Alaskans at Disney! 7 Days of Dining Reviews with Pics! (update #14, 7-9-08)

[Splat25]

Yak & Yeti – Lunch – Animal Kingdom

Yak & Yeti is located almost half way between Africa and Asia in the back of the Animal Kingdom. For us, the location worked very well in that it let us experience Africa and do some shopping then have an early lunch around 11:30am. The Deluxe dining plan allowed us to get appetizers, main courses and desserts, so we really took advantage of that here. We were very fortunate that we got seated in the upstairs top corner and had a great view with windows on both sides.

Picture of the Front of the restaurant.

Our menu:
Dim Sum Basket - Pork pot stickers, shrimp siu mai, cha su bao, and pork sie mai steamed on a banana leaf, soy lime dipping sauce

Pork Pot Stickers - pan seared w/soy lime dipping sauce (We had the option for seared or steamed)

Crispy Honey Chicken - tempura chicken, broccoli, carrots, honey sauce with choice of brown or jasmine rice.

Sweet and Sour Chicken - Tempura chicken, ginger, garlic, bell peppers, pineapple with choice of brown or jasmine rice.

Kids Meal - Mini Burger with applesauce cup, fruit punch gelatin andfor dessert there was an ice cream sundae. (DD had the option of carrot sticks, applesauce, gelatin or rice and she chose applesauce and gelatin)

Sorbet Trio- Mango, lemon, raspberry

Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle

Food Review:
We started off our dining experience with a round of iced teas and chocolate milk for the kids. It was a very sunny day and starting to get pretty hot out there, so that really hit the spot. Wanting to try a variety of things, we opted for the Dim Sum Basket (a sampler of several different things) and seared pot stickers.

Seared Pot Stickers

The pot stickers were seared and had a slightly caramelized texture on the outside that was slightly crunchy while the inside was soft and warm. When dipped in the soy sauce the sweet vinegary taste melded perfectly with the slight crunch and soft inside.

Dim Sum

The neat things about both of these appetizers were the contrast of the food textures with the palette pleasing dip/sauces. The Dim Sum basket was kind of a mixed bag in some respects. The pot stickers were here as well, but they were steamed and not seared, which makes a huge difference in my opinion. The other items were ok, but did not really stand out as a must have. The “cha su bao” was really quite different for me; it was a little doughy like ball with a meat filling. The texture was very chewy/doughy and really didn’t have much of a taste expect for the really mild meat inside. It was better when dipped. It was enjoyable overall.

The main meal arrived after we finished off the appetizers and had another glass of iced tea. I had the Crispy Honey Chicken which came with lightly cooked vegetables and rice.

Crispy Honey Chicken

While not truly outstanding, the dish overall was good. It has a good crispy texture on the chicken and a lightly honey sweet sauce accompanying it. The chicken was somewhat moist, but could have been a bit more tender. The jasmine rice was good and had a slightly sticky quality to it. I liked how they domed it up on the plate and covered it with black sesame?).

Sweet and Sour Chicken

My wife ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken dish. The sweet and sour chicken was slightly crispy with a light sweet and sour sauce over it. The sauce was too mild since I tend to like bolder sauces. Also, there wasn’t really enough sauce to eat with the rice, but it was otherwise pleasant and well cooked. Again the jasmine rice was very well done.

Kid’s burger meal

The kids meal was presented in a cute plastic Mickey ear shaped bowl/plate thing. The burger seemed cooked well and my daughter liked it with ketchup. One thing I would have liked to see would be to make it a cheeseburger instead of a plain burger. My daughter really didn’t care that much since she had fruit punch Jell-O. The applesauce didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary here.

Now for the best part! Dessert! We really loved the mango, lemon, and raspberry sorbet. It was the hit of the entire meal. The kids loved it too.

