Dining Review - February 2023

[Noreen411]

Introduction and a bit about our trip:

Noreen - Senior Vice President at an Investment Banking firm in New York City. I will be the author of the report
Scott - my husband, Independent Contractor

I’m going to post a picture (or few) of Scott and I so you see what we look like





I also started working on a review/travelogue of our trip that I have to finish then get posted.

We drove from Northern New Jersey to Florida.

We spent our time at Disney at a sister resort to our timeshare (Vistana Resort) and stayed at Vistana Villages. Both are great properties; we enjoy the large 24 hour fitness center at Vistana Villages so have been choosing this resort when available lately.

We were away from Friday 2/3/23 until Saturday 2/18/23.

We have Disney World Annual passes. We have Incredipass as out of state pass holders.

I logged onto Disney’s app or website 60 days before our trip each morning right before 6am when they opened and would book dinner ADRs (reservations). I kept checking and changing things as we went along. We continued making changes even when we were already at Disney, including some nights choosing to not have a reservation and just wing it.

We had a few offsite meals that I will review as well.

Where you see well written descriptions of the dishes; I copied it from the menu

During our trip we normally had a basic breakfast in the villa. Some of our lunches were things like a protein bar and baby carrots. I won’t review those meals.

Our normal routine most days was to go to the gym in the morning, come back to the villa to shower and get dressed, then have breakfast before leaving for the park. Since we have annual passes sometimes we would hop to another park during the day or after dinner.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 2/3/23
We got a later start than we originally planned. We didn’t leave until about 11am to start the drive.

At one of the rest stops in Maryland they have an Earl of Sandwich. We shared an Original (light on the sauce) for lunch. It has roast beef, cheddar cheese, and horseradish sauce. This was pretty good. It’s not quite the same as eating it at Disney Springs but we still enjoyed it while driving.



We stopped in Florence, South Carolina around 11:30pm and checked into the Residence Inn for the night. We booked this while driving when we were about ready to stop.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner surprised it was still open this late. Scott has never been to a Buffalo Wild Wings and wanted to try it.

We sat at the bar. Scott had a martini. I had Sex on the Beach. They didn’t have white sangria (my usual go-to drink) and I don’t remember them having a cocktail menu (I like to try various drinks). The bartender recommended the drink when I said I like sweet drinks that don’t taste like alcohol.



Scott had the brisket burger with fries: Double patty, hand smashed, American cheese, smoked pulled brisket, sweet BBQ, grilled onions, pickles, bacon aioli (on the side), challah bun. Scott thought his burger and fries were decent.



He also ordered macaroni and cheese. He loves macaroni and cheese and will usually order it whenever he sees it on a menu. He said this one was just OK.


I ordered 3 chicken tenders with fries. The fries were good, but the chicken tenders weren’t. They were pretty dried out.


While it was OK, we probably won’t rush back to Buffalo Wild Wings. Our restaurant choices were limited given how late we got there. Since Scott wanted to try it, it worked out.

 

[Counting Stars]

Glad to see you are back. You always write such great reports. Following

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 2/4/23
We left the hotel about 8:45am to continue our drive to Florida.

By the time we got to the resort, checked in, went to Publix, cleaned the villa, unpacked and got things somewhat organized it was about 9pm when we headed out for dinner. We didn’t have any reservations for tonight since we weren’t sure what time we would arrive or what we would be in the mood for.

We went to Saltgrass Steakhouse. We’ve been here before on prior trips and always enjoy it. We sat at the bar. We like to sit at the bar to eat.

Scott had a Martini
I had a Tropical Sangria: Absolut Vodka, Malibu Coconut rum, pineapple, cranberry, and orange juices, topped with Calabria private bin Moscato and Q Ginger ale. This was a really good sangria.


The bread and salad is pretty good; it reminds us of Outback a bit. That’s not a bad thing, we like Outback. The bread is soft inside and served warm. The salad is nice and fresh.



We shared the Salmon Oscar: Lump crab meat, lemon butter, red pepper flakes, green onions, capers, fried asparagus. We got this with macaroni and cheese. We also had an order of French fries.
This was very good. It was better than we expected it to be.



We share meals often since otherwise it’s just too much food.

