We had a great waitress who was very prompt to take our drink orders. I had a Diet Coke, J had an iced tea. We placed our orders, chatted for about 15 minutes and then lunch was served!

I chose the Colony Salad

This was so good! All my favorite things in a salad- greens, apples, dried cranberries, cheddar cheese, warm grilled chicken, and a very yummy dressing that wasn't too heavy. I make a very similar salad to this at home and wish I could recreate this version every day! The portion was big but I completely cleaned my plate.

My friend J had a side salad and the Freedom Pasta, which can be slightly viewed in the picture above. The salad is the same kind they serve at dinner. The lettuce looked fresh and crisp, and the pasta was served with veggies in a creamy sauce. Both got two thumbs up!

For dessert I HAD to order the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake and see what all the fuss was about for myself.

Ermagherd. This was probably the only dish I had all week that lived up to the hype. It was ooey and gooey and toffee-ey as promised. J and I split this. Even though it was so good, I wouldn't have been able to finish the whole thing by myself. Well, I would have finished it but I tried to make a conscious effort to not overeat this trip!

Overall, I thought this was the best lunch I've ever had in the Magic Kingdom. I liked the a la carte set up they have at LTT for lunch. We did dinner here later this week and I'll share some other thoughts comparing the two meals when I get to that part of my review. I am absolutely putting LTT lunch on my MUST DO OR DIE list for all subsequent trips.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

First Full Day October 24 Continued
After lunch J and I parted ways and I headed to Tomorrowland to do some rides, went back over to Liberty Square, shopped up and down Main Street, and then got hungry again. In the mood for something that was close, I went into Cosmic Ray's.

I usually prefer Colombia Harbor House, but I was already near Tomorrowland and had eaten at Cosmic Ray's before but had mainly stuck with a burger, nuggets or fries since they are the cheaper options here when paying OOP. But since I was on the DDP I threw caution to the wind and went with...

The half chicken meal served with mashed potatoes and green beans. I enjoyed this meal a lot. I try to eat anything green on my plate first and gobbled up the beans. They were nice and crisp, not mushy at all! I've read feedback that some people find these too garlicky, but I didn't notice garlic at all and I'm Italian American. I know garlic. Anyway, the chicken was pretty good. I liked the flavor of the skin and tried both white and dark meat. The leg was flavorful but the breast was a touch dry. I quickly remedied this with a scoop of mashed potato on my fork! Those potatoes were AWESOMESAUCE! Creamy but slightly lumpy (I was so glad they were real mashed potatoes) and I could have eaten another whole scoop.

I chose the chocolate gelato for dessert. I was so proud of myself that I didn't order any chocolate or carrot cake for desserts all trip! I usually end up with a couple of each back at the room and throw them out before I leave. The gelato was ok. It was a little icy & grainy in consistency and I was pretty full from the meal so I had a couple bites and threw it away. I probably should have chosen the mango flavor instead.

Overall, Cosmic Ray's is a gem in the counter service options in the Magic Kingdom. There are a lot of options so every member of your party can find something they like. The seating area is large and there's tables outside if the weather is nice. But why go out into the heat when you can stay in and be serenaded by the one and only Sunny Eclipse?

The only negative encounter I had at this meal was the wait time to order. There were only two registers open at the Chicken Bay and a lot of people in line. It appeared to me that the cast member doing line control was pushing (well, not literally) people in line who weren't ready to order. They got in the queue anyway and still took their time. This lead to a hold up because they were still reading the menus and deciding while the cast member at the register was waiting to take their order. I don't know why the first CM was being so pushy, there was room for lines to form and let people still deciding stand in the back by the doors until they were ready. I am sure this becomes an issue at the super crowded times, but it wasn't necessary.

Next: A quick nightcap at Petals!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

First Full Day October 24 Continued
After 13 or so hours in the the Magic Kingdom, it was time to go back to POP and meet up with a friend at Petals Pool Bar. It was a warm, breezy evening and it was nice sitting outside next to the Hippy Dippy Pool chatting and listening to the sounds of kids playing in the water.

My Pina Colava, a pina colada with a raspberry swirl, was nice and refreshing!

(not my picture)

I wanted to return to Petals later in my trip to sample more drinks, but sadly this was my only visit.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Second Full Day October 25
I was up again fairly early and went to Everything POP for "coffee". The "coffee" they have comes out the machine so darn hot my routine is wake up, walk to the food court in my PJs, get "coffee," go back to the room and shower, get dressed, then drink. The "coffee" is almost at a drinkable temperature by that point.

I think I had a raspberry Nutrigrain bar in the room while sipping the "coffee" (honestly, I really only get it out of necessity for caffeine and not the quality!) and finished getting ready. I was off to EPCOT for Food and Wine Festival and there was no way I was going to spoil my appetite with anything more for breakfast!

I headed back to World Showcase around 10:50 a.m. and boy was my tummy rumbly! I wanted to get to the Canada booth early because I had read here on the Dis and elsewhere the line can get long very, very fast. I was expecting people to be camped out back there, but I was the only one! It was a Thursday, so it makes sense that World Showcase wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. That came later in the trip. But, I'm getting ahead of myself!

The booth opened at 11 a.m. sharp and I was the first customer!

I ordered what I called, "the big three" from Canada: Spicy chicken sausage with polenta, cheddar cheese soup, and the mushroom filet.

