After a full day in Animal Kingdom, and I mean full, I had been there at rope drop, and had stayed until closing, I headed over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for my dinner at Jiko.
I had eaten at Jiko twice before, and neither time did I really enjoy it.
What can I say about my previous experiences at Jiko? I wouldn't call them bad, but Jiko was always one of my personally least favorite restaurants, though I know it's very highly rated on the DIS. The first time I had eaten here, in 2005, I had a very attentive outgoing server who went above and beyond the already great service I usually recieve at Disney, but I didn't care much for any of the food, with the exception of the maize and sweet potato tamales. The second time I ate at Jiko, in 2006, I found the service to be the complete opposite of the first time. I seemed to be ignored most of the time, and what bothered me more is there was a drink spill at the table next to me, and it wasn't cleaned for quite some time, and someone could of easily slipped because of it. I also found the food to be once again, nothing special, and nothing I really cared for. That was enough for me to keep Jiko off my intinerary on both my 2007 trips.
So why did I include it this time? Well, my first plan didn't include Jiko, and instead I was thinking about dining at Boma twice, which is one of my favorites, and much better then Jiko, in my opinion, even if it is a buffet, (and I'm not even a big fan of buffets.) But since I did have the deluxe dining plan, I decided I wanted to eat at every signature restaurant, which included Jiko. Still, I wasn't convinced that I should include it, but after reading many positive reviews, I decided to give it another try, and hope that the third time was the charm.
I think both restaurants at the Lodge are beautifully themed and decorated, but I prefer Jiko's dining room a little more. Maybe because it was styled by the same person who did the Lion King on Broadway, which I've been fortunate enough to see, and highly recommend.
My ADR was for 5:35, and I arrived early, sitting in the still closed lounge, (so no pre-dinner drink for me,) for a few minutes before being seated. Even with the wait, I was still seated early. I was greeted by my server Mary, who was very nice, and made some excellant recommendations.
Instead of diet coke, I had a very large bottle of Evian water. It had been hot that day, and I must have dehydrated myself walking around Animal Kingdom all day, only drinking alcohol and soda. Except I do believe I did have a bottle of water that afternoon. Anyway, I was very thirsty, and ended up drinking the whole bottle by the end of my meal.
I was given a warm washcloth, that had been dampened with rose water, to cleanse my hands before I ate. Now I always wash my hands before going into a restaurant, so this really wasn't necessary, but it was a nice touch.
I was then served my bread basket.
Disclaimer - This is an old picture. It's one I took on my 2006 trip I believe, (maybe 2005.) But the picture I took this year was a little too dark, and the bread looks exactly the same anyway, so who cares.
I love the bread at Jiko. It is the one thing there I have always liked, and enjoyed, when the rest of the restaurant lacked.
Do I seem to be being harsh on Jiko? I really don't mean to be, but after having two inadequate meals here, there was really a lot for the restaurant to overcome. Or was it just me? Trying too hard to like a restaurant that everybody else seems to love? Maybe Jiko just wasn't for me? No, I couldn't accept that, but if I didn't enjoy my meal this time, it would be a long time before I returned to Jiko again.
For my appetizer I had the Pokanoket Farms seared ostrich filet.
This was a nice piece of meat. I thought it was seasoned very nicely. It came on top of creamy vidalia onion fondue, which reminded me of the creamy leek fondue that is served with the potato-wrapped red snapper at Flying Fish. I love the leek fondue, and I have the recipe for it, which I make at home, and this was great as well. There were also cherries with the ostrich and onion fondue, which I thought was an odd accompiament, but it went well with the dish. The green sauce is rocket cream, and I thought it was all right, but had a slightly bitter taste. Once home I looked up rocket in my food lover's companion, (which I really need to start taking to Disney with me,) and found that it was arugala, which I'm not particullary fond of, so it's no suprise I didn't really care for the sauce, but the rest of the dish I loved.
For my entree I debtaed between the wood-fired lamb loin, the Kenyan coffee barbecue beef short ribs, and the oak-grilled filet mignon. (At times like this, when there's several things I wish to try, I wish someone had been with me, so we could have gotten two different entrees, (and appetizers and desserts,) and split them.) I settled on the short ribs.
The short rib was very tender, and for the most part, no knife was needed, except for one side of it, which was a little fatty. But for a rib, there was a lot of meat, and very little fat. I thought it had a nice delicate flavor, and neither the sauce or the seasonings were over-powering. The crushed yukon and sweet potatoes that came with it were very good as well.
It was then time for dessert. I decided to order a new dessert on the menu, a warm peach crumble, which is a special dessert for the Year of a Million Dreams.
The peach crumble was similar to the blueberry buckle that Cinderella's Royal Table used to have on the menu, but better. Though the crumble was heavy, it wasn't rich, and the two ice creams with it, one of which was ginger, the other was white peach, were both very refreshing. This may have been my favorite-non chocolate dessert all week. Maybe, it had some close competition. But even more important then that, is that I had a dessert at Jiko that I not only liked, but loved. After many, many, many, dissapointments.
Overall, I really enjoyed my meal, and I will, eventually, return to Jiko. My considering that this was the first time I did enjoy my meal, after many visits, it's not a must do for me.
It'll definitely be on our list for our next trip
I haven't had a moment to visit here since the beginning. I must say I am enjoying your dining reports. We only have 2 TS meals planned this year since that's about all my family can handle. But I can start making my plans for next time, can't I? 
