First I Graduated, then We ATE!! Food review with TONS O' PICS!! (COMPLETE 6/12!!)

[CoolDisneyKitten]

Hi, guys! I just got back two days ago (5/14) from a 10 day trip, and I have toonnnnnnsss of yummy food reviews to share with you. To begin, let me introduce the players...

CDK, aka Meg, 26. I graduated college on May 3, and DBF and I left for WDW on May 4. I'll eat nearly anything, but I do have a couple of food rules: no baby animals and never, ever any mustard.

DBF25, aka Mike. He's Welsh, and this was his first time at Disney and only his second time in the US. He was a little overwhelmed. A picky eater, but he loveslovesloves steak (as you'll see).

Last but certainly not least: CoolDisneyCat, aka Mom. She joined us on May 8, and that day we transferred from SSR to OKW and started DxDDP. She's a bit pickier than I am, loves steak and dessert, and my two food rules apply to her as well.

I guess you wanna know where we ate... well for any of you who might've read my pre-trip report, there were a few changes. It all started when we missed our plane... well, I'll wait to tell that story! Anyway...

May 4: Turf Club (dinner)
May 5: Raglan Road (lunch), Beaches and Cream (dinner)
May 6: Kona Cafe (lunch), Turf Club (dinner), Goofy's Candy Co. later
May 7: Pizzafari (lunch), Boma (dinner)
May 8: Wolfgang Puck Express (lunch)
May 8, con't: Yachtsman Steakhouse (dinner, 1st meal w/ Mom)
May 9: Coral Reef (lunch), Boulangerie Patisserie (snack)
May 9, con't: Spoodles (dinner)
May 10: Good's to Go (lunch), Jiko (dinner)
May 11: Beaches and Cream (lunch), Flying Fish (dinner)
May 12: Mainstreet Bakery (b'fast), LTT (lunch)
May 12, con't: Narcoossee's (dinner)
May 13: Cape May (b'fast), Boulangerie Patisserie (snack)
May 13, con't: CA Grill (dinner)
May 14: Raglan Road (lunch), Goofy's Candy Co. (snacks galore)

Whew!! I have pics for almost everything except some of the snacks and our lunch from Good's to Go. As soon as I get them edited and uploaded, I'll start writing and posting!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Cannot wait!!

 

[ciera321]

I'm looking forward to the reviews!!!

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

Since I have the first few days' pics done, and since I have so many reviews to write (wee!), I figured I might as well get started.

Our original plan for our first day was to take a 9:25am flight to Orlando, Magical Express to SSR, bum around a bit, maybe nap, then have dinner at Raglan Road at 7:15. Sounds great, right? Yeah...

Unfortunately we missed our plane. It's a long story, but... it wasn't my fault. Or Mike's. And I know it'll never happen again. Anyway, apparently that Sunday was a *very* popular day for traveling to Orlando, because every flight the rest of the day (until 10:20 that night) was completely booked. After sitting around Charlotte Douglas International Airport most of the day, we finally managed to squeeze onto the 4:30 flight.

After all that, we missed our Raglan Road ADR, and we were too tired to do anything but slowly, wearily drag our butts down to Turf Club and hope they had a table for us. They did, and we were seated after only a short wait.

Our nice waitress brought us two diet cokes and some sourdough bread to munch on (I think we looked as bad as we felt).

The butter was good, nice and creamy, but the bread was a little soggy. Mike said he thought they had rewarmed it too long. It was pretty late, about 15 minutes before closing time, so we weren't gonna get fresh-baked bread.

Mike ordered a burger...

and I had the Penne Pasta w/ Shrimp...

Let's start w/ Mike's burger. It was really good, with cheddar cheese and applewood smoked bacon and a sourdough herbed bun. We had a lot of burgers this trip (you'll see), but Mike always said this one was his favorite because of the bread. It was cooked perfectly for him (medium well), and he really enjoyed the smokiness of the bacon. He liked the crispy fries, too.

My pasta had an olive oil type sauce, and had artichokes, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, olives, parmesan cheese (obviously), and a ton of shrimp. I hate it when seafood pasta skimps on the seafood, and this didn't - there was a shrimp every bite. This was a much lighter choice than the burger, and that's what I was in the mood for after our long day. I really enjoyed it, but I couldn't finish it. I even liked the olives, which I normally don't - all the ingredients blended very well.

Mike is a chocolate fiend (even more than I am), so dessert was decided even before we walked in the door - chocolate lava cake. Before...

And after being cut open...

A lot of restaurants are doing the "chocolate lava cake" thing (we had many on this trip), and a lot of restaurants are doing it fairly poorly. This cake was a good one. The outside was almost crispy, while the inside was ooey gooey yummy delicious. The ice cream was very light (it wasn't "vanilla" enough for Mike), and the raspberry sauce was a nice sourish note. A really delicious dessert, and a great end to our looonnng day. Luckily it wasn't a long walk back to the villa!

 

[DisneyJo]

That cake looks gorgeous, can't wait for more

 

[DaniTaylor]

Can't wait to read more

 

[sandybobandy]

Hey, I'm signing on!

 

[auntfrannie]

Sounds delicious so far!

 

[pixiedust1125]

MMM that cake looks so good

 

[Splat25]

Looks awesome, can't wait for more

 

[John's Mom]

Good start!

 

[KatMark]

Oooh...that cake made me hungry for chocolate. I might have to go make brownies or something. Can't wait to read and SEE more.

