Just returned last night from a week at the World! We were dining OOP and trying to save some funds by dining offsite so we only had a few on-site experiences and they were typically the less-expensive choices. Here's what we thought:
Stayed at CSR and unlike a lot of others, we really liked the setup of Pepper Market. Getting seated before you get your food is so nice, and much less hassle than other resort CS's we've experienced. The restaurant is very beautiful and peaceful, and very easy to manage with the stamp card system. The food there was just OK not great but not awful either. The highlight for me was the soup bar, where they had 2 types of soups each day (I love soup!). For I believe $6.95 you got a HUGE bowl and a nice chunk of french bread. The Mexican food choices were pretty good, and the portions are HUGE. Two people can easily share a wet burrito. We also did the breakfast buffet at Maya Grill. This restaurant, too, is lovely and peaceful. The buffet was smaller than many others, but tasty with sausage gravy and biscuits, a Mexican egg dish, and the usual eggs/sausage/etc. fare. Well worth the $16.95, and the surroundings are wonderful.
We did Sci-Fi-Dine In at Hollywood Studios for the first time, for lunch. I have to say this place is a can't miss Disney experience. It was really, really cool. Our kids are teenagers and they loved sitting in that car watching those movies. In fact, it's quite quiet in there because all the kids just eat and watch the films. It's really comfortable, a wonderful respite from the afternoon heat and sun. We all had cheeseburgers, and they were huge and delicious. The waitress was great, kind of that fun rude thing they do at Primetime. She was hilarious and kept the Cokes coming and didn't rush us at all even though the place was booked solid. We would definitely do that again.
Another lunch, at The Plaza at MK. We were looking for a break from the heat and just some sandwiches. My husband didn't like this place too much, but I liked it a lot. It's very small inside, so can seem crowded, but we were place right at the front window with a lovely view of the castle. We both had reubens and fries, and they were just your typical sandwich but good. DH had soup, which was about a cup of soup for I don't know how much maybe $6? He was not impressed. The kids had chicken salad on a croissant and the sundaes. Also typical but good. I also had coffee here, and I swear it wasn't Nescafe. It was a delicious cup of coffee!
I have to end here with what we found to be among the best dining deals at Disney: the counter service at the China pavilion in the Epcot World. We went there twice! For I think it was $7.99 we got enough orange chicken and steamed rice to feed two of us. Add two egg rolls for $3.99 and a Coke and you've got a tasty budget meal (once three of us shared the orange chicken meal and egg rolls and felt more than satisfied, but not so full we couldn't sample other dishes as we wandered to the other pavilions
). They also had a fried rice meal and I believe a shrimp dish with steamed rice. It was delicious, and we found a table to sit at both times. Just a really nice, relaxing and tasty meal where we didn't feel like we had just way overpaid for our food as one often feels at Disney.
That's it!
Stayed at CSR and unlike a lot of others, we really liked the setup of Pepper Market. Getting seated before you get your food is so nice, and much less hassle than other resort CS's we've experienced. The restaurant is very beautiful and peaceful, and very easy to manage with the stamp card system. The food there was just OK not great but not awful either. The highlight for me was the soup bar, where they had 2 types of soups each day (I love soup!). For I believe $6.95 you got a HUGE bowl and a nice chunk of french bread. The Mexican food choices were pretty good, and the portions are HUGE. Two people can easily share a wet burrito. We also did the breakfast buffet at Maya Grill. This restaurant, too, is lovely and peaceful. The buffet was smaller than many others, but tasty with sausage gravy and biscuits, a Mexican egg dish, and the usual eggs/sausage/etc. fare. Well worth the $16.95, and the surroundings are wonderful.
We did Sci-Fi-Dine In at Hollywood Studios for the first time, for lunch. I have to say this place is a can't miss Disney experience. It was really, really cool. Our kids are teenagers and they loved sitting in that car watching those movies. In fact, it's quite quiet in there because all the kids just eat and watch the films. It's really comfortable, a wonderful respite from the afternoon heat and sun. We all had cheeseburgers, and they were huge and delicious. The waitress was great, kind of that fun rude thing they do at Primetime. She was hilarious and kept the Cokes coming and didn't rush us at all even though the place was booked solid. We would definitely do that again.
Another lunch, at The Plaza at MK. We were looking for a break from the heat and just some sandwiches. My husband didn't like this place too much, but I liked it a lot. It's very small inside, so can seem crowded, but we were place right at the front window with a lovely view of the castle. We both had reubens and fries, and they were just your typical sandwich but good. DH had soup, which was about a cup of soup for I don't know how much maybe $6? He was not impressed. The kids had chicken salad on a croissant and the sundaes. Also typical but good. I also had coffee here, and I swear it wasn't Nescafe. It was a delicious cup of coffee!
I have to end here with what we found to be among the best dining deals at Disney: the counter service at the China pavilion in the Epcot World. We went there twice! For I think it was $7.99 we got enough orange chicken and steamed rice to feed two of us. Add two egg rolls for $3.99 and a Coke and you've got a tasty budget meal (once three of us shared the orange chicken meal and egg rolls and felt more than satisfied, but not so full we couldn't sample other dishes as we wandered to the other pavilions
). They also had a fried rice meal and I believe a shrimp dish with steamed rice. It was delicious, and we found a table to sit at both times. Just a really nice, relaxing and tasty meal where we didn't feel like we had just way overpaid for our food as one often feels at Disney. That's it!
).
I love the Pepper Market as well.