For dessert we shared the Pecan Pie Bread Pudding. This was an off-menu special. We saw someone get it and asked what it was. When we received ours, we were a bit disappointed since it wasn’t as good as it looked/sounded. It was OK but a bit burnt on the edges and kind of dry. The bread pudding from Tambu Lounge/O’Hana at the Polynesian is the holy grail of bread pudding and we compare all bread pudding to that.


Aside from the bread pudding being a bit of a disappointment, we enjoyed our meal and definitely recommend Saltgrass Steakhouse if you are looking for an off property place to eat.

 

[Noreen411]

Glad to see you are back. You always write such great reports. Following

Hi. Thank you. I enjoy doing them, it’s like reliving the trip

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 2/5/23
We spent most of the day at Magic Kingdom.

We drove to the Polynesian for our dinner reservation at Kona Cafe that evening. We went a bit early with plans to have a drink first at the Tambu Lounge.

I haven’t been to Kona Cafe in a while, now that they’ve re-opened we wanted to try it.

We quickly found seats at the Tambu Lounge and settled in for our pre-dinner cocktails.
Scott had Bombay Sapphire stirred straight with olives (I may not have the terminology right but he said something like that).
I had the Tropical Macaw. This was an off-menu drink the bartender made me when I said I like fruity but not alcohol tasting. It had coconut rum and various fruit flavors. This was very tasty and pretty.



We checked in at Kona Cafe and were seated quickly. We shared everything we ordered.

We were brought bread which reminded us a bit of those King’s Hawaiian rolls. They were OK, but I remember years ago Kona Cafe having a great pineapple type of bread. Maybe I’m mixing it up with O’Hana.


Seafood Pupu Platter: Crispy Calamari, rock shrimp, fish. This was OK. While the breading wasn’t too heavy and it was good, we couldn’t finish it knowing we ordered several other things.


Polly Lolly Roll: Fried soft shell crab, shrimp tempura, crawfish tails, grilled asparagus, chives, spicy mayonnaise. This was OK. I don’t like food that looks like it did (or close to) when it was alive so having the head on the shrimp wasn’t ideal. Scott removed the head so I didn’t have to look at it. I’m glad we tried it but probably would not get this again.


Surf & Turf Roll: Kona spiced filet, lemon ginger poached shrimp, crab, cucumber, avocado, siracha, yuzu mayonnaise. This was tasty but a bit too spicy for me. I’m a wimpy eater. Scott enjoyed it. We probably wouldn’t get this again either.


Big Kahuna Burger: Sautéed pastrami, corned beef, pepper jack, mustard aioli, and tangy cucumber on brioche (we skipped the mustard aioli). This was pretty good. It’s a huge portion and was more than enough for us to share. This was the best dish of the various savory things we ordered.



While we didn’t finish any of the dishes, we were still stuffed. We saw the Pineapple Bread pudding on the menu and knew it would be the same one from Tambu Lounge or O’Hana so asked if we could get it to go. They did a great job packing it up so each component stayed separate and we could put it together when we were ready to eat it.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 2/6/23
We spent the day at Animal Kingdom

We had a dinner reservation at Tiffins. This will be our first time trying this restaurant. We’ve had reservations here in the past but always ended up cancelling them for one reason or another. We’re excited to finally try it.



Scott had a Bombay Sapphire straight with olives
I had the Lama Libation: South African rum, banana liquor, guava purée, with orange, lime and pineapple juices topped with goslings. This was pretty good.


As we often do, we shared what we ordered

For an appetizer, we ordered the Tiffins Signature Bread Service: Coconut curry sauce, guava sauce, ginger-pear chutney. This was fun to eat trying the different breads and spreads. The ginger-pear chutney was our favorite spread.


Just as we started eating the appetizer/bread our entree arrived. Speed dining? While we don’t need a meal to take hours on hours, we don’t want to feel that rushed. The waiter offered to take our entree back to the kitchen and bring it out a little later but we said it was fine. We didn’t want to take a chance that they would just have it sit under heating lamps in the kitchen or worse. Maybe since it’s a restaurant in a park, they expect people to want to get in and out quickly.

Surf & Turf: South African Braai-spiced beef tenderloin, seared scallops, potato pave, grilled vegetables, dhania butter, cola Demi-glacé. This was really good. We both enjoyed everything on the plate. We would order this again if we were in Tiffins.


