Dining Report with pictures 2/1/06-2/8/06

[DisneyDreamer2]

I already posted my review of Cinderella's new dinner in another thread, and now I will attempt to tackle our other meals. I took a lot of pictures of the restaurants too, since I believe dining at Disney should be unique and well themed. We ate at Cinderella's Royal Table, Boma, San Angel Inn, Sci Fi Dine In, Restaurant Marrakesh, The Coral Reef, and Kona Cafe.

We had only one absoultely awful meal, and that one actually turned out to be the most expensive. So let's get that one over with first. It was actually one we were really looking forward to: The Coral Reef.

this is the dining room- sorry it's blurry

At first they tried to sit us at a table in the back tier. However I saw 4 empty tables along the aquarium wall and politely asked if one of those might be available for us. she checked and sure enough we were escorted down to our table along the glass. we would be doing the aqua tour later in the trip so it was exciting to get to know the fish, turtles and sharks we'd be swimming with. Although have you seen those obscenely ugly and enoumous groupers in there? I am not a gigantic grouper groupee.

We both started with a Chicken Ceasar salad. The lettuce is served uncut, in stalks and the the chicken was quite pink. It did have a nice dressing.

The bread was served warm and was very delicious.

For the entree, we both ordered the filet. I ordered mine medium and my friend well done. Both came out butterflied and burned to a crisp. It was served with a veal demi glace that was too overpowering. The potatoes were bland and the spinach surely didn't add to the meal.

The highlight was my dessert however. I had the butterscotch creme brulee with wild berries. It was AMAZING! I LOVED it! Unfortunately, my friend did not take my advice and order the chocolate wave, instead she opted for the warm apple cobbler a la mode. She said the ice cream was frozen solid and the apples too tart.

I was very happy when the bill came and we knew it was only one table credit each. The bill was 136.00 including tip for the two of us.

I promise all the meals after this were quite wonderful!

 

[DebIreland]

We were disappointed with Coral Reef too. Overpriced and bland. Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

 

[KNEIPPK]

had you been to coral reef before? was this a flike- we are booked in april

 

[cara loves the poly]

had you been to coral reef before? was this a flike- we are booked in april

No not a fluke....... OVERPRICED, if you are not seated right by the aquarium.... forget a view..., food is not the quality the price implies, portions are laughable for dinner.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

The next evening we had dinner at Boma. I found the food as good as everyone described. Here are a few pictures of the restaurant.

Smoothies were included on the dining plan and were delicious. I loved the mustard dipping sauce for the prime rib and the pap with the tomato stuff on it. The butternut squash soup tasted just like sipping pumpkin pie. everything seemed to be seasoned with a nutmeg type spice. The desserts were wonderful- the chocolate mousse extremely rich and the coconunt tirimisu absolutley delicious. I also enjoyed the fruit tarts and fresh sliced pineapple. The zebra domes do have a coffee flavor which I wasn't expecting (I don't drink coffee) but they were good (I ate two). It was interesting that many of the desserts had signs posting that they included alcohol- including the chocolate mousse, coconut tirimisu, and the zebra domes. I've never had alcohol outside of cough syrup, so I can't imagine it had an overpowering flavor in the desserts but it was posted for those who may need to know.

Afterwards, we wandered the lodge, saw zebra and giraffe out on the savannah, bought a cool Kenyan animal heads carving for my family room, then left for Downtown Disney.

It was a lot nosier in Boma than I would have liked, and that detracted a bit from the overall dinner. The food was fabulous, and the chefs were very friendly and let me practice the little Zulu and Afrikaans I knew from a trip to South Africa on them. I highly reccommend Boma.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

The next day, we enjoyed lunch at the Sci fi Dine-in. I had eaten here before on a previous trip and just can't pass up the theming.

We both ordered oreo milkshakes and water to start. I had the onion rings and my friend had the chili. All very, very, good. I love their milkshakes.

We stuck to the basics and had burgers, mine with swiss and mushrooms. These are always some of the best burgers I have ever had anywhere. We were both soooo full but I had to get an ice cream sundae if only for the whip cream and the cherry- hey, I'm on the dining plan, I can have ice cream twice in one meal- it is included after all!

In fact we were so full, we never actually sat down for another meal that day, well unless you count a Dole whip that night, that does count as a dairy and a fruit group, right?

Anyway, I know the sci-fi gets a lot of mixed reviews, but I love it! They have great burgers and shakes, the host that seated us wore roller skates and skated backwards to seat us since we were going "back" to the 1950's, and where else in the world (meaning earth not WDW) can you eat in a place like this. Loved it!!!

