Carb it up! 8 days of pre- and post race food! Feb. 2014 *Complete*

[librarygeek]

Welcome to the dining review for my trip from last February (I know, it took me forever to get it up here!). We were in the World for 8 days - first for the Princess Half Marathon weekend, where I ran the Enchanted 10k, and then we stayed for about a week to have some vacation time! This was our longest trip since our honeymoon in September 2011 so we had plenty of time to try lots of foods!

Before the race we made sure we had a carb-loaded meal for running. And afterward, well... I just love carbs Pasta and bread are some of my absolute favorite foods, but I try to really moderate when I'm home. But on vacation, I'm free!

Where We Ate:

Landscape of Flavors (AoA Food Court)
Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Chef Mickey's (breakfast)
Via Napoli
Leaning Palms (Typhoon Lagoon)
California Grill
Be Our Guest (lunch)
Ohana
Spice Road Table
La Hacienda de San Angel
Hollywood Brown Derby (Dine with an Imagineer)
Boatwright's
Pizzafari
Sanaa
Cookes of Dublin

About Us



I figured you might want to know a little bit about the people eating the food, too!

I’m Becky, 25 years old at the time of this trip. I’m the big Disney lover in this relationship, though it’s growing on DH. By day I work as a children’s librarian, but my other big thing is my Disney blog! It’s called Disney in your Day (www.disneyinyourday.com), and I absolutely love writing it. I also do theater as a hobby. And I’ve become a runner recently. So those things take up pretty much all of my time!

DH joined me for this trip! We've been married for almost 3 years. He’s not as big into Disney as I am, but it’s definitely growing on him the more trips we take. In fact, he even said we can buy DVC once my student loans are paid off! He’s a software developer by day and spends his free time both creating and playing video games.

We also met up with some friends of mine that were running the races that weekend! Some of our dinners early on in the trip were with them as well

If you're interested in following my TR too, here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=51824278

And the first food review will be up soon!

 

[elphie101]

I'm here Becky! I'll be hoping over to your TR now too, since I know there'll be some familiar faces coming up

Bring on the food!!

 

[librarygeek]

I'm here Becky! I'll be hoping over to your TR now too, since I know there'll be some familiar faces coming up

Bring on the food!!

Glad you're here!!

 

[vettegirl]

Great lineup you had!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[phabric]

Looking forward to your reviews. We will be going to some of the same restaurants.

 

[Adgie128]

Joining in, too!

I'm a runner, too, and we're around the same age. Going to WDW with my DBF next month for his very first visit ever. I'm hoping he warms up to it quickly. Looking forward to following along to see where you guys ate and how you liked it. BTW, isn't runDisney the best excuse for a trip? I did Wine and Dine last year and had an incredible time.

 

[RGirl]

Hi Becky! Of course, I'm in (now that I remembered there was a DR forum )!

 

[librarygeek]

Great lineup you had!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

It was all pretty delicious!

Looking forward to your reviews. We will be going to some of the same restaurants.

Awesome, I hope you enjoy them too!

Joining in, too!

I'm a runner, too, and we're around the same age. Going to WDW with my DBF next month for his very first visit ever. I'm hoping he warms up to it quickly. Looking forward to following along to see where you guys ate and how you liked it. BTW, isn't runDisney the best excuse for a trip? I did Wine and Dine last year and had an incredible time.

That's so cool! I would love to do wine and dine eventually. I hope your DBF loves Disney!

Hi Becky! Of course, I'm in (now that I remembered there was a DR forum )!

Haha glad you're here!

 

[librarygeek]

Landscape of Flavors

We had heard such great things about the AoA Food Court that I knew we had to schedule a meal here. So after we hit up the running expo we went back to the resort for lunch. There are a lot of stations to look at, but once I figured out what I wanted I headed there.

The seating area has 4 different sections, each themed after the 4 movies at AoA. We chose to sit in the Finding Nemo section, because it was near the windows and had a nice view of everything.





For his meal, DH got the surf and surf burger ( Crab cake topped with fried popcorn shrimp, tomato, lettuce,and cajun remoulade on a brioche bun served with coleslaw or House seasoned fries):



I was a little jealous of this meal because it looked so good (but there were other things I wanted to try!). He gave it an 8 out of 10 and said it definitely exceeded his expectations for a food court meal. And the fries were a really nice touch - they were seasoned and way better than regular Disney fries because of that!

