DMC Eats! Reviews with pictures

[MariDisney]

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33922352&postcount=19We are back for a week now. I guess it's time to admit we aren't going to eat any more WDW food and write some reviews. Here's the scenario:

Me: Mari, 40, loves to eat
DH: Dom, 36, loves to eat
DD: Caroline, 9, loves to eat

DD won't turn 10 until next week, but we decided to pay to have her be a Disney adult since after last year's trip, which was just a few weeks shy of her 9th birthday, she was BEGGING for adult food. She's got some fairly complex tastes as you will see.

We were staying at Coronado Springs, which we won't do again, but that will be in the trip report if I ever get to one. You'll notice that there are only 3 meals at CSR. We had booked a bounceback last year, which included the regular DDP. We decided to upgrade to the Deluxe Dining Plan. Since we come to WDW pretty often and usually do the DDP, we wanted to try some additional restaurants and just have a crazy eating week!!

We ate at the following table service restaurants I'll review:
Yak and Yeti (D)
Kona (B)
Flying Fish (D)
Cape May Cafe (B)
Raglan Road (D)
Biergarten (L)
Rose and Crown (D)
Tusker House (L)
Chefsde France (D)
'Ohana (B)
The Plaza (L)
Narcooossees (D)
Boma (B)

We went to Chip and Dale's Sing Along and Campfire and the Hoop Dee Doo, and I'll review those.

Counter Service:
Pepper Market Lunch
Pepper Market Breakfast
ABC Commissary
Cosmic Rays
I think Anaheim Produce. It's down near the Tower of Terror. I'm looking on the allears site and am trying to find a matching menu. Ideas?

Various snacks including a number of Food and Wine offerings.

 

[MariDisney]

I should probably have also listed that I'd review the breakfast we had the day we left. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Phildadelphia Airport the night before our flight. We had a 7:00 am flight on Air Tran, and I like to make sure we are near the airport and get some sleep. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. Very convenient long term parking. And, most relevant to this board, they had breakfast out at 4:30 when I went down to check. I forgot to ask the night before what time breakfast would be out. I assumed 6:00 am so I didn't think too much about it. I left DH and DD in the room getting ready when I went to move the car from the regular lot to the long term lot (right across the street). I told them I'd call if I saw any food. I was surprised to find the breakfast all ready except for the hot foods (eggs, etc.). There were a variety of fresh pastries, bagels, croissants, yogurts, fruits, cereals, etc. Also, they had a variety of juices and coffee, tea, etc. I was very pleased that we could eat a decent breakfast before the airport. Usually we'd get bagels with coffee and juice at the airport, so this saved around $15 or so.

 

[MariDisney]

We checked in to CSR around 10:30 and we able to get right into a room. We had ADRs at Yak and Yeti for 4:00. We decided to get something quick in Pepper Market to tide us over until then, knowing that we would probably also grab a snack at AK.


Before going to our room, we peaked into PM and got the mugs (included with the DxDDP). DH and I got our usual diet coke, but DD got hot tea. Yes, it was 95 degrees. The kid likes hot tea. She was VERY impressed when the CM opened up the box to show her all the tea to select from. She was in her glory!! This theme will be be repeated a number of times throughout the week. I didn't like how at PM you handed your mug over to be filled. It just seemed not needed. Overall, I didn't like the set up of the PM at all.

I should say here that I was counting credits closely and so we decided to share 1 lunch at PM. I ended up in the end with 3 credits left over, so we could have had some more at a few places, but I really didn't want to have to pay OOP for any food. And, we certainly weren't hungry at any point during the week, so it's all good.

The CM at PM seated us at a table and explained how things worked with getting your ticket stamped. I thought this was a silly system and not any more effecient than any of the other resort food courts. If I was paying cash, I'd be unhappy to have to pay the gratuity here where I would be more than happy to serve myself drinks at a counter service. I told CM that we'd be sharing the meal, but we'd like our mugs refilled. She was happy to do it.

I found the PM set up a bit confusing. Some of the things on the menu given to us at the table didn't seem to actually be available when we got to the various stations. So, we decided this just wasn't our thing and only came back one more time. This time, we got the quesadilla. There was enough for each of us to have one triangle with salsa and sour cream. Nothing special, but enoughn to keep us from being hungry before Yak and Yati.

