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

[SkyGirl]

This is great! I love the pictures and the humor you have!

Looking forward to more!

 

[kathymc]

enjoying your reports. man - that lobster is calling my name
thanks for all the hard work!

 

[swankybeth]

Really enjoying your reviews & pictures. Blue Zoo is totally on my list of places to try. Truffle mayo? I might have to convince DH to add Blue Zoo to our list for this coming trip...

 

[disneyquilter]

Thanks for reading and laughing! One question: does Diet Pepsi do anything for your sinuses? Mine are killing me!

Nothing but burn, burn, burn sistah!

 

[honeybee30]

On day 4, we arrived at Disney-MGM Studios for rope drop. (Sorry, we have chosen to go the way of diehard WEDway PeopleMover fans and never refer to the Studios by their new generic moniker.)

I love to ride ToT & RnR first thing in the morning. DGF loves to have coffee first thing in the morning. This difference of opinion creates conflict which can only be mediated by finding coffee for DGF. I argue that riding roller coasters gives you an adrenaline rush that mimics the effects of caffeine. DGF gives me the strung-out look of a true java junky in withdrawal. “Don’t mess with me,” the look says, and I concede.

So on the morning of day 4, we took a right at the entrance to the Hollywood Tower Hotel and headed straight for the coffee cart located across from the gift shop (Yep, we know the location of every kiosk that sells shots of espresso in all of WDW. This is DGF’s contribution to vacation planning. ) I had a regular double-shot cappuccino. DGF had a quadruple-shot cappuccino, and we checked “Get coffee fix” off the To Do list for the day.

But I still had a rumbley in my tumbley, so on our way to GMR, we dropped into the sweet shop adjacent to Villains in Vogue. Here we purchased a giant, frosted, ice-box cookie in the shape of a pumpkin, and voila, breakfast! Aside from getting drunk before noon, cookies for breakfast are the best part of being on vacation.

We find MGM to be a real lunchtime wasteland. I’m no counter service connoisseur, but the last time we ate at ABC Commissary we swore never to eat a Cuban sandwich outside of Havana ever again. We love Hollywood Brown Derby, however, so we made an ADR there for lunch. Our reservation was for noon, and I requested one of their neato round booths. Luckily we were seated on the upper level so that we didn’t have to mingle with the hoi polloi. The food was nice as always. Our server was nice too, but he was either new or he’d been sampling the Peachtree Punch. He sort of wandered around aimlessly and asked us if we were Ok a lot, to which I answered, “Hey man, I’m Ok, if you’re Ok.” Then he’d hiccup and go back to wandering. Here’s what we ordered:

We wanted to have as much fun as our punchy waiter, so we both ordered a Peachtree Punch.

This is one of our favorite mixed drinks in WDW. It’s very refreshing on a warm day, and it does wonders to enhance the visual effects of Muppets 3-D.

We split the coconut fried shrimp with Asian pear-chili sambal and citrus soy dipping sauce for an appetizer. Disclaimer: borrowed picture!

Crunchy on the outside and shrimpy on the inside, but in a good way. This was fine to share for lunch because we wanted something lighter, but it’s really portioned for one, especially if you’re hungry.

For our main course, we both ordered the Cobb Salad. This is a chopped salad of greens, turkey breast, egg, bacon, tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing.

This salad looks like a painting by Jackson Pollock but tastes much better. I guess oil paint is an acquired taste. I like mine with extra dressing. My salad that is. I like my oil paintings undressed….do you ever feel like you’re metaphors have gotten away from you? Yeah, me too.

Dessert was a no brainer because DGF loves the Grapefruit Cake at HBD. It is a layered yellow cake with grapefruit cream cheese icing. Disclaimer: another borrowed picture!

We shared a slice of cake. Well, mostly I ate the icing. An excellent choice for the citrus lover in your life. I suspect there may have been coffee with dessert as well. In the interest of narrative continuity, let’s just assume there was.

Dinner at California Grill is up next!

 

[John's Mom]

Peachtree Punch sounds delicious. I'm sure it was a light, refreshing afternoon drink. I have two favorite drinks at the AKL--Victoria Falls Mist and Nahtazu.

