Dining Reviews to Completed Guide to Mousetober 2010

[LowesChevy]

Loweschevy’s Dining Reviews 2010

October 1-11th

To get up to speed on our trip you may want to stop by my other threads
Trip Report
Pretrip Report


This year was full of dining surprises to say the least. I had a really impressive schedule of eating ahead of us, but the places I thought would stand out actually took a step back. My signature restaurant experiences were just so ho-hum this year and it was a huge disappointment. In fact, we had better service at several of the non signature restaurants. I am not sure if Disney changed their service process in the signatures by giving the servers more tables or cutting staff, but our service at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, Narcoossee’s and Citrico’s was awful. We ate at these restaurants for years and they were wonderful, what happened!? I do not know if anyone had similar experiences this year with signature dining, but I am betting there is some sort of trend.
Well let’s get it started in here…

Here are the restaurant reviews in order as we dined at them:
Portobello
Kona Café
Columbia Harbor House
Citricos
50s Prime Time Café
Il Mulino
Rose & Crown
Tutto Italia
Teppan Edo
Tony’s Town Square
Contempo Cafe
Jiko
Grand Floridian Cafe
Mama Melrose’s
Yachtsman Steakhouse
The Plaza
Narcoossee’s
Wolfgang Puck Cafe-alomst forgot about this one-lunch!

 

[LowesChevy]

Friday October 1st
I did not have any adrs for this evening because with a travel day we never know what our meal times will actually be during the day. We planned on visiting Downtown Disney later on, so I figured we could choose between Paradiso 37, Planet Hollywood or Portobello for dinner. We made a reservation for Portobello and came back 5:00 PM after unpacking and settling into the Polynesian. I am glad we made an adr because the restaurant was quite busy at 6 PM.

Portobello has gone through several transformations over the years, it was also known as Portobello Yacht Club when it had first opened at the Downtown Disney Marketplace. Owned by Levy Restaurants, Portobello was known for being one of the more expensive restaurants on property for many years. Portobello was recently renovated to become a country trattoria style restaurant and obviously Yacht Club was also dropped from the name to reflect the change in design and menu.

The look of the restaurant immediately reminded me of the Portofino Bay Hotel over at Universal. The warm colors of pink and beige are present throughout the lobby and dining area. They have removed the old scale model of a sea side town in the lobby area of the restaurant during the remodeling. We were seated just a few minutes of waiting to a table overlooking the lovely construction walls and outdoor seating area. There are many transformations occurring at Downtown Disney, so construction walls are common throughout the area.

Our server came over immediately to introduce himself and explained some of the menu features. We noticed his name was different than the name tag and he explained that he was new and they had not given him a name tag yet, which I found a bit odd. We ordered drinks and then appetizers and entrees. I skipped out on the salad since I was not incredibly hungry. Our server rang in the wrong entrées for my father and me, but the entire order was taken back and redone within about 5 minutes. Two managers actually came over and apologized for the delay, but the service was still not too long. Service was still very good and the food tasted fresh and delicious.

Here are my photos:

Menu

Bread and oil

Caesar Salad

Farfalle with wood fired chicken, peas and parmesan

Rigitoni Calabrese with sausage, tomatoes and escarole in a light broth

We had chocolate gelato, but we started eating it before I could get a picture!

Overall, the food and service was a very good way to start out the trip!

More reviews to follow

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Joining in...great start so far and can't wait to read more yummy reviews. Do you think the food and service went downhill b/c of the free dinning?
Thanks for sharing...

 

[LowesChevy]

Do you think the food and service went downhill b/c of the free dinning?

I could see food being the issue with free dining, but service should not suffer. The restaurants still only have x number of tables, but it has been evident that some restaurants have added more tables. However the signature restaurants are supposed providing a superior level of cuisine and service that unfortunately we did not see this year.

We do not particpate in any of the dining plans. Since you are asked at check in and the server asks you again when you are seated, they know who
is on the dining plan or which parties are not. I could see blaming the dining plan if we were on the dining plan and received crappy service, but this was not the case.

