Fall 2010 Dining Reviews - Updated 3/10

[H20DogsNDisney]

great review
heading to disney in april and my sister and her family will be going to the Cape may cafe for dinner this will be their 2nd time and they love this buffet i was not a big fan so i and the rest of the family said no to it. We are all going to go to sci-fi and while i want to trying i keep thinking i should change this ADR to something else as we also are no big fans of 50s prime time so not to many places in DHS to try. i am enjoying reading your report

 

[englishrose47]

Loved the Reviews !!!I love Sci Fi foriot's oreo milkshake and the cheesecake dessert !!I agree it is dark and chilly!! I will go again as DGS loves the Car tables !!!

I have to try Cape May I am a Seafood lover and any meal with shrimp on it is okay with me !!

 

[pumpkinfish]

After my lunch at Tusker House, I felt miserable. Not sick, just hot, tired, and cranky. So I went back to All Stars and took a nap, which I think was the best thing I could do. After my nap I felt very refreshed, and decided to go to the Magic Kingdom for the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes.

I decided to make a detour on my way to the Magic Kingdom though, and go to the Polynesian for dinner at Captain Cook's. They had a few vegetarian options, grilled cheese, which I've had before, and is good, but I like to try different things each time I go to a restaurant, pizza, which I didn't feel like, and a salad, which sounded interesting.

The salad had a citrus dressing, and was full of cucumbers, tomatoes, wonton strips, blue cheese, and pineapple. I thought the combination of pineapple and blue cheese sounded really weird, but it was really good, and the whole salad was really excellant.

It gets an;



For dessert there was a self-serve Dole whip machine, though I have to question if self-serve is a good idea, since it seems like it would be messy with people trying to fill their cups up as much as possible, but I'm glad this was available as an option, since I usually don't like most CS desserts.

I actually meant to try to get around to eating here again just for that salad, but I never did.

Just reading through and enjoying your reviews! Your description/review/pic of this salad has inspired me to try i on our upcoming stay! I usually get the grilled cheese but will now try something different. Thanks for taking the time to post all this useful information

 

[disneyfav4ever]

The next day I got up bright and early and went to the Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning. I stopped at Main Street Bakery for a bite to eat, and if you don't want to stand in a long line, you should try and get there at rope drop, and head straight there. Kind of insane to do that for something to eat, but totally worth it.

I had the cinnamon roll, which I've had before, and it is absolutly delicious. It's all warm and gooey, with tons of cinnamon and frosting. It's also a huge sugar rush first thing in the morning, but that's okay, I was on vacation.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I didn't add Trail's End to my intinerary until pretty close to my trip. They served a buffet lunch, and the menu didn't really appeal to me that much, at least not enough to use a credit on, or go out of my way for. But the new lunch menu seemed kind of unique.

After spending the morning in Magic Kingdom I took the ferry over to Fort Wilderness, and I'm glad I took the ferry and not the buses like I did after lunch, because I really found their bus system to be a confusing mess.

The restaurant was extremely empty, I think there were only three tables, including myself. I know the resort restaurants don't get as busy as the theme park restaurants at lunch, but I've never seen a restaurant so empty before.

I used one of my dining plan credits for my meal, so I got an entree and dessert. For my entree I had the pan-fried catfish.

I really liked this. The catfish was well cooked, and the remoulade sauce was just a little spicy, and paired well with it. It came with hush puppies, which were a little too dense and dry, but the coleslaw that came with it was yummy and refreshing.

It gets an;



For dessert I had the sticky bun sundae.

Growing up in central Pennsylvania I grew up eating a lot of sticky buns, so maybe I'm spoiled, but I really didn't care for this that much. It was fine, but the sticky bun seemed kind of stale.

It gets an;



Overall I liked my meal, but it isn't a must do for me. And I really don't even know if I'd bother making an ADR since it really seems completely unnecessary to do so.

 

[englishrose47]

That Catfish looks delicious !!

 

[dizneeat]

That catfish looks real good! Since when did they change to TS for lunch? I guess we might even have to drive over and try for ourselves in February! I will keep that as a backup restaurant!

Thanks for the info!

