Around the World in 80 Bites (UPDATE: Lunch at Coral Reef and F&W Snacks!)

[TifffanyD]

I've always wanted to try Boma, but I have a very anti-adventurous family. I'm afraid the only way I'll ever get to try it is solo!

I am enjoying your reviews!

There is a pretty large carving station that seems pretty tame. I don't eat beef or pork so there was nothing really there for me. There is also the durban chicken which was pretty tame, just tasted like seasoned chicken for me. Also, the kid's buffet has mac & cheese and probably chicken nuggets. And lots of salads. I'd say that they could find enough to eat. And the dessert portion was pretty fabulous - tempt them with that!

 

[blogposter12]

welcome back. sounds like you had a good time.

 

[TifffanyD]

Pizzafari (Lunch)

Today we decided to spend the day at AK due to touringplans crowd calculator. It was spot-on, as the place was dead. We entered around noon and headed to Pizzafari which had minimal lines and LOTS of tables open inside on a very hot day. AMAZING! DH and I each got pizza combos (Cheese for me and pepperoni for him) which came with a Caesar salad. I had eaten here before and the pizzas hadn't come with a salad. It's nice that they have this now, however my complaint is that they don't list an option for pizza only with no salad. Of course, the price has increased a bit as well. Anyways, our pizzas were pretty good, they are your usual personal sized Disney pizzas. DH tried the salad and said it was pretty bad - they used iceberg lettuce in it. For desserts they didn't have the frozen minute maid lemonades that we had last time . So instead DH got a chocolate cake and I got an apple crisp/blossom/pie thing. I think they call it crisp but it's NOT crisp... it's like tart that's been folded back up on itself. The apple thing was alright, I've had it before. Not really what I wanted on a hot day. DH's cake was the standard prepackaged chocolate cake. We still like this place as our CS go-to in AK, but it's not anything great.

Kona Cafe (Dinner)

At the end of the day, we headed to the Poly for a reservation at Kona Cafe. We got there a bit early, and got to see the Chief do the torch lighting ceremony. This was really cool to watch, and I'd recommend it if you are going over for a reservation.

I was excited for our first meal at Kona Cafe. We have eaten at 'Ohana several times but never at Kona. We were seated all the way towards the outside of the restaurant, which I wasn't the biggest fan of. We were about 2 feet (maybe less) from a stroller parking area (ugh, can't get away from them) and sometimes people would stand around waiting there.

We got a loaf of bread to start with some macademia nut butter. The bread and butter was DELICIOUS. The bread was dense but soft and sooo good, with a slight sweetness. The butter was whipped and delicious. I hate when a place gives me frozen butter I can't spread (*cough* Chefs de France *cough*) and it's even worse if the bread isn't even warm enough to melt it a little. But this was perfect.

For our entrees, we asked if we could choose appetizers or sushi. The waitress said yes we could, and pointed towards the sushi appetizer, as this included 3 half rolls (18 pieces) vs 1 full roll (12 pieces) of sushi on the sushi menu. In the end, DH decided to just go with the shrimp and scallops as he was a bit hungrier than an appetizer. I decided to go with the chicken wings as this just sounded the best to me.

Our meals came and my chicken wing app was bigger than his shrimp and scallops. I had 12 good sized wings (really 6 wings that were cut in half... but still). They were delicious, not too zippy, and really good. I gave a couple of these to DH because...

His entree was SO tiny. It was 3 decent sized but not huge shrimp and 3 smallish scallops. There was a little something under each one (like sauce) but no big side item or anything. I definitely wouldn't call this entree-sized. But with the bread and a couple of my wings I don't think he went hungry. I had a bite of shrimp and it was really good. He said the scallops were also good, just wished he had more.

I think we decided in the future that we might want to come here when we are on deluxe so we can have apps too. I'd probably still get the wings for my entree and he can get the sushi sampler with our apps combined as well as the small entree.

For dessert I had the banan creme brulee. This was pretty tasty! I love bananas in my desserts and the creme brulee definitely had a nice banana flavor to it. It also had some chocolate in it, which was nice. There was also a brulee'd banana on top - yum!

I can't remember what DH got - maybe cheesecake? I'll ask him to remind me and update.

I would definitely go back here again - especially for the bread!!!!

 

[TifffanyD]

Columbia Harbour House (Lunch)

DH and I have both enjoyed CHH in the past, but we hadn't eaten there in awhile because we had been doing a lot of TS restaurants and not much CS. We used to always get the fish and chicken combo. However, we heard about the new Shrimp combo offered, so we both got that.