Chicken Sausage

Soup

Mushroom Filet

Everything was FABULOUS! I've eaten at Le Cellier once before and had the soup & filet but my favorite of the three was the spicy chicken sausage with sweet onion jam and polenta. I'm a sucker for anything with polenta anyway, but everything just worked so well in this dish. The spicy sausage, sweet onions and cheesy polenta.... just YUM! If I ever get back to Le Cellier, I'm ordering this as my meal with a side salad. The soup was good, cheesy with a little kick to it. But for the price I wish the portion size was larger. I felt like I got 2 spoonfuls for $4. The filet was yummy too, cooked to a perfect medium and not fatty at all. The truffle butter was a tad salty for me.

Next I went across the way to Greece!

I was getting full already so I went with something my friend recommended highly, the griddled Greek cheese.

I was skeptical that I would like this, as I'm usually a cheese purist and don't like a lot of accompaniments, but this worked in an odd sort of way. I was lucky and got a fresh piece of cheese off the grill so it was warm and gooey!

I headed clockwise around the World Showcase after that. The sun was getting higher and hotter even though it was not quite 11:30 yet and I stopped at the Caribbean booth for a drink.

This is the torched cherry limeade. I thought this would be on the rocks for some reason, but it came out frozen. It wasn't as strong as I like my frozen drinks, but that might have been a good thing since it wasn't even noon yet!

Next on my agenda was a stop at La Cava del Tequila! I had not been to EPCOT since before this place opened and I was dying to try it! I made it to the Mexico pavilion way too early since they don't open until noon, so this was what I saw after I rode the boats:

Deserted! But you can see they have the ropes up for when it gets crazy crowded.

I had to kill more time so I went and rode Maelstrom a couple times and wandered around the China pavilion until I turned back and got a fish taco at the Mexico booth.

Figured it would be good to have more food in my stomach before filling it with tequila. The fish taco was ok, I got it instead of the chicken because it wasn't fried (I think the chicken was fried but I may be wrong), but I learned that I don't really like fish tacos. If I lived in a place like southern Cali I might love it, but I prefer poultry or beef. Anyway, back to Cava I went!

There was a small group of people waiting outside the doors, but when it opened they didn't get in line. I guess they wanted to sit in there and drink. Not me, I was on the move! So I ordered an avocado margarita and hit the road!

This was good, I texted Barb from the Live Reviews thread that it tasted like banana and she texted back that everyone says that! I was expecting a true avocado taste because I love avocados. Not disappointing but just not necessarily what I wanted. I think I'll try the blood orange one next time.

I will continue in the next post!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Second Full Day October 25 Continued
After my lovely avocado margarita from La Cava, I shopped around the World Showcase to around Japan, and got a text from my friend J that he and his DGF (now fiance!!!), T, were over by the Canada Food & Wine booth. So I hiked the other half of WS to meet them, and we walked counter clockwise browsing the gift shops (T wanted to find a Dr. Who shirt in the UK, but didn't find one) and snacking along the way.

I stopped at the Ireland booth for...

Fisherman's Pie. This was very hot when it came off the line. It had nice big chunks of lobster and scallops and the mashed potato crust on top was creamy and nice and cheesy! It was very good and I wish I had gotten a Bailey's chocolate cake to go with it, but I had big dinner plans and didn't want to spoil my appetite.

I also got a prosecco in Italy at some point this day but I can't remember when and I didn't take a picture. I remember sitting in the courtyard watching the mime performer, sipping my bubbly, and really enjoying the afternoon sun.

Are you ready for a Scary Story?? J, T and I met up with our other friend C and her husband P somewhere around Norway and decided to go check out the Festival Center to shop and stop in at the Visa Lounge. I didn't get any pictures of the lounge as I spent that time frantically searching for my license and Rewards Card. I had been getting ID'd all day (SO ANNOYING! I'm 29!) so I just took my license out and put it in an inside pocket of my bag for easy access. I looked in that same pocket when we got into the lounge but it wasn't there. So I was freaking out, took everything out of my bag and pockets (or so I thought) and couldn't find it. I decided at that point I must have left it in one of the pavilions so I backtracked my steps from the whole day and none of the Cast Members had it. I checked with Guest Relations twice and called the central lost and found but nothing. So, I decided to not get too worked up (easier said than done) and go back to POP to regroup before dinner. I stood at the dock to the Friendship boat and reached into my bag for my phone. As I glanced into it, my eye wandered to a small, unnoticeable pocket I didn't check earlier (because I didn't know it was there, I swear!) and wouldn't you know, there were my ID and Rewards Card!!!!

So with that crisis averted, I texted J & T to tell them all was well and I'd see them in a little while at the Poly for drinks at...

Continued in the next installment!

 

[wdwpirates]

Great reviews so far!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[hobbs6799]

Your reviews are amazing. Makes me so glad we will be at WDW during the F&W....I am already dreaming of a blood orange margarita!!!

 

[Rudy5]

Great reviews! looking forward to more as some of the restaurants you have on your list are on mine to try out in October!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Great reviews so far!! Can't wait to read more!!

Thanks for reading! I've got another review coming right up!

Your reviews are amazing. Makes me so glad we will be at WDW during the F&W....I am already dreaming of a blood orange margarita!!!

Thank you! This is the third Food and Wine Fest I've done and definitely the one I ate the most at. You'll love Cava! Just make sure if you are going there on the weekend you get in line before noon. That place gets LOCO during Food and Wine.

Great reviews! looking forward to more as some of the restaurants you have on your list are on mine to try out in October!

Thanks, hope you will find them helpful!