I do not know what the problem is, but there was definetely a change with service across the boards. The servers either took on more tables, bussers were cut out or something else I cannot put my finger on right now.

So to answer you question...no I do not think our bad experience was directly correlated to the dining plan

 

[LowesChevy]

Kona Café

We dined at the Kona Café every morning while staying at the Polynesian. We found that if you arrive between 7:45-8:15 AM, you can get in without an adr as most people are still snoozing it away or traveling from other resorts. The cast members here seem to stay around for a few years as there were many familiar faces in the restaurant. They really crank out the breakfast fast here, we normally receive our meals within 10 minutes or so, great for trying to make rope drop in the morning.

The food is always prepared very well. I feel that Disney does a great job finding and training line cooks properly. Every once and a while you may get a bad Tonga Toast-over fried or skimpy on the bananas, but the egg dishes are cooked exceptionally well. As far as breakfast meat goes, I usually cannot wait to get home and have Hormel Bacon, Bob Evans or Jimmy Dean sausage. The sausage and bacon are just not the same as what we are used to up north. The sausage almost tastes like little bratwursts and the bacon is like crisp strips of dehydrated meat. Hey you know what everything else is pretty darn tasty so I will let it slide a bit. I know other guests who have the same beef with the breakfast meats too though.

When it was the old school Coral Isle Café, the restaurant had a nicer atmosphere. After the renovation in 1998, Coral Isle Café was transformed into the present day Kona Café. CIC was basically opened up into the lobby, which has its pros and cons. Pros-open space provides a fast pace atmosphere, you can watch the monorail zip by, and you can also enjoy the open lobby with its many tropical plants and waterfalls. Cons-open space can be very loud, not as tucked away or isolated from crowds, people watching is fun, but some outfits are not so great to see in the early morning hours. All in all they serve some pretty darn tasty food for breakfast, lunch and dinner-here are some of the dishes we enjoyed at breakfast:

Eggs your way with toast

French Toast

Ham & cheese omelet

Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes

Tonga Toast-everyone's favorite

Big Kahuna

 

[MickeyNicki]

Loving your reviews and pictures....really interested in your Narcoosee's and Citrico's ressies. We ate at Citrico's last Nov and the service and food was incredible...I booked it for our Anniversary dinner for next month so I hope it hasnt gone downhill

 

[LowesChevy]

Columbia Harbor House

This is my go to counter service place at the Magic Kingdom. We do not eat a lot of counter service meals, but we definitely enjoy dining here each trip. The lines can be long and congested during the peak times, but it is worth the wait. Even with the menu being simple and well illustrated above the queue lines, some people still wait to decide what they want when they are next in line. Sorry just a pet peeve of mine, it is just lunch, not life changing decision, unless you have an allergy I suppose-moving along. The menu is simple offering a few combo meals featuring fish, chicken strips and shrimps and some a la carte items including clam chowder and salads. There are a few desserts to choose from, but I like to leave room for a little ice cream treat in the afternoon.

My father prefers the tuna salad sandwich, which as I understand is still made fresh each day as we learned on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour a few years ago. I like the fish and chicken and mom goes with all chicken. There are a variety of dipping sauces available from the condiment bar like honey mustard, BBQ sauce, vinegar, and of course Heinz ketchup. Don’t forget to grab your napkins and straws. We like to grab a nice spot upstairs and relax and watch the crowds scurry around Liberty Square.

Sorry, we were so hungry I did not manage to get any pictures before we started munching down!

 

[LowesChevy]

Citricos

Update, servers name was John, sorry folks Just replace Richard with John haha

This has been my favorite restaurant for many years. We have always had great service and great food here at Citricos. If you have ever caught the narration on the resort monorail you will know that the menu is advertised as having a distinct Tuscan flair. Many of the menu items fuse fresh ingredients with Mediterranean flavors, like shrimp with feta, white wine and tomatoes. The menu tends to change with the seasons as the availability of certain ingredients becomes scarce. There are a number of signature items like the sautéed shrimp, arancini, gateau of crab, filet Sicilian and braised veal shank that never go away, although some of the side offerings vary from season to season. Many of the Disney signature restaurants focus on the practices of sustainable agriculture by creating menus that use readily available ingredients instead of using out of season over priced produce.

