Epicuriouser & Curiouser: A Dining Review ~ 10/19-10/28/07

[ekball]

So hungry.....so very very hungry....

Entertaining to say the least.

Wishing we could sneak my toddlers into CG or Narcoochie's

 

[chrisw127]

Love your food reviews. Congrats on the nieces. They are lucky to have two aunties. I have boy/girl twins who are almost a year old--I know how much your family must value your help!

 

[my3disneygirls]

OK, here you go. It's more of a method than a recipe. I don't measure and with this you can toss in any of your favs.

Raman noodles re hydrated, toss the seasoning packets or use for something else
Thai peanut sauce. I use House of Tsang brand Bangkok Peanut Sauce, I have seen it in every food store by me and it has a nice spicy kick.
Sauté chunked chicken breast in some oil and soy sauce (or use leftover chicken)
When the chicken is almost done add in peanut sauce (Enough to coat the meat vegies and noodles) thawed frozen peas and shredded carrots. Heat through. Toss with the noodles. I like the contrast of the sweet carrots and peas with the spicy sauce. I like to add in a couple of scrambled eggs into the noodle mixture.

For crunch I usually add water chestnuts (my kids love them), or bean sprouts. It's great because all you need to have on hand is the noodles and the sauce and you can throw together a meal in 20 minutes with whatever you like and have on hand. Plus since it's just you and GF that one bottle of peanut sauce will last you a while.

 

[2xcited2slp]

wonderful and very hilarious reviews!!!!

I would love your opinion on something-----if you had a choice to go to Boma, would you choose breakfast or dinner?? I am going in April and we are contemplating Boma, but cannot decide which meal-----can't fit both in.
Thanks in advance for your input.

Can't wait to read more of your reviews!!!

 

[honeybee30]

So hungry.....so very very hungry....

Entertaining to say the least.

Wishing we could sneak my toddlers into CG or Narcoochie's

Thanks for tuning in!

Plenty of people bring their toddlers to those restaurants, and both restaurants have children's menus. I'd just book the earliest reservation possible, like 5pm. It will be less crowded and the kids will be less exhausted that way.

Love your food reviews. Congrats on the nieces. They are lucky to have two aunties. I have boy/girl twins who are almost a year old--I know how much your family must value your help!

Thanks! Congrats on your twins, too.

They keep us busy, but it's wonderful to spend so much time with my neices. They're so precious and fun! They are almost 4 months old, so they're all smiles and coos. I can't wait until we can to take them to WDW!

wonderful and very hilarious reviews!!!!

I would love your opinion on something-----if you had a choice to go to Boma, would you choose breakfast or dinner?? I am going in April and we are contemplating Boma, but cannot decide which meal-----can't fit both in.
Thanks in advance for your input.

Can't wait to read more of your reviews!!!

Thanks for reading! If I had to choose, I'd have to say dinner at Boma.

 

[honeybee30]

OK, here you go. It's more of a method than a recipe. I don't measure and with this you can toss in any of your favs.

Raman noodles re hydrated, toss the seasoning packets or use for something else
Thai peanut sauce. I use House of Tsang brand Bangkok Peanut Sauce, I have seen it in every food store by me and it has a nice spicy kick.
Sauté chunked chicken breast in some oil and soy sauce (or use leftover chicken)
When the chicken is almost done add in peanut sauce (Enough to coat the meat vegies and noodles) thawed frozen peas and shredded carrots. Heat through. Toss with the noodles. I like the contrast of the sweet carrots and peas with the spicy sauce. I like to add in a couple of scrambled eggs into the noodle mixture.

For crunch I usually add water chestnuts (my kids love them), or bean sprouts. It's great because all you need to have on hand is the noodles and the sauce and you can throw together a meal in 20 minutes with whatever you like and have on hand. Plus since it's just you and GF that one bottle of peanut sauce will last you a while.

Thanks for the recipe. It sounds really good, like a quick pad thai! It would be good with tofu too, I bet.

 

[my3disneygirls]

Thanks for the recipe. It sounds really good, like a quick pad thai! It would be good with tofu too, I bet.

Tofu would be good in it, I never even thought of that.

 

[arieljasmine]

I have really enjoyed reading your reports so far and you have been to some very interesting places. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking about that Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby now, I love that stuff so much Looking forward to reading more.

