Dining Review - March/April 2025

[2xcited2sleep]

Oooh, I love Cakebread Chard and it's hard to find. Making a mental note to stop into Abracadabar. Adore sitting at the bar at Flying Fish. Honestly my favorite place on property, tied with the cooking place bar at Jiko. I seem to forget about Kona and Trattoria al Forno - need to give these a visit sometime soon. Those onion rolls at Yachtsman/Crews Cup are heaven on earth.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 4/2/25 Continued
We stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery to get a few things to take home with us

Snickerdoodle muffin - I really enjoyed this and knew I wanted to get one to bring home


Cranberry Scone


Cupcake


Italian Hero for Scott - he loves these and will get them whenever he sees them

 

[Noreen411]

Oooh, I love Cakebread Chard and it's hard to find. Making a mental note to stop into Abracadabar. Adore sitting at the bar at Flying Fish. Honestly my favorite place on property, tied with the cooking place bar at Jiko. I seem to forget about Kona and Trattoria al Forno - need to give these a visit sometime soon. Those onion rolls at Yachtsman/Crews Cup are heaven on earth.

Hi. I still haven’t gotten into wine, but am expanding the type of cocktails I enjoy. Scott is picky with wine, usually he likes Mer Soleil (sp?) but he said the Cakebread is very good too. I don’t think it’s the norm at Disney to stop for pre-dinner cocktails but it’s one of the traditions we really like on vacation. Whenever we have any sort of roll we’re always comparing them to the onion rolls at Yachtsman’s and we haven’t found any that are as good.

 

[Simba's Mom]

It's interesting that you mentioned Ale and Compass being loud sometimes. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned it. When I went there for breakfast, it was very loud and "Bustling". That's one reason why I go to Trattoria al Forno now. It's relatively calm.
And I'm glad you mentioned the seafood pot pie being salty. We avoid salt at home, so we find we're rather sensitive to salty food at WDW. The pot pie looked good, but I think I'll pass.
By the way, thanks to you, I made plans to eat at Everglazed donuts next trip. I just hope it's not Gideon-level crowded in the morning.

 

[Trish24]

Wednesday 4/2/25
We started the day in Magic Kingdom.

We had to get Scott another one of his favorite cookies to come home with us.
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That evening for dinner we went to the Boardwalk for our dinner reservation at Ale and Compass; we went early for pre-dinner cocktails at Crews Cup Lounge
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We both had Old Fashioneds and the bartender gave us each a piece of candied bacon on our drink.
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We were seated on time at Ale & Compass. We’ve never been here before. It’s very open and could be very loud, luckily it wasn’t too crowded when we went so it wasn’t too loud.
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I enjoy writing these dining review and travelogues; it’s always great to go back and read them to bring myself back to reliving all the fun. I hope that others also enjoy listening/reading me ramble on. What made my night was being recognized from the Disboards. I’m so glad Trish stopped by to say Hello to us and spend a few minutes chatting with us. Scott was saying he felt like a celebrity.

One of our appetizers were the Parker House rolls and spreads: Bacon Jam, Pub Cheese, Citrus butter. Both the waitress and the bartender from Crews Cup Lounge raved about these rolls being great. We didn’t really like them. I’d much rather the onion pull apart rolls from Yachtsman’s or the rolls from the Boathouse. When they arrived I commented jokingly what happened to 2 of the rolls, they don’t look like the others, they are small and burnt. They brought us a few more after my comment. We didn’t even eat the original ones.
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The other appetizer was the Clams Casino: Bacon, peppers, white wine herbed butter, brioche. The presentation was interesting and this was very good. This was definitely the better appetizer.
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Scott ordered the New England Seafood Pot Pie: Shrimp, scallops, jumbo lump crab, catch of the day, baby vegetables, brandy-cream sauce, house baked crust. This was very salty, he likes salt and he couldn’t eat more than a few bites of it.
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I ordered the Red wine-braised flat iron steak: silky potatoes, honey glazed carrots, cipollini onions, beef jus. This was also very salty and just OK
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For dessert we didn’t see a dessert menu, but the waitress told us the desserts and said her favorite was the butter cake with strawberries so we tried that. The dessert was good.
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I’m glad we gave Ale & Compass a try since it’s somewhere we’ve never been; it was just OK but we probably won’t go back.

 

[Trish24]

Wednesday 4/2/25
We started the day in Magic Kingdom.

