Disney Eats & Christmas Cheer

[tsme]

Let me introduce myself, I am a Disney freak! I read the boards all year long, dreaming of our next trip, planning, & scheming. This trip has been from December 14-19, 2014. As you might have noticed, I'm at Disney now, yay! But we're leaving tomorrow, boo. My two other travels peeps are my DH and DD.
We decided to drive this year for the first time, it took two days, so I'll include a short review on the travel days.

Schedule:
Travel day
Captain's Grill
San Angel Inn
50's Primetime
Liberty Tree Tavern
Teppan Edo
Coral Reef
Chefs de France
Kona Cafe
MVMCP
Travel day

 

[2manypets]

Really looking forward to your reviews! We'll be heading to a few of the same places in May.

 

[tsme]

Well, we're back home & it's been crazy. We got back Saturday & one of dogs has been sick. I took her today to the vet today & she should be fine, a little dehydrated. But I have to say, it's super hard trying to get a dog to swallow water from a syringe when they don't want to.
I haven't had the chance to upload my pictures yet, but plan to do it over the next two days. We had a great trip. Everything went fairly smoothly, except for a couple of things, but nothing major. I feel like a Disney trip is kind of like child birth, as in the longer it goes from your last trip the more positive & magic you remember & the less of the negative.

 

[tsme]

Our first night, we stayed in Fort Walton Beach. I didn't get any pics of food this day because it was all basic fast food stuff. But we had a beautiful view of the beach.

From our balcony


My DD & DH in the sunset, so pretty.

 

[tsme]

Oh I forgot, two of our babies really wanted to go too.

 

[tsme]

We arrived at BWI around 2ish. It was a mad house! There were vehicles everywhere, loading & unloading. They had only a small turn around marked for vehicles to use. And there were large areas of the parking lot blocked off, so my DH had to basically go to the way back to park, not at all fun. But then we walked inside and all was right again. We had ressie at Captain's Grill and walked over first to BC to see their decorations then to YC.
First BC

Then YC & the huge train set


Next up Captain's Grill

 

[tsme]

We arrived at Captain's Grill and attempted to check in. They were having some issues with their computers. Finally, after re-booting a couple of times (I think that's what the cm said), she got it working and checked us in. We were seated on the outer half wall that boarders the walk way. It's hard to explain, one side of the wall is the restaurant and the other is a walk way inside the hotel. You can see and hear people passing. I think I'd rather be seated elsewhere in the restaurant only because when a loud group passes it's annoying. Our waiter was very nice but he seemed overwhelmed shortly after he took our order. I felt bad for him. The table next to us was a group of two older couples & they were being a bit difficult. The reason I say this is we could hear them talking to him. They were hard to please, IMO. Now on to the food.
First I order a Mai Tai, it was very good & refreshing


And then we received bread and butter. The butter was really good with salt. The bread however wasn't even warm. I like hot bread or at least warm bread. We found this to be a reccurring theme throughout Disney restuarants.


We order the appetizer Buttermilk Fried Rock Shrimp - with chipotle remoulade, citrus cream, and chilled cucumber salad. It was very good, fresh and hot.


I ordered the Snow Crab Legs - with New Potatoes and Corn on the Cob. The crab legs were so good, sweet, juicy, full of meat. The corn and potatoes were under cooked, I didn't eat them. But I ate every bite of crab!


My DH ordered the Rosemary-Brined Pork Tenderloin - braised pork belly, white bean puree, cherry gastrique, ham jus, and braised brussels sprouts. But he subbed the veggies for fries. He said it was good, but the pork belly pieces had very too much fat & was undercooked.


My DD ordered Pan-seared Chicken - roasted butternut squash puree, fregola, fall vegetables, pomegranate reduction, and pumpkin seed pesto. She also subbed any veggies for fries and no sauces. The chicken was juicy and cooked well. She liked it.


Altogether, I think I ordered the best meal. We'll most likely try another restaurant next time. Though, it was good. We just like to try new places.

 

[cat_herder]

thanks for the photos

 

[tsme]

Our first park day, we went to Epcot and HS. First up Epcot for lunch. We went to San Angel Inn. We were seated by the water. My DD likes sitting there so she can wave at all the people on the ride passing by. Our server was fine. My DD & DH ordered coke, I ordered water. The water was gross, it tasted like it came right out of an outside hose, full of iron. I didn't drink it.
After ordering we were brought chips & dip. We all enjoyed the chips & dip.