This was delicious - the shrimp was perfectly cooked! ANd it was plentiful. I think we each had 10-12 shrimps. And it was at least as good as Red Lobster's fried shrimp. The fries were also really good, as usual. I didn't eat the coleslaw, but I believe DH enjoyed it.

For dessert DH and I both requested chocolate chip cookies. I think these are off the kids menu but they haven't had any trouble subbing these in since we've learned to start asking. They were good for prepackaged cookies. Also they aren't too large and we could always eat them later if we wanted.

Garden Grille (Dinner)

We had eaten at Garden Grille in The Land before, but not in awhile. I remembered really liking the turkey and the bread pudding dessert, so we booked this again for free dining. The menu had changed a bit.

First up came the bread and butter. This was totally delicious. The butter was whipped and really spreadable. The bread was hot from the oven and a loaf had 4 portions on it. When we gobbled this down, the server brought us more (he was a great server!!)

When the main part of the family style meal came, it was a little different than we remembered. Before everything had been served on one plate side to side, with each thing having its own section. This time it was served in 3 meal-type settings.

There were potatoes and steak, with the steak sliced and sitting on top of the potatoes. I was a bit sad about this as I don't eat beef and wouldn't touch the potatoes since they were dripping in the beef juice. DH really liked the steak and potatoes.

Then there was the turkey over stuffing with the cranberry sauce. I could eat everything here This was good, but only 2 pieces of turkey

Then there was the fish over veggies. Just one smallish piece of fish tho. This day it was mahi mahi, but the server told us it was a catch of the day selection. I thought this was an improvement over the catfish, but I really love mahi mahi.

While the presentation was nice, I preferred the old way where the family style menu looked more like something a family would prepare. Not bad tho.

The bread pudding from years past was gone from the dessert menu, and instead there was a blueberry bucky. Maybe I don't know what a buckle is, but this was like a not sweet muffin where the blueberries and muddin batter were separated. Really bready (and I like bread). This was just ok though. The whipped cream was good but I think ice cream would make this better, since it was so dry.

DH doesn't like blueberries so he had worms & dirt off the kids menu. He liked it but said the pudding was kind of chalky, like instant.

I don't regret eating here but the food was just ok this time. It won't be high on our list but we could definitely do it again if we need to!

The character interaction here was great as usual. We saw each character at least twice and they were really funny and nice. There were kids at the outside calling their names and trying to get them to come over, which is one of the annoying things about eating here.

Also, even though Living with the Land was under refurb, the restaurant was still spinning.

 

[DLo]

bummer i was hoping you were going to love garden grill. we are going there for the first time next week.

 

[TifffanyD]

bummer i was hoping you were going to love garden grill. we are going there for the first time next week.

We didn't hate it though and your experience may be way diff than ours.

Bread and butter was def a LOVE. Not the highest level of love (Kona and Ohana for that!!) but definitely really delicious.

Character interaction here is also a LOVE. The characters are really fun here and always get into some mischief. I'm not supposed to tell anyone this (Mickey gave me the "Shhhh" symbol)... but Mickey looked at our menu and I asked him if his favorite was on the left side (the regular stuff) or the right side (the wine). He acted all shocked and then pointed to a wine and rubbed his belly - HA!!!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

thanks for the update, We never ate at Garden Grill but wanted to try this character meal (trying to go to all of them before they start removing them like LLT). Anyway I'm glad they have Mahi Mahi instead of catfish b/c I love Mahi Mahi.

 

[TifffanyD]

Intermissions

I will keep this short, as it is mostly a repeat of our prior meal here. DH got the exact same thing - the pasta alfredo and the milkshake... and once again really enjoyed it. I opted for a cheese pizza this time. It was fine, normal Disney personal size pizza. Then I got the brownie sundae again - it was delicious again. I had purposely gotten a little smaller meal so I could eat more of this beast.

Chefs de France

We had eaten at Chefs once before and were underwhelmed. However, it was a very late dinner, so we thought maybe the food would be better at an earlier time.

Chefs has a chefs tasting menu which includes an appetizer, entree, and dessert. As this is included on the regular DDP, we both opted for this so we could get soups. DH got a french onion soup and I got the lobster bisque/soup. DH really enjoyed his french onion soup. We had both gotten the lobster last time we were there and thought it was kind of fishy and lukewarm. While the soup is edible and decent, it is definitely on the bottom of all lobster/seafood soups/bisques/chowders I have had. It was still kind of fish and, while served hot, cooled down surprisingly rapidly. I wouldn't spend extra for this, but I'd eat some of it if already included.