Lobster Mac & Cheese: Black Diamond cheddar cheese, sherry, orecchiette pasta. This was a solid Mac & cheese. I’m not a huge Mac & cheese fan in general but it was fine for me and Scott enjoyed it.


We skipped dessert as we were too full.

Despite the speed dining feeling we really enjoyed our meal at Tiffins and would definitely go back. If we do we’ll be sure to mention that we aren’t in a rush.

Later that night, we ate the pineapple bread pudding from Kona that we brought back yesterday. This was great and we really enjoyed it. Even the next day, it was delicious.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Yay you’re back! Always enjoy your reports. The food at Kona all looked really good~maybe they’ve stepped up their game? Sorry they weren’t all home runs but looks like you got try a lot of new things.

 

[Counting Stars]

The Tropical Macaw is very pretty- but all of the food looks great, except for the rolls

 

[erinch]

Scott had a Martini!
And a Bombay Sapphire with olives!

 

[Noreen411]

Yay you’re back! Always enjoy your reports. The food at Kona all looked really good~maybe they’ve stepped up their game? Sorry they weren’t all home runs but looks like you got try a lot of new things.

Hi. Thank you.
Yes - they’ve definitely stepped up their game with the new menu. There were a lot of different things we wanted to try. We’ll have to go back another time and try some of the other items.

 

[Noreen411]

The Tropical Macaw is very pretty- but all of the food looks great, except for the rolls

Everything was done very well, even if it wasn’t our favorites. There were a lot of things on the menu we wanted to try; we’ll have to go back to try some of the others.

The rolls, they could have done so much more. Or just don’t offer rolls/bread. It really wasn’t needed with the food we ordered.

 

[Noreen411]

Scott had a Martini!
And a Bombay Sapphire with olives!

I had to ask Scott what the difference is. Sometimes he’ll order a Martini. Sometimes he’ll order Bombay Sapphire with olives. They looked the same to me and usually came in the same type of glass. He said the martini has Vermouth in it, but the Bombay with olives doesn’t.

I convinced him during our trip to try some of the interesting drinks at some of the places. He likes bourbon too so he did try a few cocktails with bourbon.

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 2/7/23
We spent the day at Hollywood Studios.

We stopped at Woody’s Lunch box to get pop tarts. We brought a ziploc bag to wrap them so we could enjoy them later.

The raspberry one that is always on the menu is my favorite.


We also got the Seasonal Poptart: Sweet Potato Lunch Box Tart: With cinnamon-brown sugar icing, toasted marshmallows, and pecans.
The seasonal one sounded weird; it tasted better than it sounds, but I wouldn’t get it again.


We had dinner reservations at Sci Fi Dine Inn. Scott has never been here. I was here many many years ago.
We were seated in the front of the car. It was cute how we were the drivers and the people who were seated behind us were the hitchhikers.



I‘m pretty sure we both had soda to drink.

For appetizers we ordered
Crispy Onion Rings: served with horseradish dipping sauce. These were very good. I like onion rings but not the actual onion inside it. I pull the onion out and eat the crispy part. I know it’s a bit weird since I like onions in other things just not the inner of an onion ring.


Fried Dill Pickles served with ranch or horseradish dipping sauce. Scott enjoyed these. I don’t like pickles. I tried one, even taking the pickle out of the crispy part, but it still tasted too much like a pickle for me.



We shared the Feature Film Burger (special): shrimp & crab cake, arugula, onion, pepper jack (we subbed cheddar), beef patty, Chipotle hollandaise (we asked for this on the side) with fries.

This was pretty good, but there was too much going on. If we ate here again we would stick with a regular basic burger.


It’s pretty dark so the pictures aren’t the best quality.

We probably could have skipped the appetizers. Even sharing the burger it was too much food.
We skipped dessert at Sci Fi

Later that night we went to Saltgrass Steakhouse for dessert. We ordered the carrot cake that we were originally planning to get when we were here for dinner on Saturday but tried that special bread pudding instead. The carrot cake was really good. I had a chocolate martini. Scott had Grand Marnier.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 2/8/23
We started the day at Epcot

In the afternoon we went to Disney Springs and put our name/number on the virtual queue at Gideon’s.