The restaurant is located on the second floor of the main building at the Grand Floridian. Citricos occupies the space that was once Flagler’s Restaurant, which featured Italian cuisine. The check in area features a circular desk with a few tables for waiting. Boris immediately greeted me when I checked in a few minutes early for dinner. We had a seat and checked out the view of the quiet pool and garden area. The hostess came over a few moments later and took us to our table. You will see the bar immediately as you stroll into the restaurant with several bottles of wine and liquor on display.

The restaurant is a wide open space with a high ceilings and wrought iron lattice work underneath brass railings along the main walkway. The open kitchen is visible from much of the main dining room area and the dessert station is nearest the back section of the restaurant.

I remembered Boris from last year. I think he also worked as a host at the Captain’s Grille before too. This was however the only member of the staff I recalled from the last few years. Even last year many of the servers had been there for a number of years. I am not sure if they have moved on, up or out and I suppose that each one of them had off on a Saturday night was too big a coincidence.

Many minutes later Richard stopped by to introduce himself and my first thought was the Swedish Chef is our waiter. He was totally unorganized and nervous as he discussed the menu and feature items. Although he did acknowledge my birthday, brought me a special menu for the evening, and the candle in the dessert and all that jazz. Richard brought over the Citricos traditional olive and sour dough bread with rock salt sprinkled butter as well.

Because service was so slow we received a complimentary amuse bouche consisting of rock shrimp with heirloom tomatoes. It was a very nice bite, mild in flavor and seasoning, just enough to get your appetite rolling. For appetizers we had a cheese course trio, romaine lettuce salad and I had the duck confit ravioli. The cheese course was very nice featuring lemon ricotta, p’tit basque-which was like a gruyere or mild Swiss and fourme d’Ambert. My duck confit ravioli was interesting and lovely tasting, but it was served with a light broth and Richard never brought me a spoon! I figured picking up the bowl and slurping was out of the question, but I have seen worse at restaurants.

Amuse Bouche

Romaine Salad

Cheese Course

Duck Confit Ravioli

Where's the spoon?

Our entrees came out eventually and I went with the braised short rib, which was served with creamy polenta, sautéed greens and a blood orange demi glace. Even after the amuse and appetizer, I could have eaten another plate of this easy, it was absolutely wonderful. The beef was fork tender and the polenta and demi glace was a perfect match. A little bit of crunch and texture was provided by the crispy fried onions on top of the dish, although a few more would have been nice.

Braised short ribs

My mother had the chicken with creamy parmesan pasta. The chicken was juicy and cooked perfectly. My father went with the grilled salmon that unfortunately arrived kind of cold, but Richard took it back and returned with a hotter version just a few moments later. The salmon was nicely cooked and served with a hearty risotto. The dishes were definitely primed for the cooler weather and fall season with heartier side dishes. With the exception of the salmon temperature, the food was excellent and comforting.

Chicken

Salmon

For dessert I had to have my favorite warm banana chocolate torte!

At this point I had blown off the super slow unorganized service, but it became a trend at the signatures later in the week. There was an obvious turnover in the staff at Citricos and after having talked to a number of the servers, they loved working here, so not sure what the case is. I hope next year we have better service as we have had in years past. A Disney mulligan tonight.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Wonderful updates, I LOVED the Braised short ribs (one of my favorite meals at Disney restaruants)

 

[LowesChevy]

50s Prime Time Cafe


We had breakfast at the Kona Café this morning and headed off to Disney Hollywood Studios. It has been over ten years since we have dined at the 50s Prime Time Cafe, can you believe that!? The 50s Prime Time Café was always a riot when my brother and I were teenagers and we would visit WDW with our neighbors. Primarily because how often did you see your parents get yelled at for not eating their vegetables, having their elbows on the table or not setting the table? Yeah, not so tough now are we mom and dad?