We had to get Scott another one of his favorite cookies to come home with us.
View attachment 969699

That evening for dinner we went to the Boardwalk for our dinner reservation at Ale and Compass; we went early for pre-dinner cocktails at Crews Cup Lounge
View attachment 969700

We both had Old Fashioneds and the bartender gave us each a piece of candied bacon on our drink.
View attachment 969701

We were seated on time at Ale & Compass. We’ve never been here before. It’s very open and could be very loud, luckily it wasn’t too crowded when we went so it wasn’t too loud.
View attachment 969702

I enjoy writing these dining review and travelogues; it’s always great to go back and read them to bring myself back to reliving all the fun. I hope that others also enjoy listening/reading me ramble on. What made my night was being recognized from the Disboards. I’m so glad Trish stopped by to say Hello to us and spend a few minutes chatting with us. Scott was saying he felt like a celebrity.

One of our appetizers were the Parker House rolls and spreads: Bacon Jam, Pub Cheese, Citrus butter. Both the waitress and the bartender from Crews Cup Lounge raved about these rolls being great. We didn’t really like them. I’d much rather the onion pull apart rolls from Yachtsman’s or the rolls from the Boathouse. When they arrived I commented jokingly what happened to 2 of the rolls, they don’t look like the others, they are small and burnt. They brought us a few more after my comment. We didn’t even eat the original ones.
View attachment 969703
View attachment 969704

The other appetizer was the Clams Casino: Bacon, peppers, white wine herbed butter, brioche. The presentation was interesting and this was very good. This was definitely the better appetizer.
View attachment 969705

Scott ordered the New England Seafood Pot Pie: Shrimp, scallops, jumbo lump crab, catch of the day, baby vegetables, brandy-cream sauce, house baked crust. This was very salty, he likes salt and he couldn’t eat more than a few bites of it.
View attachment 969706

I ordered the Red wine-braised flat iron steak: silky potatoes, honey glazed carrots, cipollini onions, beef jus. This was also very salty and just OK
View attachment 969707

For dessert we didn’t see a dessert menu, but the waitress told us the desserts and said her favorite was the butter cake with strawberries so we tried that. The dessert was good.
View attachment 969708

I’m glad we gave Ale & Compass a try since it’s somewhere we’ve never been; it was just OK but we probably won’t go back.

Noreen, my husband said that when I spotted you and Scott walking to your table I froze. And said “I know them!”. . It was such a pleasure meeting you. I love your dining reviews and getting a chance to actually talk to the two of you was a highlight of my trip!

 

[Noreen411]

It's interesting that you mentioned Ale and Compass being loud sometimes. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned it. When I went there for breakfast, it was very loud and "Bustling". That's one reason why I go to Trattoria al Forno now. It's relatively calm.
And I'm glad you mentioned the seafood pot pie being salty. We avoid salt at home, so we find we're rather sensitive to salty food at WDW. The pot pie looked good, but I think I'll pass.
By the way, thanks to you, I made plans to eat at Everglazed donuts next trip. I just hope it's not Gideon-level crowded in the morning.

Hi. We’ve walked past the Ale & Compass several times in the past usually on the way to Crews Cup Lounge and/or Yachtsman’s steakhouse and have definitely heard it when it was loud, loud enough that we would comment on it. I was a little hesitant to try it given how loud we’ve heard it walking by but we still wanted to give it a chance.

Everything was very salty there. I don’t mind a little salt, but this was too much for both of us.

We’ve only gone a few times to Everglazed and never encountered a line like you see at Gideon’s. The most we’ve seen is a handful of people ahead of us. I don’t want to jinx you, but we haven’t seen long lines there.

 

[Noreen411]

Noreen, my husband said that when I spotted you and Scott walking to your table I froze. And said “I know them!”. . It was such a pleasure meeting you. I love your dining reviews and getting a chance to actually talk to the two of you was a highlight of my trip!

Mine too. I’m so glad you came over. Hopefully our paths cross again.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 4/3/25
We headed out today to start our drive home.

We stopped in Dunn, NC for the evening, we booked Fairfield Inn & Suites while driving. We went to Heath’s Steakhouse for dinner. It was pretty close to the hotel and the front desk recommended it.


We sat at the bar as we like to do. We started chatting with another couple at the bar who were also from New Jersey and on their way home from Naples, FL


Scott had a Martini. I had a Category 5 Hurricane: Captain Morgan Spiced rum and Bacardi rum with pineapple and orange juice and strawberry purée.


Scott ordered Steak and Lobster: 6 oz lobster tail with a 6 oz filet Mignon. His chosen sides were asparagus and macaroni and cheese. His lobster was burnt on the outside but raw inside.



I had the Grilled Mahi-Mahi: Traditionally seasoned and grilled to perfection. Served with fire roasted corn and back beans. My chosen sides were a stuffed potato and broccoli.


For dessert we ordered the Swiss Chocolate Cake: a tri-level cake of Swiss chocolate with chocolate icing


The bartender was great, very interactive. The food wasn’t that good, nothing horrible, but not something we would come back for.

