Food Drunk- 10 Days of Deliciousness.

[chocolateMinnie]

don't know how I missed these fabulous reviews, shame you were feeling unwell after Le Celier

 

[Euphoria027]

Loving your commentary and your reviews so far!! I am excited to hear your other reviews!!

Thanks! Hope you enjoy the rest!

Great to see your reviews from IOA

I loved the Butterbeer (frozen is best) but didn't enjoy the pumpkin juice at all

The cauldron cakes are really yummy aren't they

I wish I had tried the frozen butterbeer because I think it would have combined the yummy foam with the bland soda and been delicious.

The cauldron cakes WERE yummy!

The s'mores Andrew had look so delicious!
Great Update!

Thanks!

Thanks for the great LC review

Your desserts look wonderful. I hope your earache didn't last too long

I didn't try Andrew's, but mine was! And sadly, my earache didn't get better, but thanks!

 

[Euphoria027]

I've uploaded the pictures from our Animal Kingdom day, so I'm going to rewind to Wednesday and share them with everyone! Sorry that the review is now out of order

The crowds were still pretty crazy (sorry, but I'm not waiting an hour for Primeval Whirl... I don't have enough patience), but we managed to do both the Safari and Everest before our 1:00 reservation at Tusker House. I was a big fan of this place as a counter service, and between that and the Finding Nemo package, I decided to go with lunch here over dinner at Boma.

We showed up about 10 minutes early and ushered off to another check in spot which was apparently for people with reservations only... Except that everyone in front of us was a walk-in... Way to go, listening skills! Whatever, we were probably sat by 1:05.

Our server was Mary... she took about 294334894 years to come take our drink order but once she did, she was a sweetheart... I told her how delicious the counter service had been and she told me that they still have a few of the same items.

My first plate-

Oh my god, I was such a fat kid here. Starting from the top left corner-- a fried plantain (the texture was weird, but the flavor was delicious) carved sirloin (a little too well done for me), pork with spicy mustard sauce (TO DIE FOR... I'm not a big pork fan but figured I would try it... this is soooo good), a couple of samosas (I love these little guys!), red potato wedges (nothing unique about them, but tasty), couscous (not sure if this is the Marrakesh one or the Tunisian salad), peri peri salmon filet (Almost as delicious as the pork) and macaroni and cheese (I know it's from the kid's section, but it's so yummy). The rogue shrimp are a poor attempt to fit some seafood stew onto my plate. They tasted mighty good though!

Andrew's first plate- I, unfortunately, didn't take notes on what he thought of the food so it's just pictures from him

From the bowl-- I think it was called ham and bean soup, carved pork, samosas, couscous (this is whatever one mine wasn't), green beans, carved sirloin (his is much rarer than mine... NOT fair)... My guess on the random grains touching his sirloin? Orzo, maybe?

My second plate-

Starting from the farthest right-- More pork with mustard sauce (I wouldn't shut up about this stuff, to the point that Mary brought me the recipe for the mustard sauce. Awww), Caesar salad (can you mess this stuff up?), more peri peri salmon (om nom nom), pita bread with hummus and tabbouleh, more couscous (still not sure what variety it was, but I liked all of the ones I tried) and chicken curry with Basmati rice (LOVED this stuff)

Andrew's second plate-

Starting from the pickle spear... HEY LOOK, A PICKLE SPEAR! Chicken curry with rice, macaroni and cheese, fruit and some other unrecognizable grain salad. I could have sworn he was raving about corn dog nuggets somewhere along the way, so we must have forgotten to take pictures of some of our food.

Actually, scratch that... I KNOW we forgot to take some pictures because the dessert plates are nowhere to be found. Shaaaaaame. I will say that none of the desserts were anything to write home about EXCEPT the banana cinnamon bread pudding with vanilla sauce. I normally dislike bread pudding because... umm... it's soggy bread. Blech. BUT this was absolutely yummy.

After Festival of the Lion King and other rides, we had some time to kill before Finding Nemo and we were in Asia... so we decided to pop into Yak and Yeti for drinks, after hearing so much about them-

I ordered the big bamboo-- Malibu Coconut Rum, Bacardi Light Rum, Banana Liqueur, and Tropical Fruit Juices

and Andrew got the Yak Attack- Mango Daiquiri, Bacardi Light Rum, and Wildberry Flavors

And then we switched
I love banana and I love Malibu, but for some reason... his was better. It was also stronger, and I'm not a big drinker, so that may have had something to do with it.

This was a great way to kill some time... The manager at Yak and Yeti was really funny... we asked if they had a wait and he said, completely dead-pan, 'Oh yes, an hour. At least'. I must have looked like someone slapped me because he was like 'No, there's no wait' and laughed.