Sorbet plate – Mango, Lemon, & Raspberry

The presentation was lovely, especially the lemon one that looked like and apple with a leaf out of it. It even had the rounded dimple and hole on the top. There was a raspberry sauce on the mango sorbet that was really tasty. The flavors were bold without being overpowering and were very refreshing on a hot day. Even thought the kids had a sundae, we had to fight them for the sorbet!
We also thought the Fried Wontons sounded interesting to try for our second dessert. We were getting a bit full by the time we got to this dessert, but we tried to give it a good effort. J

Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle

The flavors of this dessert were very mild, even the grilled pineapple didn’t make it stand out a whole lot. I like how it was accompanied by ice cream and the vanilla drizzle was nice as well, but the cream cheese wontons were just average from what I expected.

The kid’s ice cream sundae was enjoyed by my son & daughter, but I really don’t remember it much. From what I recall it was a scoop of ice cream with some toppings in a small dish. They did enjoy it, after they finished off our sorbet.

Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is one of the primary reasons I think we will go back to this restaurant next time we are at the Animal Kingdom. Once past the small and crowded lobby area, the inside was peaceful and well decorated.

Our Inside window view

Inside restaurant shot – what is that kid doing over there to his head?

We were seated upstairs in the front corner with windows on two sides of our table. The temperature inside Yak & Yeti was a wonderful break from the sweltering heat outside. The setting has a nice mix of earthy colors with wood accents that was eclectic yet peaceful. Notice in the inside shot that no two ceiling light fixtures or fans were the same.

The service was about average and our dining experience took about one hour or so. We thought it was an excellent break after doing a morning safari run and getting some shopping and exploring in.

 

[TigerKat]

Looking forward to Yak & Yeti on our next trip!

 

[suzimar57]

great photos!!!

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay!! Thanks for the Yak & Yeti review!

We plan to eat there in January, so it's nice to hear a positive review. I've been reading some not-so-good things about it, but all the food looks and sounds quite yummy, I think!

So far, your AK day is exactly the same as ours. Tusker House breakfast, Yak & Yeti lunch!!

Thanks for the advice about timing the Tusker House breakfast, and getting fastpasses for the Safari. I like that idea!

 

[KatMark]

Great to read your review of Yak & Yeti. We are eating there in September and can't wait to try it after your review and pictures.

 

[John's Mom]

Another great update!

 

[donaldseeyore]

Great reviews! We had the same table you had back in the first week of April and I loved the view and people watching from there.

Wanted to add I was born and raised in Alaska, (Anchorage and Fairbanks) and now live in FL.

Glad to see y'all enjoyed yourselves!

 

[DisneyJo]

Yak and Yeti sounds good, we're planning on trying the CS there in August

 

[Splat25]

Boma – Dinner – Animal Kingdom Lodge

Boma is located in the Animal Kingdom lodge. We had to take a long shuttle bus to get there and because of that were about 10-15 minutes late past our ADR. Luckily for us, that didn’t seem to matter and we were seated within 5 minutes of checking in. You check in at a desk just inside the main doors to the lodge, but have to go down an elevator to the dining level. We really enjoyed this meal as well as the buffet meal offered some more traditional things as well as some great African items.

Our menu:
Large Buffet featuring many standard and African spiced dishes.

Food Review:
Another hot day for us, especially with rushing to get to Boma’s close to on time. First thing we did was to order iced teas and chocolate milks for the kids. The iced teas were cool and refreshing and exactly what I expected. The only thing that could have been better would have been sweet-n-low, but we found this missing at nearly every Disney restaurant.

Wanting to have a little more pizzazz at this meal, I ordered a Pina Colava blended drink. It is essentially a Pina Colada with strawberries. The strawberries added a nice fruity kick to the drink, yet wasn’t too sweet or overdone. The coolness of the iced drink was also an added bonus. The huge pineapple slice was also juicy and sweet tasting once the drink level went down some.

Pina Colava – A Pina Colada with strawberries.

Anyone with two hungry kids knows the first thing you do is get them eating. I had the wife get their plates and then we both prepared them for the kids. They both had chicken tenders, rice, macaroni, pasta w/sauce, and fresh fruit (strawberries and watermelon).

Close up of Boma’s Mac & Cheese. This shot really allows you to see the texture and creaminess of the cheese sauce.