I checked us in about 15 minutes early and the waiting room had only a few guests waiting to be seated. I snapped a few pictures and we were immediately called to be seated. We were seated near the back of the restaurant. there was a smaller room behind our table with a large party and a very animated cast member as their server. Stacy came by after dealing with a few other tables and dropped off our silverware and plates. I thought that was a bit rude, but then it donned on me that it was part of the gag. She came over and complimented us on setting the table and took our drink orders after she remarked that my dad’s elbows were on the table. She even got me a special diet cherry Coke, nice! She took our food order and my mother had a special request not to have too much meat on her sandwich, she did not want to waste. Awe Chihuahua! It’s cool, they made a sandwich with less meat. I just like to try to not confuse the servers with special requests, but like I said no problems and less meat.

We had a fabulous order of onion rings to start, nom nom. I do prefer more of a batter coating and these are more of a breading coat. They were very tasty, crispy and wonderful with that horseradish dipping sauce.

Onion rings

Fish sandwich

Stacked ham sandwich

Fried chicken with greens and mashed potatoes

Stacey was impressed that I ate my greens

Once again we started to eat the dessert before I could fire off a picture. The apple cobbler was complete with vanilla ice cream and a birthday candle in my honor. Oh yeah, Stacey and the entire dining room serenaded me with the happy birthday song too. Was it embarrassing? You bet, but lots of fun too!

The one really funny thing that happened to me involved the host. Yeah, besides the birthday serenade. I am not huge on messing with my Blackberry during a meal, ‘cause hey this girl’s just wants to eat, but I was jotting down a few notes for my dining review and he caught me! I cannot remember his name, but he gave me big ones for ignoring my parents. My parents were laughing their buns off after that. Lunch took a little longer because the video started to loop through again, but dessert can add an extra 15 minutes sometimes. By the time we left, the dining room was absolutely packed a little after 2 PM.

Kuddos -to the cast members at the 50s Prime Time Café for a great meal. I
think we will be back next year!

 

[LowesChevy]

Il Mulino

After a little rest in the room, we traveled over to Epcot and off to Il Mulino for dinner this evening. We have been coming here for a few years now for some solid Italian food. We usually drive and they validate, but we decided to hike it on over instead of having to drive, especially since my dad wanted to have a couple glasses of wine. The walkways take you right to the back of the Swan and Dolphin resorts where the restaurants are mainly located. I had never been to Palio, but I understand it was a pretty popular place to dine back in the day. Il Mulino replaced this space about 5 years ago, maybe more. The original Il Mulino is located in New York City. Not only did they build this sister restaurant in Orlando, they brought the prices too! Ha, I had to add that.

The entrance reminds me of the Jurassic Park gates from the movies-they are these huge floor to ceiling marble slabs. I apologize, but I do not have a picture of them. You will have to check it out sometime. It has a long bar and lounge area that is absolutely packed to the brim if a convention is taking place at the Swolphin. The place is beautiful with a semi opened kitchen that is enclosed by a large reddish orange glass stretching floor to ceiling. The floor and tables are dark oak and beautifully polished. There is a display in the middle of the restaurant with pots, pans, pasta boxes and other decorations. The restaurant is sort of chopped up into smaller sections, but the main dining room has two sides. We have only ever been sat on the one side, so the mystery and mystique of the “other” may be enough to keep me coming year to year. We have also been seated in a smaller section with clear glass doors, which cuts down on the noise, but it also can be very cold in there!

We were seated early in an empty restaurant.The servers work in pairs and this evening we had Tony and Monique. Monique was very fun and she took care of the beverages and bringing over most of the food courses. Tony explained the menu and took the orders and was in charge of our satisfaction I suppose. Their service was very good and attentive all night.