We stayed at Animal Kingdom almost till 8-- THANKS EXTRA MAGIC HOURS and then decided to hit up Downtown Disney. We didn't have any problems with buses on this particular trip, although the final day was pretty ridiculous.

We decided to do Wolfgang Puck Express for dinner, thanks in large part to the glowing reviews from this forum. We both thank you from the bottoms of our hearts! Pre Jiko, Andrew said his dinner here was the best of the trip, so we'll start with his-

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf - mashed potatoes, port wine sauce and crispy onion rings

We have a restaurant nearby that makes meatloaf and the sauce has beer in it... It's absolutely DELICIOUS. This seriously wipes the floor with it. And the crispy onions are amazing too.

He wanted creme brulee for dessert but they were completely out, so he had a cookie that we didn't take a picture of.

I had-

Spaghetti & Meatballs - tomato-basil-garlic sauce and fresh herbs

Our table was right in the front so I saw them expo-ing the food... I love that they put fresh Parmesan on it as well as a drizzle of olive oil. This was REALLY good... I love meatballs but they're such a pain to make so whenever I have a chance to get them, I usually take it.

For dessert, I had cheesecake-

Um... The top of that is caramelized like creme brulee... which, for my money, is the best part of creme brulee. This was INSANELY good.

Our server was Hans... He was a little cutie and he really went above and beyond, considering that it's not an actual table service location. We carried very little cash with us, but we gave him a few dollars just for being so considerate.

So, like the masses... Wolfgang Puck Express is NOT to be missed. Andrew is still talking about that meatloaf. It's also an amazing use of a quick service credit... our meal here cost more than our Kona breakfast.

Next- Back on schedule... Will we make it to Cali Grill?!​

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well! Disney is definitely not the place you want to be sick! Your meals look great, Tusker House looks really good - I had wanted to go there, but we were already going to Boma and Jiko, and thought that wouldn't really help variety-wise! (love the pickle spear, btw )

Hope you made it to California Grill!

 

[Euphoria027]

Great review of LeCellier-- your filet looks amazing! My favorite cut of meat!

It was soo good... I felt like a savage eating such a juicy piece of meat, but it was delicious.

don't know how I missed these fabulous reviews, shame you were feeling unwell after Le Celier

Awww, thanks for tuning in.

Sorry to hear you weren't feeling well! Disney is definitely not the place you want to be sick! Your meals look great, Tusker House looks really good - I had wanted to go there, but we were already going to Boma and Jiko, and thought that wouldn't really help variety-wise! (love the pickle spear, btw )

Hope you made it to California Grill!

Yeah, we were going to Jiko as well so I decided to go with Tusker House... I'm planning on Boma for our next trip since we love Animal Kingdom Lounge but A) can't afford it! and B) want to try new signatures.

I'm about to post the new update!

 

[onelilspark]

Fantastic reviews! Jumping on board!

Any advice for visiting the dark side? We're doing 1 day at Universal (for Harry Potter obv) in February. That Pumpkin juice sounds heavenly!!

 

[Euphoria027]

Okay, so after going from Friday's food-ventures to Wednesday's food-ventures, we are now back on schedule and will venture forward without any more hurdles... Hopefully.

So, we had a Kona breakfast planned for this day, but I woke up at 7:50 and felt like I'd been punched in the face... You know that horrible, achy feeling when you can't even walk without feeling like your body is going to fall apart? I'm not even being dramatic... That's how lousy I felt. So, Andrew called Dining and we canceled, but they thankfully had an opening on Monday for the same time. I went back to sleep until about 10 and decided that we WERE going to California Grill and would Andrew mind if we took it easy today, especially since the marathon was this weekend? He's such a nice guy that he said okay

We decided to go to Downtown Disney and see Tangled... What's more awesome than seeing a Disney movie in Disney World? Uhh, how about getting the 3-D glasses when you pay for the movie? Thanks cashier lady! We were already late because I had to go to Ghiradelli's and have a chocolate-vanilla sundae with dark chocolate sauce... And no, I don't have a picture because I was too busy stuffing my sick face. But seriously, you have to go there. It was worth the 15 minute wait.

Back to the food... We took a bus from Downtown to the Contemporary at like 6:20 and of course were early as hell. Sooo, we decided 'Why not?' and decided to check in at 7, even though our reservation was for 7:30. The host was great-- I told him we wanted a window seat and were willing to wait, but not past our reservation time and he completely understood. As we were being led to the elevator, my pager went off. Uhh, jackpot! Gorgeous window seat overlooking the Magic Kingdom!

