Christmas trip on the fly, landed ADR's, some new & old favorite's,Candlelight dinning Completed 1/6

[LovesTimone]

We decided to go at the last minute to see Mickey and the gang for Christmas, for the weekend arriving Christmas day.

When we decided to go... I had to get it into gear for some ADR's, we had decided not to attempt going to MK, and checked out the other parks instead which was great, and really relaxing for us and how we tour.

Christmas day arrival - early lunch 11:30 Rainforest at AK - We were seated within about 5 min's. Our server was just delightful, and made our lunch really nice and relaxing. They were not super busy and we did get a chance to chat with her. DH decided on the Appetizer Adventure as his meal, it included cheese sticks, chicken fingers, crab dip with chips, and a southwestern style egg roll sorta thing. I tried the crab dip and I was really yummy and did have quite a bit of crab chunks in the dip, everything was fresh and hot and the platter was plentiful. I went with my fav " Rumble in the jungle Turkey wrap, it comes with Caesar dressing which I omit, and ask for a side of ranch, which never has been a problem. The wrap was fresh and tasty even the wrap itself was fresh and held together thru the whole meal, I went with a side of fries that DH and I shared. We decided against adult beverages for lunch, and stuck with water and soda. Great way to start out our Christmas day.

 

[LovesTimone]

It was so hot and humid we head back to the resort to cool off and take a break.

So once cooled off, and a change of clothes we head for DHS. Vision of Adult beverages danced in our heads...

We love the Osborne Christmas lights and are sad to see them go, we are hoping that they decided to put them up somewhere else. We have seen them several times this season and just love them. So we head for our favorite adult beverage spot, High Octane I think that's the right name, its across from where the backlot tour was. For me "Gumdrop" it was one of the holiday specials, honestly I really don't know what went into that drink but it was so refreshing and went down nice and easy... and it was hot out, so I might have had more than one.. For DH he went with Coors light, he a beer guy... again it was hot so he had more than one. We found a spot to sit down and people watch and enjoy the lights. It was just beautiful.

Then it was getting time for dinner, so we hopped the boat over to Epcot for dinner at Chefs of France.

 

[LovesTimone]

Christmas dinner - 8:00 - Chefs de France - we were a little bit late due to some issue on the boat ride from DHS to Epcot, some people could not figure out how to get the scooters off the vessel, and rammed the seats, hatch and even the gate once on shore, not sure if it was not knowing how to drive the scooter or all the adult beverages in play. Upon arrival the hostess said they were running late, so ended up waiting for about 15 minutes not to bad, we were given a table at the front window which we never have been able to score, so a bit of Christmas pixie dust for us.

DH - went with the Bisque de Homard aka..Lobster Bisque, which is not his usual choice, he thoroughly enjoyed it and I even got a bite, not a large one but a taste, I thought it was wonderful silky, seasoned well with a slight bit of heat and with plenty of small pieces of lobster. I decided on Cassolette escargot's de Bourgogne au beurre persille aka... Escargot, which is my favorite !! I know that this dish is not for everyone but the garlic wine butter sauce could be put on a shoe and it would taste good. They were hot and cooked perfectly, Yummo.. On to the main entrée DH Filet de boeuf grille, with peppercorn sauce and potato gratin of Savoy, and haricots vert aka.. Grilled tenderloin steak, potato gratin and green beans, the potatoes were tender and sauced well, the steak medium rare as requested very tender it had that buttery quality and seasoned well as well as a the portion size of the steak perfect no skimping here. For me I went with the Bouillabaisse style entrée, it was filled with seafood, scallops, shrimps, clams, and some type of fish, added in with some cauliflower, and root veggies, again the broth was what pulled it all together and made it so wonderful, the dish was slightly different that the normal Bouillabaisse that they serve, but just as yummy, and I think that I may find it edging out my old favorite.

No way on dessert, but we did find our way down to Germany ... and the bakery... that's up next.

 

[LovesTimone]

I did forget to talk about the service at Chef's, It was amazing, they were very busy, but at no time did we feel rushed, and our server was just delightful, I am in the process of learning a bit of French, and I like to practice when ordering. It always amaze's me how happy and helpful they are to help you get the cadence, and flow, correct. I will say I am progressing at least with ordering at least I hopefully will be able to at least order meals when we visit France late 2017..

Anyway... In Germany the bakery just calls out to you... come in get something sweet, yes you... come on in... even though we could not eat another bite in we went. We did grab a few items for later. I went with a apple caramel cookie... It took 2 days to eat it, I have to watch out for to much sugar. It was really good, I like the chewier style cookie and this hit the spot. I don't remember what DH had, when I asked him, he goes what cookie... from where... what cookie... I don't know what your talking about, I guess he was not wanting to share.. the imaginary cookies.