My DH ordered Pork tenderloin served over roasted vegetables and pipian - pumpkin, chiles and almond sauce. He enjoyed it.


I ordered the Tostados de Tinga - Fried corn tortillas topped with black beans, lettuce, onions, advocado, tomato marinated chicken, sour cream, and fresh cheese. I really liked it. It's not too much food, just enough, very tasty.


My DD ordered Pollo A Las Rajas - grilled chicken breast served over red peppers, onion strips, cream sauce, and fresh cheese. She asked for everything on the side. She liked the chicken & the sauce was ok. But the rice was not good. I tasted it and didn't like it either.

 

[tsme]

I have to stop for a post to try and tell what happened at Epcot one evening. I tried before and got in trouble for posting it even though I didn't spell out the wording. In Morocco, I was browsing thru some of the shops. In one of them, there was a CM talking to a friend and his GF (I'm assuming), I was the only other person in there with them. As the friend was leaving the CM said (bare with me as I try to say it but not say it, so I don't get in trouble again) "See ya later" the formal word for mom, followed by a very bad word. Now I hope I don't get slammed for trying to explain this incident. People should know. I was totally shocked. But the worse part was he didn't care that I heard him. I could have shrugged it off as an accident if he didn't look directly at me & not even blink. The guy did not care that he had said such an ugly thing in front of a guest. So I emailed Disney. My DH called me a tattle tale. I don't care. CM's should not be saying those things. I did receive a call from Disney concerning it. The lady apologized, said that it would be addressed, something about retraining, & that cms aren't suppose to say things like that or talk about personal stuff, etc. Funny (not so) was when they called I had just passed a couple of cms in the new Haunted Mansion store chatting about there schedules, etc. I almost mentioned it but didn't want to come across as too fussy. Any who, I accepted the apology and that was it.

 

[tsme]

On to HS, Osborne Lights, & 50's Primetime

We arrived at 50's Primetime to check in. They had no record of our reservations. I had the reservation number and gave it to him. The man seemed very confused and wouldn't tell us what was going on. He was also hard of hearing. I kept having to repeat myself loudly, which made me feel like those around us probably thought I was yelling at the poor man, but I wasn't. My DH tells me I have a soft voice & sometimes it's hard for others to hear me. Awkward.
On to the food.

My DD ordered a cherry coke, it was good. We shared the Aunt Liz's Golden Fried Chicken - served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, chicken gravy and collard greens with bacon. But instead of veggies we asked for french fries. For some reason at Disney when you ask for french fries instead of veggies when there are mashed potatoes, the server gets confused. I know they are both potatoes, but who cares, if it's what we want. Sorry to rant. It was an issue. My DD doesn't eat veggies & likes her potatoes.
My DH also ordered the fried Chicken. I can't seem to find any pictures. Sorry. I think after the issue at check in and then the "discussion" I was forced to have with our server over french fries, I forgot to take any pictures. And no, the server was not acting in character.
All the food was very good. They do have great fried chicken at 50's Primetime!

After eating we went to see the lights, which were beautiful!




It was really something to see and the "snow" was cool. I do wish Disney wouldn't try to funnel people thru small areas & block off other areas. It made things bottle neck when trying to leave or enter. Kind of ruining that good mood. There were others complaining about it too as we were leaving I could hear them at the boat stop.

 

[crazycatlady]

Great reviews so far! I especially enjoyed your review of Captain's Table because I am considering it for our November trip next year. You ordered exactly the pictures I wanted to see (shrimp appy and crab legs).

 

[tsme]

Great reviews so far! I especially enjoyed your review of Captain's Table because I am considering it for our November trip next year. You ordered exactly the pictures I wanted to see (shrimp appy and crab legs).

Thanks. Those crab legs were so good. They were one of my best meals.

 

[vettegirl]

Following along

 

[tsme]

Onward to MK for lunch. We ate at Liberty Tree Tavern. We all love LTT. The servers are all so nice, it's a quiet space away from the madness that MK can be, & the food is just awesome.
I believe we all ordered cokes. I have to note to those who like the mugs at LTT. You can buy them from the restaurant & if you are staying at a Disney Resort you can have them sent to your resort to pick up later. To do this, after purchasing the mugs, take your receipt and go to the Christmas Shop. Tell them what you want and show them your receipt and they'll give you the paper to fill out. Quick and Easy. We have a set of 4.

