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

[dawgfan]

Great reviews thanks.

 

[honeybee30]

Ooh, ooh! I can't wait to try Yachtsman, either!

 

[AussieAngel]

Hehee. Witch dust.

 

[Amyz00]

Your reviews are great and I love your pictures! I am eagerly awaiting your review of LTT; we have never eaten there.

Now I must know, how did you and Mike meet? Oh, and congratulations on graduating! I just graduated May 10th and we are celebrating with a trip to WDW in June!

 

[MA pigletfan]

I also would like a cheese addict's membership card!
I LOVED the YSH when we went last June..just loved it. I had the cheeseplate, although it was a bit different than the one your boyfriend had..but it was ridiculously delicious!
Great reviews!!!

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

First of all let me say I knew you were my kinda gal - Martini in hand!!!! Hazelnut......sounds

lol! I got one at Boma, too, but I forgot to take a pic. It was like... banana chai cream pie. Sooo yum, though I miss the customized drink menus the restaurants used to have.

I thought you were referring to the strength of the martini when you said it didn't take long before you were buzzed.

I thought about that after I read it, but I figured... what the heck!

OK, onto the food. I am so excited about trying Yachtsman...I've never gotten a cheese plate before for the same reason you stated, now you've got me thinking about that and your seafood salad which looked really good.

I know exactly what you mean about "branching out". I'm a filet gal too and I was on a "branching out" streak for a long while having a few too many just OK ribeyes and NY strips. I'm happy to report I am now back on track with my filets!

Brandy & Peppercorns?????? Two of my most favorite things, the sauce of choice for me is decided!!!

Thanks for a wonderful and very informative review!!!

Thanks so much for your kind words! The Yachtsman is fantastic, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a great dining experience. Even the non-steak dishes sound wonderful! (and if my seafood salad was any indication, they would be!)

Hi
Thanks for your reviews!! Your pictures are great. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks! More comin' right up!

Keep them coming

Demandin' bunch, aren't ya? Workin' on it.

Great reviews! I can't wait to try the Yachtsman Steakhouse myself this fall.

You'll love it! Ask for a table by the window; the view of SAB is great.

loved your review of yachtsman - and the photos are excellent!!!

Thanks! My camera is pretty new, so I was just learning to use it... some of the pictures later on are a little better as I learned some of the features, but occasionally they got blurry. *sigh*

Great review of Yachtsman ... I think I'm gonna have to add this to the list for next year. Oh, and if you're accepting members into the Cheese Addicts of America Club, I would like to nominate myself as a charter member.

Definitely add Yachtsman. Ok, Cheese Addicts of America, repeat after me: "My name is *insert your name here*, and I'm addicted to cheese. NO, it's not a problem! NO, it's NOT!! Now pass the brie and baguette and nobody gets hurt. Thank you."

Looks like I'll have to add Yachtsman Steakhouse to my list of places to try, thanks for the review.

You'll love it! Thanks for reading.

Your reviews are just fantastic.

Thanks! Glad you've enjoyed them so far.

Great Reviews so Far...Can't wait for More!!! Turf Club is Like a Hidden gem, I have only eaten there once, when we stayed at SSR. All the Burgers Looked Tasty, except Beaches and Cream and that is the one place I was planning on going to for a burger. Can't wait for more and Thank You!!

I'd recommend something else at B&C, like the steak sandwich or the hotdog. Turf Club was great; the pasta and burgers were really fantastic, and we enjoyed sitting out on the patio in the evening.

Great reviews thanks.

Thanks for reading!

Ooh, ooh! I can't wait to try Yachtsman, either!

You'll love it! And I see you have new reviews up! *hops over to read them*

Hehee. Witch dust.

At least someone appreciates my humor. *grin*

Your reviews are great and I love your pictures! I am eagerly awaiting your review of LTT; we have never eaten there.

Now I must know, how did you and Mike meet? Oh, and congratulations on graduating! I just graduated May 10th and we are celebrating with a trip to WDW in June!

