Date Night: Jiko or Flying Fish??

[mhaigalodon]

Hello!

I'm trying to plan a date night for my boyfriend and me during our extended family trip, and I'm completely torn between Jiko and Flying Fish. We are definitely "foodies" and love trying new things. The reviews of both of these (especially from the podcast team) put them on my must try list, but I don't know which to run with. We're limited on nights when we can sneak off because it's a bigger group trip, so I really do want to pick just one.

We also might do either Monsieur Paul or Restaurant Marrakesh (also undecided) on our Epcot day, but that might be pushing our alone time to do two nights.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[kimieko]

We are doing Flying Fish this year for our special dinner. We are staying at the Boardwalk, so that makes it convenient, and will walk over the Epcot after dinner to watch Iluminations and then back to the Boardwalk to just walk around. I am sure you will enjoy either!

 

[steg]

Flying Fish for us ended up being seriously expensive, it ended up being $75-$100 more than the rest of the signature TS we ate at getting the same types of drinks and numbers of courses. It was a great experience with probably the best service of the entire trip what might have been the best Entree of the trip by the smallest amount, their Sole Meuniere. Recommended Wine pairings at Flying Fish were well executed while drink pairings (ended up not being just Wine) at BlueZoo were more adventurous and still worked very well.

Both BlueZoo and the new Flying Fish were new-to-us restaurants this vacation. As good as Flying Fish was it's the one meal that could get cut from our itinerary simply by being so expensive and having a competitor that beats it in a lot of ways so close by to it with prices that are significantly cheaper, BlueZoo (which had the best single dish of the Entire trip, their Shrimp and Grits app). Our waiter at BlueZoo was good but a little too much of an ideal customer service robot, he seemed like he could be the model CM for a Disney Signature TS Restaurants Training video.

As for Jiko, we've been clamoring to go back, we elected to try Tiffin's this past vacation and regretted not going to Jiko.

Picking between the two is difficult, if you end up getting the two nights away try both of these instead of Monsiuer Paul (using FF on your Epcot day), especially if you get any discount at FF or Jiko considering Monsiuer Paul does zero discounts.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Our experiences at Jiko have been consistently good and AKL is a lovely resort to visit. Though I love walking around the Boardwalk at night, our experience at FF was seriously long (3 hours - service was terrible), seriously expensive and seriously disappointing. We won't be back. If you want to eat in the Boardwalk area, I would choose a Swan/Dolphin restaurant instead (Il Mulino and blue zoo are very good and, if you like sushi, Kimono's is excellent). Or go to Monsieur Paul, which is very good!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Both are good spots and we did both just last month. Personally we prefer FF, mostly due to more seafood selections.

BuT if you like Lamb Shank, JIko's is terrific.

 

[mhaigalodon]

Thank you for all the thoughts! I'm still so torn, but this is definitely helping.

 

[bettybooplove]

Flying Fish definitely has more of an adult, date night feel. I was surprised to see how many kids were running around Jiko.

While I can appreciate the unique African cuisine, I didn't think the food was amazing at Jiko. It was okay. It was better than say, Cheescake Factory but it didn't blow me away. This includes the service.

Flying Fish has a dining experience similar to 'Ohana in one way and one way only: it's not a restaurant you're going to leave in less than an hour. But that's what I like about it. I know going in that I'm dining, not just scarfing down a meal.

I wouldn't book FF 45 minutes before you're headed back to a park. It's a place I go to on arrival day when I'm just relaxing.

 

[loves to dive]

That's a tough one. We have eaten at both our experiences were varied. We went to the bar first at both, no appetizers at Flying Fish but did have some at Jikos. Our service at FF was horrible, but I think we just so happened to get that one waiter, it looked like everyone else was getting a little better service. Our meal took way longer than it should have just because he was slow in between every single course. The food was good, not great but good and the cost was what was expected. At Jikos, the service was excellent and that was the only good part of the meal. The food was overpriced, the food just so/so, and the wine pairing a joke. My son got the smallest filet and it was overcooked, I got a fish dish that was o.k. but not great. We both got a wine pairing, I got white, he got red. Both had 2 of the same wines (a red) and only one different wine. We were shocked, that is the first time we have ever had two different wine pairings with 2 of the same wines in each pairing. Our bill came out to over $200 and that was just for an entre and wine pairing each. Our bill at FF was around $150 but we had entres, I had a wine pairing, he had a couple of mixed drinks and we both had dessert. I think the atmosphere at Jikos was a little better than FF but we had kids next to us at both places so it's a throw of the dice as to whether it's going to be quiet. We enjoyed Tiffins a lot, as a matter of fact, it has edged out Hollywood Brown Derby as our favorite park TS. The food was excellent, the service excellent , the price reasonable and the restaurant pretty. Another plus is their bar, which is great.

 

[leebee]

We prefer Jiko. Our one trip to FF was fine, but it was grossly expensive and the service was kind-of spotty. I've been reading a lot and I think poor service comes up more frequently at FF than anywhere else. Mostly, we like the African-inspired food at Jiko. We live in Maine so can get decent sea food all the time (and, honestly, sometimes better than FF), but how often do you get African-inspired food? Also, the restaurant is elegant, and then there's the rest of AKL to explore. If choosing between Jiko and FF, I'd go with Jiko every time!

 

[StraightToDumbo]

Flying Fish feels "exclusive". Perfect for a date night. Jiko is hit or miss with mixed company. Don't roll the dice, FF is a shoe in. Our fav date spot is Citricos, though.

 

[AndiSlamberg]

Flying Fish is one of our favourite places to eat at WDW! We've never had a bad meal there, every single one has been a stand out. The staff have always gone above and beyond to make sure that everything is perfect. I would recommend it, in a heartbeat!

 

[Nancyg56]

FF was a favorite in December, The food, the wine pairings and the cocktails, and the service were wonderful. If you have not considered Il Mulino at the Swolfin ( I never can remember which is which) it was really good as well.

Personally, if I am looking for an adult night I try to find a place that has fewer kids. I like kids, but there are times when fewer is better, IMO.

 

[smcabee]

I would normally chose Jiko for a meal but since its "date night", FF followed by some time at Jellyrolls on the Boardwalk makes for a fine night.