Here's my napkin... Isn't it purdy?

Our server was named... Tom, I think? He was great. Very professional, but down to earth. Since it was such a nice place, we decided to get 'drink drinks', as we call them. Andrew had a margarita made with Patron Silver:

I think tequila tastes like bug spray, but I had to admit that this was smoother than any other margarita I've tried.

I had a strawberry daiquiri-

I dunno what kind of rum they used in this but it was HORRIBLE... It didn't burn or anything but it had such a strong aftertaste... Blech. The whole point of a daiquiri is 'mega sweet, very little booze', at least to me... which is why I ordered it! I still drank it but it wasn't what I was expecting at all.

The bread here is really nice... I love the creamy butter and the crunch from the sea salt. I could have easily filled up on bread but I restrained myself-

We decided not to do appetizers just because the last thing I needed was to get sick... you know... to my stomach.
So here's where I think I was too hopped up on decongestants or something.

My meal:

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta, Button Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze, and Sage.

Now, for those paying attention... I said in the Tusker House post that I don't really care for pork. I guess after my glowing experience there, I thought I liked it? Also, I don't really like goat cheese that much either... AND I DON'T LIKE MUSHROOMS. So whyyyyyyy did I order this? I really have no idea. It was a major faux pas by me and it's pretty unfair for me to judge it. That being said... if you LIKE these things, this is probably magical. The pork was tender and flavorful (although I did crunch into something ROCK hard which was pretty off putting... Yuck), and the goat cheese polenta was rich and creamy. I just shouldn't have gotten this.

Andrew's food:

The Allears menu says Oak-fired Filet of Beef - with "Loaded" Mashed Potatoes, Broccolini, and Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce, but I'm 99% sure that the menu said potato gratin, not mashed potatoes. He LOVED this and put it right up there with his beloved bacon wrapped meatloaf for best meal, pre-Jiko. Ordering something that suits your tastes, Andrew? MADNESS.

Wishes started just as our dinner plates were cleared. Does anyone else choke up during this? Hahaha.
Tom took our dessert order when they ended.

Andrew's:

That's the 'celebration' dessert: Warm Heirloom Apple Torte - Salted Caramel, Almond "Glass", and Apple-Jack Ice Cream... Right up his alley, and I think he managed to eat it all... Crazy, considering how little he eats at home. The ice cream was especially delicious.

Mine:

It's the Valrhona Chocolate Cake, but it must be a winter version or something... I found the description on the Disney website-- Warm Chocolate Cake with Molten Center, White Chocolate Ganache, Peppermint Bark, and Egg Nog Ice Cream... Or they could have written 'Totally reminds Amanda of Christmas'. That would have worked too. The cake was too rich to finish, but I ate all of the wafer thing and the ice cream. I'm really glad I got to have this version of the dessert-- I've seen so many versions on reports and this is totally 'me'.

I had Diet Coke with dessert and Tom didn't charge me for it-- thanks!

So overall... California Grill is beautiful, and a great experience. I just ordered the wrong thing.

Up next- We tackle DHS counter service... Is it as bad as everyone says?​

 

[sammi6]

Loving your reviews, can't wait to hear about Jiko!

 

[Linda67]

Ooh great reviews again

Can you go into Yak & Yeti just for drinks?

 

[klacey1]

I think that pork looks AHMAZING! However, I'm also guilty of ordering something you won't like at Disney. At Yatchsman, I ordered a the cowboy, huge, tough steak. Even though filet is my favorite. And it was on the menu. We all do it!

 

[Schoolbread]

Comin' late to the party, but still wanted to comment. LOVE those cakes!!!! WOW....AH-MAZING!

Thanks for all of the pics. Looks like you guys had some great meals. Sorry you were so sick. Looking forward to reading more!

 

[MelMel11]

Great Reviews.. Cant wait to read more.

 

[Euphoria027]

Fantastic reviews! Jumping on board!

Any advice for visiting the dark side? We're doing 1 day at Universal (for Harry Potter obv) in February. That Pumpkin juice sounds heavenly!!

Get there at open and go to Harry Potter as fast as possible. We waited less than 20 minutes for the castle ride, but it was up to an hour when we were at Honeydukes. It was so painful for me... Hulk was literally running half empty, but I did what I had to do!
The pumpkin juice is really good... way better than the butterbeer, in my opinion.

Loving your reviews, can't wait to hear about Jiko!

I can't wait to write about it... It was so delicious.

Ooh great reviews again

Can you go into Yak & Yeti just for drinks?

I wouldn't go during peak time, but nobody gave us a hard time!