I went with the tandoori shrimp, which came with naan bread, rice, and two sides (I believe I chose potatoes and some sort of squash):



This was delicious! Everything was just so full of flavor. And it was a lot of food, but not the type where you eat so much and then you're sick. I give it an 8.5 out of 10. They had a lot of choices for the sides, and it's nice to really have some variety.

Overall we give Landscape of Flavors an 8.5 out of 10, and it's definitely hands down the best resort quick service we've been to so far! I normally include pricing but I seem to have lost my receipt for this one - easy enough to look up if you're really interested though!

 

[Adgie128]

I loved my meal at the AoA food court last summer. Your choices looked great and way better than a normal CS!

 

[elphie101]

Oh that Surf and Surf burger, one day you shall be mine! We've tried to catch lunch at AoA twice but only ever managed breakfast. And mmmmm seasoned fries.

 

[librarygeek]

I loved my meal at the AoA food court last summer. Your choices looked great and way better than a normal CS!

They had so many great choices!

Oh that Surf and Surf burger, one day you shall be mine! We've tried to catch lunch at AoA twice but only ever managed breakfast. And mmmmm seasoned fries.

We didn't get around to breakfast. I hope that was good too though!

 

[vettegirl]

AOA food court sounds like it's a great QS choice.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[jabead]

Great start to your reviews! I'd really like to try that Surf and Surf Burger at LoF sometime.

 

[NinePoundLemon]

Joining in here too.....Landscape of Flavors sounds awesome. I love the variety of sides, that's definitely a plus. I think on my next trip I'll try to head over to AOA to look around and have lunch.

 

[Linda67]

Count me in!
We loved LoF when we stayed a AoA for a couple of nights. So many great options

 

[librarygeek]

AOA food court sounds like it's a great QS choice.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

It really is! I hope we stay there again so I can try more of their food offerings!

Great start to your reviews! I'd really like to try that Surf and Surf Burger at LoF sometime.

Thanks! I have to admit I kind of want to go back so I can eat the Surf and Surf burger - it's no good letting DH have all the fun!

Joining in here too.....Landscape of Flavors sounds awesome. I love the variety of sides, that's definitely a plus. I think on my next trip I'll try to head over to AOA to look around and have lunch.

It's definitely worth it! If you're into picture taking I spent over an hour just wandering around taking photos there. Everything is so cool!

Count me in!
We loved LoF when we stayed a AoA for a couple of nights. So many great options

Welcome! It's great to have so many convenient options close by! We're thinking about staying at POP on our next trip but we might have to hop over to the AoA food court while we're there

 

[librarygeek]

Wolfgang Puck Cafe



For dinner on our DTD day we chose Wolfgang Puck Cafe. We met up with 5 of our friends, many of whom were running some of the races (two of them were doing the 10k the next day with me!). We chose this restaurant because they had a lot of options for everyone, including a number of pasta dishes for us runners! I'd never been here and was excited to try it. We ate in the "cafe," not to be confused with the upstairs dining room, which is more upscale and expensive. Also not to be confused with express, which is the quick service location(s)!

We stuck with water for our drinks since I would be running the next day (and DH just likes water!).

I had the Ricotta Ravioli (cherry tomatoes, broccolini, garlic, pine nuts, warm basil vinaigrette):



When it first arrived I admit it didn't look like that much food. However, the raviolis were pretty sizeable and it was actually the perfect portion size. It tasted really nice, and I ate everything on my plate and enjoyed it all. It didn't stuff me, which was good since I would be running in about 12 hours! I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. Definitely good, but not a super standout for me.

DH ordered the crispy pork loin (shaved fennel, oranges, radishes) - and sorry it's not a very good pic!



He said it was "fine," but nothing special. It was a huge serving but he did eat it all. He gave it a 7 out of 10 and had no real other comments.

Overall Wolfgang Puck was good but not really anything truly remarkable for either of us. I might come back if we're with a group because they have a good selection for people and not just a certain type of cuisine. But I wouldn't be going out of my way to eat here again any time soon either. I'll give it a 7 out of 10. But I think it was a good choice for a pre-race dinner!

I don't have a receipt because a friend put our meal on her card since she had Tables in Wonderland that we took advantage of. But the menu had these prices:

Ravioli: $16
Pork: $24

 

[elphie101]

That ravioli sounds delicious so it's a shame it wasn't a knock out of the park. It's hard to consider going there though when there's so many other restaurants in the World to try (and Raglan in DTD to boot)

 

[klacey1]

Hey Becky! Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.
Those shrimp look AMAZING! I worked at an Indian restaurant one summer in college and loved anything tandoori!