LTT is one of our favorite lunch spots, and I think I converted Mike, too. If you want to know our story, check out my pre-trip report. Not only will you hear all about my planning/graduation madness, but I tell the story of Mike and me... You Can Take the Boy Outta Wales... It's post 15 if you don't feel like wading through all my silliness.

And grats on your graduation! No better way to celebrate than Disney, I say!

I also would like a cheese addict's membership card!
I LOVED the YSH when we went last June..just loved it. I had the cheeseplate, although it was a bit different than the one your boyfriend had..but it was ridiculously delicious!
Great reviews!!!

Scroll up and recite the Cheese Addict's Pledge.

Yachtsman is always great; will definitely be going back next trip. Mike would probably... well, best not contemplate what he would do if I even *thought* about skipping it!!

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

Like I did yesterday, I'm gonna divide today's yummy eats into two parts: lunch/snack, then dinner. It just makes things easier since I'm so picture happy.

Our plans for today (um... 5/9) were to get to Epcot pretty early so that we could hit some of the Future World attractions, then head to our 1:10 ADR at Coral Reef. My mom decided she didn't want to go, so it took me a while to change her mind. By the time we all got ready and out the door, it was close on 11. We had to take the bus (see our car woes from the previous review), but with the exception of our MK day (which I'll get to later), I had no complaints about OKW bus service.

We got to Epcot and my mom decided she needed an ECV. She had knee surgery a few weeks ago, and it's still a bit iffy. She decided better safe than sorry, so we headed over there first, then just wandered around and took pictures of the topiaries for F&G Festival. We should've gone ahead and gotten a FP for Soarin', but... hindsight is 20/20.

Anyway. We checked in at Coral Reef about 15 minutes early, which was pretty silly. As most DISers report, we had to wait about 30ish minutes past our ADR time. When our buzzer finally went off we were led to a table by the tank! See? I told you, table pixie dust!

Mom's tank pic.

Service here was good, but increeeedddiiiibbbbbllllyyyy sllllllllllooow. It's no wonder people were waiting 45 minutes to an hour after their ADR times by the time we left. We waited probably 20 minutes between finishing our entrees and having our dessert orders taken. We were in there forever! I like a leisurely lunch, but this was just a bit *too* slow.

Luckily we had bread to sustain us while we waited...

A decent sourdough, creamy butter. There was a very long wait between ordering and appetizers, then appetizers and entrees, so we were glad to have it. We finished it off and weren't offered more.

Anyway... I started with the Land and Sea...

I forgot to take a pic until I'd take it off the skewer, so that's why it looks all messy. It's grilled barbecued steak over polenta and grilled shrimp over cucumber salad. The polenta was the best part of the dish - creamy yumminess. I thought the barbecue sauce was a bit too sweet, but Mom liked it. The grilled shrimp were just... grilled shrimp. Good grill flavor, but little else.

Mike got the cod cake...

He ordered the roumelade on the side. He liked it and ate it all. I thought it was more bread than cod, but overall had good flavor.

Mom got the lobster bisque...

She really enjoyed this. She said there was a lot of lobster, and it was creamy and delicious. She ate all of it.

For our mains, I got the blackened catfish with pepperjack grits...

I mainly got this dish for the grits, and they did not disappoint. They were sooo good I wanted to lick my plate to get them all. Creamy, a little spicy, perfect consistency - just delicious. The fish was pretty good, too, though I often hesitate to order blackened dishes because chefs seem to take "blackened" as license just to make the dish spicy without much actual flavor. That's kind of how this was. I wish I could have tasted more of the fish, and more actual herbal seasoning than just *blackened*. Ah well - the grits were worth it!

Mike and Mom both got the sirloin...

It's served with au gratin potatoes and brocolini. They both thought it was good, though not *great*. Of course we'd eaten at the Yachtsman the night before, so that could have something to do with it. Mike ate all of his (he pretty much eats all of everything), but Mom only ate about half of hers. She liked the potatoes a lot.

For dessert, I had the Key Lime Tart...

Eh. WAY too much meringue and not enough filling. It was really sweet, mostly because of all the meringue. Key Lime is supposed to be tart (I had a really great one at Good's To Go, but that's later), and this was super duper sweet. I was saddened.