To start we asked for the rolls, you have to ask for them at lunch. They were hot & buttery, yummy!! And we love the butter they serve with it, it's kind of like a sweet, honey butter. mmmm. I hope they never change or stop serving those little beauties.


My DD & I shared the Pilgrims' Feast - traditional roast turkey with herb bread stuffing, mashed potatoes and a garden vegetable. We subbed veggies for fries. We both loved this meal and ate it all.


Sorry, I had already cut up the turkey slices and smashed the nice round scoop of stuffing. We were really hungry, LOL.

My DH ordered New England Pot Roast... Our Tavern Keeper's Favorite - braised beef in a cabernet wine and mushroom sauce served with mashed potatoes and garden vegetables. He said it was very good and meat was tender.


Overall, LTT is a favorite of ours. It's like home cooking in Disney!

 

[pumba]

fantastic reviews..and loved your photos..

Thanks for taking the time to do this ..as we all love FOOD PORN..

 

[tsme]

I'm totally addicted to looking at the dining reviews. The first time my DH asked what I was looking at & I said food porn, he was like "WHAT!". l

 

[tsme]

After a day at MK, we went to Epcot to Teppan Edo for dinner. Check in was easy and the wait wasn't long.

We all ordered either cokes or water. No apps.

Our chef

He seemed to be new but was still entertaining.

A couple of more pics of him cooking



All entrees come with seasonal vegetables with udon noodles and steamed sukiyaki beef rice and three sauces.
The sauces

I liked the pale one best. I believe they called it yum yum sauce and it was yummy.

The rice, which is so very good.


My DH ordered the Asakusa - sirloin steak and large shrimp. He was given the shrimp first and had already eaten it all. The steak was good.


I ordered just shrimp. They were delicious.


My DD ordered Tori - chicken breast. She enjoyed her chicken.


We all enjoyed our meal here. It's a fun environment and the food is good. For those of you who want to use chop sticks but don't know how, the waitress will fix them up so it's easy to use. The only negative was the noodles. We've eaten here before and the noodles use to be wider and wonderfull. This time they replaced the noodles with thinner ones and they were slightly crunchy, very disappointing. I hope they go back to the other wider noodles because the thinner ones are not as good.

 

[tsme]

For lunch the next day, we ate at Coral Reef. Our waitress here was slow, but we weren't in a hurry and could see that the place was busy.

We received rolls and butter with black salt. They were ok, but again the bread wasn't hot or warm, just room temperature. The butter with salt was so good.


I ordered a lemonade and Tuna Tataki - Pickled seaweed salad, Yuzu soy syrup, wasabi cream, and tobiko caviar. The lemonade was refreshing and the tuna was absolutely wonderful!



Both my DH and my DD ordered something that wasn't listed on the menu. Our waitress told us about it. It was fried shrimp with fries. They both really liked it. My DH even said it was one of the best fried shrimp he had ever eaten, which is saying alot since we live in Louisiana and he eats alot of fried shrimp. lol.



Again, no dessert for us, too full. Everyone enjoyed their meal at Coral Reef and we'd go back.

 

[tsme]

Later that evening we ventured over to Chefs de France. I don't care for how they have the tables set up there. All the tables are basically on top of each other. For example, there was a couple next to us at a two seat table. Their table was so close to ours, that the man was closer to me than my DH who was sitting across from me. You can actually she the woman's leg in the first picture, too close. It's uncomfortable.

On to food. First up bread, it was crusty and WARM! But the butter was frozen, making it hard to spread.


My DD wasn't very hungry and nothing looked good to her on the menu. So she ordered just french fries. She liked them.


I wasn't very hungry either. I ordered Salade de Chevre Chaud - Baked goat cheese with walnuts, fresh grapes, tomatoes, endives and arugula salad. I really enjoyed this salad. It was fresh and tasty.


My DH ordered Plat de Cote de Boeuf au Cabarnet avec pates - Beef short ribs braised in Cabernet with pasta, pearl onions and mushrooms. He really liked the beef short ribs, he said it was very tender and kind of tasted like the pot roast from Liberty Tree Tavern. He didn't eat the sides.


To be honest, Chefs de France probably wouldn't be on our first choice list. Not to say we wouldn't go back, but not next time.