 

[stace1214]

I just love your reviews! Makes me excited for my trip in August- we've got a few of these spots on our list!

 

[Eastern]

You guys are food reviews famous. If I saw Scott I'd ask him for his autograph and his meatball recipe.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Finally caught up! And tell Scott I blame him for having to get one of those Mickey chocolate chip cookies to bring home with me. Yes, it is delicious. Yes, I ate it over 3 days. Yes, I will get it again. But I still blame him, lol.

 

[Noreen411]

I just love your reviews! Makes me excited for my trip in August- we've got a few of these spots on our list!

Thank you. I enjoy writing them. Glad I gave you some good suggestions. I love hearing others opinions too, you never know where you will find a hidden gem.

 

[Noreen411]

You guys are food reviews famous. If I saw Scott I'd ask him for his autograph and his meatball recipe.

Food Review Famous - I love it. I think Scott would be suitably impressed if that happened. He still hasn’t ever read any of my reviews. He knows I write them, he even helps pose himself and the food, but he still hasn’t read one yet.

 

[Noreen411]

Finally caught up! And tell Scott I blame him for having to get one of those Mickey chocolate chip cookies to bring home with me. Yes, it is delicious. Yes, I ate it over 3 days. Yes, I will get it again. But I still blame him, lol.

He would gladly take that blame. He loves those cookies. I think next time we may need to bring home more than one.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 4/4/25
We skipped the hotel breakfast choosing to get on the road a bit quicker. We left around 7.

We stopped at Starbucks for Scott’s Cappuccino and a breakfast sandwich. I wasn’t hungry yet.

Later that morning we stopped in Virginia for gas. We were looking for another Starbucks since I was hungry and figured I’d get a breakfast sandwich and beverage, but we couldn’t find one. We ended up at Sheetz and I got my breakfast there. They had cute kiosks where you can order and I was able to choose a breakfast sandwich putting it together how I wanted meaning you choose how you want the eggs, what meat, what cheese, type of bread, etc. I ordered a scrambled egg with bacon and cheese on a croissant. I also ordered cheesy bacon bombs for Scott. I got a caramel vanilla low fat iced latte. Scott got himself coffee and potato chips. I enjoyed the items from Sheetz.





We were home about 5:45

During the drive home we were talking about what we were in the mood for tonight for dinner, but once we finally made it home, the ease of ordering a pizza was more appealing than going out. We enjoyed our pizza at home hanging out with the kitties.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 4/5/25
We’re still keeping our vacation vibe going.

Scott went to pick up Starbucks and bagels for breakfast for us. I’ve mentioned that I grew up in Brooklyn, NY where we had the best bagels and pizza. Even working in NYC and living in Northern New Jersey, I still can’t find pizza or bagels that are as good as what I grew up with. We’ve found some that are good, but they just aren’t the same.

Scott got me Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on a whole wheat bagel. From Starbucks my favorite Iced Caramel Macchiato


He got himself tuna on a whole wheat bagel, and from Starbucks he had a cappuccino


We enjoyed our breakfast at home.

One thing I like to make when we have bagels and this may sound a bit weird, is bacon and cream cheese on a bagel. I prefer to do this one myself so will pick up the bagel and then when I’m home, cook the bacon, let it cool off a bit, then put cream cheese on the bagel and put the bacon on the cream cheese. Years ago a co-worker recommended it and I thought it sounded weird, but finally gave it a try. Normally when we get bagels (usually on the weekend), I’ll make that and it’s delicious. I keep forgetting I should take a picture when I make it.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 4/5/25 Continued
That evening we went out to dinner with friends of ours to Biagio’s, an Italian restaurant in Paramus, NJ, maybe 25/30 minutes from home. We go here often, know the bartenders, some other regular customers, the owner, etc so we always have fun here. Since there were 4 of us we didn’t sit at the bar, but sat at one of the bar tables. I didn’t do as good a job keeping track of what everyone ate or taking pictures of the descriptions in the menu so my descriptions won’t be as well written as they are when I copy them.

For drinks I had White Sangria. They make the best white sangria here. Scott had a Martini which he likes and always orders stirred not shaken. Joe had a Martini too but his was shaken so is a cloudy color while Scott’s is clear. Paola (Joe’s wife) had something with cranberry.


We shared several appetizers. Mussels, Fried Calamari, and Meatballs. Scott and I often get the fried calamari as it’s always done well, crispy but not greasy. All the appetizers were very good.




For our entrees, I had the gnocchi. This is great. I’ve had this before, but it’s a lot of food and I always have leftovers.


Scott had a seafood pasta that was one of the specials which he enjoyed.


