Did someone mention food?

[bee86]

Hi all!

Here I go on a long long overdue dining report from June 20th- July 1st this year.
To give you some background, we stayed in CS and had the regular DDP.
It was me and my at the time very reluctant mum! Who is now totally converted, she really and truly has caught the Disney bug.
Also please note that my photo quality isnt too fantastic but i tried lol so bear with me on that one also with the shots where it was like " oh sugar!! I started to eat before taking a pic"

Anyway... on with the show

So we start our journey on a very early morning flight to London Gatwick from Dublin.

My half eaten pastry will show you how sleepy I was on this flight lol



I did a sneeky thing with this one and bought it in the food court upstairs in Dublin airport before boarding the flight as I knew the chances of having them on board would be slim to none, paired with a cup of tea it hit the spot and got me ready for action when I reached London Gatwick.

We landed without delay in Gatwick and of course after a little shopping we got peckish ( a theme of the holiday lol) and found our way to Frankie and Bennys. I had only heard of this place from Disboards and was determined to have breakfast here.

mum went for the pancakes and I opted for the omelette.

I have to say as delish as the pancakes looked, they were just ok. And as boring and plain as the omelette looked it was really good.
Both dishes were piping hot and fresh. The server was very helpful as she explained that we could pay in euros if we wanted to. (crap exchange rate, but nice to have the option)

And were off.... I will get the standard airport food pics out of the way lol

I was surprised by the service on the Virgin Atlantic flight. The food was as good as you will get in economy!



We did treat ourselves to this one.....we were starting our holiday lol any excuse really!!

Afternoon tea was a lovely break from the monotony (my tv screen was broken and as it was a full flight they couldnt move me)
The little toffee cupcake was sooooooo yummy, was not expecting it to taste so good. However the sandwiches were just not my cup of tea as there were onions in them and im just not an onion fan. Mum on the other hand gobbled hers up and declared afternoon tea a success!

Somewhere in the middle of the flight we were handed out ice pops, skinny cow if i remember correctly and just before landing they handed out little packets of love heart sweets. This was just a lovely ending to a lovely flight.


AND WERE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the excitement where to first? Ok lets stick with the plan, go with what the other Disers have advised.......On the first evening where else would you go than...............EARL OF SANDWICH




Drool..........The only word that can correctly describe these sandwiches. I had never had one before and OMG.........I am craving one right now.
I went for what I think is called the holiday turkey sandwich with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy. Mum opted for the Hawaiian BBQ. Mac and Cheese was on special offer so we decided...why not! YUM.
My Holiday turkey sandwich did not look as nice as mums but looks can be deceiving and in this case they really were. The holiday turkey was much tastier than the Hawaiian BBQ. The BBQ sandwich was just a little too much for us with the more subtle flavours of the turkey and gravy being our clear winner. The mac and cheese was creamy, hot and well cheesy everything you could ask for from mac and cheese. We polished these off and continued on our food journey in downtown disney.

 

[meldobe]

Fab report so far although al those yummy pics are making me hungry

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[bee86]

We continued on our travels in search of T-rex and a certain cottontini...



The cottontini and the raptor rita! Now I loved the cotton tini its sweet but not too sweet and surprisingly so. I really thought it would be too much but I really liked it. Mum asked the bartender to recommend something not too sweet,so she chose the raptor rita and woah, this packed a punch. So much so that mum swapped drinks with me and I had to struggle on with the very sour and very strong raptor rita. So cottontini won this round.

Day 1

Oh what better way to start your morning than.........

The big kahuna! At Kona cafe.





This was one of the best breakfasts that we had over the course of our stay.
We still talk about it now. The tonga toast is worth all the raving that everyone does. It is so delish! The strawberry compote that comes with it is drinkable lol I thought that it was going to be a "fake" strawberry sauce boy was I wrong. Its like fresh strawberry heaven in a little jug!
The big kahuna does what it says on the tin. Each element was as yummy as the next with my only complaint being that I asked for the macadamia butter on the side and it came on the pancakes. I didnt care for the macadamia butter much but I think thats just my own preference.

We were enjoying our morning here so much that we decided to extend it and take our time over some Lilikoi Juice and a Kona Coffee French Press Pot. keep in mind we are tea drinkers not coffee drinkers this coffee is fab! We drank almost the whole thing. The nicest part was that what we didnt finish our server poured into two take away cups which we brought with us on the monorail. A magical first morning.

Out of 10 we give Kona Cafe 10/10. We cannot wait to go back and will hopefully try it for dinner as well.

