Dining Reviews 11/3-11/8/07

[Miramar]

We just returned from 6 days at Disney and here are our reviews.
Some background on our group---we are a group of 3 adults and have been going to Disney since the early 80s. This year we decided to do the Dining Plan, as after returning from our trip last year and not taking the plan, we calculated that the plan would be a savings for us, since we always do a table service for dinner each night.
We didn’t take any pictures of the food, as most of what we had has already been posted lots of times, so these are just text reviews.
We really found the dining plan to be too much food for us though. We managed to use all of our credits, but it was kind of a struggle for us, as we are not really big eaters. For example we would not normally eat a dessert with a counter service lunch or order an appetizer every night for dinner. However, since we were on the plan, we did and it was a lot of food.

Day 1 (Saturday)
Captain Cook’s
We were staying at the Polynesian, so began by eating lunch at Captain Cook’s. We used 3 counter service credits. The meals we got were:
Grown Up Grilled Cheese ( 3 kinds of cheese—cheddar, blue cheese and swiss served on a sunflower seed multigrain bread with tomato and some sort of greens) with Polynesian chips. Root beer and a chocolate frosted brownie. This was delicious if you love cheese the way I do and the chips were good too. They were an assortment of tortilla chips (blue corn, white corn and some sort of puffed crispy chip. The brownie was large, moist, dense and very fudgy.

Aloha Pork Sandwich- (pulled bbq pork with polynesian slaw on a ciabatta style bread) with Polynesian chips. Sprite and a chocolate chip cookie. This sandwich was good too—the person in our group who ordered it isn’t a huge fan of bbq sauce and she thought the sandwich was really good, as it is not a lot of bbq sauce on there—just enough to give the pork some flavor. The cookie was a typical large size bakery cookie and had a fresh baked flavor to it.

Turkey Club- (turkey, bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce and a mustard on multigrain bread) with Polynesian chips. Sprite and an apple crumble bar. This meal was reported to be to be very good as well.

Aloha Isle
We got 3 Dole Whip Floats and used 3 snack credits. For us, Dole Whips or floats are a must-do tradition when at the Magic Kingdom. No trip would be complete without one. In some ways, I think the float is even better than the regular dole whip because as the whip melts it sort of softens and combines with the pineapple juice. But on the other hand, I think the juice sort of competes with the dole whip.

Rose and Crown Dining Room
We used 3 table service credits here. Despite it’s longevity, this is a restaurant we had never tried before, as the menu never really wowed us. However, this trip we decided to give it a try. This was our least favorite meal of the trip—for several reasons. First of all, the service was extremely slow—we had a 6:30pm ADR (it was about 8:30 by the time we left) and were seated within about 5 min (no complaints with how fast we were seated). We were seated in the indoor section and waited and waited for our waitress to come by to take our order. Then we waited a while for the appetizers to come out and then after finishing the appetizers, about another half hour before the main course--- and then more waiting for dessert and finally a long wait for the check. This restaurant was by no means full—there were empty tables the entire we were there. In general they just seemed sort of disorganized---for example a waitress coming out of the kitchen spilled a drink on the floor—it took 5 people and about 15 to clean it up. It was really a one person clean up job. Additionally, we thought the food was only okay—not really anything special or memorable.
Here is what we got:
Roasted mushrooms served in a garlic sauce with a hint of cream, served with a small piece of puff pastry. Roasted pork loin- mustard crust and served over a vegetable puree. The pork was pretty good—it had good flavor and I really enjoyed the crust.
Sticky Toffee Pudding—a small bundt shape cake with a buttery sauce over the top and served with a custard sauce in the dish. This dessert was okay—I was worried it would be mushy, but the cake is moist, but not mushy.
Mixed Green salad
Pot Roast- served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. This was very tender and quite tasty
Baileys Irish Coffee Trifle (X2)—had a nice flavor to it.
Potato and Leek soup- okay, but nothing special
Steak and Fish- the steak was okay---I don’t eat fish so can’t speak to that, but that was just okay as well from what I’m told

 

[Miramar]

Day 2 (Sunday)

Captain Cook’s
We ate in Captain Cook’s for breakfast. Used 2 snack credits for 2 chocolate chip muffins. I don’t usually eat breakfast, but I did try a piece of the muffin and thought it was great. Moist, warm and chocolaty.