 

[TigerKat]

So is that Cobb salad worth a trip there?

 

[honeybee30]

Oh my goodness, that dessert at Blue Zoo looks heavenly. I've just drooled all over my keyboard.

P.S. Trying not to think of the frying lobster situation

Frying a lobster is sort of like frying a candy bar. Just because we can, should we? It’s mighty decadent stuff! But hey, pull out the Fry Daddy, we’re on vacation!

Current score: Blue Zoo - 2; Brenda & Jay - 0

I give up! We'll go to Blue Zoo on our next visit ... between you and Kathy I'm a believer!

Oh, and Bomuda Triangle ...

You guys will conquer the bluezoo and love every minute of it!

Really enjoying your reviews & pictures. Blue Zoo is totally on my list of places to try. Truffle mayo? I might have to convince DH to add Blue Zoo to our list for this coming trip...

Hi swankybeth! I really enjoyed your last dining report. Thanks for reading!

You must convince your DH to try bluezoo. The truffle mayo alone is worth the price of admission.

Nothing but burn, burn, burn sistah!

Peachtree Punch sounds delicious. I'm sure it was a light, refreshing afternoon drink. I have two favorite drinks at the AKL--Victoria Falls Mist and Nahtazu.

It’s delicious plus it comes with a cute Mickey stirrer! I’ve heard lots of good things about the Victoria Falls Mist. I’ll have to try it.

So is that Cobb salad worth a trip there?

The cobb salad is good. But the salmon and polenta dish HBD serves at dinner is phenomenal and definitely worth a visit.


Thanks for reading GoofySon’sMom, SkyGirl, & kathymc!

 

[DISNEYDUET]

On day 4, we arrived at Disney-MGM Studios for rope drop. (Sorry, we have chosen to go the way of diehard WEDway PeopleMover fans and never refer to the Studios by their new generic moniker.)

Viva la MGM!!! It will always be MGM as it will always be the WEDway.

Aside from getting drunk before noon, cookies for breakfast are the best part of being on vacation.

Not there with the cookie thing but the drunk before noon thing Def!!

Luckily we were seated on the upper level so that we didn’t have to mingle with the hoi polloi.

You know come to think of it DH and I have never sat down below. Huh.

We split the coconut fried shrimp with Asian pear-chili sambal and citrus soy dipping sauce for an appetizer. Crunchy on the outside and shrimpy on the inside, but in a good way. This was fine to share for lunch because we wanted something lighter, but it’s really portioned for one, especially if you’re hungry.

For our main course, we both ordered the Cobb Salad. This is a chopped salad of greens, turkey breast, egg, bacon, tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, chives and Cobb dressing.
Dessert was a no brainer because DGF loves the Grapefruit Cake at HBD. It is a layered yellow cake with grapefruit cream cheese icing.

Ok, now you did it. I'm hungry AGAIN. I was so good and had celery with hummus for dinner and you have just ruined it. Thanks a bunch!

Great update! Peachy keen in my book.

 

[DISNEYDUET]

BTW-what beach are you moving to? I noticed you are in Durham NC right now. I have family in Raleigh. My cousin is a dentist there and DH and I spend a lot of time in Hatteras. We love to surf fish and are members of the NCBBA.

 

[honeybee30]

Viva la MGM!!! It will always be MGM as it will always be the WEDway.

Not there with the cookie thing but the drunk before noon thing Def!!

You know come to think of it DH and I have never sat down below. Huh.

We’ve sat a table a couple of times, but it’s not nearly as fun as sitting in a booth.

Ok, now you did it. I'm hungry AGAIN. I was so good and had celery with hummus for dinner and you have just ruined it. Thanks a bunch!

Food porn hurts so good!

BTW-what beach are you moving to? I noticed you are in Durham NC right now. I have family in Raleigh. My cousin is a dentist there and DH and I spend a lot of time in Hatteras. We love to surf fish and are members of the NCBBA.

We are relocating to the Wilmington area. I did my undergrad at UNCW, and we loved living on the coast. We rented a house across the street from the ocean at Carolina Beach. Now that I’m done with grad school and have some teaching experience, we’re ready to make ago of it down there again.