For dessert, we had a chocolate cake that was delicious. We were sorry we decied to share that and all wished we had one!

 

[MariDisney]

We had ADRs at Yak and Yeti for 4:00. I was disappointed in myself, because I thought the parade was at 3:00 (you know, the proverbial 3:00 parade?). So, despite all my hours on the DIS and TGM I missed the fact that the parade was actually at 3:45. So much for my planning and perfect timing!! We decided that since we were hungry about 3:30 and knew we wouldn't see the parade by 4:00 near Y&Y that we might as well just go ahead and see if we could be seated. At the potium we were asked to wait for a moment and then seated. I was surprised to see that at least 1/2 of the tables were empty througout our meal. This is a theme that is repeated throughout this trip. We had heard so many reports of people not being able to get ADRs, and that even impacted some of our choices, but there were empty tables in at least 2/3 of the restuarants we visited.

Onto the review.

Since we were on the DxDDP, we got an appetizer, entree, and dessert with each TS meal. For our apps, I chose the lettuce cups, and DD and DH decided to share the dim sum basket. The dim sum basket is for 2, although I did not see that on any online menu I looked at prior to the trip (I mainly use allears). No worries, though. It was more than enough and it saved me a buck or two on the tip.

The lettuce cups, described on allears.net as: minced chicken breast, chopped vegetables, maple tamarind sauce, crisp lettuce cups $12.99 were very good. We all thought the mixture was somewhat spicy, particularly for those that might not enjoy that. We all like a little spice, so it was OK. I think there were about 8 pieces of lettuce and plenty of filling for that many cups.

The dim sum is described on allears as: Pork pot stickers, shrimp siu mai, cha su bao, and pork sie mai steamed on a banana leaf, soy lime dipping sauce $13.99. There were 2-3 of each item. They were absolutely delicious. I don't know what the dipping sauce was, but we all enjoyed it and even added it to some of the lettuce cups. Very good!!

For entrees, I had the crispy honey chicken ($17.50). I did not enjoy this dish at all. It tasted like something that had been sitting on our local chinese buffet for far too long. The flavor of the sauce with the broccoli and carrots was fair. The biggest disappointment was the chicken itself. There was nothing crispy at all about it. I took about 3 bites and then decided to help DD and DH finish their dishes.

DD had the rack of ribs. (allears: slow-roasted ribs, hoisin BBQ sauce, chicken fried rice, sweet chili slaw $24.99) The waitress laughed a little when she brought it because it is HUGE. She didn't know that DD can eat anything, especially with a little help from mom. DD thought the ribs were perfectly flavored and very meaty and tasty. This was one of her favorite dishes of the week. Here are the ribs:

DH had she steak and shrimp (allears: skirt steak, tempura-battered shrimp, jasmine rice, stir-fried vegetables, chili plum dipping sauce $24.99). He also enjoyed this very much. I thought the batter on the shrimp was light and tasty. He thought the steak was done nicely (he ordered medium).

For dessert, DD and I each had an order of friend wontons (allears: Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey vanilla drizzle $7.99). I thought they were yummy, DD didn't care for them at all. I really enjoy the flavor of cream cheese with the honey added. I would order these again in a second. DH had mango pie (shortbread cookie crust, fresh whipped cream, raspberry sauce $6.99) as mango is one of his favorite flavors. He thought it was OK. Tasted as good as a pie we'd buy in a local supermarket, but nothing special.

The service at Yak and Yeti was good. We felt that the meal was paced well. We did have to wait quite a bit for our check to be processed. The waitress explained that Y&Y is not a disney owned restaurant, so using the dining plan credits takes longer. It wasn't a crazy amount of time, but I remember leaving and waiting outside for DH which is always my clue that things took too long for my taste.

 

[Sandy321]

great reviews -

I like that you included the night before the flight!!

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on!

 

[MariDisney]

On our first full day in WDW we always have an 8:05 ADR for Crystal Palace. What's better than Pooh and breakfast lasagna? We thought nothing. Well, the earliest I could get was 9:45 for basically any of our MK days, so we decided to go out of our comfort zone and try Kona. We had a 7:50 ADR. We left CSR about 7:00, not sure of the time to walk to the Poly from TTC. We were safely parked in our favorite spot (Minnie 36!!!) by 7:15. This gave us more than enough time to get to Kona, strolling about the Poly to have a look around on our way.