Today for lunch we ate at EPCOT, all going our separate ways. One counter service was used at the Mexican Cantina and another at Sunshine Seasons for a drink, strawberry shortcake and turkey sandwich.

Goofy’s Candy Company
I used 2 snack credits to create 2 chocolate dipped cookies. One peanut butter sandwich cookie dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in Reese’s and drizzled with milk chocolate. One vanilla sandwich cookie dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in crushed M&Ms and drizzled with milk chocolate.

Kona Cafe
This ties with Coral Reef as my second favorite meal of the trip. We used 3 table service credits. Service was quick but not so fast that the main course came while we were stilling working on appetizers—they just kept the pace moving.
Raspberry Smoothie
Sticky wings—wings in sweet sauce with a spicy mustard drizzle. These truly are sticky. They provide hot moist towels for your hands after finishing these. I really liked these, but it was too much for me to finish; I think they provide too many wings for one person.
Beef Teriyaki (X2)- strip steak with teriyaki sauce served with mashed yukon gold potatoes and garlic broccoli
Kilauea Torte (X2)- this has indeed been modified from what it used to be. It is now a chocolate chip cake/cookie type shell with the molten sauce on the inside (instead of the chocolate cake shell it used to be). They give you the option of getting a small serving of ice cream on the side. I thought it was delicious!
Kona Salad
Duck Pot Stickers- very filling
Tuna Oscar
Chocolate Macademia Nut Tart- sort of like a pecan pie only with macademia nuts

Day 3 (Monday)

2 more snack credits used on muffins at Captain Cook’s

Flame Tree Barbeque
We always enjoy Flame Tree. It gets busy though and the line moves slowly, but there is a lot of seating surrounding it, so getting a table is not usually a problem.
For 3 counter service credits we got:
Pork sandwich- pulled pork on a bun, served with bbq baked beans. I always love this sandwich and the beans, but have to put extra bbq sauce on the pork.

Beef Sandwich (X2)—pulled beef served on a bun with bbq baked beans. Like the pork, can usaully use some more sauce.

Chocolate cake (X3)—as most of you already know the cake served is now one of those little pre-packaged ones served in a plastic container. It’s still good and moist, but not quite the same as having a slice of cake.

San Angel Inn
We are one of the groups that always enjoys the San Angel Inn and this time was no exception. We were seated within 8-10 min of our scheduled ADR and we always love the atmosphere as well as the food.
For our table service credits we ordered (paid out of pocket for margaritas):
Frozen Lime Margaritas (X2)
San Angel Margarita
Sope Tradicional- corn tortilla with chicken, black beans, cheese, green tomato sauce and lettuce
Ensalada de la Casa
Puntas de Filete (X2)- beef tips in a spicy sauce with onions and peppers
Filete Motuleno- steak with cheese, ranchero sauce, black beans and fried plantains
Vanilla Flan
Rice Pudding
Bread Pudding- nobody liked this. It tasted like it had citron in it.

 

[Miramar]

Day 4 (Tuesday)

Captain Cook’s
We used 3 counter service meals for breakfast
2 Mickey Waffles with bacon and one Tonga Toast with bacon. The waffles were good, typical waffles. The Tonga Toast is good too, if you like French Toast (I don’t—it’s too mushy for me).

Le Cellier
This was our favorite meal of the trip (as it was last year as well). It was also the one that was hardest to find an ADR for. We ended up getting one at 7:50pm which is a little late for us, but was all we could get for our dates. It was very busy and they were running 20-30 min behind, turning away walk ups at the door.
We were seated in the Newfoundland section of the restaurant.
For our table service credits we got:
Chocolate raspberry shake (X2)—this had a more raspberry flavor with a chocolate undertone. It was great!
Canadian Cheddar cheese soup—superb as usual. Very thick, rich and flavorful.
Shrimp cocktail- this was good as well
Mixed field greens
Mushroom Filet (X3)—filet mignon served over a bed of mushroom risotto with fried parsnips over the top. This is so good—the steak was extremely tender, seasoned and flavorful. The risotto is wonderful as well—it really makes the dish.
Chocolate Moose- very cute and tasty
Warm Spiced Apple Crumble (X2)- it said it was supposed to have a pumpkin flavor in it as well, but it couldn’t be detected. Those who had it enjoyed it.
The breadsticks that they bring were good too (sour dough, multigrain, pretzel). The pretzel is my favorite, followed by the sour dough.