Mike had the Chocolate Wave...

He ordered the cherries on the side. This was good, chocolaty and rich. Compared to some of the other desserts we had this trip, though, it wasn't *great*. He ate all of it, though!

Mom had the Bailey's and Jack Daniel's Mousse...

This dessert was the best of the bunch. It was creamy, sweet, with the nice hint of liquor... we all liked it. My mom didn't like the bottom layer nearly as much, b/c it was a lot sweeter than the top 2 layers, but she really enjoyed the top 2.

Overall: We enjoyed the tank, and we got to see it for a *really* long time. I don't know if the kitchen gets behind or what, but they seriously need to speed things up here. The food was good, but not out-of-this-world. Would we go back? Sure; we love da fishes! We'd just make sure we'd ridden some stuff *first*!!

Next... we were beboppin' around Future World some, saw some baby ducks, road Spaceship Earth, etc. Eventually we wandered back toward World Showcase and the Boulangerie Patisserie (French bakery, y'all). Mike loves French pastry. I mean Loves. With a big L. Mom requested "something chocolate," and I knew what I wanted, so Mike and I braved the line and emerged with...

Seriously. Could I have kept the pastry fiends in my group from eating before I snapped the pic? No. Anyway... one chocolate eclair for Mom, one Napoleon for me, one cream horn for Mike, a chocolate chip cookie for the group, and 2 cartons of milk for Mike and me. Love you, snack credits!!

I only ate about half of my Napoleon - those things are much bigger than the actual guy, I think. He was quite diminutive. Mike ate the rest, and then we all split the cookie. Mom and Mike had no trouble polishing off eclair and cream horn, respectively.

Overall: Delicious as always, and we made a return trip later!!

Lessons du jour: Dining with the fishes takes *time*!! French pastry is always a good idea.

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

We staked out a spot to watch Illuminations near Canada, and once that was over we high-tailed it over to Spoodles to make our 9:40 reservation. We were all a bit footsore, but after looking at the line for the boat (and remembering the panic attack I almost had earlier in the day on a too-crowded boat), we decided walking was best. We were actually early!

They tried to seat us at a table in the middle of the restaurant, right by the aisle, and I was like... "Um, could we have that table over by the window, please?" After a moment of whispering, they said ok and took us over there. Much better table! Who wants to sit in the middle of traffic!? Plus during dinner we got to watch Wishes from the Pirates and Princess party.

We started, of course, with bread...

We haven't been to Spoodles since last May (our last trip), and this is different bread. It's foccacia with what tastes like fennel, and an olive tepanade dip. I like it quite a bit better than the old bread, though I may have liked the old dip a *smidge* better. Mike didn't like the fennel flavor, and though the tepanade largely covered that up, he elected not to try it.

I started with the dips...

This is food I crave. Their tzatziki is a bit too cucumbery with not quite enough garlic (compared to what I've eaten in Greece), but it's still yummy. Mike took one bite and made a *terrible* face. I think it's why he wouldn't try the tepanade. The feta dip is great, especially with the olives, which I normally don't like. The red pepper dip is a bit too spicy for me, though my mom loved it. I'm not crazy about their humus here, though the pita is yummy. Mike liked it plain. Mom was insane about these dips and said this was her favorite appetizer of the trip.

Mike started with the four cheese flatbread...

It was delicious, as always, but Mike thought it might have had a bit *too* much cheese on it. I think he might have been reacting to the feta, though I don't know for sure. My mom and I enjoyed the bites of it we had.

Mom got the garlic shrimp...

Ok, when I say we haven't been to Spoodles in a year... when did they change this?! It used to be two shrimp! That's what we were expecting, and instead she gets this whole huge bowl of shrimp! They were delicious, and she really enjoyed them, but geez. It was a lot more than we were expecting.

For mains, I got the shrimp linguine...

This dish disappointed me a bit. The flavor was excellent, creamy, garlicky, peppery with a hint of lemon. There were plenty of delicious shrimp. The problem was the linguine itself. It was mushy. Really, really mushy. I understand that it was like 10pm and they were about to close, but honestly... I would never serve that to *guests*, much less paying customers in a restaurant! It was like I'd take a bite, and my tastebuds would go, "Mmmm, yum!" then my brain would go, "Ugh, mush!" Very confusing eating experience...