I think that pork looks AHMAZING! However, I'm also guilty of ordering something you won't like at Disney. At Yatchsman, I ordered a the cowboy, huge, tough steak. Even though filet is my favorite. And it was on the menu. We all do it!

Like I said, if pork is your thing... give it a shot. I just am stupid and am not a big fan of it. Andrew is definitely guilty of the huge cowboy steak thing. I'm perfectly content with my filets though!

Comin' late to the party, but still wanted to comment. LOVE those cakes!!!! WOW....AH-MAZING!

Thanks for all of the pics. Looks like you guys had some great meals. Sorry you were so sick. Looking forward to reading more!

Yeah, they were so beautiful. I wish I could have preserved them and brought them home with me.
We definitely had great food... I'm so glad I didn't lose my appetite, hahaha.

Great Reviews.. Cant wait to read more.

Thanks for tuning in!

 

[Euphoria027]

I woke up on Sunday feeling a little bit better, or at least not seconds away from keeling over and dying. We were off to Hollywood Studios for the day, since Fantasmic was that night and the marathon was going on (AKA Epcot and Magic Kingdom were going to be INSANE).

The buzz is that the counter service at HS is nasty, which was peachy for us, since we had dinner at O'Hana at 8:30 Good job planning that one, Amanda.

After some rides, I needed to take some Advil and that required food. Since we were in the neighborhood, I decided that we should go Starring Rolls. That's like the one location with glowing reviews, plus I've seen the pictures of the cupcakes. That was enough for me.

We shared a large Fanta, the black forest ham sandwich and a red velvet cupcake:

Okay, this was AMAZING. The sandwich is a monstrosity... Tons of thinly sliced ham, grainy honey mustard, provolone cheese and arugula, all sandwiched between delicious focaccia bread. We shared it and didn't eat again until around 4:30.
And the cupcake... hoooooooo boy. It's chilling in the background on the left side. If this hadn't been the last one, I may have had to go back and get a second one later in the day. Not even kidding. The crunchy looking things on the outside are little bits of toffee, and then there's vanilla icing and cream cheese filling underneath that.

Sadly, the counter service we ate later in the day couldn't measure up to our early lunch.

I started feeling kind of lousy again around 3:45 or so... We decided to get some food to hold us over through Fantasmic and then we could go to the Poly early, since it'd been working out so well for us all week. I had been hoping for a buffalo chicken sandwich, but couldn't remember where they served it (Studio Catering, I've since learned) and just decided to suck it up and eat at Backlot Express. I had the Grilled Turkey & Cheese - with arugula and red peppers served with French fries or carrot sticks, just because the promise of arugula and red peppers made me think 'How bad can it be?' I also had the marble cheesecake for my dessert. That thing was actually amazing, and that's even after the impossible standards of the red velvet cupcake. So, kudos to that. I wish I had been more pleased with my sandwich. The bread was promising-- lots of sesame seeds on the outside, but the turkey was completely bland. I added a ton of honey mustard to it just so it would taste like SOMETHING.

Andrew, meanwhile, decided to get something from Min and Bill's Dockside Diner. He ended up with the Italian sausage with peppers and onions and a vanilla milkshake for dessert. The shake was almost like a massive cup of vanilla soft serve and Andrew only ate about a third of it. He said that the Italian sausage was disappointing because all the peppers and onions were stuffed at the bottom.

So, did we die from eating the counter service here? God no. But with the exception of Starring Rolls, it was nothing special either. You may notice that I didn't take pictures. Whoops.

Moving onto O'Hana... We did wait to be seated here, probably longer than any of our other reservations... But the Polynesian is such a gorgeous hotel... I didn't even mind. It also gave us more time to work up an appetite.

Our server, Daniela, was one of the best of the whole trip. She was always making sure we had everything we wanted. We talked to her for a while when we were about to pay the check and she was super sweet and funny, so we tipped her over 20% for being so great.

For those select few who don't know how O'Hana works-- It's a set menu, and it's family style... So you can eat us much of something as you like. O'Hana means family, and the servers call themselves your cousins. The cousins bring out skewers of turkey, pork, steak and shrimp that have been grilled over a pit that's in the center of the restaurant.

Here are my pictures!

Coconut-pineapple welcome bread-

Andrew lost his mind over this... He LOVES bread and this may have beaten the pretzel bread for his favorite of the trip. I thought it was delicious but I only ate a little bit.

Salad with honey lime dressing-

Delicious. I actually texted my mom during dinner and told her YOU'LL LOVE O'HANA FOR THE SALAD... She's a vegetarian and is actually at Disney World for a week as of today. I thought it was strange that she would go to a place where the entree is as much eat as you can stuff into your stomach, but this is right up her alley.