 

[Miramar]

Day 5 (Wednesday)

Used 2 snack credits in Captain Cooks for muffins.

Main Street Bakery
Until last year I had never had one of the ice cream cookie sandwiches before from the Main Street Bakery. I enjoyed it so much last year, that I had to have one again this year. It is now a must have for me.
For 1 snack credit I got 2-3 scoops of vanilla ice cream sandwiched between 2 large chocolate chip cookies (you get to choose what kind of cookies you want). I think it’s definitely a good use of a snack credit!

Captain Cook’s
I used 1 counter service credit to repeat the lunch I had the first day of the trip at Captain Cooks. Grown Up Grilled Cheese with Polynesian chips, brownie and bottle of water. It was just as the good the second time around!

Boulangerie Patisserie
We used 2 counter service credits at the Boulangerie in France.
Iced Capuccino, Ham and Cheese Croissant and Chocolate Mousse
Soda, Tartine (sp?) and chocolate cake.
This was a very good counter service meal I’m told. I was not there to experience it, but I’m told they would go and get it again—it was very worth it. I want to eat there for lunch the next time I go.


Coral Reef
This was our first time dining at the Coral Reef and it tied with Kona as my second favorite meal of the trip!
We got a lovely table right up in front of the tank. They also give you a paper guide to fish you may see swimming by in the tank—shark, grouper, rays, trigger fish etc.
We used 3 table service credits and got 3 glowing martinis (paid out of pocket)
Mixed green salad with blue cheese dressing (X2)
Creamy Lobster Soup- I’m told this was good. It was a little thicker than a bisque.
Blackened catfish- I’m told it was good, but spicy
NY strip steak served with au gratin potato and broccolini. This was so good! The steak was tender and flavorful and perfectly cooked. The potatoes were wonderful as well.
Key Lime Tart (X2)- very good
Bailey’s and Jack Daniels Mousse- I loved this. It had a very robust flavor without being overpowering in the alcohol department.

Day 6 (Thursday)

Main Street Bakery
We had a counter service meal left over so we used it for breakfast in the bakery. We didn’t maximize what we could have gotten for it, but instead used it for what we wanted—a double chocolate muffin, a coffee and a juice.
I also used a snack credit in here once again this morning for another of the ice cream cookie sandwiches.

Main Street Confectionary
We had 1 snack credit remaining, so I used it in the candy store to buy a packaged peanut butter cookie to bring home.

Les Chefs de France
We had used up all of our dining credits by now, as this was our last day. So for this meal we paid out of pocket.
We had a 12pm ADR and were checked in swiftly. The restaurant was no where near full during the hour we were there.
Until last year, this had always been out favorite restaurant in EPCOT for both lunch or dinner. Last year we felt the quality/experience had slipped significantly, so we had not planned on making an ADR there the next time around. However, we decided to make a lunch reservation instead of dinner. It was better this time around and I’m glad we decided to go back to our old standby.
One person had the French Menu, which consists of Onion Soup, Croque Monsieur and Creme Brulee
We also had Onion Soup (X2), Ham and Cheese Quiche, Gratin de macaroni (very filling and a lot of it), chocolate banana tart and Apple Crepe. All items were very tasty—the soup took a while to eat though because it was so hot.


Food and Wine Festival Booths
We also took advantage of the food and wine festival booths set up around world showcase and were able to use a couple snack credits there as well. In addition we tried a lot of items for which we paid out of pocket.
I especially enjoyed the Spicy Beef Empanada from Argentina, Cheese Soup from Canada, Karydopita (walnut cake) from Greece, Boxty Potato Pancake (very thin, chewy potato pancake with bacon, onions and a slice of garlic herb butter) from Ireland.

 

[John's Mom]

Enjoyed reading your reviews. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ciera321]

I really enjoyed your reviews, thanks!!! I really like the grownup grilled cheese at Captain Cook's, too, so much that in February while staying at CR we monorailed over several times for lunch and had them...