Mike and Mom both got the chicken...

With the greens on top... and...

without. The bowl on the side there is a lemon balsamic vinaigrette which would have been served on the greens, but Mike ordered it on the side. He, of course, did not partake of the green stuff. I think Mom ate maybe one bite of her chicken because she was chowin' down on dip and shrimp and pita and bread. Mike ate all of his chicken, which was pounded flat, fried, then wrapped in Serrano ham and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. I had a bite and it was yummy.

For dessert I had the mascarpone cheesecake...

So delicious. Creamy, not too sweet, fantastic. It had a balsamic reduction drizzle and (duh) strawberries. Loved it.

Mike had Chocolate Financier Cake...

It was served with mocha gelato. You remember how I said Mike doesn't like coffee flavored food? He liked this gelato as long as he ate it with the cake, but on its own, he didn't enjoy it. He liked his dessert, and he didn't share.

Mom got almond gelato...

With cherries on top, and peanut brittle. She really enjoyed it. I didn't have any because I'm not crazy about almonds, but she ate it all. She said the cherries added a nice tartness to it.

Overall: Still love Spoodles, despite mushy pasta. Everything else was very good, and we'll always be back!

 

[MickeyNicki]

OK I NEED TO CUT IN HERE

Where in the world can I get a banana chai cream pie martini, Boma did you say? Oh lord I must have one of these things! Was it good???? Cannot wait until we get to the AKL in Oct, wonder if you can order them at the bar too if so that is where you will find me!

Yachtsman, so glad you enjoyed your meal there. We ate there last month and it was fantastic. My fav are the onion rolls slathered with butter and roasted garlic, oh I can eat those forever! I was going to order the rock shrimp but I switched at the last minute to the lobster bisque (which was so dreamy!) , glad I did!

Ok back to your regularly scheduled review.....

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

OK I NEED TO CUT IN HERE

Where in the world can I get a banana chai cream pie martini, Boma did you say? Oh lord I must have one of these things! Was it good???? Cannot wait until we get to the AKL in Oct, wonder if you can order them at the bar too if so that is where you will find me!

Yachtsman, so glad you enjoyed your meal there. We ate there last month and it was fantastic. My fav are the onion rolls slathered with butter and roasted garlic, oh I can eat those forever! I was going to order the rock shrimp but I switched at the last minute to the lobster bisque (which was so dreamy!) , glad I did!

Ok back to your regularly scheduled review.....

I got it at Victoria Falls Lounge, the bar at AKL, but it's on the universal drink menu, so I saw it at Crew Cup Lounge, also. I'm not sure where else they have those menus, but it's the big black one with what looks like shooting stars on the front. I actually did dig up a pic of the martini, half drunk... the full version is supposed to have whip cream on top, which the bartender didn't put on.

*I* wasn't half drunk. The martini was. Ahem.

And the onion roll with garlic and butter is sooo delicious. I don't even *like* onions and I love that! I need to try the lobster bisque there sometime.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I got it at Victoria Falls Lounge, the bar at AKL, but it's on the universal drink menu, so I saw it at Crew Cup Lounge, also. I'm not sure where else they have those menus, but it's the big black one with what looks like shooting stars on the front. I actually did dig up a pic of the martini, half drunk... the full version is supposed to have whip cream on top, which the bartender didn't put on.

*I* wasn't half drunk. The martini was. Ahem.

And the onion roll with garlic and butter is sooo delicious. I don't even *like* onions and I love that! I need to try the lobster bisque there sometime.

Thanks for reading!!

Oh thanks so much! We were just there end of March/early April and I dont recall seeing it on the drink menus and you knows I was hitting the bars!!! Will make sure I get one of these puppies next time I go!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Oh thanks so much! We were just there end of March/early April and I dont recall seeing it on the drink menus and you knows I was hitting the bars!!! Will make sure I get one of these puppies next time I go!

That looks good to me too.