The outer banks are gorgeous, too. We’ve done some camping at Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Can't wait to hear about the California Grill!!!

 

[honeybee30]

Let me start the review of our favorite meal of the trip by saying the view from California Grill is amazing!

This is the view we had from where we sat in the wine room. I didn’t request to be seated in there, but from now on, I certainly will! The wine room is so much quieter and less hustley-bustley than the main dining room.

It’s a shame, but I can’t remember what we had to drink that night. I want to say that we started off with some sparkling wine, but then I seem to recall DGF ordering a dirty Martini. It must’ve been potent whatever the heck it was because my dining notes are sketchy, and I didn’t take pictures of the appetizers, (so I borrowed one to fill in the blanks ). I do know this much – the food was absofunkinlutely fantastic!

For the first course, I ordered the BLT flatbread. Cali Grill changes up their selection of flatbreads seasonally, and they always come up with fun, inventive variations. This one did not disappoint. The heirloom tomatoes on this were just heavenly. DGF ordered a combination of California rolls and tempura rolls:

This sushi was amazing. Super fresh and stuff-it-in-your-mouth-four-sushi-rolls-at-a-time delicious. The next time we eat at Cali Grill, DGF swears she will get Yoshi’s Deluxe Sushi Platter as her entrée.

For the main course, I got the grilled pork tenderloin with creamy goat cheese polenta, cremini mushrooms, zinfandel glaze and sage.

Like ebony and ivory, those flavors are livin’ in perfect harmony. I may be tempted to stray, but visit after visit, I will always remain faithful to this dish.

DGF, on the other hand, likes to break away from convention. So what if Mohammed Ali ordered the steak (a little factoid our server imparted to us), DGF went out on a limb and got the red snapper fillet with crispy rice galette, roasted squash, zucchini, peppers and coconut curry sauce.

She was plotzing it was so good. The fish was sweet and buttery and cooked perfectly, while the curry sauce was an excellent accompaniment.

Desserts will be had, and by gosh, we had them. I was in a chocolaty sort of mood, so I chose Valrhona Chocolate and Coffee, which is warm chocolate cake with molten center, house-made white coffee ice cream and cappuccino anglaise.

The only word to describe this dessert is shagadelic.

DGF tried the "Caramel Apple." This was very chi-chi in a deconstructing dessert kind of way. From left to right, there is an Apple Jalousie Tart with Caramel Foam, a Caramel Apple Shooter, and a Green Apple Meringue with Apple Sorbet.

The tart was a flakey pastry a la apple strudel. The shooter was actually a caramel-apple custard. But the last part was really innovative. On the bottom was an apple chutney, followed by a layer of meringue, and topped by a green apple sorbet. The textures were so interesting together. DGF loved it and declared it delightful.

The next day we tried to trade in our reservation at Citricos (which we ended up skipping anyway) for another shot at Cali Grill, but alas she was booked solid. We’re going there twice on this month’s trip, though! Hurray!

Next installment: Day 5 ~ Boma Breakfast Part Deux and dinner at Rose & Crown

 

[TigerKat]

Cali Grill will always be on our list. As you stated you just can't beat the view and the food is always excellent!!!

 

[oybolshoi]

We requested the wine room when we ate at CA Grill last May (thank you DISboards!) and I swear we will never eat in the main dining room again. Watching the MK fireworks from 15 stories above ground is over-rated anyway.

I knew I liked you for a reason... the pork tenderloin and the goat cheese polenta ...

I never finish the pork (it's good but not the reason I order that dish) but I literally lick the polenta off my plate. Next time we eat at CA Grill I'm seriously thinking of asking them if I can substitute the pork with more polenta.

Both desserts sounds delish - I probably would have gone with the chocolate / coffee choice, too, but I like the looks of the deconstructed apple dessert ... that looks like 3 desserts to me all for the bargain price of 1 dessert!!

Edited to add: I think Day 4 of your trip is October 22nd, no? If that's the case it's a Monday and had my DH not been a sickie we might have actually seen the two of you at CA Grill because we had a ressie there that night.