Laur's

 

[MinnieMaddie]

Your reviews are fabulous and hilarious! I am eagerly awaiting more!

 

[rockstargeisha]

Just hopped aboard, great reviews! The yummies from the F&W Festival look so delicious. I am considering that for our next visit. Looking forward to more!

Also, I love your totoro icon. I have a lil' plush of that one, hehe.

 

[honeybee30]

I have really enjoyed reading your reports so far and you have been to some very interesting places. Unfortunately, I can't stop thinking about that Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby now, I love that stuff so much Looking forward to reading more.

Laur's

Thanks for reading! I really like HBD, too. We've had some great meals there. The cobb salad is so good!

Your reviews are fabulous and hilarious! I am eagerly awaiting more!

Thanks! I'll get a chance to work on the reviews some tomorrow and try to get a few more days up.

Just hopped aboard, great reviews! The yummies from the F&W Festival look so delicious. I am considering that for our next visit. Looking forward to more!

Also, I love your totoro icon. I have a lil' plush of that one, hehe.

I'm glad your here! Definitely go during F&W fest. It is such a great time of year at WDW! MNSSHP is fun, too, especially if you're a halloween freak like us!

I love all the Miyazaki critters and creatures, but Totoro may be my favorite.

 

[Princesswanabee]

Can't wait to hear more of your great dining reviews. I stopped lurking and signed up just so I could subscribe you your thread!!

 

[honeybee30]

As you may or may not have noticed, Mara has been sadly neglected so far in this dining report. In actuality, I think the closest we came to our resort food court was a nod in its general direction, as in “Oh look, honey, there’s the food court way over there.” We never even went to Mara to refill our refill mugs, which we bought way back in May and, being the cheapy-cheap-skate-refill-mug-cheaters that we are, reused on 3 subsequent trips. Perhaps it was the inconvenient location of Mara in combination with the horrendousness of Nescafe in general that made spending obscene amounts of money on cappuccinos in the park such an attractive option. Touché Disney. You sank my battleship once again.

On Day 7, we returned to AK because I have to ride EE at least 12 times per trip, and I had yet to fill my Yeti quota for October. But first DGF needed a coffee fix. Lucky for us and coffee suckers everywhere, there is a nifty little coffee cart right at the entrance to AK. Here we purchased two cappuccinos and a cheese Danish for breakfast. Yum.

For lunch, we decided on Flame Tree Barbeque. To be honest, the only reason I like this counter service is the onion rings. I am to onion rings what Britney is to baby mama drama. I just can’t help myself.

We shared some onion rings, a fruit plate, and a beef sandwich served with baked beans.

The beef sandwich was ok with lots of special sauce, but the baked beans were truly disgusting. I think that Disney should get a clue here. Stop messing with the menu at ‘Ohana and get rid of those nasty beans. Everybody hates them. The fruit plate tasted great though, and I believe it counteracted the unhealthiness of the onion rings. According to this logic, onion rings are good for you when consumed with cantaloupe.

Dinner that night was conveniently located right downstairs from our room. That’s right, Jiko! Swahili for we eat macaroni and cheese with our filet mignon. But before our adventure in African fusion cuisine, we stopped by Victoria Falls Lounge for a drink.

DGF ordered a Raspberry Mojito, while I had a Rum Runner.

I really only enjoy rum while on vacation at WDW. Maybe it’s a Pirates of the Caribbean thing. We wants the red-head!

All, or at least partly, liquored up, we made our way down to the first circle of hell, otherwise known as limbo or the waiting area between Jiko and Boma. Here we mourned our separation from our dinner. But there was hope for us virtuous pagans yet. That’s right, the bar! Swahili for the drinking place. We shouldered up to the bar, buzzer in hand, and after consulting with the bartender, both ordered a glass of Pinotage. This is a red wine made from a South African varietal, which neither of us enjoyed much after the 3rd sip. Way too dry and puckery!

Once seated at a table for two in the main dining room, we decided to try the appetizer sampler. This isn’t on the menu, but I’d heard about it on the DIS and thought it sounded good.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but clockwise from one o’clock, we have: Lamb "Patis" (pulled lamb rolled in phyllo) with mint-cilantro chutney, Lentil "Pastilla" (lentil filled phyllo pockets) with a sweet and sour sauce, Maize and Sweet Potato "Tamales" (herbed maize pudding and truffled sweet potato mash with shredded goat cheese in corn husk boat), and Fire Roasted Sambal Shrimp with chickpwa and peppadew bhajai.