 

[suzimar57]

oh, love the photos at both coral reef and spoodles!

really enjoying your reviews here!

 

[pooksma]

(wiping drool off the keyboard)

You reviewed four of our ADRs and I am now wayyyy to hungry for 10 pm.

Looking forward to your trip report as well.

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

That looks good to me too.

It was deelish. Don't know how I left it out of my Boma review...

oh, love the photos at both coral reef and spoodles!

really enjoying your reviews here!

Thanks! Spoodles is one of our favorite restaurants at Disney, so was happy to share.

(wiping drool off the keyboard)

You reviewed four of our ADRs and I am now wayyyy to hungry for 10 pm.

Looking forward to your trip report as well.

Drool! Excellent. Now I don't have to give you your money back.

Trip report? Well heck, now I guess I gotta write one! I was sorta plannin on it anyway...

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

Though my original plan had us returning to AK today (5/10), with an ADR at Yak and Yeti for lunch, Mike and I were pretty beat, and Mom was fine with just hanging out around OKW. Mike and I wandered over to Good's to Go to grab us all some lunch. (sorry, forgot to get pics of this!)

We ordered a soft pretzel and Mickey Bar with snack credits, and then 3 burgers (probably relieved I don't have pics of those...) with fries for our lunches. I got 1 chocolate cake and 2 key lime pies for desserts.

The burgers were fine, pretty much standard counter service. The fries were good, still hot even when we got back to the room. The chocolate cake was for Mike, of course. The key lime pie was really, really good - tart, like it's supposed to be, with just the right amount of sweetness. Hear that, Coral Reef? Beaten by counter service... sad. Good pretzel, though extremely salty. Mike's first soft pretzel!

Ok, now on to the real stuff: Jiko! We got our car back just in time to drive to the Lodge, so that made us happy. We checked in a few minutes before our ADR, and we'd just sat down in the bar when our buzzer went off. I was hoping for a table by the window, and almost asked, but I didn't. Instead we were given one of those table by the wall o' birds.

Our server's name was Oscar, and at first he was excellent. We started, of course, with appetizers...

I went for the ostrich schnitzel...

Hhmm. My feelings about this dish are a wee bit mixed. The ostrich was nice and crispy, but overall the dish lacked a bit in flavor. The breading wasn't seasoned at all, as far as I could tell. Of course ostrich is a very rich meat, but still. The lemon caper aioli was lovely, but still very, very lightly seasoned. I actually wanted *gasp!!* salt. Yes, salt. It was fried, what can I say? Fried food makes me want salt.

Mike got the maise and sweet potato tamales...

I was very proud of him! I thought this was a bold choice for him. He liked it very much, though he only ate one to save room for dinner. I have to confess... I honestly can't stand this dish!! I love the flavor, but the texture... awful. Mike gave me a bite, because I just keep tryin, and yep... still hate it!! If it were nice, crunchy corn it would be ok, but as it is, no way! But Mike liked it, and that's what's important.

Mom got the chef's specialty flatbread...

It had artichokes, spinach, bacon, cheese, and some sort of yummy sauce on top. It might as well have had my mom's name written on it: the woman is mad for artichokes. She loved it. She didn't eat it all, also saving for dinner, but she took the rest home.

For our entrees, I ordered the spice-crusted pork...

The pork here was excellent, though a tiny bit spicy for me. That wouldn't have bothered me if I'd had something to eat it with, some sort of starch. But there was nothing. Underneath it there was a sort of ragout with mushrooms, onions and bacon, and then, I kid you not, 1 baby potato cut in half. I was feeling very starch-deprived, and there was nothing to absorb the "oomph" of all that flavor. So great dish... just needed something *else*.

I'll skip Mike for a sec, because his was a bit of a saga, and talk about Mom's... she got the curry shrimp...

She was with this dish. She *loved* it. It was her favorite entree of the trip. I had a bite, and I had to agree - amazing. It was curried shrimp and veggies (look, artichokes!) served over coconut rice, and all the elements combined to make a truly wonderful dish. Yumyumyum. Wish I'd ordered it!! See, Jiko? Rice. It's a starch.