 

[lumpkink]

This sounds great! Thanks for the info...YUM

 

[disneyfav4ever]

great review
heading to disney in april and my sister and her family will be going to the Cape may cafe for dinner this will be their 2nd time and they love this buffet i was not a big fan so i and the rest of the family said no to it. We are all going to go to sci-fi and while i want to trying i keep thinking i should change this ADR to something else as we also are no big fans of 50s prime time so not to many places in DHS to try. i am enjoying reading your report

I really like both Brown Derby and Mama Melrose's at MGM. But my top choice would be leaving the park, and eating at the Boardwalk at Kouzzina.

Loved the Reviews !!!I love Sci Fi foriot's oreo milkshake and the cheesecake dessert !!I agree it is dark and chilly!! I will go again as DGS loves the Car tables !!!

I have to try Cape May I am a Seafood lover and any meal with shrimp on it is okay with me !!

Cape May Cafe is definatly a great value for what you get.

Just reading through and enjoying your reviews! Your description/review/pic of this salad has inspired me to try i on our upcoming stay! I usually get the grilled cheese but will now try something different. Thanks for taking the time to post all this useful information

I actually had the grilled cheese on the trip before this, and though it was good, the salad was better!

That Catfish looks delicious !!

It was yummy!

That catfish looks real good! Since when did they change to TS for lunch? I guess we might even have to drive over and try for ourselves in February! I will keep that as a backup restaurant!

Thanks for the info!

They changed it to TS shortly before my trip, maybe in August?

This sounds great! Thanks for the info...YUM

Thanks for reading!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After my lunch at Trail's End I went back to All Stars for a break. It was so nice having so many days this trip that I didn't feel bad about long afternoon breaks at all.

My dinner that night was at one of my favorite one-credit restaurants, Kona Cafe, which is at the Polynesian resort.

My server, though nice, seemed a bit pushy at trying to get me to order the higher priced items. When I told her I was going to order three items from the "chef's favorite," menu, she felt that she had to remind me that if I did that it meant I wouldn't be able to get steak. Granted, I hadn't told her that I didn't eat red meat, but she really seemed to want me to order that steak.

For my appetizer, which was included since I did order from the limited chef's menu, I had the shrimp and coconut curry soup.

I absolutly loved this. Though it was extremely hot outside, it was incredibly delicious, very creamy, with nice large chunks of shrimp. I actually wanted to get back to Kona again later in the week just for another bowl of this, but it never happened.

It gets an;



For my entree I had pan-Asian noodles with shrimp.

The pasta, shrimp, and vegetables were all well cooked, and there were lots of shrimp and vegetables in it, but it was all pretty bland, and could have used a lot more sauce or something.

It gets an;



For dessert I had the pineapple upside-down cake, which I think was a new addition to the menu.

It was good, but nothing special, and Kona has much better desserts available that are much more interesting.

It gets an;



Kona is still one of my favorites, but I think next time I go, I'll be ordering repeats of what I know I like.

 

[dizneeat]

Finally things I have not tried at Kona ......... YET!

Your soup looks yummy and I like the look of that dessert! Maybe I need to try it in August!

 

[lynn46356]

I had the pan-Asian dish when we were there at the beginning of December. I thought mine had a lot of liquid because I had spots/juice all over my white sweatshirt. I needed a bib to say the least. I very much enjoyed mine but couldn't believe the mess I made. I topped the mess off with a spill from the kona cone I had for dessert. I'm usually after my boys because they always have ketchup stains on their shirts. Oops!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I was at Animal Kingdom at rope drop today, and used one of my snack credits for breakfast at the Kusafari Bakery in Africa. I was originally going to get a muffin, since that seemed more breakfasty, and they did have pumpkin muffins, but then I decided what the heck, I'm on vacation, I'll get a cupcake.

This was the cutest thing ever! And it tasted great too. The chocolate cake was nice an moist, the icing, which was buttercream, and then a coconut-caramely filling, were rich and creamy. The only thing I didn't like was the white chocolate elephant, which I really wish I hadn't even tried, since it was almost too cute to eat, but it never would've lasted all day in my bag without melting.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Though I love all the table service restaurants at Animal Kingdom Lodge I had never eaten at the counter service restaurant, the Mara, before. I do have a few small complaints. There was a spill by the soda cooler, and it could've just happened, but I was balancing my tray with one hand, didn't notice the spill until I was stepping in it, and almost slipped. Also, the lady taking my order made a comment when I ordered the chicken flatbread with no chicken. They must not get that order a lot, but I don't think it's that much of an unusual request.

The flatbread itself was very good. It had corn, mozzarella, and zough sauce, which to me seemed kind of like a mildly spicy pesto.