I’m haunted by several of these appetizers to this day. The lentil pastillas and tamales were sick (which is a good thing).

For my main course, I got the Kenyan Coffee BBQ-Braised Beef Short Rib with crushed Idaho and Sweet Potatoes and Onion-Garlic Sauce.

A blurry picture, but a delicious meal. The short ribs were falling off the bone tender in a thick and rich BBQ sauce. Anyone else need a bib? I’m drooling over my own blurry picture!

In yet another unfocused picture, we have DGF’s favorite dish at Jiko, the Chermoula Roasted, Tanglewood Chicken with red-skin mashed potatoes, preserved lemons, kalamata olives, roasted garlic, herbs and harissa.

I like it when she orders this because I get to pick at the crispy chicken skin and steal bites of her mashed potatoes. It’s the combination of subtle flavors that really make this dish, but I think the real secret is in the preserved lemons and the artichoke oil. We tried to make this at home, but it just wasn’t the same.

The waiter twisted my arm until I finally yelled uncle and ordered some dessert. I got the House-made Lemon Curd with pomegranate and blueberry compote, white chocolate biscotti and sour cream ice cream.

I love lemon curd, and if I wasn’t already so full, I would’ve been licking the bowl.

DGF is a creature of habit and revisited the Pistachio Crème Brulee with layered chocolate bottom.

This is one of the many inventive versions of crème brulee to be found at WDW. A must if you enjoy pistachios or are on a monorail crème brulee crawl, except the monorail doesn’t go to AKL, so never mind.

This was our 2nd time dining at Jiko and certainly not our last. I would recommend this restaurant to the more adventurous among us, but I think even picky eaters will find something interesting on the menu.

Only 2 days left. Can we stomach 2 more dinners at signature restaurants or do we punk out?

 

[honeybee30]

Can't wait to hear more of your great dining reviews. I stopped lurking and signed up just so I could subscribe you your thread!!

Thank you for subscribing. Only a few days left!

 

[my3disneygirls]

As you may or may not have noticed, Mara has been sadly neglected so far in this dining report. In actuality, I think the closest we came to our resort food court was a nod in its general direction, as in “Oh look, honey, there’s the food court way over there.” We never even went to Mara to refill our refill mugs, which we bought way back in May and, being the cheapy-cheap-skate-refill-mug-cheaters that we are, reused on 3 subsequent trips. Perhaps it was the inconvenient location of Mara in combination with the horrendousness of Nescafe in general that made spending obscene amounts of money on cappuccinos in the park such an attractive option. Touché Disney. You sank my battleship once again.

I bow to you woman of strength and fortitude. To actually admit to reusing refillable mugs here on the Dis which is punishable by death, (or severe chastising) makes you the bravest of them all. You must have a shield of much magnitude, or not give a crap what anyone has to say.

 

[TigerKat]

My oh my, you bring back such fond memories of our meal at JIKO - the Sampler platter, Short Rib & Creme brulee.......amazing.

 

[honeybee30]

I bow to you woman of strength and fortitude. To actually admit to reusing refillable mugs here on the Dis which is punishable by death, (or severe chastising) makes you the bravest of them all. You must have a shield of much magnitude, or not give a crap what anyone has to say.

Wait. I'll put on my flamesuit. There now I can face the tireless defenders of the Disney corporation, who chastise us deadbeat refill mug pilferers. Actually, I like to think of myself as a drink station renegade.

My oh my, you bring back such fond memories of our meal at JIKO - the Sampler platter, Short Rib & Creme brulee.......amazing.

Jiko is pretty amazing. I'm in love with those tamales.

 

[honeybee30]

On Day 8, we decided to join the preschool set for Little One’s EMH at MK. This was one of those planning decisions that would’ve worked out better if we were someone else. After an hour of dodging little ones (such a benign name for evil) in stroller purgatory, we either needed coffee or a frontal lobotomy. Main Street Bakery it is!

The line was out the door approximately 5 minutes after the main gates opened, but I wanted French toast loaf, by god, so we waited anyway. I vote for a FP machine at Main Street Bakery. Anyone second that?