 

[MAKmom]

Wonderful Reviews. We alway do a late lunch at Coral Reef & just LOVE it.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

Okay, I need to take a quick break from posting and actually go cook dinner for the family (reality is so brutal). But when I read reviews, I always wonder who exactly am I trusting the opinion of. So here is a quick pic of me with 2 friends I made on the trip.

I promise to try and get the rest of the reviews posted tonight.

 

[wdwfamilyinIL]

I am glad to hear a positve review of the sci fi, we are scheduled to dine there but with all the negatives I didn't know if anyone liked it.

 

[TwingleMum]

Thanks for sharing I'm enjoying your reviews. I have been to the Coral Reef 2x and really enjoyed it both times. And I don't agree that the only good seat is next to the glass I've been seated on the upper tier and really enjoyed the view (and so have the kids). Boma is a fav and we also enjoyed the burgers & shakes at Sci Fi i even really enjoyed the BLT soup.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

After our Segway tour (which i highly reccomend as well) we enjoyed lunch in Morrocco at Restaurant Marrakesh, another one of my favorites.

We shared the appetizer for two. I preferred the beef brewat rolls and my friend liked the chicken bastilla better. Both are minced meat rolled and fried in pastry dough and sprinkled with cinnamon. We also both enjoyed Jasminas salad which is heavy on tomatoes and cucumbers and a lovely vinagrette. The warm bread they serve is also delicious.

For entrees we both had the shish kabob and enjoyed it very much. Though i may prefer the chicken kabobs that I had on a previous visit.

Desserts are always spectacular here. I love the crepes atlas- apple crepes with honey, almonds, and ice cream. My friend chose the fruit with mint ice cream and orange blossom water.

We both highly enjoyed this meal and I even got to dance with the belly dancer! I love the morrocan music and the dancer. The restaurrant always seems quite empty even when we were there between 1230-130. I think it is truly one of the best dining experiences in the world showcase.

 

[te2077]

thank you so much for the report. weve always had fun at sci-fi. we even love boma for breakfast. sorry about your coral reef experience. ive been there 5x (this year will be the 6th) ive never had a bad meal there. i too cant agree w another poster about the seating. i think there are many great views . i really like to sit on the seats that are facing the tank and not right next to them. thanks again for the review.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

Now for the most unusual service at a restaurant ever. Monday we had dinner at the San Angel Inn in Mexico. We were seated right against the water and the restaurant was only about half full. It took quite a bit of time for the server to actually come to our table, so when she came to take our order we ordered our appetizers and entrees so as not to be at dinner for 2 hours. Well a half hour went by before we ever saw our server again and when she did finally come she had our dinners not our appetizers. She asked if it was ok if she brought our entrees first followed by our appetizers since it was soo busy they cooks hadn't had time to prepare our appetizers yet! What? We had ordered a salad and nachos! We said that was fine though since we were starving after doing our Epcot Seas Aqua Tour and were too happy chatting like schoolgirls about our new crushes on our CM dive guide Gordon . So we never really ate the appetizers but the meals were excellent.

We had the plato combinacion and the plato cozumel. The staeks were cooked perfectly and everything else was wonderful too. We both had the flan, and while my friend does not care for flan anyways, I enjoyed mine. the dessert choices do seem to be very limited. We were offered flan, bread pudding, or rice pudding.

Aside from the service, we enjoyed the San Angel Inn. The atmosphere and and ambiance are amazing, and the food was very good as well.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

The coral reef seemed very busy the night we were there. I have seen pics on this board of others diners filet's and they looked much better than ours. I heard the tilapia is wonderful and I know the creme brulee and chocolate wave are good. I am just very happy we did not have to pay out of pocket, that would have been very upsetting. the view did seem to be good if you were on the next tier up as well. some of the divers put a little show on a few tables down and we couldn't see it since we were right on the glass farther down. If it sounds like you would enjoy it, don't let my one review scare you. We just had one bad experience.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

I posted my Cinderella's royal table report separately, but i am going to go ahead and cut and paste it here too. If you want to see more pics of the castle, you can find my other thread. By the way, i am wearing a sweatshirt in the picture, but we did actually dress up this night. But it was 10pm and an EMH night so we threw on our sweatshirts while waiting for the fairy Godmother with the only other 3 families left in the restaurant that night.

We had dinner in the castle on Sunday evening 2/5/06. we had an 820 ADR and arrived to a very, very full lobby. However, we were able to walk right up to Cinderella for photos and the photographer offered to take many pics with our own camera as well. While many were there waiting well before us, they rang the loud chime and called for our royal family after about 10 minutes.