For our meals ew both got the baked Mac & Cheese. This was good, but a little dry compared to the mac & cheeses we are used to. The macaroni is not swimming in a cheesy sauce like an american mac & cheese. The extra cheese on top was good but the flavor a bit different from what I expected.

For dessert I got the chocolate profiteroles with ice cream. The ice cream was fine... just ice cream. The profiteroles were ok, but incredibly difficult to eat. There was no cutting them with the spoon or anything, and it was hard to get both the bread and ice cream in the same spoonful.

DH got the creme brulee for dessert and I believe he liked it.

Nothing at Chefs stood out to us as amazing. We probably won't be going back for awhile, but we wouldn't avoid it if it was all that was available. Oh, and there was no Remy sighting

That is the end of our free dining trip! Next up will be reviews from a short Food & Wine festival weekend. I made a point to take pics of most of our food - so those will be much more visually pleasing!

 

[natalielongstaff]

Shame you missed out on seeing Remy at Cefs Great reviews tho !

 

[TifffanyD]

We were looking forward to trying Le Cellier again, as we hadn't done this in over 2 years.

First up, we each got a drink. I had a smoothie (mango) and DH had a chocolate milkshake:

Then came the bread:

Both the drinks and bread were really good, of course. Then came appetizers. I got the corn crabcakes:

This had a good flavor BUT it had bits of red pepper in it. Ugh, I haaaate pepper. So I picked those out the best I could, it really ruined them for me. These were more like a thick custard than a traditional crab cake. I did like the corn in it

DH got the duck 3 ways:

You can see 2 of the ways in this pic and the 3rd was buried under the greens. It was like a meatloafy pressed type thing. I believe he really liked the 2 kinds on top but thought the bottom one was a bit odd.

For the main entree, I had the chicken sandwich:

This was good, I really liked the maple BBQ sauce. The fries were also tasty.

DH had the mushroom filet:

I believe he loved this. He loves mushrooms and risotto so it was a good choice for him

For dessert I had the chocolate moose:

So cute! The mousse is REALLY thick tho. I'm not usually a huge chocolate person but this is tooo cute.

DH had the creme brulee:

It was really good.

Whew! That was a lot of food! We really enjoyed this meal. Even tho it's not the best choice for me as I don't eat beef, I thought my sandwich was really good for lunch. And it's always so nice inside there. We may try it again sometime

 

[schimj]

We were looking forward to trying Le Cellier again, as we hadn't done this in over 2 years.

DH got the duck 3 ways:

You can see 2 of the ways in this pic and the 3rd was buried under the greens. It was like a meatloafy pressed type thing. I believe he really liked the 2 kinds on top but thought the bottom one was a bit odd.


DH had the mushroom filet:

I believe he loved this. He loves mushrooms and risotto so it was a good choice for him

DH had the creme brulee:

Hi everyone...DH of TifffanyD here.

I'd just like to put in my take of the Le Cellier lunch.

• I really enjoyed the 2 ways of duck that are visible. The 3rd was good, but not great. As DW said, it was kinda like a meatball-type thing, and it was chilled.
• The crab cake was pretty good. I'm not sure I'd order it myself, but I was willing to finish off the leftovers
• The mushroom fillet and risotto were incredible.
• While the creme brule was better-than-average, the maple flavor to it was a bit too subtle. The burnt sugar layer, however, was great. That might have been maple sugar, but don't quote me on it.

All in all, it was a very satisfying meal. I would go back again if DW finds a non-red meat dish she'd be willing to try.

 

[TifffanyD]

We had never had our hearts set on trying Tutto Italia. I mean, it's Italian food, and we can find that anywhere. Plus, DH's uncle is head chef at an AMAZING Italian restaurant and I know none other could live up. But, for some reason, we decided to try it anyways.

We were seated quickly and an antipasto plate with breads. This wasn't ordered just included. Nice!

I appreciated it but didn't eat very much of it. We aren't pickled veggie ppl but we did like the bread and cheesy butter spread. Yum!

For appetizer I ordered calamari. I haven't had calamari before... the closest I had come was when I spent a summer in California and it was ordered for the table. I extended my hand to try some when someone said it "Tasted like shrimp" then quickly withdrew when they added "...but xhewier". I am a texture ascetic and so the thought of really chewy shrimp grossed me out. But whatevs, it's included so I decided to try it. Here is what it looked like:

OMG this was delicious. The marinara wasn't really zesty as described, more sweet than anything. But I discovered a new love in calamari - YUM!!! And there was a LOT here. I'd already eaten some and it was a BIG mound of fried squid.