Moving along

Dumplings and sticky wings-

I only ate one chicken wing and two dumplings, but it was a continuing case of 'I can't eat too much of one thing or I'll be pull before I get to try it all'. I thought the sauce on the wings was especially tasty.

Dipping sauces-

I like the one on the left the best. I think that's the mustard based one.

Noodles-

These were ADDICTING! I couldn't stop eating little forkfuls of them... Andrew had a few but I ate the vast majority of that bowl. I couldn't get enough.

Broccoli-

This was tasty too... The broccoli had obviously been cooked in something that tasted more flavorful than regular butter.

And I dropped the ball YET again on photos of the skewers. The shrimp were definitely my favorite even though peel and eat is kind of a pain. I ate probably two whole skewers by myself. I tried the turkey, steak and pork and all three were okay, but nothing amazing. I should have asked for some rarer steak... that might have been a better choice.

Last but CERTAINLY not least... Dessert:

Bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and bananas foster sauce-

This is one of the main reasons people come to O'Hana and I can see why. I've already voiced my issues with bread pudding earlier in the report but I threw caution to the wind and devoured this fabulous stuff. Bananas foster sauce is almost as delicious as Diet Coke, to me. Andrew said this was his favorite dessert of the trip.

When I was writing this entry, I noticed that the menu has changed rather drastically since we were there! So sad! I hope my mom likes the new mango poppy dressing as much as I enjoyed the honey lime...

All in all, we enjoyed our O'Hana experience very much!

Next up- Kona and Teppan Edo!​

 

[Tinker12]

I'm interested in Teppan Edo. It will be our first time there in March. Let me know how it is and if you would go back!

Looking forward to the rest of the reviews.

 

[LuLu_5]

I found a box of those every flavor bean at a target once about 5 yrs ago. When they say every flavor they mean every flavor!! We had such memorable flavors such as ear wax and vomit!!! Guess what? It really tasted like vomit. Ohh and also dirt. It was pretty Interesting. We ended up saving a box and only took it out at parties just to see everbody's reaction to eating something nasty.

 

[DisneyDancin7]

I'm loving your dining report! It's really fun for me because I am 22 years old!

My friend and I went on Spring Break to Disney 2 years ago and we ate at Crystal Palace too...so don't feel weird about it Isn't that the point of Disney and the BEST part about it? You can act like a compete 10 year old and get away with it!

I love 'Ohana!!!! Probably my second favorite restaurant on Disney property (Columbia Harbour House is first...I have some weird addiction/attraction to it, lol). But I'm kind of sad to hear they changed the dressing Hopefully it will still be good...but those dumplings!! And noodles!!! I can't get enough! But of course, that all goes to the wayside when that amazing bread pudding comes out

Looking forward to reading more reviews!

 

[Euphoria027]

I'm interested in Teppan Edo. It will be our first time there in March. Let me know how it is and if you would go back!

Looking forward to the rest of the reviews.

Coming right up!

I found a box of those every flavor bean at a target once about 5 yrs ago. When they say every flavor they mean every flavor!! We had such memorable flavors such as ear wax and vomit!!! Guess what? It really tasted like vomit. Ohh and also dirt. It was pretty Interesting. We ended up saving a box and only took it out at parties just to see everbody's reaction to eating something nasty.

Hahaha, oh god... That's so gross. I still haven't opened them.

I'm loving your dining report! It's really fun for me because I am 22 years old!

My friend and I went on Spring Break to Disney 2 years ago and we ate at Crystal Palace too...so don't feel weird about it Isn't that the point of Disney and the BEST part about it? You can act like a compete 10 year old and get away with it!

I love 'Ohana!!!! Probably my second favorite restaurant on Disney property (Columbia Harbour House is first...I have some weird addiction/attraction to it, lol). But I'm kind of sad to hear they changed the dressing Hopefully it will still be good...but those dumplings!! And noodles!!! I can't get enough! But of course, that all goes to the wayside when that amazing bread pudding comes out

Looking forward to reading more reviews!

It turns out that the new dressing and stuff was a misprint on AllEars and so nothing has changed! Yay!!!!
I'm glad I'm not the only 22 year old who is actually like 10 years old and gets excited to see Winnie the Pooh characters. We're pretty much awesome.

 

[Coconuts]

Just read through 4 pages--thanks for the great reviews! Looking forward to more. We were just there last week and I feel the same way about Ohana; those noodles are addicting.

 

[TheDreamsComeTrue]

The Dumplings and sticky wings and noodles look so good! Great review so far.