Two rides on Splash Mountain later, we finally reached the counter and ordered a sugary feast guaranteed to send us into diabetic ecstasies. We shared a French toast loaf and a Cinnamon roll, which I washed down with a frozen latte, while DGF had a double espresso.

This breakfast made me want to pull my T-shirt over my head and yell, “I need tee-pee for my bunghole.” The only thing left to do was ride Space Mountain. Heheh heh heh hmm heh. Yeah, that'd be cool. Heh heh hmm heh. Shut up, Beavis.

Around noon, we headed over to our lunchtime ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern and checked-in with the hostess. A few minutes later, they announced us as the “Swiss” family, an interesting take on my last name but Disney-themed at least, and we were led upstairs to a nice table by the window. So far so good.

Our view to Liberty Square:

And LTT’s nifty souvenir mug:

They supposedly didn’t have any extras mugs, so we couldn’t buy one to keep. What do they have against the Swiss?

First, we ordered a couple of appetizers. We had the Maryland Crab Cake on roasted corn succotash with tartar sauce.

And the Tavern Fried Cheese with marinara sauce.

The appetizers were easily the best part of the meal, especially the fried cheese. The crab cake was Ok, but I admit to being pretty picky when it comes to crab cakes.

Things went decidedly downhill from here. I blame several factors for this. First of all, I think we filled up on our appetizers. Second of all, I think we ordered the wrong things for our main course. Third of all, I think we hit the wall on Day 8, meaning vacation is really fun until it isn’t anymore. This is usually short lived, but it happens to the best of us. Fourth of all, DGF waited in line for the bathroom for like 30 minutes, while mommies coaxed babies to tinkle in each of the 2 stalls at LTT. An irritable DGF is no fun for anyone.

Anyway, for my main course, I got the Tri-Corner Sandwich, which is roast beef and Swiss cheese with Liberty Slaw, horseradish cream sauce and arugula served on herbed focaccia with tavern fries.

This sounds like something I would like in theory, me being Swiss and all, but in reality, I didn’t care for it. Too much bread!

DGF had the New England Pot Roast... Our Tavern Keeper's Favorite, which is braised beef in a cabernet wine and mushroom sauce served with mashed potatoes and garden vegetables.

This is really up DGF’s alley, her being a tavern keeper and all, but she thought the meat was too fatty. Once again, due to the aforementioned list of reasons, we didn’t particularly enjoy lunch here, but I wouldn’t discount it entirely. On a better day, it may have been just fine.

After lunch, we decided to go back to the resort for a nap. The nap felt so good that we decided to stay in bed and skip our ADR at Citricos. We ordered room service for dinner instead.

Here is our tray. We ordered 2 Rum Runners, 2 Ginger Ales, Pita Crisps with hummus, 2 Angus Chuck Cheeseburgers, and a Zebra Dome.

The burgers were a bit over-cooked, but the pita crisps were really good, and the zebra dome was huge. Overall a very expensive, but satisfying meal, made even better by the fact that we ate it in our Pjs!

Our last day of Disney dining coming up....

 

[honeybee30]

Our last full day was not very exciting culinary wise. We were wined and dined and stuffed! So back to basics.

We spent the morning at Epcot and skipped breakfast, so we headed straight for WS at 11am. Let me introduce you to the first of my WDW food addictions:

Cantina nachos from the Mexico pavilion complete with frozen lime Margarita.

Next stop on the tour of my WDW food addictions:

A Sweet Pretzel and School Bread from the Norway pavilion.

We park hopped over to MK at some point, so for dinner we decided on Columbia Harbor House to satisfy the last of my WDW food addictions:

Chicken Strips with French Fries.

It wasn’t California Grill by a long shot, but I can’t leave WDW without eating these things at least once. It was a low key ending to a very decadent vacation of fine dining. If given the chance, I’d do it all over again.

Thanks so much to all my fine readers. I enjoyed writing this review and reading all of your great comments!

 

[oybolshoi]

Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews - you've made me laugh out loud and drool simultaneously which does nothing to convince my husband that I'm not completely barking. And let's not even talk about what happens when I'm at work.

Honestly... very entertaining and very informative reviews. Hope to see more from your most recent trip because reading this has been a delight.

Oh, and you quoted Beavis ... I love Cornholio!!