Up next spice road table ( this was our Candlelight processional meal)

 

[LovesTimone]

Spice Road Table for a later lunch 2:00 - This was our first time trying spice road tables and we both were a bit nervous. Upon arrival they could not find our ADR then I mentioned that I had booked for Candlelight processional, this created a flurry of checking back and forth with the hostess and managers, and finally someone found the ADR and we were seated, we requested inside as it was hot as blazes out. We were given a 2 top table in the middle aisle there were a lots of empty table there were 2 other tables with other guest so basically there restaurant was deserted at that time and we asked to sit at the window which is a four top, and we were told no, and the hostess walked off, leaving us standing in the aisle, so at this point I thought counter service might be the better option that dealing with all the issues that we were having. So DH suggested we sit down and order a drink and decide if we want to stay, which was fine with me. So we sat down waited for about 5 minutes before our server arrived, he greeted us and asked us if we had eaten here before we said no and he was like okay let me explain the menu, then I told him we had booked the Candlelight Processional package, which he was not aware of.. so then he excused himself to go find out, he came back with the yellow card and started to explain the menu, which he could not do because we did not have any menu's as the hostess did not leave any menus. So again he excused himself, went and got the menus, came back and profusely apologized, (during the time we he was gone his partner brought us some water, so we weren't just sitting there with nothing to drink, even the partner was apologizing for the issue we were having)

So once he was back, he helped us order some cocktails which were well needed, DH ordered a Casa Beer, which he really enjoyed, and even ordered a second one. I went with a Pomegranate mimosa, which was just okay, not bad just okay. Then our server told us what the package entitled us to and went on the explain the menu. DH ordered Fried Calamari which he and I both agreed that was some of the best calamari we both had ever eaten, it was cook perfectly, light and not chewy at all, the Harissa sauce was very good, not to much heat, but super flavorful. I went with the Brie Fondue, it to was very good, and even DH who really isn't fond of brie enjoyed it. DH ordered Mix Grill which he thoroughly enjoyed, I went for the Rack of Lamb, it was cooked perfectly, and seasoned perfectly, whoever does the seasoning has the perfect hand with the dishes, We both went for the Chocolate Pyramid, it was very good, I found it to be very rich after a few bites, DH agreed with me, and we thought next time only ordering one. I will say that the service once it got started was wonderful and the food was amazing, they really changed our minds and our experience.

We most certainly will be dinning here again. Overall our experience was great, just a few hiccups at the beginning.

 

[LovesTimone]

Our Last table service was in Germany, for dinner 8:00 pm, Upon check in we were given a buzzer and told there would be a 10 to 15 minute wait which end up being about 6 minutes so that was a good start, we were seated with another family ( all adults) who greeted us, with hello new friends, which I thought was really a great way to make us feel welcomed and we did chat with them the whole time, they were a lovely family and we really enjoyed talking with them. Our Server was just a warm and welcoming as our table mates, she was very good at helping me pick out a wine, and was on her game with service and refills. WE love the interior of this restaurant just so October fest year round, and the show super fun.

Unfortunately the food was not what we remembered, it was not all that good. Just average at best, the best thing I found was the warm potato salad, it was probably my favorite thing. the sausage was not really all that flavorful, everything seemed to be missing something. I was most disappointed was the apple strudel with vanilla sauce, this one of my favorites. I was so disappointed, It was all crust - the crust was terrible not even baked properly, very little apple on the inside and what was there tasted like canned pie filling, and the vanilla sauce terrible again tasting like it was out of a jar and just dumped into the container. We were really disappointed with the food, hopefully this was just a bad night. It will be a while before we try again, but we will be back for treats from the bakery in Germany.

 

[auntfrannie]

Thanks for the quick reviews! Glad you had some good meals!

 

[Piglet54]

I'm enjoying your reviews. We also ate at Biergarten and I agree with your assessment of the strudel, in fact, I was embarrassed to leave most of it on my plate for the waitress to remove. I tried the stollen and enjoyed it very much.

 

[Mainemama]

Great reviews! We were there at the same time... Hot as blazes is right! It was a beautiful, warm break, but it does change up what you feel like eating, doesn't it?

 

[LovesTimone]

Great reviews! We were there at the same time... Hot as blazes is right! It was a beautiful, warm break, but it does change up what you feel like eating, doesn't it?

Yes I agree completely, with the heat, you really want something lighter and fresher. Nothing worse than being hot, sticky and miserably stuffed. Thank goodness for some cool refreshing adult beverages.

 

[pumba]

thanks for your reviews...we went to Biergarten last May and the items were not up to our usual likings...and my husband always (used to anyways) say..I think I will have my cheesecake with vanilla sauce first)...but he doesnt ...we didnt put that on our agenda for april...thanks for our review also on Spice Road...we havent been there yet...

 

[misspickle]

Thanks for the review