With breakfast on the DxDDP (and I suppose also any DDP) you get 1 juice, 1 other drink and an entree. We weren't sure of 2 things, but we were hoping. We didn't know if we could get the lilikoi juice (passion fruit, orange, and guava) or if we could have pressed coffee. Turns out we could have both! Only catch was that the pressed coffee would have to be for 2. Not a problem, since DH knows better than to mess with my coffee. He'd do as he was told.

Real coffee in WDW??? I LIKED IT!!

And, by the first sip of the lilikoi juice, all regrets of not being at CP were gone. Not that we don't love it. We do. But, it turns out we love Kona too. A lot.

For my entree I had the tonga toast. Two words. Oh my. Per allears, it is banana stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote and your choice of ham, bacon, or sausage ($10.99). Per MariDisney, it is one of the best things I've ever eaten, and I've eaten a lot!! I chose the bacon as a side and asked for it to be cooked extra crisp, which it was. I tried part of the tonga toast plain, part with butter and syrup, and part with the strawberry sauce. I preferred it with butter and syrup. For some, that would be much too sweet as it is practically a dessert. For me, it was perfect. I liked the taste of the strawberry sauce, but I'm a hot foods hot, cold foods cold kind of person. It is served chilled, and to me that detracts from the hot tonga toast.

DH chose the Big Kahuna for his entree (allears: French toast, Macadamia-Pineapple pancakes, eggs, home fried potatoes, ham, bacon, and sausage $11.99). What can I tell you? This man can eat!!! The pancakes were served with a macadamia butter, that he loved. For him, breakfast is about quantity, so the eggs, potatoes, etc. served a purpose. He said they were fine. He did not rave about anything but the macadamia butter. Of course, his mouth was full for about 30 solid minutes eating this thing.

Editing to add that there was more meat served with this dish, but DD stole it as soon as it hit the table. This girl likes her pork.

DD chose the fruit plate for her entree. I believe she felt that if she ordered this giant plate of fruit on the first morning that she would be exempt from future fruit and vegetable requirements for the duration of the trip. She was right. Per allears this dish is: fresh seasonal fruit served in a pineapple with banana nut bread $8.99, but I don't think that quite sums it up. There is an incredible amount of fruit on this plate. Easily a family of 3 could have shared this and one other entree. DD really enjoyed the banana bread and was impressed with the presentation. How often do you eat out of a pineapple?

DD also had a selection of hot tea. Yes, it was 95 degrees. Yes, the kid is 9. What can I tell you?

The service at Kona was very good. We were seated as soon as we arrived, a few minutes early. This restaurant was about 1/2 full by 8:40 or so when we were finished eating. I did have the oppotunity to eavesdrop on a nearby table that was speaking to the chef about food allergies. Although this does not impact my, I was glad to know that the chef was taking a great amount of time and care to meet this other family's needs.

We were lucky enough to hop right on a monorail (since our car was at the TTC) and make it to MK in plenty of time for the opening ceremonies.

 

[MariDisney]

We had had a hearty breakfast for sure. But, dinner wouldn't be until the 9:30 Hoop Dee Doo, so we decided to grab some lunch at Cosmic Rays. Here is one of the times where I saved a credit and shouldn't have. We shared 1 lunch, and we felt satisfied. But, we could have easily done 2.

We had 1/2 Chicken and BBQ Rib Combination - served with Mashed Potatoes and a seasonal vegetable $13.99 (allears). I ordered a large diet coke, which was not a problem, although I've heard reports of DDP getting only a regular size. We also had been carrying a bottle or two of water. For dessert we chocolate cake ($3.95). I did ask the person presenting the food at the counter for 2 additional plates, and that was not a problem.

The food here was good. Nothing fantastic. But good. It was a hot day, and the three of us get a little cranky when we're hot, so basically we were just trying to eat something and cool off. I will say that this would be an excellent value on any DDP if you are trying to get bang for your buck. I think after the whole meal was rung up it was over $20 for 1 credit.