 

[devonsmommy]

Great report so far!
I'll definitely be tuning in because we are eating at a lot of the same places!

 

[AussieAngel]

Wow! Look at all that parmasen cheese!!

And wow, look at all that chocolatey goodness!!!

Great start to your reviews! Thanks!

 

[DisneyDancin7]

subbing in ...great start...ready and waiting for more

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

Thanks for all your kind replies!! The cake was delicious and chocolaty; I'm glad everyone seems to appreciate it, because there'll be a LOT of chocolate cake in this review! (Um, though not in today's... an anomaly, I assure you...)

Ok, back to the FOOD!

My original plan was for us to grab a bite in the room, then hit MGM (er... DHS...) at around 11 or so. Because we got so worn out wandering around the airport the day before, we decided to sleep in until about 11, and then hit Raglan Road for lunch to make up for missing our dinner ADR the previous evening.

We hopped the boat from SSR to DTD, which is a really nice ride if you've never done it. We had a captain, Frank, who was "earning his ears," and a few days later we had him as our captain for his first ever solo trip. *sniff* We were so proud!

Anyway. Raglan Road is super-duper quiet at lunch, and we were seated at a table that would've been very uncomfortable at a more crowded time - one of those half booth, half table tables, and it was practically on top of the table next to it. Since the entire row was empty, it was fine.

Since I'd heard good things about the burger here, and since I'm a bit of a burger fanatic, that's what I ordered (with the tomato chutney on the side)...

Mike got the fish and chips...

He gave me one of his pieces of fish (there were two), and I gave him half of my burger, so we each enjoyed both entrees. Mike got lucky, because even though I ordered my burger medium, it was actually medium well, much more to his taste.

Despite being overcooked, the burger was still flavorful and juicy. Great bun, fantastic cheese, good Irish-style ("real," according to Mike) bacon. We both loved the chips - Mike said they were more like traditional chips than American fries. We chomped them.

Mike's fish was, to me, a little bland. The menu says it's beer-battered, but it really doesn't taste that way. The batter has very little flavor at all. It was good, but nothing to write home about.

For dessert, we of course got the bread pudding...

Mike had never had bread pudding before, so it took some convincing to steer him away from the chocolate desserts on the menu. He really loved it, especially once we added the creme anglaise and the butterscotch sauce. The butterscotch was a little sweet for me, so I added it in moderation, but overall - very great bread pudding! I liked that the raisins were only on the top and bottom, so I could easily pick them out. I don't like my bread pudding with a lot of fruit 'n' such.

Overall: really liked Raglan Road, and we returned later in the trip because my mom was dying to try the bread pudding!

Our plan was to stay at MGM (argh! DHS!!) for Fantasmic! and maybe some EMH, but we were still tired, and Mike is getting over being sick, so that hit him kinda hard. We decided to take the boat (Mike *loved* the Disney boats) to BC and eat at Beaches and Cream. All I had to say was "giant ice cream sundaes" and Mike was sold.

We started splitting a bowl of chicken noodle soup, which I forgot to take a pic of until we'd started eating. It looks a lil messy...

I love the chicken noodle soup here. Mike thought it was more like stew, and not the chicken noodle soup he was expecting, which apparently meant just noodles in chicken broth. He liked it, but not as much as I did. I think our waitress thought we were *just* splitting chicken noodle soup, because she threw our straws at us and was sorta... short. Eh.

Anyway... I got the burger (again)...

*sigh* It doesn't look like much, does it? It wasn't. Beaches and Cream used to be one of my favorite places to get a burger, but the burgers have really gone downhill. I ordered it medium rare and it was medium well. I asked for no pickle on the plate, and while there was none, the bottom bun tasted like pickle, so obviously there had been one at some point (ok, that might sound picky, but for someone who doesn't like the taste of pickle, there's a *reason* I say no pickle!! Pickle juice taints everything it touches). I didn't finish it. I did enjoy the fries, though.

Mike ordered the roast beef sub, because I told him it was like a cheesesteak.

He'd never had a cheesesteak before, and he kept thinking it was just a steak with cheese on it. Obviously this sandwich corrected that impression, and he really enjoyed it. I wish I'd ordered it!

We also split an order of onion rings, which I forgot to take a pic of until we'd eaten some of them...

Onion rings. What can I say? They were hot and crispy. Good with salt.

For dessert we got the Fudge Mud Slide. Mike was in heaven. Side note: also his first Oreo.

I only ate about a fourth of this, and Mike polished off the rest. He was seriously one happy camper.

Things we learned today: Mike likes bread pudding, cheesesteaks, and Oreos.

 

[faindrops27]

Congrats on graduating!!
Thanks for the reviews. I am following along.

As for the Beaches & Cream burger. How disappointing! I was looking forward to eating there again Sept. But, that patty looks so different, from the past burgers, I will skip it. It just seems disney, just does not know when to leave a good thing alone.

 

[ChefColette]

Great reviews so far! What's that dark thing on the top of the bun at the center, on the burger from Raglan Road? Every picture I've seen of their burger seems to have a dark thing on the center of the bun like that, and I can't figure out what it is.

 

[oybolshoi]

Congratulations!!!

Nice job on the reviews so far! I'm not a big fan of bread pudding but we end up ordering some every time we eat at Raglan Road because it's so good. I could do without the butterscotch sauce myself (I agree, it's too sweet) but I'll take the Creme Anglaise!!

Looking forward to more.

 

[SuzieN]

Mmmm....great pictures! We also loved the bread pudding at Raglan Road!