Here is what we dined on: The traditional spicy focaccia, Italian bread and eggplant spread along with homemade dry salami come first

House salad-homely, but good

Tomato mozzarella salad, I wanted carpaccio, but my father wanted this. It was okay and simply prepared-note that two of us split it

Dad’s bucatini Amatricana-he said it was good, I did not try it though. Pretty sloppy presentation-slop around the rim

My Chicken fra diavolo with sausage and fresh vegetables. The chicken was tender and the sausage was a nice addition. The sauce was wicked spicy, a little too much for my tastes. The portion was gigantic, it harly looked like I had eaten any of it. There was squash and some other vegetables mixed in, which was a bit odd, but better for me right?

I do like this style with a server having almost constant attention of you. That to me is worth the higher prices that come along with signature dining. This is what I felt the Disney owned restaurants lack in terms of service. They put more pressure on their servers by having them get, drinks, orders, clear plates etc. etc. I think this is what attributed to our poor experiences this year. Overall, I am not sure if we will get back to Il Mulino next year. The food and service are great, but there are other places we would like to try. I wish I could get service like this everywhere though!

 

[LowesChevy]

Rose & Crown

Let me tell you, I was super excited to try the Rose & Crown for the first time. My mother is on the picky side, so this place was always on the edge of getting booted from the plans, but she finally agreed to give it a shot. It is always a happening place and this evening was no different. I checked in with Mark at the outside desk and received a pager. I also overheard him tell some other guests that he was no longer taking walkups. This was the first time this week we had to wait, but we were early and it was only about 5 minutes too. Our hostess welcomed for our first time and showed us to our table in the back room. The restaurant was about ¾ full throughout the night, so they must not have wanted to totally stack the place because the tables are pretty cramped.

Naomi came over within a few moments and after she was done with another table she came over and introduced herself. She pointed out a few things on the menu for us to look at. Naomi was very friendly and I felt like she really wanted to be there-very enthusiastic. I like a spunky server, it makes the meal more enjoyable.

As I admired the décor of the Rose & Crown as well as examined the menu, Naomi returned a few minutes later with our brews! I am not much of a drinker, I normally only drink a few times a year, but when in Rome-err London I guess would be the more appropriate city eh? My dad went with Bass Ale-he is quite the beer drinker and prefers a hoppy blend. I on the other hand cannot stand really bitter tasting things, so mom and I went with a Harp Lager. One word my friends- yum. Naomi then took our dinner order and brought back some rolls.

I like the decor in here-it feels warm and cozy, they even had custom wall paper made with the logo on it it you had never noticed. The tables and floors are darker woods providing an old school feeling charm. The lighting reminds me of eating in you own dining room with plenty of direct lighting. Lots of glass windows separating the dining sections, a little more seclusion from the bar might be good in the larger dining section-they tend to get a rowdy in there as it gets later.

For appies my father and I had the cheese selection and Scotch egg respectively. Mom decided to sit this one out and save a little room for sticky toffee pudding.

Cheese selection: Stilton, cheddar and another cheese plus grapes on the vine, toast, apples and nuts. He is not much of a Stilton fan, nor are many people for that matter, but I enjoyed a piece of it

Scotch Egg: I mean what could be better than a hardboiled egg surrounded with sausage meat served with mustard sauce and greens. This is like my dream breakfast-very good, very tasty

Fish and chips: mom loved them

Cottage Pie: dad like it, thought it looked small, but pies are very filling he found

Sunday Roast with mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and pan gravy: Carb lovers delight! The meat was tender and had a great flavor. I even liked to brussel sprouts that it came with.

For dessert we split a sticky toffee pudding. Naomi and company sang happy birthday in my honor as well. Naomi came over many times throughout the meal and when they were out of Strongbow Cider, she asked if a substitution was okay, no problem I am in a great mood even with a kid that had been screaming the whole night finally quieted down. We had a great experience overall, the food and service wonderful. Rose & Crown earns a thumbs up and fast pass for my adrs next year. Till next year, cheers!

 

[LowesChevy]

Tutto Italia


I loved the old Alfredo’s and was sad when they closed. I decided we should try Tutto Italia for ourselves because I have heard many positive and negative reports. I wanted to set the story straight in my book-haha. Tutto Italia as I recall was only supposed to occupy the space for a limited time, but with the addition of Via Napoli I wonder if they will still shut down Tutto for another refurbishment? I am hoping not because we really enjoyed our experience at Tutto Italia this year!