After the kids were happily eating (as best that can expected after a full park day), the first thing I went after reading several reviews of Boma online was the Coconut Curried Chicken soup as I really like curry dishes - I wasn’t disappointed. The yellow curry flavor was fairly mild (wasn’t overpowering) and the soup had a nice creamy-curry type of taste. The chicken was tender and wonderful in the soup. I found the soup rich in spices but not what I consider as hot, although it might be for mild folks.

My Coconut Curried Chicken Soup – Rich in flavor and very good.

The wife had a mixed green salad and had to try two dressings, mango and balsamic vinaigrettes; she also tried the sun-dried tomato hummus with flat bread.

Wife’s salad plate.

Next she went back for the main course which has fire roasted chicken, prime rib, coconut rice, an Potatoes with Afritude, sautéed veggies and Couscous Marrakesh. Everything was fairly tasty. The prime rib and the chicken were well seasoned. The rice was wonderful! The couscous was a bit harsh on the flavors; they didn’t meld as well as she thought they would.

Wife’s main entrée run.

My main plate was jammed packed full of goodness. I had several of the same things as the wife did such as the prime rib, coconut rice, roasted chicken, and Potatoes with Afritude. The prime rib was tender and had a nice spice taste to it. I liked the earthy African spices used on the potatoes and thought the slightly sweet coconut rice was very, very good. It is the kind of rice that makes you want to eat more and more of it! The Ribs were moist and has a slight African type spice on them and a nice light smoke flavor. I had a few green beans and some macaroni & cheese to help with the meat/rice motif I had going. Although it doesn’t look like it, this was a large plate of food and only really allowed for only one buffet run before dessert!

My main course buffet run.

Now for the desserts! There are lots of small desserts that you can add to your plate. I like that idea since you can sample quite a few different types. One other thing worth mentioning before the review is that quite a few of desserts here did have alcohol in them, so you need to be mindful of the desserts and associated sauces for kids.

Of the desserts, I think my favorite was the Chocolate Mousse Crunch. It had a rich chocolate flavor with a silky texture I really liked. I remember liking the cherry cobbler as well, but most other items were just ok for me. Many people love the Zebra Domes, but they were just ok to me even though they look stunning.

My dessert plate – A bounty of tasty things!

Disney Wife's dessert plate

My daughter wanted something simple so she opted for a brownie type thing with a vanilla sauce and some candied/dried fruits. They were all ok, nothing too special. As I mentioned earlier in the review, you have to be somewhat careful because many of Boma’s desserts did contain alcohol.

Daughter’s dessert Plate – She wanted the brownie and candied fruits.

Atmosphere:
The atmosphere is really pretty subdued at Boma’s. The lighting is fairly dark as is the booth colors and carpeting. The backs of the booths that separate space were like little wooden fences and were themed pretty well overall. Also adding to the subdued feeling was the really high ceilings and far away lighting. The service was about average in that server took our dirty plates away timely and kept out iced tea filled, so all was ok there.

Overall:
I plan on definitely going here again. I really enjoyed the rich flavor and the relaxing atmosphere. There were plenty of food choices including lush adult drinks. The one thing I was not as impressed with was the desert offerings. I felt that the mousse was excellent, but the other items were not quite what I was expecting – they were not bad, but for me they were not outstanding either. The Deluxe dining plan worked well here and we shared our food with my son very easily.

 

[2BusyPlanning]

Oooooo... I can't wait to try Boma for dinner now! Great review!

 

[mom2fivecs]

Impressive reviews...thanks for sharing.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Loving your reviews.

 

[Disneyof3]

Oh those pictures take me back there so much. I too love the sundried tomatoe hummus and flat bread. It felt like when I left Boma that I had eaten tons of this. I can't wait to go back in March. Thanks again for the review and photos

 

[manntra]

Thanks for the Boma dinner review. I have been there for breakfast but not dinner. We are doing both dinner and breakfast this August so thanks for the details and the pictures!

 

[iluvpluto27]

Great update. Boma's my favourite non-signature restaurant and after looking at your pics I can't wait to go again. You're right about the desserts though, I was surprised just how many of them contained alcohol, no problem for me but if you can't have any alcohol the choice was limited.