 

[MariDisney]

We had never done the sing along at the Fort before. So, since our Hoop Dee Doo time wasn't until 9:30, we decided to go to the campfire and sing along and have some s'mores appetizer. DD's favorite characters are Chip and Dale, so it was a perfect opportunity to meet them in another setting.

The S'mores fixings were not included in any DDP, so we paid about $12 OOP for 3 sticks, and the pack of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers. Cowboy Anthony was VERY fun and put on a great show. We didn't know it, but you will only get to meet Chip OR Dale based on which side of the audience you are on. I don't know if the pattern is the same every night, but we had Dale and we were sitting on the left side of the audience as you are facing the stage.

You'll notice that DD is trying to teach me the cool hand move throughout our trip. I'm failing miserably. Also, I obviously need to learn to take better night time shots with our camera as none of the ones with Dale turned out.

This time was one of the nicest family times we've spent at WDW. Low key. No line. Just having fun with Cowboy Anothy, Chip and Dale, and some s'mores.

 

[KatMark]

I'm here for the food reviews--you are off to a great start.



P.S. Sorry you didn't like CSR.

 

[MariDisney]

great reviews -

I like that you included the night before the flight!!

Thanks! We find that staying near the airport the night before gets us off to a good start. The breakfast at the Hampton Inn really helped.

Signing on!

Welcome!

I'm here for the food reviews--you are off to a great start.



P.S. Sorry you didn't like CSR.

It was nothing horrible, except housekeeping wasn't great and we needed to call for a number of things throughout the week. We thought it was a beautiful resort, just too big for our taste. We're POFQ people. As I mentioned, I didn't care for the set up of Pepper Market. I know there are people that love CSR, and more power to them!

 

[KatMark]

It was nothing horrible, except housekeeping wasn't great and we needed to call for a number of things throughout the week. We thought it was a beautiful resort, just too big for our taste. We're POFQ people. As I mentioned, I didn't care for the set up of Pepper Market. I know there are people that love CSR, and more power to them!

We were there about two weeks ago and we never got a chance to eat at Pepper Market (we've stayed eight times and this is the first time we didn't eat there). I did stop by and was very disappointed with how things have been eliminated from the menu, etc. I really wonder if they are going to change it to a buffet like rumor has it. That is funny that you mention POFQ. We went there on our way to the airport for a look around and walked the entire resort.

 

[Stefy]

Kona Breakfast looks and sounds great. I am not a coffee person but am looking forward to trying the Pressed Pot. That Big Kahuna looks huge!

Am really enjoying your reviews I did not know that Yak and Yeti was not Disney owned.

I like eating at Cosmic Rays, DF doesn't really get it. Your meal was what I had last year and I liked it alot, esp the green beans, love me some green beans

I know what you mean about Pepper Market, we got QS everytime we got anything from there and just sat outside. We were not huge fans of the resort by the end of the trip.

Looking forward to reading more

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reviews so far, tonga toast looks yummy !

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

Can't wait to hear and see more

 

[engle]

Neeeeeeed mooooooore!!!!!

 

[MariDisney]

After enjoying the campfire and sing-a-long we walked to the HDDR. We thought the walk was nice, although I will say it was fairly dark and if you have any instability in walking at all it would probably be best to hop on the bus.

Upon arrival at the HDDR you check in and then your family's photo is taken. They will then bring the pictures around later to your table and you can decide whether to buy or not. Last year, we liked the picture so much that we did buy it and used it as our Christmas card. This year, not so much. If you buy it, you also get a number to add it to your Photopass card.

We love the atmosphere at the HDDR and so always rave about the food because it sort of all goes together in our heads. I can see that if you weren't into the hilarity of the whole experience then you might find the food only OK.

When we were seated there was a beautiful corn bread on our table. Now, I love cornbread covered with large amounts of butter. This was as good as any I've had. Of course, I live in PA, so I've probably not been exposed to the best. Our waiter Bor (It's really Rob, but he's dyslexic, he told us) introduced himself and took our drink order. One of the nice thing about the HDDR is that a large number of alcoholic drinks are included. So, I had a sangria (the first of several!) and DH had a beer of some sort (the first of several. Guess what DD had. Yep. Hot tea.