Ok, back to Mike... he ordered the filet over mac and cheese...

Now as I've mentioned several times, Mike orders his steaks medium well. Every other steak or burger he'd ordered this trip had been perfect. He cut into this one, and it was perfectly... medium. I was about to drool. We waved down Oscar, and Mike asked for it to be cooked more. We waited a while, Mom and I sort of fiddling with our food (rude to eat when Mike has nothing), and at last a runner brings Mike a new steak. He cuts into it, and it's *less* cooked than before. After a while we wave down Oscar again, and he doesn't understand the problem.

"That is medium well," he says. Mike sort of blinks at him. "If we cook it more it will be well done," he says. Mike kind of smiles and says, "Then cook it well done, please." He looks a little affronted, but he whisks it away to cook it more. Poor Mike still has no food, and we have no bread, but I managed to wave down Oscar to get us some bread... which I didn't take a picture of, btw.

Finally Mike gets a third steak, and it's right. But. His first two steaks were medium. They were perfect for *me*. When the runner put down his first steak, she actually said, "Filet, rare." Um. Anyway... He said it was good, but not as good as Yachtsman. I think the whole problem rather put him off Jiko.

Ok, on to dessert... I ordered the pistachio creme brulee...

I've had this before, but only as part of a dessert sampler. As a whole big serving like this, it was just too much pistachio flavor for me. I ate about half of it, and Mom ate the other half. It was creamy, with a nice crunchy top - two musts for creme brulee - but the pistachio taste was much stronger than I remembered.

Mike ordered the vanilla mousse...

He said it was very light, which at the time I took as a compliment. Later he clarified to mean it was *too* light, as in it didn't have enough vanilla flavor for him. I had a bite and quite liked it. I don't like things to have an overwhelming vanilla taste, and I found it rather refreshing after my spicy entree.

Mom had the tanzanian chocolate cheesecake with lavender ice cream...

Mom was definitely the winner all around tonight. This dessert was fantastic. If you stuck your spoon through the whole thing and got a bite of ice cream, cookie, and cake, it was like a flavor party in your mouth. The cake was dense and chocolatey, and the ice cream was light and flowery, with the nice crunchy cookie... sooo delicious!

Oh! I almost forgot. Before dessert we all ordered tea...

Super cute, huh?

We didn't realize that coffee (or tea, I guess) was included with the DxDDP, and no server chose to tell us, either. We wondered why we weren't charged for our tea, but we figured Oscar just worked some sort of magic to make up for the filet thing and for his sudden onset of Disappearing Server Syndrome. Anyway, I got green jasmine, Mom got chai, and Mike got black thunder. We all enjoyed them, though green jasmine isn't really meant for a press pot; it was a tiny bit bitter. I added honey to mine, and Mom added a raw sugar cube. Mike took his black, though I suggested he ask Oscar for milk. He said he was fine.

Overall: We'll return to Jiko, though probably not next trip. Mike was a bit bothered by the steak incident, and Oscar's reaction to it. Mom *loved* her meal, so she'd go back tomorrow!

 

[MickeyNicki]

We are going to Jiko for my b-day in Oct so thanks so much for the review. My DH is a well done steak guy too and we went to Yachtsman last month, he ordered his ribeye well done and it came out swimming in butter and red mashed potatoes...clear sign the steak is not well done. He cut into it and the sucker was rare, not med rare but RARE RARE. I thought I saw DH turn green!

The server was fantastic and told DH he could get him another one but DH said get me a filet instead, this one they cooked perfect! I think the thought of the rare steak and red potates freaked him out too much to get another ribeye!

 

[suzimar57]

those desserts looked wonderful, as well as the tea service!

i love pistachio - couldn't imagine the creme brulee being too pistachio-y!!

 

[pooksma]

Yummy! Now I'm off to find that TR

 

[TigerKat]

WOW....I get a bit under the weather for a day and I miss a whole bunch of yummy stuff!!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Spoodles. I had the shrimp linguine dish last trip and the pasta was al dente, as it should be. So sorry yours was mushy, it's an awesome dish.

Sorry JIKO disappointed a bit, it's one of our faves.