We decided to have lunch at the Boathouse; we sat at the bar

Scott had Bombay straight with lime
I had Duck Duck Razz: Stoli Rasberry, Peach Schnapps, Blue Curaçao, Lemon juice, simple syrup. This is adorable and very tasty. It’s stronger than you think it is


We started with 6 Wild Caught Sea of Cortez Shrimp with London dry gin cocktail sauce. These are really good and very fresh tasting. The shrimp are a good size.


We also had rolls. The rolls here are great. They bring them automatically to the tables, but at the bar we had to ask.


We shared the Yacht Club Club: Roasted turkey breast, cucumber, bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, chipotle honey mayo, Swiss cheese, on multi grain bread. We asked for the mayo/sauce on the side. They split this in the kitchen for us so this is just half the portion. This was really good; better than we expected it to be. Each component of the sandwich was good and worked really well together. The french fries at Boathouse are probably one of the best fries we’ve had on property. We both enjoyed our meal.


We got the text that it was time to go back to Gideon’s just as we were finishing our lunch.

At Gideon’s we got 12 cookies and a slice of the February cake special “Eternal Flame”. We brought the cookies/cake back to the villa. The cookies went in the freezer. Scott ate the cake over the next few days. He said it was spicy so I didn’t even try it.



We hopped to Hollywood Studios later.
Scott wanted a soft pretzel; it always tastes better when it’s shaped like Mickey Mouse

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 2/8/23 Continued
Later that evening we headed to the Boardwalk. We had dinner reservations at Trattoria Al Forno but first went to have a drink at Abracadabar

Scott had a Bombay Sapphire with Olives
I had a White Sangria. While this looked cute, it was terrible. It didn’t taste like Sangria at all, it just tasted like wine. The bartender said it comes out of a box and he wasn’t surprised that I didn’t like it.


A man sitting near us at the bar recommended the Hoodunit Punch and the bartender seconded the recommendation so I ordered that
Hoodunit Punch: Captain Morgan, Orange Juice, Pineapple juice, coconut. This was so much better. This was probably one of my favorite new cocktails I tried this trip.


We were seated at Trattoria Al Forno and brought bread. This bread was different from the last time we were here. Last time we received two individual mini loaves of bread. This time it was a plate of smaller rolls. The bread itself seemed the same as the loaves in the past. Just an observation on the different style. The bread was good. There were crushed olives in the oil; I don’t like olives so avoided that part of the dipping oil. Scott likes olives so enjoyed it.



As we often do we shared what we ordered

We started with Fried Calamari: pepperonicini, lemon aioli, parsley. These were cooked well but were a bit too salty.


We had the Truffle Gnocchi: Parmesan, fontina, pecorino cream. This was very good. We both enjoyed it. The gnocchi were done really well; they tasted light and fluffy. Sometimes gnocchi can be too hard or heavy, but these were cooked right.


We also got a side of shrimp scampi. This was OK


For dessert we had the special anniversary cake. This was just OK and reminded us a bit of cake you get at a grocery store but with some extra decorations on it. There isn’t anything wrong with grocery store cake, but we expected something a bit more exciting for the special anniversary cake.


Overall, we enjoyed our meal at Trattoria Al Forno

 

[Hiitsme]

Monday 2/6/23
We spent the day at Animal Kingdom

We had a dinner reservation at Tiffins. This will be our first time trying this restaurant. We’ve had reservations here in the past but always ended up cancelling them for one reason or another. We’re excited to finally try it.

View attachment 744073

Scott had a Bombay Sapphire straight with olives
I had the Lama Libation: South African rum, banana liquor, guava purée, with orange, lime and pineapple juices topped with goslings. This was pretty good.
View attachment 744074

As we often do, we shared what we ordered

For an appetizer, we ordered the Tiffins Signature Bread Service: Coconut curry sauce, guava sauce, ginger-pear chutney. This was fun to eat trying the different breads and spreads. The ginger-pear chutney was our favorite spread.
View attachment 744075

Just as we started eating the appetizer/bread our entree arrived. Speed dining? While we don’t need a meal to take hours on hours, we don’t want to feel that rushed. The waiter offered to take our entree back to the kitchen and bring it out a little later but we said it was fine. We didn’t want to take a chance that they would just have it sit under heating lamps in the kitchen or worse. Maybe since it’s a restaurant in a park, they expect people to want to get in and out quickly.