Not a lot has changed since the restaurant took the space over from Alfredos’. Many of the frescos on the walls and the general décor are similar, if not the same as they once were. You can still see them making fresh pasta in the lobby window and the dessert tray as you pass through the service station. This place can really pack them in with a number of smaller dining sections jetting off the large middle dining room. This place is also capable of serving larger parties of 8 at one table, I like to keep on the smaller size to keep the service stable.

While the fettuccini Alfredo is no longer available here, there are a number of simple pastas, meat dishes, salads and appetizers to fill the void. I will agree the prices are higher than most other table service restaurants- you could easily share some of the dishes as they are quite large. The menu offers some more sophisticated dishes than your average Italian eatery, which accounts for the higher prices as well.

We were seated early in another half empty restaurant; guests seemed to be eating later these days, because it was just before 6:00 PM. Valentina quickly came over to welcome and offer us a cocktail. Oh yeah, they know where the margin is at haha. My parents picked a bottle of wine and I ordered myself a refreshing diet Coke. After the drinks were delivered she took our order and a young man whose name I cannot remember brought us Italian bread and dipping oil. I think he was Leonardo because he made me think of the Ninja Turtles. He delivered new silverware, drinks and cleared plates throughout the night along with Valentina.

My father and I love meats, cheeses, marinated peppers, cherry peppers, and olives. We love any dried, cured, salty, smoky meat. The grand antipasto misto, bring it on! It claims to serve two, I guess that would be for a meal because it is a lot of goodies look at the size of it-that is a big spork, not a little guy. There was mortadella, prosciutto, gorgonzola, fresh mozzarella, shrimp and white bean salad, roasted red peppers, artichokes, zucchini, tomatoes and salami. We did pretty well munching through it and we had dinners on the way too.

My mother had the red and gold beat salad with this wonderful, creamy goat cheese and vinaigretteen

For entrees:
Mother had the farfalle with prosciutto, peas and parmesan-she loved it

Dad went with the casareci with cavatell pastai sausage ragu and pecorino

I had the cannelloni al Forno, baked pasta tubes with spinach, ricotta, and béchamel parmesan sauce. It was very heavy and filling, but delicious.

Why I continued to wear my birthday button all week, I do not know. Deep down I guess I really enjoy being embarrassed and the center of attention. The servers came out and serenaded me and dropped off a yummy little dessert, after we had already stuffed down an order of tiramisu!

The place had filled up by the time we left, but I think the Food & Wine Fest probably does create no shows for reservations at night as people get to full sampling treats around the showcase. Everything was “molto bene” in our opinion and we will definitely be back next year provided they do not redo the restaurant. The food and service were wonderful. Our plates were cleared at appropriate times and our drinks were replenished when they were empty. Arrivederci Tutto Italia!

 

[LowesChevy]

Teppan Edo

This was our second time at Teppan Edo. We really enjoyed it last year, so we made the trip back. It was less crowded this year, but certainly not dead, this place was hopping. There were just less people in the waiting area. We have an awesome Japanese steakhouse called Hibachi in Erie, but trying other joints is fun also. The décor is not much different although Teppan Edo is much larger and cleaner than our local place.

We were seated just a few minutes after checking in and Mika immediately came to the table to welcome us and hand out menus. She explained a little bit about the tradition of serving and asked us a few vocabulary terms. I did not know there was going to be a test! She took our drink orders as we browsed the menus. We were seated a smaller section near the back of the main room. Last year we were in the smaller satellite rooms in the back and it was very claustrophobic. There still is not a lot of room to move around in each of the sections.

Mika came back with the drinks and explained the menu. She came back to take our orders. Shortly after our appetizers arrived, my mother and father had salads and I went splitsies with my dad on a sushi roll sampler.

Yukiko strikes a pose for me!

