After a long, fun-filled morning in the Magic Kingdom, which if you haven't been reading my trip report, I won a dream Fast Pass, and I had run around literally the whole Magic Kingdom that morning, riding everything without waits. It was a great first day of vacation.
I had a 1:00 ADR at Crystal Palace for lunch.
I arrived early and stood in a long line for check-in, which is actually probably the longest line I stood in all day, but it moved quickly. Even with the line being that long I was still checked in before my ADR time, but I wasn't seated until 1:10 anyway.
I was greeted by my server, Edward, (who was a little practical joker, but I'll get to that later,) and ordered a diet Coke, before heading up to the buffet.
On my first trip up to the buffet I got one plate of food, and here it is;
I had some tropical slaw, southwestern chicken and corn salad, mashed potatoes, broccoli with puri puri and key lime ponzu, and corn spoon bread.
The tropical slaw was good, a nice coleslaw, with some pineapple added in, and perhaps some other stuff as well, but the only difference I noticed between this tropical slaw, and the usual basic coleslaw that I usually have, was pineapple. The southwest chicken and corn salad was good as well, it had a delicate spice flavoring to it, which I think was cumin, and nice pieces of white meat chicken, that were very moist. The mashed potatoes were very good. I remember them being very creamy, and I believe they might have had garlic in them, but I can't quite recall. The broccoli was good, it was a little more on the mushy side then al dente, which is how I like my vegetables to be cooked, and had a slightly sweet taste. I still had no idea what puri puri or ponzu were though, so I looked them up on Wikipedia. All I got for puri puri was a Japanese anime show. Ponzu on the other hand is a light citrus-based Japanese sauce, that explains the sweet flavor. The corn bread was very nice, and reminded me of a cross between a corn casserole I have at home, and stuffing, which is one of my favorite foods, though I rarely eat it, too many carbs.
Between my first and second plate of food Tigger came to my table, and the nice character handler with him took my picture for me. I then went up to the buffet again. This time I got my whole plate from the hot line of the buffet.
This time I got a piece of carved to order bbq pork, as well as a freshly carved piece of citrus-marinated flank steak. I also had some braised cabbage, cinnamon and lemon-infused rice, and at my server's suggestion, a small piece of ancho chile-rubbed salmon.
The pork had a nice flavor, but was a little on the dry side, while I thought the flank steak was cooked nicely, a little more well done then I prefer, but it was a buffet after all, so I was fine eating it the way it was. I didn't think it had a lot of flavor though. The cabbage was good, a little on the spicy side.
The rice was the only thing I didn't care for, as I thought it was very dried out, and it tasted sweet, which was weird. I mean, I knew it was cinnamon lemon rice, so the sweet flavor didn't suprise me that much, but have you ever ate something that you're used to being savory, and instead it tastes sweet, so it plays like a mind game on you. It was just an odd dish, with my brain and taste buds telling me two different things. And also, as far as it being dried out goes, the dish was almost empty, but the next time I went up to the buffet it had been replenished, so I'm sure that rice was probably better.
The salmon I had only taken a very small piece of. It sounded like something that would be spicy, and I wouldn't like it too much, plus I was planning on having the salmon at Artist Point for my dinner that night, but my server had recommended it, and as that was his only recommendation, I decided to try a small peice of it. Oh my goodness, it was so wonderful. It had a very delicate spicy-sweet flavor to it, and was so good. I really can't say enough good things about this salmon, except that it was perhaps the best thing I ate from a buffet the whole trip, (except for maybe the soups at Boma.) But if I'm rating it up there with the soups from Boma, you know it has to be good.
While I was eating this plate of food the characters came around, and had their little parade through the restaurant, which made me glad I was sitting on the inside of the table. I like kids, I do, but not so much when they are parading around the room, and I'm trying to eat my lunch. I know it's Disney, and I didn't mind it, but like I said, I was glad I was sitting on the inside of the table.
I then went up to the buffet again. Even though I was getting full, and I wanted to try some desserts I needed another peice of that salmon. I also had another small spoonfull of the corn spoonbread.
While I was eating my wonderful salmon, which was just as good as the first piece, Edward came over, and being the joker that he is, offered me some ketchup, which started squirting out all over. Turns out he has a fake ketchup bottle, and that's a favorite gag of his. It was cute. I also saw Pooh and Piglet as I was eating, and had my picture taken with each of them.
I then went back up to the buffet one last time, to try some desserts, even though at this point, I really didn't need to eat any more.
I had a piece of lemon tart, a piece of flan, a piece of chocolate marbled cheesecake, some chocolate whiskey trifle, and a chocolate pecan sqaure.
The lemon tart was all right, but a little too tart, and had it been a little bit sweeter, it would've been better. But to be fair I have been completely spoiled by a friend who makes the absolute best lemon bars. The flan was nice, very light and creamy. The cheesecake was good, but nothing spectacular. The chocolate whiskey trifle was good as well, very rich, with a strong alcohol taste. It didn't bother me, but I can't imagine kids liking something that strongly flavored. My favorite dessert however was the chocolate pecan square, which was just like a bite of pecan pie, which I love.
By the time I had finished eating I was ready to get back out to the parks, and start burning off some of the calories I had eaten up during my lunch, but I hadn't seen Eeyore yet, so I had to wait for him. Any other character I could've passed up, but not Eeyore. He was only a couple of tables away, so I didn't have long to wait.
Overall I really enjoyed my lunch at Crystal Palace, and I would return for that salmon alone. So now I may have to eat at Crystal Palace twice each trip, once for lunch, and once for breakfast.