Surf & Turf: South African Braai-spiced beef tenderloin, seared scallops, potato pave, grilled vegetables, dhania butter, cola Demi-glacé. This was really good. We both enjoyed everything on the plate. We would order this again if we were in Tiffins.
View attachment 744076

Lobster Mac & Cheese: Black Diamond cheddar cheese, sherry, orecchiette pasta. This was a solid Mac & cheese. I’m not a huge Mac & cheese fan in general but it was fine for me and Scott enjoyed it.
View attachment 744077

We skipped dessert as we were too full.

Despite the speed dining feeling we really enjoyed our meal at Tiffins and would definitely go back. If we do we’ll be sure to mention that we aren’t in a rush.

Later that night, we ate the pineapple bread pudding from Kona that we brought back yesterday. This was great and we really enjoyed it. Even the next day, it was delicious.
View attachment 744078

The Surf and Turf looks amazing.

 

[Noreen411]

The Surf and Turf looks amazing.

It was - I definitely recommend it

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 2/9/23
We were at Disney Springs and decided to have lunch at Earl of Sandwich.
Scott had the Italian Combo with tater tots and soda
I had the Original (Roast beef, cheddar, horseradish sauce)

Our lunch at Earl of Sandwich was really good. We both enjoyed it. While my sandwich was the same one we ordered at the rest stop on I95 and ate in the car, it tasted so much better sitting outside at Earl of Sandwich at Disney Springs.





After lunch we got on the standby line at Gideons and got 12 more cookies, including the crumb cake cookies. The crumb cake cookies are our favorite. They start selling them when they open and stop when they sell out. We usually try to come earlier at least once to get some crumb cake cookies.

So you don’t think we’re little piggies eating all these cookies at once, we freeze them and bring them home with us. Then we’ll sort of ration them sharing a cookie every 2 weeks or so, hoping they last until our next Disney trip when we can get more. We’ll also give a cookie or two away since we’re always talking about how good they are.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 2/9/23 Continued
That evening we drove to the Dolphin and valet parked. We had reservations at Blue Zoo. We’ve never been there before. Whenever we passed it we would always say we should give it a try. As we normally like to do we went early to have a drink at the bar before dinner.

At the Blue Zoo Bar
Scott had a New Fashioned: Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, Brown Sugar, Angostura Bitters, Orange Bitters, and Cherry Bitter
I had a ZooBerry: Namesake cocktail begins with blueberry infused vodka, lemon juice, rock candy syrup served up with a twist
Our drinks were very good. Scott tried something other than his usual drink.

We were given a bowl of spicy nuts and things to snack on with our drinks





We were seated on time. The waitress was very nice/helpful and gave us her opinion on her favorites



We started sharing an appetizer
Teppan Seared Sea Scallops: braised beef short rib, cauliflower silk. This was split in the kitchen for us so this is half the order. We both enjoyed this. I’m not usually a big scallop fan but this was really good.


A bread basket came out with fennel butter. The bread was good, especially the big crispy things that were kind of like crackers.


We each ordered our own entrees and tried each others.

Scott ordered Lobster Bucatini: Chervil butter, ricotta cheese, Calabrian chili flakes. He was disappointed, all he tasted was lemon. The lobster was a bit rubbery (probably overcooked).


I had the simply fish choosing Mahi Mahi with salsa verde sauce on the side. This is served with creamy risotto and seasonal vegetables. This was pretty tasty. The concern was that the fish, while tasty, was a bit tough and I had to cut it with a knife and fork. I still enjoyed my dish. Scott had some of my dish as well.



We ordered the side of Corn: sweet corn with lime, crema, cotija cheese. We usually like corn dishes but this was too tangy and we didn’t enjoy it.



For dessert we shared the Strawberry Angel Food Cake: marinated strawberries, crispy tuile. I thought the cake was very good. Scott thought it reminded him of freeze dried food.



I’m glad we tried BlueZoo but I don’t think we’ll be rushing back. We may give it another try down the road since it started off really good. Maybe they were just having an off night with the entrees.