Mika cleared our plates right before Yukiko arrived to cook us dinner. I did not know women could be teppanyaki chefs, I had never seen one. How awesome! She was definitely a party girl too, full of energy and funny quips. Her antics were very entertaining and the food was cooked well. Her griddle was very clean and neat. She made the largest onion volcano and then turned it into a train, nice! The shrimp was really fresh and the beef tasted very good. Mika refilled the drinks and cleared the plates and trash constantly at the table. The sushi was outstanding, better than Wolfgang Puck’s. Another wonderful meal and service provided by the World Showcase! Sayonara till next year.

 

[dixonsontour]

Great reviews and great pictures - thanks for posting

We've got adr's at some of these - so excited.

I'm currently sitting in cold England and on on Saturday we're eating at teppan edo.

 

[LowesChevy]

Great glad you are enjoying them! Have a wonderful time on your trip!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thanks for the wonderful updates, I'm so glad to read Il Mulino b/c we are staying at the Swan (I bought a $25 gift card for only $2 to use)

 

[LowesChevy]

Tony’s Town Square

We had the same plan this year of eating at Tony’s Town Square before Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We used to eat here all of the time back in the day, the food was always pretty good. Until Disney ramped up their dining choices and brought in some of the really good restaurants it has now, Tony’s was a good stand by. Last year we had a good experience, so this year I was hoping for more of the same.

Well it was a more typical Tony’s moment. Many people experience bad food
and service here and this evening was pretty similar. I checked in and they informed me that seating was first available. Looking around the waiting room and restaurant, I could see that there were maybe 10 people in the entire place, but okay. So of course we are seated outside in the blazing sun don’t you know. You know like 5:00 PM when the sun is up there beating down on you for another 2 hours until it tucks behind Town Hall. We actually had to move the table back to get my father out of the direct sunlight.

Rachel came over and took our drink order after waiting a while. She was generous with the drinks but neglected to bring over the rolls and oil when we were about halfway done eating. No problem though, Tony’s house rolls consisted of the Pillsbury prebaked 100 per box rolls for foodservice industry-very classy. I realize they may not want to bake bread for every restaurant and it is cheaper, but those prebaked things are bad for an Italian place.

Our appetizers came out quickly followed by our entrees before we were done eating our appetizers, boy that grinds my gears. I enjoyed my cheesy bruschetta bread, for some reason it comes on Italian bread, but they serve run of the mill dinner rolls in the baskets..hmmmm, interesting.

Pretty light on the basil this year too

My dinner was pretty good actually. The braised veal shank was tender and falling off the bone. The creamy polenta and fresh cooked broccoli were excellent additions as well.

The spaghetti and sausages were just okay, the sauce is still bitter and sour like last year. I mean just get some basic marinara, I do not care if it comes in a jar, just fix it.

Needless to say I do not think we will be backed to Tony’s Town Square next year or every maybe haha. There are not a whole lot of places to eat at the Magic Kingdom, whether it is due to the no liquor license or closeness to the monorail resorts, who knows. However, they could try a little harder here. I did not expect a fantastic meal, but I did expect a little more than what we received. Oh well, we just will not go back. Hopefully Gaston’s Tavern will be solid.

 

[LowesChevy]

Contempo Café

The plan was to grab a simple lunch before heading back to the room. I enjoyed the Concourse Steakhouse when it occupied this space. The Fiesta Food & Fun Center was the old quick service restaurant. It was located where the Wave is now. Having the quick service restaurant also makes it more convenient for guests to grab breakfast, fill up their mugs and grab a quick snack before heading up to the monorail. This probably cuts down on the extra traffic in and out of the lobby area as well.

They layout is spacious with plenty of seating. There are a large variety of sandwiches, flatbreads, salads and snacks to choose from as well as cereal, fruit, yogurt, and beverages for breakfast. You place your order on the touch screen and pay for your purchase. Then they slowly prepare your food for you and ring your buzzer. The checkout people tend to be unaware of the pricing and slow, but just let it slide, no need to freak out about it I suppose.

