Food, food and more food! And lots of pics! COMPLETE!

[jayhjay]

FYI - My trip report has started (finally) so check it out if you are interested!

We are back from our trip and had a wonderful week enjoying WDW. DH and I went without the kids (I tagged along for his conference at the Dolphin) and we had a great adults-only time. We ate and ate and totally ignored our diets and had an all around great time!

Our quick background: DH was in his meeting most of the week during the day. So I had many meals solo and we had dinner together at night. We tacked on a few days at the end so the last part of the trip we were together for all the meals. Both of us are Disney lovers and food lovers. If you want more details about us, or want to read more about our trip preparations, check out my trip report: Our adults-only, semi-solo, no diet trip! (w/lots of pics!)

I am so excited to start my dining report. Here is a list of the restaurants to come:

Beaches and Cream
Kona Cafe
BC Marketplace and Sunshine Seasons
Boma
Flametree BBQ
Boulongerie Patisserie (French Bakery)
Hurricane Hanna's
Raglan Road
Columbia Harbor House
Le Cellier
Yacht Club Galley
Jiko
Cantina San Angel
Beaches and Cream (pg 6 - sorry the link is being temperamental)

Thanks for reading! JHJ

 

[Melisa1]

Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Ms. Heimlich]

Bring. It. On!!!

Can't wait.


Ms. H

 

[DLo]

Looking forward to your reviews.

 

[Dis Ohana]

I'm in. Sounds like you had a fabulous time. I'm off to pass time reading your trip report!

 

[my3disneygirls]

Sounds great! Can't wait.

 

[jayhjay]

I am so excited to start my report! So here we go with Beaches and Cream...

We landed early in Orlando at about 10:15 and had a car service taking us to the Beach Club (perk of traveling for business!). We arrived at the Beach Club a little after 11. Our room was ready and after a quick stop to drop off our bags we headed over to Beaches and Cream.

This was the first time we had ever been there and my mouth had been watering thinking of the No Way Jose for months! Fortunately it did not disappoint. When we got to the podium we were seated right away in one of the booths. I think this is much nicer than the tables as they are so crammed together. We were seated around 11:40 and at that point there were plenty of tables. However within about 15 minutes the place got really crowded and most of the tables were full.

DH and I both ordered the cheeseburger, mine with fruit and his with french fries. We also got an order of onion rings and vanilla cokes, regular for DH and diet for me (although what is the point with this meal!). Here is DH with the onion rings and his burger (mine looked the same).

The burgers were really good. I wouldn't swear that they weren't just preformed patties though to be honest. But the rolls were fresh and the burgers juicy. The plate of onion rings was HUGE. Way too much for us. But they were nice and crispy with a good coating. And the vanilla cokes were delicious. We are big fans and get these all the time at our favorite burger place.

After lunch we were no where near hungry enough for dessert, but of course that didn't stop us! We ordered the No Way Jose. I am not sure it was what DH would have chosen without me, but I couldn't resist! It was heavenly. Chocolate and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and peanut butter sauce. The PB was warm and so good! I should also mention it is HUGE! Other diners were gawking as it arrived at our table. Not that we let that stop us from finishing it! Here is our before and after (and despite what the pictures imply, I didn't eat it all myself!).

Total cost: $34.83.

Overall we thought B&C was a lot of fun. The burgers and onion rings were very good, the ice cream was great. I am not sure I would travel all the way to the Beach Club just to go there, but if you are in the area, it is definitely worth the stop. And don't miss the No Way Jose.

 

[Illuminations_Rocks]

subbing! great so far!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Yum!

I look forward to reading more!

 

[Booknut]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[saffymom]

Great start! I'm looking forward to the rest!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent, looking forward to reading more.

 

[Prinny27]

Excellent review! Can't wait to read more.

 

[TigerKat]

Great so far....subscribing!!

 

[mom2fivecs]

Great so far...looking forward to more.

 

[jayhjay]

Thanks for everyone's great feedback! I am glad to hear folks are enjoying the reviews. Now on to Kona!

We had a 7:10 ADR at Kona and arrived just on time. The CM told us it would be about a 20-25 minute wait, but we were seated within about 15 minutes. Our server Jason was very attentive and friendly. We had on our anniversary buttons and everyone wished us a happy anniversary.

Surprisingly we were still both pretty full from lunch even though it had been 7 hours before (I blame the No Way Jose!). Maybe it was the combination of that and exhaustion from getting up at 5 am. So even though I had planned on either the char crusted filet or the teriyaki sirloin, I wasn't really up for a heavy meat meal. Instead I ordered the Shrimp and Scallops. DH loves the chicken wings but didn't think he could handle an appetizer and dinner so I suggested he get them as his main dish instead.

Just to back up, the meal started with a delicious loaf of bread with macadamia butter. Let me tell you, it was amazing. I think I could have taken a bath in that stuff! The loaf was huge and very soft and sweet. We could easily have finished it but then there would have been no chance of eating our meals. But it was fabulous.

As I mentioned, I had the Shrimp and Scallops for dinner with an orange mango smoothie. The smoothie had a delicious flavor and really complemented the food at Kona. It was a bit icy though and I had trouble getting it through the straw. But very yummy (I am pretty sure they are included in the Dining Plan).

My main dish was a bit more disappointing. It was three panko crusted shrimp, three scallops and sticky rice. The scallops were fabulous, with a sort of horseradish/soy type glaze. But the shrimp were sort of bland. The panko bread crumbs are very coarse and so they sort of took over the food. The sauce was really good but just dabbed on the plate under the shrimp. I think these would have been a lot better with more sauce. And the rice wasn't great. I was expecting the sweeter style sticky rice you sometimes get it Thai restaurants with dessert. But this rice tasted more like reheated chinese food leftovers. Overall, I probably wouldn't order this again, although the scallops were amazing. Unless maybe I could get more sauce? I don't have a picture of this but there are some on the food porn thread. Here is a link to a picture from that thread: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=12382480&postcount=2967

BTW, the bread doesn't look like that one in the picture on that thread anymore. It is sweet not savory with sweet butter instead of olive oil (an improvement I think).

DH had the famous sticky wings. He loves these (and the one I tried was delicious). It is a huge plate, more than enough for dinner. Here is another borrowed pic so you can see it:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=8443570&postcount=394

For dessert we were planning on the macadamia nut torte but they surprised us with an anniversary dessert. It was two cream puffs with chocolate drizzle. So yummy!

After that we were too full to order another dessert so we skipped it.

Just to note, a few menu changes from when we were there last. First, the Kona chowder was no longer on the menu. They had a new soup, coconut curry shrimp I think. Also, they had a new dessert - chocolate fondue. It looked really good (our neighbors ordered it) and we were considering it before we got too full.

Overall, Kona was a great meal (despite my so so entree). We will definitely be back. Great food, nice staff, good selection. Total cost: $38.30. Be back soon with more reviews from Day 2 - Sunshine Seasons and Boma.

 

[TigerKat]

Oh no, That KONA chowder was excellent.

 

[jayhjay]

Oh no, That KONA chowder was excellent.

I know, I had it the last time I was there and thought it was delicious. I was surprised to see it gone, especially since it is so popular (at least on these boards!). But the new menu looked good so hopefully the changes will be positive. But I will miss the chowder!

 

[Tea Rose]

Great reviews! DH and I will be there in November to celebrate our 10th anniversary, so I look forward to reading the rest of your report!

 

[my3disneygirls]

Oh no, That KONA chowder was excellent.

Darn. We are going to Kona for the first time and I really wanted to try that soup. Oh well, I suppose it's I never will now.