Dining Reviews 5/22-31 part 1

[betterlatethannever]

My DW and I went down to WDW for the annual Flower and Garden Festival (or for me, the Flower Power Concerts). Since this is NOT the food and wine festival where we eat till we drop , we were able to eat at some restaurants.

Here is a list of places we ate in order of appearance and review. All, but the American Adventure and Flame Tree BBQ, are first time places for us.

Part 1

Canadian Beavertail Stand
American Adventure
Flame Tree Barbecue
Mara’s
Boatwrights


Breakfasts

We typically eat breakfast in the concierge lounge. We stayed at the AKL and WL this trip. Breakfasts were typical Danish, croissants, cereal, bagels, etc. However, the AKL is the only lounge we’ve stayed in that have what we call the “everything bagel”- bagels topped with onions, garlic, poppy seed (?) etc. They were good. Neither had English muffins

Thursday May 22 Canadian Beavertail Stand

Heard so much about beavertails from these boards that we decided to try them this trip. We landed at MCO early afternoon, checked in and hurried over to Epcot to get one. Actually we hurried over to see the Grass Roots performing but the stand was along the way . My DW had a chocolate topped one, and I had a cinnamon one. They were pretty good.

American Adventure

This really wasn’t in our plans, but (1) there was only 45 minutes between flower power shows and (2) it was raining, hard. I was hungry for hot dogs so got a couple there and carried them back to the theatre. They were OK, Casey’s were better IMO.

Friday May 23 - Flame Tree BBQ

We took the Backstage safari in the morning. 4 hour of walking. I was ready for a break.

We’ve eaten here a few times and I usually get the pulled pork sandwich. This time I got the ribs and took samples of both sauces. In the past, I have enjoyed the sauces on the sandwich, but on the ribs they just didn’t seem to taste right. I don’t know if the sauces have changed or not. My DW said the dry rub on the ribs was better without the sauce. I typically like ribs with the sauce cooked with the meat. In the future, I think I will stick with the sandwich.

Mara’s

We went to Epcot to see Herman’s Hermits and what a crowd. So we dared not leave our seats between shows.

When we got back to the AKL, we ate at Mara’s. My DW got the sausage pizza and I got the fish dinner. The fish was good and the pizza was good. So good in fact, on Sunday we bought a couple of pizzas and ate them in our room while watching the Indy 500.

The fixings bar at Mara’s is pretty good. You could do a pretty fair job on a hamburger (tomatoes, onions, pickles, etc.). It had tartar sauce for the fish.

Saturday – May 24 Boatwrights

On our PS itinerary sheet we got when we check in at the AKL, it showed Boatwrights was at Dixie Landings??!! So, I went to the desk to ask what’s going on? The CM said “not very many people go to Boatwrights from here (AKL?), so we never did get around to changing it”!!??. He got on his computer and made the change right then and there. I asked if he changed the main WDW database. He said he just changed AKL’s. It seems each resort has the ability to maintain its own information about each restaurant and other things!! I guess I expected that, since the PS’s were stored on the WDW main computer, he would have had to get into the mainframe to make the change.

Anyway, not knowing how long dinner would last (and planning on seeing Bob Jackson next door at the River Roost Lounge, we made PSs for 6, we were seated immediately in the lower section.

My DW had Crab Cakes served on Cajun Slaw garnished with Creole Tartar Sauce as an appetizer. Her entrée was Butcher’s Tender which is grilled beef served with smoked cheddar grits and crimini mushrooms garnished with balsamic glaze.

I ordered the chicken gumbo for starters and crab stuffed Creole mustard-crusted salmon for an entrée.

We ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio from Dazzante of Delle Venezie, Italy. It held its taste throughout the meal even though the waitress left the chilled bottle on the table (no ice bucket). Typically we have found that the taste does change as the bottle warms up.

I really liked the salmon, but didn’t care much for the beef. My DW said the beef was OK.

We were done before 7:30 so we decided to take the boat to DTD and back. Very nice ride. I highly recommend it for those that haven't done it. And it made room for desserts

We had our desserts - Pecan Explose - in the lounge listening to Bob Jackson. They were very good.

 

[Krissalee]

FRantastic reviews! Your 'Dixies Landing' evening review seems delicious and romantic!

 

[Minniespal]

Thanks for sharing - wonderful reviews!!!!

 

[DisneyKidds]

I see your DW had a "Butcher's Tender" and you didn't care for it. I had the Butcher's Tender special at Le Cellier last month and I didn't care for the beef either. It was paired with a very good lobster tail, but the cut of beef was not that good. At least now I know to stay away from a Butcher's Tender .

 

[LAWalz23]

Thanks for the reviews. I confess to loving a good everything bagel, too!

 

[BCV23]

Enjoyed your reviews.

I've never heard of a Butcher's Tender. Does this refer to a cut of meat or preparation? Or a dish?

 

[betterlatethannever]

Originally posted by BCV23
...I've never heard of a Butcher's Tender. Does this refer to a cut of meat or preparation? Or a dish?

I believe it refers to a cut of meat. But if I am wrong, my DW will let me know

Ed