 

[bee86]

Fab report so far although al those yummy pics are making me hungry

LOL I hear ya!!!!!!!!! OMG i was sorting out the pictures earlier and having disney food cravings is like an understatement I had to settle for a cuppa and a rich tea biccie.......didnt quite do it for me

Following along.

Wooohoo Thanks for following hope you enjoy

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

I dont normally follow food reports (my diet doesnt like it haha!), but I am hooked! I jad a cotton-tini in October last year, on recommendation from the DIS and caanot wait to try another in December!

Im hungry now ...I think you could call that a good start!
Steffi xx

 

[bee86]

I dont normally follow food reports (my diet doesnt like it haha!), but I am hooked! I jad a cotton-tini in October last year, on recommendation from the DIS and caanot wait to try another in December!

Im hungry now ...I think you could call that a good start!
Steffi xx

Awww thanks Steffi im playing catch up here so while I have some time off I'm going to get as much done as I can with this report over the next few days

 

[bee86]

*I should have mentioned earlier but Ill do a rating system out of 10 but only for the table service, so I hope that makes it easy to judge how much we loved or hated the restaurants*

So we were boarding the monorail with two take away coffees in hand at the end of my last post.
Where could we end up??? But of course, the Magic Kingdom

Starting with no less than the legend that is the dole whip float(.....and for those of us trying to watch calories its ok to look, as this is apparently one of the better low fat choices at WDW)

The only fault with this beauty is the fact that this is the only one we had over the course of the trip and we shared it!!! These are not for sharing lol or at least make sure you get another before you have to leave!
So refreshing in the Florida heat, melt in your mouth aweseomness. Is it a drink is it an ice cream? its both and its awesome lol
Oh and I have to thank the Disney food blog/ Disers for not making me look like a twit and ordering a dole whip! The guy in front of me had an argument with the cast member when she handed him a dole whip when in fact he wanted a dole whip float. I was able to explain to him that what he wanted was the float and not a regular dole whip. The cast member was quite pleased as she couldnt seem to get through to him. Some people

Im wondering how we could be hungry at this point but from my pictures, we were and after a brilliant ride on the haunted mansion we stopped at Columbia Harbour House for some grub.
I had seen on the Disney food blog that the salmon here is a good use of a counter service credit and also that if you go up stairs you will almost always get a seat and it would be quieter.
So taking their advice, we did just that and had a lovely meal. In peace and quiet.

So the salmon was good and a nice healthier option for Disney. The downside was that it was cold. Like stone cold. Meh we still nibbled away at it and over all were happy with it.
On the flip side, the shrimp was piping hot! Just out the fryer hot. Im not a huge fan of prawns, but mum loved them. Also I dont eat coleslaw but again mum said it was fine, nice with the prawns but not her favourite.
The chocolate cake is dense,very chocolatey. I scraped off a lot of the frosting, too much frosting in one portion for my liking if im honest. The cake itself is moist and rich.
The apple crisp could have done with a big dollop of ice cream or some custard but it was still tasty. It reminded me of a cross between an apple tart and an apple pie.
We both decided that this is a good option and very good quality for a quick service meal.

 

[SilentK]

I love a good dining report.

I'm looking forward to trying a Cotton-tini in December. Loved Columbia Harbour House when we went.

Looking forward to more.

 

[Wills Mom]

Great start!! Can't wait to drool over the rest of your food pics I swear I can't see a pic of the Earls holiday sandwich without salivating just a bit lol! Why oh why is there not an Earl of Sandwich in Ireland We should start a campaign haha!

 

[bee86]

After a long day touring the Magic Kingdom. We popped back to our resort to re charge the batteries as they say. Had a little nap and got dressed up for our very first Table service. Excited was an understatement.

Please keep in mind that last time I went to WDW in 2008 the only TS I went to was the plaza which was just ok. In 2013 I was determined to get to as many TS restaurants as my DDP would allow me

Anyway, nervous excitement in the bag we headed off to EPCOT.
To Coral Reef.
I had heard mixed reviews on this one but stuck with my decision as I wanted to see the fish!!

As always we start with the most important part of the meal
A magical star cocktail and the blue glow tini. Both amazing! We Ooooohd and ahhhhed over these for quite some time as we were both surprised at how good they tasted. Right up our alley.

The bread...it is what it is lol it was fresh and the butter had a little sea salt on the top which added something extra.