DH opted for Zucchine E Parmigiano . This wasn't as he expected, as it had like an entire salad on top of it - the zucchini was buried underneath. And it wasn't fried as he'd expected and the cheese wasn't melted. But he liked it anyways, just not what he expected. And he'd hoped for more zucchini.

For my entree I ordered the lemon sole, which I think was new on the menu. The Sacchetti was gone, which is what I'd planned on ordering. But this sole was DELICIOUS. It was a huge honkin' piece, I could only eat about 1/3 of it:

You can see from this pic that the fish was about the size of the plate. It was under the greens as well. WOW BIG

DH had some kind of pasta tubes with cheese and white sauce. He said it was good but really heavy and there was a ton of it (seeing a theme here?):

For dessert, the waiter really wanted me to try the Copetta Sotto Bosco , as this is a traditional Italian dessert. He said to try it and if I didn't like it, he would bring something else. Well it was just fine with me. He said the gelato was like an almond flavor but I thought it was more like eggnog:

DH ordered the Gianduja - Chocolate Torta , which is a chocolate and hazulnut torte with whipped cream ans raspberry sauce. I don't remember trying this, so you will have to take his word that it was good. Here is what it looked like:

All in all, Tutto Italia was a huge success!! I would go back again just for the calamari. Or the sole. Mmmm both were so good. The one drawback is that the two-top was tiny and there was way too much food on the table at times. But if that's the worst part of a meal then I can deal with that

 

[TifffanyD]

We showed up about 10 minutes early for our off-time ADR for lunch (like 1:50). We got our buzzer and proceeded to wait at least 30 minutes past our ADR time to be seated. Shortly before we were seated, we wandered over to check out the menu and saw that it had changed a LOT from our visit 3 weeks ago. Wish we would have looked sooner, as we would have skipped it and eaten elsewhere.

We were seated at a 2-top on the second level. Well, not really. It was a 4-top where they pulled the tables SLIGHTLY apart and sat 2 different couples at it. UGH! So since there were people sitting practically in our lap, I skipped pics.

After 5+ minutes the waiter stopped by and said he would be by shortly for our drink orders. Why couldn't he just take them then? When he did come back, he talked to both tables like we were one group and took all our orders like we were one. This continued for the entire meal. And he was very slow.

Apps: I got the lobster bisque and it was still good. Best part of the meal. DH had the crabcakes and said they were ok but forgettable.

Main Dish: I got the NEW version of the Mahi Mahi. The server assured me the new sauce was good and not tomato based. Of course I found my fish with big chunks of tomato on it. Ugh. Also he was not able to describe the sauce well, which was disappointing. The fish itself tasted just like a piece of grilled fish - not really seasoned. And the rice was ruined by the new sauce.

DH got the lobster ravioli. He did not care for this, but was able to eat some. The ravioli itself was bland and the inside filling didn't taste like lobster. It was in some sort of marinara sauce with all sorts of stuff in it, but you couldn't tell what it was.

Dessert: I got the chocolate wave. This wasn't great. It tasted just like a chocolate muffin. The wavey filling inside wasn't really there, just a tiny little offwhite spot somewhere in the middle. Really not great. DH got the mousse for dessert and the whiskey proportion was way off. The Bailey's layer was good but the JD layer was heavy on the Jack and tasted bad.

And service was bad the entire time. I am so sad. RIP Coral Reef... hope you have a resurrection someday.

 

[TifffanyD]

DH and I had some time to wander around the Food & Wine kiosks and use up our snack credits on a few choice items.

Mouse Trap - I got the trio of cheeses here and they were all really good! I like hard, strong flavored cheeses and these met that requirement well. The Italian one was a little softer but not too bad. These were served at room temp and were of a good size. They didn't come with any accompaniments. I will be getting these again.

Germany - DH got the sausage in a pretzel roll here:

He said he liked the sausage a lot but the pretzel was disappointing. The mustard was good too. He probably wouldn't get this again but isn't sorry he tried it.

Louisiana - I got the bread pudding with praline sauce here. I heard it was good and had wanted to try it last year but missed it. This was ok but with all the bread puddings at Disney it wasn't one of the best. I will try something else next time.

Poland - Kielbasa & Pierogi. DH got this a few times last year cause he LOVED them. He said it was still good! He may get this again this week.

Germany - DH got a Beck's here. He got the Oktoberfest one. He liked this a lot:

Cork, Ireland - DH got the Fisherman's Pie here and said it was really good. It was also a great bargain for a snack credit. He will probably be getting it again this week.

Well we are off to Orlando tomorrow so will have more pics/reviews soon!