We were seated at a table just one row back from the windows. the dining room was very full but we had a wonderful server, and he, the hostess, and the bussers, all reffered to us as as princesses and cinderella.

We both chose the blt salad to start and it was a wonderful mix of baby greens with crumbled bacon, tomatoes, cheese, chopped egg and croutons with a nice vinagrette. They also served a large basket of hot pretzel bread rolls with a honey mustard butter that was to die for.

For our entrees, we both and the pork roast tenderloin served over a cheesy potatoe casserole with mushrooms. It was divine.

For dessert I opted for the light rasberry sorbet served with a large portion of fresh blueberries and rasberries. My friend had the chocolate mousse which was layered with thin chocalte cake and was very rich.

While we were dining Wishes started. The lights were dimmed and the music piped in. It was absolutely beautiful! Some of the fireworks were shot of from the castle roof outside the side windows. We saw most fireworks perfectly from our table and those that were too high still filled the restaurant with their beautiful lights and colors.

After Wishes, the restaurant emptied quickly. It was now 950 and the Fairy Godmother had still not made an appearance. The waiter kept promising she was coming. So we waited, until 10pm, when we and 2 other families were the only ones left in the entire dining room (it was an EMH night). Suzy and Perla were truly the highlight. They danced and danced with all the children in the room and came and played and took pictures with us too. then the Fairy Godmother appeared, and spoke a well rehearsed script to piped in music played with much fanfare and special light effects. We all sang "Happy Celebration to You" and "Bibbidi Bobbity Boo". It was fun, and not too long, and added something special for the children without the choas of most character meals.

Yes, we recieved the lithograph, which is really just an 8x10 "cartoonish' drawing of the casrtle with Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother and prince on White parchment with "Cinderellas Royal Table" embossed on the bottom. It came in a large blue tube so as not to get creases or folds. I personally was not impressed at all with this and it is nowhere near a 50.00 retail value. The photo package that was included with dinner was very nice in a beautiful folder with an 8x10 picture of us with Cinderella and an 8x10 glossy of the castle. it also came with 4 4x6 prints of the same pose. They were both placed in a bag and discreetly given to us during the meal.

It was the dining highlight of the entire week!

I did notice 2 things about the check though. we were on the dining plan so we did not pre pay. This was only restaurant where we were given an extra reciept that said gratuities were included but gave us a line to add an additional gratuity if desired, and he earned it (if only be continously calling me princess)!

Also we were only charged ONE table service credit not 2! I told the waiter and he said the compter was having problems and to enjoy my additional credit. So i went to the front desk at the resort the next day and they too confirmed that we were only charged 1 credit each and they said that it has happened to most people that week since they just changed to 2 and the computer hasn't recognized it as 2 yet. then they asked where would like to make an additional ADR for. So we tried Kona, and loved it too.

Well, that was long, but I promised a full report on the new dinner and there it is. Except, the bathroom was completely out of toilet paper. But the diiner itself was outstanding, very special, and I believe worth every penny.

 

[DisneyDreamer2]

Well with the computer mix up at Cinderella's, we had an extra table service meal to plan. I checked with 4 different Cm's first though 'cause I felt like I shouldn't be using that extra credit, but they all said to enjoy it- and we did. Ohanas was completely booked so we chose the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.

It was a wonderful meal! They served us bread with olive oil and spices for dipping. the dining plan also covered non alcoholic specialty drinks, so I had a pina colada and my friend a strawberry daquiri. For appetizers she had a salad and I had the honey coriander chicken wings with a mustard sauce. Both delicious. For entrees, i enjoyed the coconut crusted chicken served with a salad with fresh pineapple and strawberries and my friend had the prime rib with potatoes and broccoli. All excellent. And then, a spectacular dessert. the kileaua torte with the hot chocolate center served a la mode. FANTASTIC!

We loved Kona. After dinner, we heard them blowing the conch shell in the lobby and was able to watch the torch lighting ceremony at 6pm.

It was a wonderful last evening. we caught the boat to the MK and got one last ride on Space Mtn, watched Philharmagic, and absorbed Wishes for the last time this trip. I stopped at the crystal shop and bought my four little girls each a glass slipper with their name engraved on it. Then it was back to Pop to spend my last 4 remaining counter service credits on sandwiches, fruit, yogurts and cookies that we could eat on the flight home.

Was the dining plan worth it?????

ABSOLUTELY!

We spent 536.00 for the plan and the grand total of food purchased was 968.00. It really was WAY too much food. But it was vacation and it was nice to not have to look at prices on the menus. And when we did have a bad dinner, we just told ourselves that was the free meal. But now it's back to reality. i have to go grocery shopping tomorrow.