Joe ordered the Veal Parmigiana. This is a great dish that Scott and I often get and share, it’s huge and very tasty.


Paola had a fish dish that she liked but I don’t remember what fish it was


For dessert we shared Tiramisu and another cake that was good but I don’t remember what it was anymore.



Biagio’s is always a great time. It’s not fancy, but the food is good, the drinks are good, the people are great.

 

[Noreen411]

Random Thoughts and some Ranking
While we made reservations 60 days out for each night other than the first night we arrived in Disney, we made a lot of changes to our dining plans as we went. I booked dinners for 12 nights starting Saturday 3/22/25 (the day after we arrived at Disney) through and including Wednesday 4/2/25. I checked back to what I originally booked and compared that to where we actually ate and the only dinner reservations that we kept as originally booked were: Cake Bake on Monday 3/24/25, Citricos on Wednesday 3/26/25, Sebastian’s Bistro on Saturday 3/29/25, and Narcoossee’s on Sunday 3/30/25. All the other meals we cancelled the original reservations and booked new ones as we went; availability would change constantly. A few meals we walked in without a reservation. I wanted to compare to what I originally booked more as a reminder to myself not to stress if I can’t get certain reservations when I’m booking 60 days out since availability changes (even for popular restaurants) and we can make changes on the fly. This worked well for us. I don’t think I would go without booking dinner reservations in advance but knowing I can change them as we go makes it less stressful.

As we were driving home we started talking about the different meals we had and ranking them. There were some surprises. We had a little notebook with us in the car and I started making lists (I know a bit old fashioned but it was fun).

When we thought about the restaurants overall that we enjoyed the most we came up with these as our top ranked restaurants:
1: Flying Fish at the Boardwalk
2: Yachtsman’s Steakhouse at the Yacht Club
3: Narcoossee’s at the Grand Floridian
4: The Boathouse at Disney Springs

For the Alabama portion of our trip our top restaurant was Big Fish

We started with the various desserts since who doesn’t like dessert. Our top ranked desserts:
1: Bread Pudding at Sebastian’s Bistro
2: Almond Cheesecake at Narcoossee’s
3: Key Lime Pie at Cake Bake
4: Chocolate Cake at Yachtsman’s Steakhouse
5: Lemon Meringue Cake at Yachtsman’s Steakhouse
6: Carrot Cake at Cake Bake

For the Alabama portion of our trip our top dessert was the Honey Cake at Big Fish

Our top ranked appetizers:
1: Pork Belly BLT at Flying Fish
2: Sea of Cortez Shrimp at the Boathouse

For the Alabama portion of our trip, the top appetizer was the Fungi pizza at Local & Co

Our top ranked entrees:
1: Gulf Shrimp Bucatini at Narcoossee’s
2: Lobster Roll at the Boathouse
3: Surf & Turf at Narcoossee’s
4: Potato Wrapped Snapper at Flying Fish
5: Filet Sliders at the Boathouse

For the Alabama portion of our trip, the top entree was the Triple Tail at Big Fish (this was the best entree of the whole trip) and we would give special mention to the PaMenna Cheeseburger at Lulu’s

We thought about the various snacks/treats and each had a standout favorite:
Scott’s favorite was the chocolate dipped Mickey Mouse shaped chocolate chip cookie (the original version)
My favorite was the Snickerdoodle muffin from the Boardwalk Bakery

While Scott’s normal beverage didn’t vary much since he usually stuck to either a Martini or a Bourbon, he didn’t rank his drinks. Since I tried various cocktails, I ranked my favorites, it was a bit more difficult this time as I tried some new ones that were very good:
1: Hoodunit’s Punch from Abracadabar at the Boardwalk
2: Key Lime Pie Martini from Crews Cup Lounge at the Yacht Club resort
3: Espresso Martini from Enchanted Rose at the Grand Floridian
4: Banana Cabana at Banana Cabana bar at Caribbean Beach Resort
5: Duck Duck Razz at the Boathouse at Disney Springs
6: Salted Mascarpone Espresso Martini from Narcoossee’s at the Grand Floridian (minus the weird cracker)

For the Alabama portion of the trip, my favorite drink was the Bama Breeze at Lulu’s.

We enjoyed thinking through and ranking the various meals

 

[Noreen411]

Final Thoughts
This was a great trip. We always enjoy Disney World. It was fun spending time in Alabama.

We tried some new restaurants and still have some favorites. It seems to happen often but some prior favorites weren’t as good as they used to be, hopefully just a fluke. All places can have an off night.

While I know I’ll start off booking reservations 60 days in advance of our next trip, I will try not to stress if I don’t get all the restaurants I want since we often change our plans as we go.

If you have any questions or comments, please reply. I love talking about Disney and vacations in general.

Noreen