Grilled NY strip steak.
This steak was the turning point for me. I dont eat steak generally, but I couldnt order fish beside a tank full of fish....silly I know. This turned out to be the best silly decision I have ever made. It was really really good. Very tender and cooked to perfection. I like my meat very well done, but the server suggested I choose medium to well. He said this as if I choose well done they would really over cook it. I took his advice and loved it. The mashed potato was delish and seasoned perfectly.

This was a special on the night I want to say it was Halibut but im not certain to be honest. Mum liked it, the fish itself was a little plain for her, it could have been seasoned better.I think she would have preferred it on a bed of mash rather than the potatoes that it came with as they were a little under done. Something just didnt click with her dish. It was ok. Nothing to rave about.
On to the most important part of the meal........haha

As if we didnt have our fill of alcohol for the night, mum chose the Baileys and Jack Daniel's Mousse which was yummy! Light and airy. I was expected something much richer. Dont get me wrong it was still a rich dessert but not in a bad way, as goldilocks would say it was just right. A nice dessert after a big meal. Though I do remember getting more of a baileys hint from it than jack daniels, not that I was complaining at that point!

I went for the chocolate wave staying true to the reviews I had to try it. And boy was I glad I did. The cake was set on the outside but when you dug your spoon in a river of molten chocolate flowed onto your plate. Teamed with the raspberry icecream/sorbet (I cant decide which it was) this was heaven on a plate. The tartness of the raspberries with the sweet chocolate mmmmmmm yes please!
Over all we had a fantastic night in coral reef. Getting seats just one away from tank side. Our accents got us a lot of attention too, as one of the servers was from Ireland of course they had to unite us and we had a lovely chat with him and it turned out his first job had been in our home town and he used to go for drinks in my cousins pub lol it really is a small world.

We would rate Coral reef as 7/10.
Points taken off for the mums fish being just Ok and they had some issues with us paying for the drinks on the giftcard. We didnt have a problem anywhere else.


To finish off our fantastic first day we went back to CS and sat at the laguna bar with these bad boys


Mojito Frambuesa (Tequila, Chambord, Raspberries, Mint, Club Soda & Lime) is the purple one and im almost certain that Margarita El Girasol was the orange coloured one. (Tequila, Agave Nectar, Triple Sec, Sour Mix, Pineapple & Mango)

Our favourite of those two drinks was the mojito as I think it was just a little sweeter.
After an eventful day. We dreamed magical dreams ready to take on the next day.

 

[bee86]

I love a good dining report.

I'm looking forward to trying a Cotton-tini in December. Loved Columbia Harbour House when we went.

Looking forward to more.

Thanks for coming on board!! Ill try and keep it going at a nice pace lol
OMG I Loved the cotton tini! Its a must for my next visit! Wow your going in December I am jealous hehe enjoy!!

Great start!! Can't wait to drool over the rest of your food pics I swear I can't see a pic of the Earls holiday sandwich without salivating just a bit lol! Why oh why is there not an Earl of Sandwich in Ireland We should start a campaign haha!

If you start that campaign I will gladly join forces with you!!!!!!!! Holy moley I had no idea how good they actually are until we were there. We rave about them but no body gets it, except of course all my fellow Disers
Thanks for joining me

 

[bee86]

Ah waking up to another day of Disney........

This morning we opted for breakfast in our room with some of the cereal pots and milk that we got from the garden grocer. I'll talk a little more about that in later posts.

So where to on day two?? DHS

After dragging mum on TOT which she loved and I ended up shaking after, hitting up star tours and the great movie ride we stopped at backlot express. It doesnt look too exciting from the outside, but its central and we got a seat so, happy days
At this point we were suitably hungry for this feast!

I was soooooo happy to get this meal! Purely because I had read about the cupcake here http://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2013/...-cupcake-debuts-at-disneys-hollywood-studios/
And from this I was certain that you could only get it at Starring rolls. Can you imagine my delight when I could get it as a dessert therefore saving a snack credit for some other sugary goodness?
Back to the food! I went for the chicken breast nuggets and mum chose the buffalo chicken breast nuggets.
Both of the chicken nuggets were tasty with proper chicken in them, although I know they are of course processed, they at least looked and tasted as though it was chicken breast. We decided on the buffalo nuggets just to try something different but much preferred the regular ones as the sauce was a little too hot for our taste buds. The fries were delish as always.
On to the good part.......


YUM!!!! This cupcake was so so good. We ate it after we had polished off the nuggets and fries so as a result the "just out of the fridge feeling" had disappeared. I would recommend this tactic for all cupcakes. If you can let them sit for a few mins, unless you like cold cake that is!