It gets an;



I had a pack of Divvies cookies for dessert, but I didn't like them. I thought they were very dry. They get an;



I would love to return here again, as there do seem to be a lot of vegetarian friendly options on the menu, and the food is made to order, so a lot of stuff, like my flatbread, can be made vegetarian.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Jiko has always been a mixed experience. I didn't really care for it the first two times I ate there, liked it the third time, and loved it the fourth time. It seemed to keep getting better and better every time I ate there, and this time was no exception.

I was seated immediatly, and had a choice of a table, or to sit at the cooking place. I chose the cooking place so I could watch the chefs in action. The service here was incredible! Especially considering that I downed two glasses of iced tea as soon as I received them and they were refilled immediatly. I had been very thirsty, and must've been partly deydrated.

I started with an appetizer, the braised beet salad.

This usually comes with a slice of smoked bacon, which I had left off, but one of the cooks gave me a bowl of pomegrante seeds to munch of to make up for the missing bacon. This salad was very good, the beets were cooked perfectly, the goat cheese was very creamy and fresh, and the shallot marmalade was tasty and went very well with the rest of the salad. The only thing I didn't care for was the pile of dry frisee on top, which kind of distracted from the rest of the dish. It gets an;



For my entree I had the vegetarian selection, the aleecha, shimbra asa, and inguday tibs, which was less then explanatory, but my server told me that it was a sampling of three different vegetarian dishes, which sounded good to me.

The three items going from front to back were; a cake made from I think polenta, which was my least favorite of the three, it was tasty, but a little bland, then some sort of pasta filled with mushrooms and spinach, topped with goat cheese sauce. I liked this a lot, the filling was tasty, though the dough was a little chewy. The last was a sort of ratatouille-stew, which was very basic, but tasty and delicious.

This gets an;



For dessert I had the Cape Malva pudding, which I was told was not a pudding at all, but more like a cake.

I thought this was great as well. The cake was warm and moist with a butterscotchish flavor, and was served with a refreshing apricot sorbet.

It gets an;



Overall, I really liked Jiko this trip, and will be returning since they offer interesting vegetarian dishes.

 

[MerissaAndMomLoveDis]

Great reviews!!! Thanks for continuing to take the time to post reviews. I know I love them!

 

[serendipity]

Love the reviews - thanks so much for sharing!

 

[pinkle]

I am loving this thread!!!! We have gone to Disney 6 times and try to eat at least 3 new restaurants each time, but it is so hard when you have your favorites, and you don't want to give one up and become disppointed! Threads like this really help.
Which Pizza did you prefer....Wolfgang or Via Napoli????

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I am loving this thread!!!! We have gone to Disney 6 times and try to eat at least 3 new restaurants each time, but it is so hard when you have your favorites, and you don't want to give one up and become disppointed! Threads like this really help.
Which Pizza did you prefer....Wolfgang or Via Napoli????

I think I liked Via Napoli's better. They were both really good, but I preferred the crust and tomato sauce at Via Napoli, but I loved the goat cheese-topped tomato slices on the one I had at Wolfgang Puck Express. You really can't go wrong with either.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

So sorry it's been so long since an update. I really just need to get these reviews done already!

I actually ate at Columbia Harbor House twice the last day I spent at Magic Kingdom. To make things a little easier on myself, I'm just going to post both meals in this post. I had lunch here, a bad dinner at Cosmic Ray's, (more on that in the next post,) so was still hungry, since I didn't really eat at Cosmic Ray's, and ended up getting another meal here again before the parade that night.

This was my lunch, the fish and chips basket.

The fish was freshly fried, (I had gotten there as soon as they had opened for the day,) hot, crispy and delicious. The fries were good too. It could have used a bit of seasoning or something in the batter maybe, but it was good.

It gets an;



For dinner I had something that I'd heard was good, but I wasn't actually that excited about trying since I don't really like sandwiches all that much, the lighthouse sandwich.

This was awesome. I found the recipe for it online, and have made it several times since my trip. It's basically just broccoli slaw mixed with honey mustard dressing, with hummus and tomato slices. It's slightly sweet and tangy with a coolness from the tomatoes. It's really good. It gets an



For dessert at both meals I had the apple crisp.

I liked this. It was pretty much just apple pie, but the crust was good, and the filling was tasty. And it was much better then some of the other counter service desserts I had. It gets an;



Columbia Harbor House is back to being my favorite counter service location at Magic Kingdom.