In retrospect it's probably better that we didn't go because he might have been contagious and because meeting us in person is far less interesting than meeting us on-line.

 

[John's Mom]

We had dinner in the Wine Room on our last trip and really enjoyed the quiet and the view. I don't eat sushi, but my DD ordered Yoshi’s Deluxe Sushi Platter and loved it. She said it was the best sushi she ever had.

 

[swankybeth]

Hi swankybeth! I really enjoyed your last dining report. Thanks for reading!

Great installment. Cali Grill looks great. We used to go there every trip but for some reason DH isn't so jazzed about going there anymore.
Glad you enjoyed my report.
And because it's never too early to pimp out your own reports, I'll be doing another one in a few weeks when we get back.

 

[honeybee30]

Cali Grill will always be on our list. As you stated you just can't beat the view and the food is always excellent!!!

We requested the wine room when we ate at CA Grill last May (thank you DISboards!) and I swear we will never eat in the main dining room again. Watching the MK fireworks from 15 stories above ground is over-rated anyway.

I'd trade fireworks for eating my $150 dollar meal in relative peace and quiet anyday! Besides there's always the observation deck!

Next time we eat at CA Grill I'm seriously thinking of asking them if I can substitute the pork with more polenta.

Sounds like a plan. If it works out for you, I may have try that!

Both desserts sounds delish - I probably would have gone with the chocolate / coffee choice, too, but I like the looks of the deconstructed apple dessert ... that looks like 3 desserts to me all for the bargain price of 1 dessert!!

This dessert was definitely more Heather's style than mine. On most days, I'm a purist. What isn't chocolate should be cheesecake. Maybe peanut butter, if I'm feeling wacky. I tasted the apple one, and it was very good, but the molten chocolate cake - oh mama...

Edited to add: I think Day 4 of your trip is October 22nd, no? If that's the case it's a Monday and had my DH not been a sickie we might have actually seen the two of you at CA Grill because we had a ressie there that night.

In retrospect it's probably better that we didn't go because he might have been contagious and because meeting us in person is far less interesting than meeting us on-line.

Yep, that was the 22nd! How funny! But poor DH. Sick at WDW is the pits. Poor you too for missing CG!

And I'm sure you are both lovely in person!!!

We had dinner in the Wine Room on our last trip and really enjoyed the quiet and the view. I don't eat sushi, but my DD ordered Yoshi’s Deluxe Sushi Platter and loved it. She said it was the best sushi she ever had.

Oh good! DGF will be glad to hear that!

Glad you enjoyed my report.
And because it's never too early to pimp out your own reports, I'll be doing another one in a few weeks when we get back.

Have a great time! I can't wait to read your dining report when you get back!

We're 10 days out from our next trip, and I've got so much to do to get ready! Here's hoping for low crowds!

 

[Linus Van Pelt]

LOVING the report so far (especially since, being on the DxDP, we'll be hitting a lot of the same establishments that you did)! I was just curious: Should the wine room at California Grill be requested upon checking in at the podium, or should one ring up 407-WDW-DINE and have the request noted on one's ADRs?

Now, more sublime food pics and whimsical reportage, please.

 

[honeybee30]

LOVING the report so far (especially since, being on the DxDP, we'll be hitting a lot of the same establishments that you did)! I was just curious: Should the wine room at California Grill be requested upon checking in at the podium, or should one ring up 407-WDW-DINE and have the request noted on one's ADRs?

Now, more sublime food pics and whimsical reportage, please.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy many of these restaurants as much as we did, and maybe you'll write a food trippie of your own! I'd really like to hear about your experience with the DxDP.

To answer your question, I think you request the wine room at the podium when you get there. We had an early ADR last time and the wine room was pretty empty. The window seats with an MK view are in big demand, especially around fireworks time. That's why we like the wine room. I'm there for the food and ambience, not the fireworks. But it seems to me that many people bring their kids (which is their perogative...no hard feelings ) with the fireworks in mind. This makes for a noisy main dining room that lacks some of the sophistication that this restaurant is certainly capable of.