The cake had a hint of strawberry to it and it was moist. Im not a huge fan of frosting but......OH MY GOODNESS was this just yummy. I ate it all. Both the cake and the frosting had a hint of strawberry to it. Not over powering but enough that it wasnt plain.( Im guessing that this was because they were called strawberries and cream cupcakes and not just strawberry that the flavour was more subtle.) These cupcakes were such a hit I popped back up to the counter and got two hot teas and we took a break from the crowds having tea and cake. Can life be any better??

Apparently it can!!!

After we had been on toy story mania, we we of course peckish (again I dont know how lol) so we stopped at hey howdy hey takeaway and shared these snacks.
Wheezy's Breezy Freezy in Wild Cherry, such a refresher! It was of course ice cold and the cherry flavour was something different instead of always going for coke. This had I want to call it a sherbet type feeling in your mouth. Its not as far gone as pop rocks but it leaves a little tingle on your tongue. Very interesting. This got a big thumbs up from both of us.
The popcorn......Oh the popcorn.........There is nothing on this earth that compares to Disney popcorn. Im not sure why, Im not sure what the heck they do that makes it taste so good but it does. So if your headed over there, dont over look the popcorn like I almost did!

 

[sammie1884]

Loving this report! Making notes for our trip next week. Do you think lunch time is to early for a cottontini?! I really wanna try one!

 

[bee86]

Loving this report! Making notes for our trip next week. Do you think lunch time is to early for a cottontini?! I really wanna try one!

It's never too early for a cottontini!!!!! Ok well maybe 9am is pushing it lol haha x
Awww delighted that you like my report, hoping to update it later today!!!
OMG your on your way sooo soon I am very jealous haha enjoy your trip hun x

 

[sammie1884]

It's never too early for a cottontini!!!!! Ok well maybe 9am is pushing it lol haha x Awww delighted that you like my report, hoping to update it later today!!! OMG your on your way sooo soon I am very jealous haha enjoy your trip hun x

Thank you I am soooo excited! X

 

[bee86]

Ugh a busy busy week in final year of uni holding me back from posting more often.....

Where was I....... hehe oh yes about to have the most pixie dust filled meal of the trip!

We dined at Be our guest.

This was amazing!!!!!!
We tried to check in about 20 mins before our ADR and were told to come back closer to the time, no problemo who doesn't like to spend a few extra mins wandering around the new fantasyland??

Closer to the time, we checked in and I reminded them that mum was celebrating her birthday. When it was our time and our buzzer went off, we were lead through the castle by a cast member. We were seated in the ballroom.
OH MY GOSH..........this place is so beautiful. The atmostphere was just perfect. Yes it was busy and yes it can be loud but you just sort of get lost in the fantasy. Well we did anyway lol
They explain that "the master" will be available for pictures after your meal which was lovely.
On to the food.






OMG this steak was to die for!!!!!!!!!!!! And the sauce and the chips.....DROOOOOOOOL
Based on the steak from coral reef being so good, we both decided to try the steak at BOG and it didnt disappoint. In fact it was better than the steak from coral reef.
The chips were "proper" chips and were crispy and fluffy. The sauce was a garlic and herb butter. It was in no way over powering and just added that little something extra to the steak to make it so top class.


The deserts are wheeled over to you which is such a special touch, felt very fancy indeed
I went for the passion fruit cream puff. Which was delish. Again not an over powering flavour but just enough. I loved the detail on the chocolate with be our guest written across it in gold. Love the attention to detail.

Mum chose the lemon meringue cupcake. It was heavier than the passion fruit cream puff with more of a strong lemon flavour. It was lovely but we preferred the cream puff.

Did I mention we were celebrating.........



Just when we thought we were finished our server brought us out the famous "grey stuff". Its a tiny tiny portion of the most amazing oreo cream esque desert. I would have eaten a whole bowl of this
I have to say that this meal was one of our top ranking from the whole trip. The atmostphere, the attention to detail, the setting, meeting the "master afterwards. Everything was just perfect.
This will be on our ADR list for next year.
10/10

 

[SilentK]

Be Our Guest looks lovely. Glad you enjoyed it.

I can't wait to go there

 

[Tony Bush]

Well we were only going to do BOG for lunch ....but after reading that .. maybe dinner too yum !!!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Really enjoying your report. FOOD!! Just up my street

Looking forward to more offerings