 

[Splat25]

Chef Mickey’s – Breakfast – Contemporary Resort Character Dining

We got up very early and took a short boat ride over to the Contemporary Resort for our 7:20 AM character breakfast. Overall, we were not overly enamored of this dining experience for a few reasons (in review), but the kids did enjoy meeting the characters so it was worth it overall.

Disney Daughter with Chef Mickey

Our menu:

Medium sized self-serve buffet:

Fresh Fruits, yogurts, cereals, Chocolate Croissants, Muffins, Cinnamon Rolls, Rice Krispy Treats. Cheese Blintzes, Peach Cobbler, Brownies, Assorted Danish & More.
Pluto's Corned Beef Hash, Scrambled eggs, Three-cheese Omelet, Chef's , Daily Omelet, Mickey Waffles, Goofy's Vegetable Lasagna, Bacon and Cheese Potatoes, Breakfast potatoes, Minnie's Breakfast Pizza, French Toast, Pancakes, Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy, Sausage Links and Bacon, Bagels.

Food Review:
The food at Chef Mickey’s was disappointing overall. It is the standard plain things one can get anywhere. Most things were on the bland side and needed some help. It was very basic. Even the pastries were pretty blah and more grocery store quality than what you would expect for Disney.

My daughter started off with a bowl of oatmeal with raisins. It has a somewhat thick consistency and was very warm. The raisins were juicy and has good flavor but the oatmeal itself was quite bland. She didn’t really like it. She also has some fresh fruit and did like that, mostly honeydew and cantaloupe cut up.

Oatmeal with Raisins for the kids

My wife got two types of potatoes, eggs and pancakes. The eggs were so-so, not rubbery, but not good either. Same for the pancakes. The syrup was dispensed in a large container similar to a large coffee urn and was kept warm, which was nice, but if you don’t like soggy pancakes or don’t want it on anything else, you had to get a bowl to put it in, which got messy with the kids. The best part of the buffet in her opinion was the hash-brown potato cakes.

Wife’s Plate

My Disney son had a mixture of oatmeal and yogurt like he has at home. We mix them together and he seems to like it just fine. Although the oatmeal was bland, the blueberry yogurt was good and mixed well with it. He must have found it agreeable since most was gone by the end of the meal. He did snack more off a fruit plate were had (no pic) during the meal.

Disney Son’s breakfast – oatmeal with blueberry yoghurt

My plate was more meat focused….lol. I’m a fan of biscuits and gravy with extra sausage, so I went for that first thing. I found the gravy to be a good medium thickness consistency, but it lacked that rich creamy sausage taste I was hoping for. It was just ok, even with the sausage to help. The sausage was plain old links and were good, so no complaints there. The cheesy egg omelet was ok, but very bland. The bacon was crispy and tasty as was the Pluto corned beef hash. The potatoes and pancakes were just mediocre as I recall. The orange juice was fine and about what I expected, but the coffee was pretty nasty tasting, even with cream and plenty of sugar. Although I am not much of a coffee drinker, more an frufru mocha person. ;-)

My mixed plate with all sorts of breakfast fare.

Atmosphere:
We talked about this restaurant for a bit to come to an opinion of what we though overall. We didn’t really like the theme or modern design of the Contemporary Resort or Chef Mickey’s. The contrasting colors were nice enough, but it just is not our style. The buffet looked much larger than it really is because it is repeated again, two sides with all the same stuff.

When you first come in, pictures are taken and then they want to buy them for what amounts to a good bit of money. My children were certainly not cooperative for the picture, so we passed on that. The food and atmosphere were just average, but the location, opening time, and characters were ideal to start our day. The kids really did enjoy meeting Mickey, Donald, Minnie, and Goofy but next time we will pass on this restaurant. It was just not our style and the food was not up to our standards with so many other great places to go, both for wonderful food and meeting characters.

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for more great reviews!

 

[DisneyJo]

Sorry you weren't impressed with CM's, my DH and DD's went there for Dinner and weren't impressed either

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I'm in!

 

[satman1962]

As a restaurant, we too find Chef Mickey's to be rather plain for any meal, breakfast , lunch or dinner. As a character dining experience when the kids were younger, this was the place to be.