I had been craving a cheeseburger and I got my wish. My father had a turkey sandwich and my mother settled for an Uncrustable and crudite with ranch dip. My burger was juicy and perfectly cooked then nestled on a dry wheat bun with American cheese. My dad’s sandwich was okay and mother ate her entire sandwich. I felt the meal was a good value and the quality was on par.

 

[LowesChevy]

Jiko

We first went to Jiko three years ago and everything was wonderful. We make the special trip out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for Jiko, but also so we can check the resort out a bit. I love to overlook the crowds in Boma and enjoy the grandeur of the lobby. The entrance to both Jiko and Boma are always very busy and congested with guests, a bad design in my opinion. Jiko should be more secluded and calm, you know the total opposite of Boma right? As soon as you walk in you are greeted by the hostesses and checked in for your reservation. The cast members are always very friendly and welcoming here.

We took a seat over in the lounge/bar area for a few moments till we were seated. I loved our booth as we were seated right by the appetizer station with the flatbread ovens burning away. The feeling is cozy here and even with the wood tables and floors it does have a homey, warm feeling with the gradually changing lighting and view of the walkway outside. The hostess returned with the cleansing cloths and allowed us to freshen our hands with the rose water soaked wash cloths.

Lucious quickly appeared eager to explain the menu and discuss any of the preparations or spices used at the restaurant. I could make a meal just out of the appetizers and starters offered as I ordered the taste of Africa to share. The taste included this wonderful pita bread with flax seeds, lavosh and a tortilla like bread served along with 4 different dipping sauces from olive tapenade, a tzatziki like dip, lentil dip and a spicy pepper dip. I like them all, but preferred the lentil dip.

honey wheat bread

My father had the cheese course and the only bad thing was this fresh sheep’s cheese. It reminded me of rotten cheese and feet, boy it was bad. The other cheeses were very nice.

My mother had the Jiko salad with a harder better tasting sheep’s cheese, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries with pomegranate vinaigrette. It was a very well rounded salad with sour, sweet, bitter and salty flavors abundantly throughout and did we love the pomegranate vinaigrette.

I had the corn chowder with pickled celery, crab and chili cilantro oil. I love the way they go all out with the presentation. They bring you the bowl with the crab, celery and chili oil garnish sitting in the bottom and you figure you got the diet soup, but then the server comes over with a little clay urn and pours the creamy soup into the bowl. A picture doesn’t really do the dish much justice, next time I will get you a video, it is so cool. My only complaint was that the soup could have been a little hotter, but the texture with the crunch of the celery and spice of the chili oil was fabulous. The creamy soup cuts the spiciness of the chili as well.

For entrees I choose the duck breast with mushrooms, roasted potatoes and a fig gastrique like demi glace. It was a new edition to the most recent menu I had seen and the short ribs are no longer on the menu so this looked good. The duck was a tad undercooked for my taste to the point where it was difficult to cut with my knife-too raw. I still do not know how I feel about mushrooms and duck because I do not really feel like they are complimentary flavors, they seem to be too similar in texture for me but the dish was good overall.

My mother had the filet with mac and cheese. Everyone else seems to rave about this dish, but it was so-so to bad this year. First her beef came out absolutely rare, I mean mooing, so back it went. Lucious was very good about it and apologetic. It came back out still underdone, but my dad and I were just about finished eating unfortunately. She ate a portion of it and I tried the filet and it was bad-like an old milk cow. I guess we should have complained about it then, but we were tired and full. I just felt like they got a bad cow or downgraded the quality of the beef, I hope this does not become a trend in the restaurants.


Father had the maize crusted halibut. We have both had this dish before and it is a nice lighter style dish with the mild tasting halibut and fresh vegetables, very nice

My birthday crème brulee was a nice finale to our dinner as the three of us each had a few bites.

Last year the service was good, but not outstanding. This year the service was great and my father and I’s food was great, but my mother’s filet not so much. I think we will make a dinner of appetizers next year because they are always creative and delicious. Lucious refilled drinks and check in several times throughout the meal and we did not feel ignored like a few other places we visted. All in all, we really enjoy dining at Jiko’s and will definitely return next year.