Let the Reviews Begin!!!
So, our first meal was at Yak & Yeti. My flight got in at 6:15 AM and I had arrived at Animal Kingdom for rope drop. (BTW, I had done online check-in, and when I arrived at AKL around 7 AM, our room was ready which was awesome!!!) Langbein's flight wasn't arriving until 11-something, so we decided to make a later lunch ADR just to make sure he had enough time to arrive. So our reservation was at 2 PM, but Langbein got there in plenty of time
(enough time for us to take our first trip into Everest, thanks to a clever Fast Pass system Evinrude devised that morning), and we were hungry, so we showed up at 1:28 PM and checked in outside. I explained we had a reservation, the woman up front gave us a little card with our name on it and told us to bring it inside. In a matter of minutes (to be specific: 3) the hostess was taking us to our seat. She told us we were going to the Green Room. She said that was a good thing because it had the best air-conditioning. Fantastic!
Woohoo! Our server was Nicole from Queens, NY and she was awesome. She came over and explained the Deluxe Dining Plan to us (it was, after all, our first meal on the plan
...but definitely wouldn't be the last time we heard this explanation) and explained how it worked. She quickly brought us a couple of diet cokes
(vital in the always-humid Animal Kingdom). We examined the menu for a bit and then when she returned we asked a few questions and ordered.
For an appetizer, Langbein ordered the Pork Pot Stickers, seared.
Potstickers were awesome. Delicious, juicy, full of pork-y goodness. I couldn't have asked for a better first bite of Dis-food. My only complaint: there were only five! Evinrude and I shared (as we did throughout the trip) by trying each other's dishes, and this was one that I was sad to give up even just one 'sticker. But fair is fair, right? He gets a potsticker, I get a lettuce cup. And we all come out happier on the other side...
I got the lettuce cups. I had asked Nicole if she thought they were good, and she told me that if I liked 'em at PF Changs I'd like these. I do, so I ordered them.
I actually thought they tasted nothing like the lettuce wraps at PF Changs. The lettuce wraps at PF Changs are a little sweet, with like a plum sauce. These were very, very savory. I liked them a lot...I wouldn't quite say I LOVED them, but I did really like them. I especially liked that there was a lot to assemble. Gotta love having a reason to play with your food. There was carrots, sprouts, sauce, cilantro (which I didn't have because I can't stand cilantro), the chicken mix, and the lettuce. I really enjoyed creating each wrap. Like a sculptor, creating a fine work of art. Well, actually it was nothing like that...more like throwing a bunch of food in lettuce, but I thought the sculpting reference gave the review some panache. I think if I went back I would try a different appetizer, but they were good. And by the way, my over-elation in this picture is not really a great representation of how I felt about the lettuce wraps. I mean, I liked them, but, c'mon, it looks like I just won the lotto...they weren't THAT good. (And, not for nothing, but the way my shirt is, I look strangely lumpy...I'm really not so lumpy...oh, vanity...)
For entrees, Langbein ordered the Steak & Shrimp w/jasmine rice, stir fried veggies and a chili plum dipping sauce.
This was a fairly quality entree. The steak was cooked to a nice medium-rare, as I ordered it, and the veggies were crisp and tasty. A few complaints: the shrimp were soggy. Sure, fried shrimp are amazing... even when soggy. But the potential for amazing beyond belief was there, and the sogginess totally brought the quality down. The white rice was totally unnecessary.(I thought the way the beef was wrapped around the rice was very cool...definitely earned some presentation points.)
I didn't even touch it (as you can see).
The plum sauce was fine, but not really necessary, either - the steak was already pretty flavorful.
I had the Baby Back Ribs. It was described as Slow-roasted ribs, hoisin BBQ sauce, chicken fried rice and sweet chili slaw. I'm not a slaw fan, so Nicole was happy to substitute stir fried veggies for the sweet chili slaw.
I really LOVED the ribs. They were delicious; great flavor. The meat was falling off the bone and they were not fatty. The rice was just average, but I borrowed some of Langbein's chili plum sauce and poured it on the rice and Ta-Da! the rice was awesome. I, as you can see, did a MUCH better job cleaning my plate.
For dessert we both ordered the fried wontons (skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle)
This was good, but way too sweet. There was just too much cream cheese, and the honey vanilla drizzle added to the sweetness. I'm not one to leave leftovers on dessert, but I definitely left some over here. The fresh pineapple was the best part! Probably wouldn't order this again. HUGE portion, like everything else at every other restaurant - easily enough to share if we hadn't been on "the plan."
Too sweet? Is there really such a thing?!?!? I really loved this dish. This is mine. Doesn't it look better than Langbein's?
I don't usually love warm cream cheese in anything, but this was just amazing. It was very rich, but I was a trooper and finished the whole thing. I would DEFINITELY order that again. The portion is really quite generous as you can see. This is a little bit of a recurring theme of our dining experience. As appetizers and desserts go, around the World, the portions seem to be designed to be shared. Nice big portions. Not that I'm complaining...I'm really not!
The service overall was excellent. Lots and lots of refills on the soda (very important!), but this also proved to be true consistently throughout our trip. Our server was really nice and very affable. I would definitely eat at Yak & Yeti again. (BTW, the only time it rained on our trip was while we were eating at Yak & Yeti. The rain had stopped by the time we got out.)
I also think the service was pretty excellent. Nicole was friendly and helpful. Sodas were always brimming with bubbly goodness. I was VERY full by the end of this meal, and beginning to question whether we'd be able to live up to our promised "if we can order it, we will... and eat it!" mantra that we had posted on the boards before we left. The first few days were a bit rough for me, as you'll read in coming posts, but I persevered... and came out stronger (and heavier) on the other side!
Evinrude mentioned the rain during this meal. I was bummed that this was the only rain we'd see the whole trip. Don't get me wrong - I wasn't looking forward to daily thunderstorms, as was predicted, but I love me some afternoon sunshowers. And nothing like a few quick bolts of lightning and some thunder. Puts you right in that Florida mood. (I, for one, hate rain....anywhere....and was quite thrilled we avoided it!)
Instead we just got hot, sticky, humid weather all week (thank goodness for baby powder...ok, maybe a little TMI, but whatever)
- rain would have been some nice reprieves from it! But that's neither here nor there. We're here for the food... and there's a LOT more coming!
MAJOR apologies for the delay. Both Evinrude and I have been busy catching up on our lives post-Disney and are slowly but surely starting to get around to writing out reviews.
...I can't wait to read more
. Thanks for sharing