Apparently I didn't take too many food pics here. As we were eating our cornbread, Bor brought our salad. He made many many corny jokes throughout the meal (lettuce now eat our salad). That was funny. Even funnier, was that he made the same jokes at the other 4 or so tables he was waiting on. I found that hysterical. I am easily amused. After the salad the show begins. Just when your sides hurt from laughing, there is a break in the action for the main course. It includes really good friend chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes and cowboy beans. We really enjoy the food as you can see from what DH left:

I told you we like to eat!!

Dessert is a decent strawberry short cake. It's one pan of shortcake for 2 people. Since there were 3 of us, we had 2 pans. Bor gave one whole pan to DD and she refused to share. It was at this point that I no longer liked Bor. He did redeem himself some by offering to take a family photo for us.

We had a great time here, as always. We even had our picture taken with Claire de Lune!

 

[MariDisney]

We were there about two weeks ago and we never got a chance to eat at Pepper Market (we've stayed eight times and this is the first time we didn't eat there). I did stop by and was very disappointed with how things have been eliminated from the menu, etc. I really wonder if they are going to change it to a buffet like rumor has it. That is funny that you mention POFQ. We went there on our way to the airport for a look around and walked the entire resort.

That's what I love about POFQ! You can get from and 2 points on the resort in really just a minute or two.

Kona Breakfast looks and sounds great. I am not a coffee person but am looking forward to trying the Pressed Pot. That Big Kahuna looks huge!

Am really enjoying your reviews I did not know that Yak and Yeti was not Disney owned.

I like eating at Cosmic Rays, DF doesn't really get it. Your meal was what I had last year and I liked it alot, esp the green beans, love me some green beans

I know what you mean about Pepper Market, we got QS everytime we got anything from there and just sat outside. We were not huge fans of the resort by the end of the trip.

Looking forward to reading more

The Big Kahuna was HUGE. Of course, DH had no problem polishing it off with a little help from DD.

It's funny, before I went it seemed all I read were glowing reviews of CSR. Now that I'm back I'm reading more and more negative reviews. Not that it was horrible at all. Just not our thing.

great reviews so far, tonga toast looks yummy !

It was REALLY yummy!

Can't wait to hear and see more

Neeeeeeed mooooooore!!!!!

Doing my best!! Hand in there!!

 

[MariDisney]

I'm trying to do my reviews in order, but I didn't bother to remember or note the other of snack we had. So, I'll do some reviews of things I have pictures of since I shoulnd't have to think too hard.

One of the things we usually do at WDW on mornings where we don't have a breakfast ADR is to send DH to the food court to rustle up some breakfast for us and bring it back to the room. Because of the size of the resort, that wasn't practical for us at CSR. So, one night we decided to pick up pastries in Cafe Rix to have for breakfast. Cafe Rix had a variety of muffins, bannana bread, croissants, rolls etc. Unfortunately, the muffins and croissants were not snack credits on the dining plan. So, we all got banana bread to eat the next morning. It was a large slice and relatively tastey. I will say that it was somewhat too moist in the middle making me think it wasn't cooked completely. DD loves mornings so much that she decided to eat it laying flat on her back.

Because the housekeeping staff at CSR didn't automatically refill our coffee supplies we had to call every day to get more packs of coffee. Just mentioning here in case you decide to do something similar. Make sure you have coffee before you really NEED it!

One day at MK we all had Dole Whipe Floats. Some people have these as a must do every trip. They're not for us. They're good. We all like them. But, we could have a successful trip without one. On this particular day it was very hot and the float was refreshing. People in line we down right ticked they didn't have chocolate milkshakes there. I thought the whips and floats were just fine!

Is there anything better than a classic Mickey bar after a ride on TSM? I think not.

DD and I are big rice cream fans. For the uninitiated this is a creamy dessert simiar to rice pudding but with out cinnamon topped with a strawberry topping. You can get them for 1 snack credit at the Kringla bakery in Norway in Epcot.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Thanks for the reviews, especially Yak and Yeti and Kona since I have ADRs for these and have never been before. You are one of many here on the DIS that have said the honey chicken is not crispy at Yak and Yeti. That is the only dish on the menu I think DS will eat (you should be thankful for your DD) so you have given me the idea to ask that it be cooked crispy.

Looking forward to hearing more...